The Battle of Leipzig
16–19 October 1813 · The Battle of Nations
Background
After the catastrophe of the Russian campaign in 1812, Napoleon rebuilt his army with extraordinary speed but could not replace the experience of the veterans he had lost. The Sixth Coalition, including Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden, assembled the largest military force Europe had ever seen. Napoleon chose to fight at Leipzig in Saxony rather than retreat behind the Rhine, gambling that he could defeat the Coalition armies before they could concentrate.
The Scale
France & Allies
Under Napoleon. Including Saxon, Polish, Italian and Confederation of the Rhine contingents. Many were conscripts with limited training.
Coalition
Under Schwarzenberg, Blücher, Bernadotte and Bennigsen. Prussians, Austrians, Russians and Swedes. The largest concentration of military force Europe had ever assembled.
The Four Days
The battle opened on multiple fronts around the city. Napoleon initially held his own, repulsing attacks from the south at Wachau and from the north at Möckern. But the Coalition forces were not yet fully concentrated, and the fighting was inconclusive.
A day of relative quiet. Napoleon, recognising that the Coalition forces were growing stronger while his were not, offered peace terms. The Allies rejected them. During the night, additional Coalition armies arrived, tipping the numerical balance further against the French.
The decisive day. The Coalition attacked from all sides simultaneously. During the afternoon, the Saxon corps, fighting alongside Napoleon, switched sides and turned their guns on the French. The defection tore a hole in the French line and shattered any remaining hope of victory. Napoleon ordered a retreat.
The French began withdrawing through the city and across the Elster river via the single bridge at Lindenau. The bridge was blown prematurely while thousands of French soldiers were still on the wrong side. Approximately 30,000 men were trapped and captured. Marshal Poniatowski, newly appointed the previous day, drowned attempting to swim the Elster.
The Saxon Defection
One of the most dramatic moments of the entire Napoleonic Wars. On the afternoon of 18 October, the Saxon army, approximately 10,000 men who had been fighting alongside Napoleon, changed sides mid-battle. They wheeled their guns around and opened fire on their former allies. The defection was not spontaneous: the Saxon king had been negotiating with the Coalition, and many Saxon officers had lost faith in Napoleon after the Russian disaster. But the timing, in the middle of a battle, was extraordinary and devastating.
The Bridge Disaster
Napoleon had prepared only one line of retreat: a single bridge over the Elster river at Lindenau. On the morning of 19 October, with the French army streaming across, a corporal (according to most accounts) blew the bridge on the orders of a subordinate officer who believed the Coalition forces were about to seize it. The bridge was destroyed while approximately 30,000 French soldiers, including the rearguard, were still trapped on the city side.
Those trapped attempted to swim the river. Many drowned, including Marshal Poniatowski, who had been made a Marshal of France only the day before. Others surrendered. It was one of the most catastrophic military blunders of the wars.
Casualties
Total casualties of approximately 130,000 over four days made Leipzig one of the bloodiest battles in European history before the First World War.
Why It Mattered
Leipzig was the decisive battle of the 1813 campaign. After it, Napoleon retreated to France. The Confederation of the Rhine, his system of German client states, collapsed. His German allies abandoned him one by one. The Coalition invaded France in early 1814. Napoleon fought a brilliant defensive campaign but was overwhelmed by numbers. He abdicated on 6 April 1814 and was exiled to Elba.
Leipzig made Waterloo inevitable. Without Leipzig there would have been no exile, no Hundred Days, no final battle on the ridge of Mont-Saint-Jean.
Further Reading
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