Battle of Leipzig

Napoleon and Poniatowski at Leipzig, by January Suchodolski

Despite being outnumbered, Napoleon planned to take the offensive between the Pleiße and the Parthe rivers. The position at Leipzig held several advantages for his army and his battle strategy. The rivers that converged there split the surrounding terrain into four separate sectors.[30] Holding Leipzig and its bridges, Napoleon could shift troops from one sector to another far more rapidly than the Allies could, who had difficulty moving such large numbers of troops into a single sector.[30][31]

The northern front was defended by Marshals Michel Ney and Auguste de Marmont, and the eastern front by Marshal Jacques MacDonald. The artillery reserve and parks, ambulances, and baggage stood near Leipzig, which Napoleon made his supply base for the battle. The bridges on the Pleisse and White Elster rivers were defended by infantry and a few guns. The main battery stood in reserve, and during battle was to be deployed on the Gallows Height. This battery was to be commanded by the artillery expert Antoine Drouot. The western flank of the French positions at Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz was defended by Prince Józef Poniatowski and Marshal Pierre Augereau and his young French conscripts.[32]

Alexander I, Emperor of Russia and supreme commander of the Coalition armies

Karl von Schwarzenberg of Austria, commander-in-chief of the Coalition armies

The three monarchs of the Coalition powers were present in the field, with Emperor Alexander I of Russia at the head of the three alongside King Frederick William III of Prussia and Emperor Francis I of Austria, and a substantial staff supported the Coalition commanders. Alexander was also the supreme commander of the Coalition forces in the eastern front of the war, while Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg of Austria was the commander-in-chief of all Coalition forces in the German theatre.[30]

There was a drafting of the battle plan, with Marshals Prince Volkonsky of Russia, Johan Christopher Toll of Sweden and Karl Friedrich von dem Knesebeck of Prussia taking part in the planning. After the first plan was drafted, Schwarzenberg submitted it to the monarchs. However, Alexander complained about his incompetence in terms of battle planning upon seeing the plan for himself. Upon learning of Schwarzenberg's main plan — to call for a secondary attack on the bridge between Leipzig and Lindenau to be led by Blücher and Gyulay, and a main attack astride the Pleiße River to be led by General Merveldt, Hessen-Homburg and the Prussian Guard, he insisted that this was a disastrous tactic as it would not permit the Coalition armies to outflank and encircle Napoleon's army and destroy it. Alexander thought the plan would potentially allow Napoleon to break the Coalition battle line at one point and then concentrate his forces in the gap created and the weakened sectors. This would possibly give Napoleon a chance to regain the strategic initiative in Germany. Frederick William III attempted to opine to Alexander but could do nothing so he treated the discussion as if it was none of his concern. Later events in the battle proved the Russian emperor's judgments correct. The action he had ordered Blücher to take met with great success north of Leipzig and the actions of the Russian Guard were decisive in halting the all-out French attack on Gulden Gossa in the south. On the other hand, the actions of the Austrians along the Pleiße River, part of Schwarzenberg's initial plan, ended in failure.[33]

However, not willing to plan the battle by himself as he had done during his disastrous defeat at Austerlitz almost a decade earlier, Alexander had Schwarzenberg draft another battle plan based on his thoughts and views. Schwarzenberg then drafted another plan that was largely designed to let everyone do as they pleased. The plan was as follows: Blücher's axis of advance was to be shifted northward to the Halle road, the Russian and Prussian guards and the Russian heavy cavalry was to be amassed at Rotha in general reserve.[34] The Austrian grenadiers and cuirassiers would advance between the rivers. This strategy would ensure the encirclement of the French army in Leipzig and its vicinity, or at least inflict heavy losses upon them to assure the needed decisive results. Seemingly, though somewhat reluctantly, convinced, Alexander soon agreed to his plan, and he then ordered him to tell the other commanders to follow the plan.[35]

Poniatowski's Last Charge at Leipzig, by Richard Caton Woodville

The French had gained slight victories at Lindenau and Wachau, and sustained a reverse at Möckern. The Allies had lost approximately 30,000 men, including 2,000 prisoners, the French about 25,000 in all. Despite the French advantage in terms of casualties, the first day ended in a draw. Moreover, the odds seemed to be shifting in the Allies' favor, for while Napoleon could only anticipate the arrival of Jean Reynier's 14,000 men to raise his strength to barely 200,000 troops and 900 cannon, the Allies were awaiting the appearance of Bernadotte's 70,000 men and a similar number under Bennigsen, and these reinforcements would bring their total strength to over 300,000 and 1,500 guns.[36]

