16-19 October 1813
of the most crucial battles of the Napoleonic Wars was the
massive clash that took place at Leipzig, which became known
as the Battle of Nations because of its size and the sheer
numbers of troops that took part.
army of France was set to take on those of Sweden, Russia,
Austria and Prussia - in all some 200,000 Frenchmen and
allies, against almost 400,000 enemy troops.
number of cannons involved was also astounding with Napoleon
Bonaparte having 700 at his disposal and the Allies
up to 1500.
Aside from the numbers against him, Bonaparte was also faced
with the fact that the enemy armies were approaching from
different directions, forcing him to spread his forces.
The first attack occurred on the 16th when Austria's General
Schwarzenberg launched a badly thought out move against
the French to the south of Leipzig.
defence stopped it and a swift counterattack pushed the
Austrians back to their starting positions.
the north, Prussia's Marshal
Blucher also moved against the city but with little
progress against stout defending from Marshal
Both sides spent the next day recovering from their exertions,
but the delay helped the Allied cause because it allowed
Bernadotte and the Russians under General Bennigsen
to move in from the north-east and north.
the 18th, the Allied commanders managed to coordinate their
attacks and more than 350,000 men simultaneously moved against
the odds facing them, the French performed wonders and held
the attackers at bay for more than nine hours.
in the end the sheer weight of guns and bayonets against
them took their toll and Bonaparte began an orderly withdrawal
through the city and across a single escape bridge.
it not been for the premature blowing of the span the retreat
may have been of a textbook nature but, following the blast,
20,000 men were trapped.
chose to try to swim to avoid capture, but this resulted
in many deaths, including that of the wounded Marshal
was now on the ropes and his enemies finally knew it.