Never had there been a greater clash of arms, nor would there be till the 1st World War. Leipzig will stand in history as one of the greatest battles of all time, forever, breaking the grip of Napoleon in central Europe. After the disastrous 1812 Russian campaign, over half a million men in five armies would settle the fate of Germany as well as the fate of Europe itself. This battle would begin October 14, and last through October 19, 1813.

Napoleon’s attempt to fight and destroy each army in detail had failed. He had been forced to give up Dresden and was falling back on his communication lines, back toward France. There he could fight all the armies on his own terms. The communication line lead through Leipzig. The only problem with falling back meant leaving Germany, which would allow his German allies to leave his side. His only chance to pull any of this off was not to commit to a battle until he crossed the river at Leipzig. As the Allied Armies got closer, smaller but escalating battles began to occurred. This included Liebertwolkwitz, which was the greatest cavalry battle in history, and forced Napoleon to fight.

The Coalition Allies’ intention was to mass every available man against the main French Army. Napoleon’s intention was to smash the Army of Bohemia before such a concentration of strength could occur. The result was the largest land battle of the Napoleonic Wars.

October 16, opened with the Army of Bohemia attacking the French before Napoleon was ready to start his attack. To the Southwest, the attacking Austrians, caught in a maze of bad terrain, failed to gain much ground, with Meerveldt being captured and Gyulai being trashed be Bertrand. To the South, where both sides made their main effort, all Coalition reserve formations kept moving forward and finally halted and eventually drove back the French attackers. The fighting to the Southeast went similarly to the flow of fighting to the South. To the North, the unexpected arrival of Blucher’s Army of Silesia tied down French reserves. These badly needed reserves were intended for the French main effort, including a terrific combat between Marmont’s French VI Corps and York’s Prussian I Corps around Mockern that cost each corps over 8,000 casualties.

October 17, saw little action. Reinforcements for both sides arrived, tipping the numerical advantage even further in the Coalition’s favor. Seeing the need to withdraw, Napoleon ordered his forces to fall back into a tighter perimeter to cover Leipzig-Lindeneau line of retreat during the night of October 17/18.

October 18, saw the Coalition Allies, sure of the arrival of their late Army of the North, open with an offensive all along the line. The French repulsed all attacks from the south, and Bertrand again attacked and defeated Gyulai to clear the retreat route to the southwest. Blucher gained ground in the North, but was stopped short of blocking the French retreat route. Ominously for Napoleon, during the fighting a number of Saxon and Wurttemberger units defected to the Coalition.

By the night of October 18/19, the French retreat was well underway with most of the army’s trains and cavalry and a number of infantry corps already across the Lindeneau bridge and marching to safety. The French at this point were pulling off a well executed fighting withdrawal. On the morning of October 19, Colonel Montfort’s left a corporal and four sappers at the Elster Bridge with orders to await his return. The Colonel was attempting to get precise plans on how the rearguard was to cross before the bridge was to be blown. The corporal, having watched many troops, the Emperor and his suite, and an immense convoy of artillery and baggage go past, could see only a long procession of stragglers and wounded. Then he saw those men charged and cut down by Prussian cavalry. Since Colonel Montfort was very late getting backing and convinced that this was the Coalition advanceguard and that the French Army had already crossed, he blow the bridge. This fatal error trapped a whole army corps and part of another, defending Leipzig and allowing the army to escape. The enemy horsemen where only a few foragers and where cut down by the leading troops of the rearguard. In Leipzig thousands of stragglers and wounded were also still in the city. This turned a serious check into a disaster. The other great loose to Napoleon was Prince Josef Poniatowski, who had become the only foreign French Marshal just days before.

Many resources have placed French loses at anything from 20,000 to 100,000 men. However, if you consider the loose of two corps because of the bridge, the numbers do rise. I would put estimates at around 90,000 men. Resources have placed Coalition loses at between 50,000 and 60,000 men. I would place there loses around 60,000 due to the aggressiveness of the Coalition.

My intent is to give you statistics and tidbits of the battle. The miniature’s game called "Napoleon’s Battles" has this battle listed. Just to give you an idea how large this battle was, 15mm figures are used. Infantry figure’s represent 120 men, cavalry 80 men. The Battle of Gettysburg on the same scale could use two Ping-Pong tables and the Battle of Waterloo would use only one table. The Battle of Leipzig uses four tables. If this has wet your appetite for more, check out your local library. It will be worth the trip.