Looking back on the first day's fighting, both sides made mistakes. Napoleon had underestimated Allied aggressiveness and miscalculated the position of Blucher and the Army of Silesia, and his men had suffered a sharp repulse at Möckern as a consequence. As for the Allies, the chaotic nature of their initial attack at Wachau, coupled with the flanking of waiting French forces, nearly led to catastrophe.[37]^{: 932–933}

Overview of the battlefield

The Austrian II Corps, commanded by Merveldt, advanced towards Connewitz via Gautzsch and attempted to attack the position. By the time Napoleon arrived on the battlefield along with the Young Guard and some Chasseurs, Merveldt found that the avenue of advance was well covered by the French battery and some skirmishers who had occupied the houses there and did not permit the Austrians to deploy their artillery in support of the attack. Merveldt himself in an unlucky turn was wounded and captured by the French after he went straight into the Saxon-Polish lines at the Pleiße River. Repulsed, the Austrians then moved to attack nearby Dölitz, down a road crossed by two bridges and leading to a manor house and a mill. Two companies of the 24th Regiment ousted the small Polish garrison and took the position. A prompt counterattack by the Saxons and Poles ejected the Austrian troops and the battle seesawed until the Austrians brought up a strong artillery battery and blew the Poles out of the position. The Poles suffered heavy casualties during their furious defense and set fire to both the manor and the mill during their retreat.[38]

Actions as of October 16

General Kleist, moving along the Pleiße, attacked Poniatowski and Marshal Augereau in the village of Markkleeberg. The Austrians repaired a bridge and took a school building and manor. The French counterattacked, throwing the Austrians out of the school and back over the river. French attacks on the manor only resulted in mounting casualties for the French and Poles. The Russian 14th Division began a series of flanking attacks that forced the Poles out of Markkleeberg. Poniatowski stopped the retreat and the advancing Russians. Catching four battalions of the Prussian 12th Brigade in the open, Poniatowski directed attacks by artillery and cavalry until they were relieved by Russian hussars. Poniatowski retook Markkleeberg, but was thrown out by two Prussian battalions. Austrian grenadiers then formed in front of Markkleeberg and drove the Poles and French out of the area with a flank attack.[38]

The Russian II Corps attacked Wachau near Leipzig with support from the Prussian 9th Brigade. The Russians advanced, unaware that French forces were waiting. The French took them by surprise on the flank, mauling them. The Prussians entered Wachau, engaging in street-to-street fighting. French artillery blasted the Prussians out of Wachau and the French recovered the village.[39][38][40]

French soldiers sparing the life of Russian soldier Leontiy Korennoy for his bravery

Liebertwolkwitz was a large village in a commanding position, defended by Marshal MacDonald and General Lauriston with about 18,000 men. General von Klenau's Austrian IV Corps attacked with 24,500 men backed up by Pirch's 10th Brigade (4,550) and Zieten's 11th Brigade (5,365). The Austrians attacked first, driving the French out of Liebertwolkwitz after hard fighting, only to be driven out in turn by a French counterattack. Russian General Württemberg was notable for his extreme bravery directing his troops under fire. At this point, Napoleon ordered General Drouot to form a grand battery of 150 guns on Gallows hill.[41] This was done and the guns blasted the exposed Russian II Corps, forcing the Prussian battalions supporting it to take cover.[42]

The hole had now been opened as Napoleon wished and at this point, Marshal Murat was unleashed with 10,000 French, Italian, and Saxon cavalry.[42] However, Murat's choice of massive columns for the attack formation was unfortunate for the French force, as smaller mobile formations of Russian, Prussian, and Austrian cavalry were able to successfully harass Murat's division, driving them back to their own artillery, where they were saved by the French Guard Dragoons. The Young Guard was sent in to drive out the allies and give Napoleon his breakthrough. They recaptured both Liebertwolkwitz and Wachau, but the allies countered with Russian Guard and Austrian grenadiers backed by Russian cuirassiers. The units lived up to their elite reputation, forming squares that blasted the French cavalrymen from their horses and overran the French artillery batteries. On the southern front, although Napoleon gained ground, he could not break the Allied lines.[38]

The northern front opened with the attack by General Langeron's Russian corps on the villages of Groß-Wiederitzsch and Klein-Wiederitzsch in the centre of the French northern lines.[43] This position was defended by General Dąbrowski's Polish division of four infantry battalions and two cavalry battalions. At first sign of the attack, the Polish division attacked. The battle wavered back and forth with attacks and counterattacks.[43] General Langeron rallied his forces and finally took both villages with heavy casualties.[43]

French infantry defending a barricade against a Prussian assault

The northern front was dominated by the Battle of Möckern. This was a four phase battle and saw hard fighting from both sides. A manor, palace, walled gardens, and low walls dominated the village. Each position was turned into a fortress with the walls being loopholed for covered fire by the French. The ground to the west of the position was too wooded and swampy for emplacement of artillery. A dike ran east along the Elster River being four metres high. Marshal Marmont brought up infantry columns behind the positions in reserve and for a quick counter-attack against any fallen position. Blücher commanded Langeron's Russian and Yorck's Prussian corps against Marmont's VI Corps. When the battle hung in the balance, Marmont ordered a cavalry charge, but his commander refused to attack. Later, an attack by Prussian hussars caused serious losses to the French defenders. The battle lasted well into the night. Artillery caused the majority of the 9,000 Allied and 7,000 French casualties, and the French lost another 2,000 prisoners.[38]

In the western front, the Austrian III Corps under General Gyulay attacked the suburb of Lindenau and had success at first, forcing Marshal Ney to divert General Bertrand's IV Corps to hold the position.[44] But soon the French held, the fighting later ground down into a stalemate, and the Austrians were driven back not far from the village.[41] However, for the French, there was also a negative strategic consequence for this minor success. IV Corps was needed by Napoleon for his attacks on the main Austro-Russian armies positioned at the south, and since they did not take part in the attack as they were that time engaging the Austrians in Lindenau, his attack failed.[45]

There were only two actions on 17 October, one an attack by Russian General Sacken on General Dąbrowski's Polish division at the village of Gohlis. In the end, the numbers and determination of the Russians prevailed and the Poles retreated to Pfaffendorf. Blücher, who was made a field marshal the day before, ordered General Lanskoi's Russian 2nd Hussar Division to attack General Arrighi's III Cavalry Corps. As they had the day before, the Allied cavalry proved to be superior, driving the French away with great losses.[46]

The French received only 14,000 troops as reinforcements. On the other hand, the Allies were strengthened by the arrival of 145,000 troops divided into two armies, one commanded by Bennigsen from the Army of Bohemia's first line and the other, the Army of the North which consisted mainly of Swedish troops, commanded by Bernadotte.[46]

It was soon evident that the Allies would encircle Napoleon and his army, and he knew that not retreating from the battle would mean capitulation for his entire army, which by this time were starting to run out of supplies and ammunition.[46] So Napoleon began to examine whether the roads and bridges of Lindenau could be used to withdraw his troops, or at the very least to secure a bridgehead crossing on the Pleiße River.[46] However, he was not yet in the mood for withdrawing as he thought to achieve one more great victory for France.[47] He also thought that a strong, formidable rear guard in Leipzig itself could repulse any Allied assault, which could buy him and his forces more time to withdraw from the battle.[46]

During this time, Napoleon sent Merveldt, who had been captured two days earlier, back to the Allies on parole. Merveldt was given a letter to Alexander I, Francis I, and Frederick William III in which Napoleon offered to surrender to the Allies the fortresses he held along the Oder and Vistula, on the condition that the Allies allow him to withdraw to a position behind the Saale. He added that, if approved, they should sign an armistice and undertake peace negotiations. However, all three monarchs declined the offer.[48]

Actions as of October 18

The Allies launched a huge assault from all sides, this time completely encircling Napoleon's army. In over nine hours of fighting, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties, the French troops were slowly forced back towards Leipzig. The Allies had Blücher and Bernadotte to the north, Barclay de Tolly and Bennigsen, and Prince von Hesse-Homburg to the south, as well as Gyulay to the west.[46]

The Prussian 9th Brigade occupied the abandoned village of Wachau while the Austrians, with General Bianchi's Hungarians, threw the French out of Lößnig. The Austrians proceeded to give a demonstration of combined arms cooperation as Austrian cavalry attacked French infantry to give the Austrian infantry time to arrive and deploy in the attack on Dölitz, but the Young Guard threw them out. At this point, three Austrian grenadier battalions began to contest for the village with artillery support.[38]

Troops of the 19th Hungarian Regiment engaging French infantry

The bloodiest fighting of the battle occurred in Probstheida, a village just southeast of Leipzig. Here, about 60,000 soldiers under Barclay were marching and advancing towards the village in two columns, one under von Kleist advancing through Wachau, and one under General Wittgenstein advancing through Liebertwolkwitz. Barclay was pressured by the monarchs, especially Alexander I, to take the village since it was the key to the positions of Napoleon's troops, and although von Kleist opposed this, the monarchs' orders were paramount, so Barclay had to follow their orders anyway.[46]

The French dispositions at the village, however, were heavily fortified, thanks to the high and thick garden walls that gave excellent protection for the French infantry. The defense was also strengthened with artillery and strong infantry reserves behind the village. A day earlier, the Russians had taken most of the losses incurred during the battle, so it was the Prussians who took the initiative.[46]

Prussian jägers attempted to enter the village by storm but were quickly driven back. Then the artillery of both sides opened fire upon the village; despite the enormous amount of artillery that the Allies had brought with them, the more powerful French Imperial Guard artillery gradually gained the upper hand. The Prussians conducted a series of attacks against the French positions at the village, but because the French artillery repulsed each attack, their efforts were in vain. French cuirassiers, under Murat, charged upon the weakened Prussian lines and drove them back. Counter-charges by the numerous Russian cavalry saved the infantry by repeatedly driving back the French cavalry, albeit with heavy losses. The Prussians again conducted a charge upon French lines, but this charge was less successful than the first one.[31] The third assault was now conducted, this time, by the Russians, commanded by General Raevsky, the hero of Borodino who had arrived a few days earlier from Russia after a delay due to sickness. The assault on the village was somewhat more successful than the first two, taking the gardens and destroying several French infantry units, but it was eventually driven back by the French Imperial Guard, who had just arrived at the scene. Despite Schwarzenberg's request that Alexander send the Russian Imperial Guard, the Russian emperor ordered that more assaults were to be undertaken against the village. However, despite their successful, stubborn defense, the French were now in dire straits as they were dangerously short of manpower, and thus the fighting became only a hollow tactical victory for them.[49]

During that morning, Bernadotte and Blücher held a conference in Breitenfeld. It was agreed that Bernadotte's Army of the North would pass the Parthe River at Taucha with a reinforcement of 30,000 men drawn from Blücher's Army of Silesia. Blücher agreed to dispatch Langeron's army corps, and to renounce his rank and his rights as army commander, putting himself at the head of his Prussians.[50] The advance of the Army of the North towards Leipzig had been slow, purportedly because Bernadotte had received word that Napoleon planned a renewed attack towards Berlin after his marshals' failure to take the city in the battles of Großbeeren and Dennewitz.[51]

French soldiers in skirmish with Bashkirs and Cossacks

General Platov's Russian heavy artillery began to fire on the Saxons around Paunsdorf. Langeron placed pontoon bridges over the Parthe River and a flying bridge via Mockau. Large masses of troops had now moved to the east bank of the river. Meanwhile, Russian and Austrian forces began attacking French and Saxon positions in Paunsdorf, but after counterattacks by French infantry and deadly canister shots from Franco-Saxon batteries, were driven back. After their withdrawal, the Allied troops were pursued by French infantry before being counterattacked by Austrian hussar cavalry, in turn driving the French back. The town itself was still held by five Franco-Saxon battalions. Captain Bogue of the British Rocket Brigade, advanced with his unit and began firing Congreve rockets into the town, causing the defenders to fall back in disorder. Bogue, seizing the moment, charged at the head of his escort squadron of cavalry. This small force was in turn being driven out of Paunsdorf, but a barrage of rockets fired in close support[52] again caused the French troops to break ranks.[53] The French fell back to Sellerhausen pursued by two Prussian battalions, while the Rocket Brigade formed on the left of a Russian battery and began firing on the retreating columns, causing near-panic. At this time, Captain Bogue was shot in the head and killed by a skirmisher.[52] Shortly after, the reserve French Young and Old Guard drove the Allies out of Paunsdorf again, but eventually Ney judged the position untenable and ordered a withdrawal.[49][54]

More heavy fighting occurred in Schönefeld. Allied troops repeatedly assaulted French positions there, but were forced back. French infantry attacks on Allied positions produced similar results. Repeated assaults by Russian musketeers and grenadiers under Langeron finally drove the French out of Schönefeld. The heavy fighting in Paunsdorf and Schönefeld set both villages on fire.[49]

Swedish troops assaulting Leipzig

In the meantime, at the behest of his officers, who felt embarrassed that they had not participated in the battle, Bernadotte gave the order for his light infantry to participate in the final assault on Leipzig itself. The Swedish jägers performed very well,[49] losing only 35 men dead and 173 wounded while capturing 647 French prisoners.[55][56]

On the western front, the French IV Corps under Bertrand finally drove the Austrian III Corps under Gyulay away from Lindenau.[49] This broke the encirclement which the Allied forces earlier had made against the Grande Armée, clearing the way for its retreat which would take place later the next day.[49]

During the fighting, 5,400 Saxons of General Reynier's VII Corps defected to the Coalition, specifically Bernadotte's Army of the North due to the esteem the Saxons had for the former French marshal. Four years prior, Bernadotte, while still a Marshal of the Empire, had commanded the wholly Saxon IX Corps during the Battle of Wagram where his mild and courteous behavior toward them in the weeks prior, along with a controversial Order of the Day praising their courage after the battle, greatly endeared Bernadotte to them.[57][49] At first, French officers saw the Saxons' rushing towards the advancing Prussians as a charge, but treachery became evident as they saw the Saxons asking the Prussians to join with them for the impending assault. Reynier himself witnessed this, and he rallied the remaining Saxons at his disposal, but to no avail, because Württemberg's cavalry also deserted from the French, forcing the French line in Paunsdorf to fall back.

The battle during the day of 18 October was one of attrition. French troops held on to their respective positions, but were steadily being worn out and depleted by fierce and intensifying Allied attacks throughout the day. The French artillery had only 20,000 rounds left.[58] Later that night, Napoleon was treating the battle as a lost cause.[59] At this time, he promoted Poniatowski to the rank of Maréchal d'Empire, the only foreigner of all his marshals who was given this title, and the latter swore that he would fight to the last stand, which he did.[60] After this, the emperor began to stage the retreat for the Grande Armée westward across the White Elster River.[59]

During the night the French army had been ordered to withdraw silently from Connewitz, Probstheida, Stotteritz, Volkmansdorf, and Reudnitz, all to cross the river via Leipzig and the single bridge in the river. Those in Lindenau were to move to Weissenfels. Weak rear guards occupied the villages in order to conceal the retreat, and support troops were placed in the outer suburbs by the wind mills and near the walls of the city. The garden and cemetery walls by the Grimma Gate were pierced with loopholes as well as the gates themselves. Skirmishers were posted in the farm houses, in the brush, in the parks, and everywhere possible. Leipzig was to be occupied by Reynier's VII Corps, Poniatowski's VIII Corps and MacDonald's XI Corps.[59] They were ordered to hold it for a day or a bit longer, in order to allow the rest of the army, its artillery, and its equipment sufficient time to evacuate. The Allied cavalry advance posts were ordered to attack without relief the French advanced posts during the night to determine whether or not the French were attempting to withdraw. However, they failed to realize that the French were, in fact, pulling out from the battle area. Therefore, the evacuation continued throughout the night.[61]

Napoleon's retreat on 19 October 1813, showing the explosion of the bridge

The Allies had only learned of the French evacuation at 7:00 on the morning of the 19 October.[59] Soon thereafter between 8:00–9:00 am they launched a full-scale assault from the north, south, and east against the retreating French. But they were held up in Leipzig because of a ferocious street-to-street rearguard action fought by Marshal Oudinot's 30,000 troops.[59] As the Russians and Prussians entered the city through the Halle and Grimma gates they fell upon barricades and houses full of French soldiers. Civilians were forced into hiding as the bloody urban combat raged throughout the city.[62]

Napoleon's disorganized retreat continued until early afternoon when General Dulauloy, tasked with destroying the only bridge over the Elster, delegated the task to Colonel Montfort.[59] The colonel then passed this responsibility to a corporal, who was unaware of the carefully planned time schedule.[59] The corporal ignited the fuses at 1:00 in the afternoon while the bridge was still crowded with retreating French troops and Oudinot's rearguard was still in Leipzig.[59] The explosion and subsequent panic caused a rout that resulted in the deaths of thousands of French troops and the capture of 30,000 others.[63] Both Oudinot and MacDonald managed to swim their way across but Poniatowski, hampered by his wounds, was one of the many who drowned while attempting to cross the river.[58]