Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations
    Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations
    Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations
    Ebook249 pages2 hours

    Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations

    By Peter Hofschröer

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A fully-illustrated and detailed account of this crucial moment of conflict, from origins to the battlefield today.

    The battle of Leipzig was, in terms of the number of combatants involved, the largest engagement of the entire Napoleonic Wars. It was the only battle of the wars in which all Allied armies (including even the Swedes) fielded troops against Napoleon. Peter Hofschroer looks at the run-up to this crucial encounter as well as the battle itself.

    A wealth of background information is chronicled, including the strategies of both sides and detailed information on each of the combatant forces. The numerous battles leading up to Leipzig are also discussed, providing a fascinating and illuminating overview of the whole campaign.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMar 20, 2012
    ISBN9781780965291
    Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations
    Author

    Peter Hofschröer

    Peter Hofschroer is a recognised expert on the German campaigns of the Napoleonic wars and the Prussian army in particular.

    Read more from Peter Hofschröer

    Related to Leipzig 1813

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Great Battles FRIEDLAND

      May 17, 2018

      Great Battles FRIEDLAND
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Austerlitz

      Feb 28, 2020

      Austerlitz
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Eylau

      Nov 28, 2019

      Eylau
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Königgrätz

      Oct 31, 2019

      Königgrätz
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Battle Of Rocroi

      Jul 15, 2021

      Battle Of Rocroi
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Duel Of Eagles

      Feb 28, 2020

      Duel Of Eagles
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      War Of The Austrian Succession

      Nov 27, 2017

      War Of The Austrian Succession
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      ‘Ablest Soldier Of His Age’

      Oct 27, 2020

      ‘Ablest Soldier Of His Age’
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Battle Of Eylau

      Nov 28, 2019

      Battle Of Eylau
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Book Reviews

      Nov 7, 2021

      Vol 2: The French Army 1870 By Robert J Marrion & Steve Shann ISBN: 978-1858185774 (Partizan Press, 2021) – £35.00 Thanks to the recent Perry releases, I’ve been painting miniatures for Franco Prussian War games, and now I have a uniform guide for th

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Lee’s Last Gamble

      Jan 9, 2024

      Lee’s Last Gamble
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      5 Best Books On Waterloo

      Oct 4, 2018

      Many books were released for the bicentennial of Waterloo, but few were as clearly written and as challenging as Glover’s monograph. Highlighting many myths about the battle, the author provides convincing evidence to support his version of the event

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack

      Sep 7, 2021

      An Almost-perfect Surprise Attack
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Battle For Hougoumont

      Apr 14, 2018

      The Battle For Hougoumont
      16 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Battle Of Königgrätz

      Jun 17, 2021

      Battle Of Königgrätz
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Japan’s Trafalgar

      Nov 23, 2021

      Japan’s Trafalgar
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Battle Of Malakoff

      Nov 25, 2021

      Battle Of Malakoff
      12 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Flashback

      Apr 12, 2022

      Flashback
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      America’s Zouaves

      Mar 17, 2022

      America’s Zouaves
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Battle Famous : Turckheim

      Oct 31, 2019

      Battle Famous : Turckheim
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Luftwaffe And Top Billing

      Jun 3, 2022

      When it comes to desirability in collector circles, the Luftwaffe (LW) may take top billing. Which is interesting, for Kriegsmarine material is scarcer, Waffen-SS both rare and notorious. Heer mementos are lots more plentiful, but too often deemed “c

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Second Battle Of Artois

      Dec 1, 2022

      Second Battle Of Artois
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sepoy

      Feb 23, 2023

      Sepoy
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Kulikovo

      Dec 23, 2021

      Kulikovo
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Order Of March

      Apr 13, 2021

      Order Of March
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Battle of Rocroi

      Feb 28, 2020

      The Battle of Rocroi
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Leipzig 1813

    4/5

    10 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book, like all others in this series, are designed to give the casual reader a quick and dirty guide to the campaign with some background information, contextual information, information on the military units and leaders involved as well as a step by step walkthrough of the major battles.It does all that. But note that it is only 96 pages. So, for the serious reader or student of military history it is just a decent starting point.It is beautifully illustrated, lots of pictures of the major players, the battle areas as they look today, 3-D maps of the battlefield. Unlike the Jena campaign book, the captions to the numerous pictures and photos add to the text. I found this one a little more approachable, but that could be attributed to having digested one of these already. All in all, this gave me a good, concise overview of the campaign and a scholarly bibliography to start with. To really understand this in anything more than a superficial manner, I am going to have to read a lot more. I am not sure when I am going to have time for that with the class requiring basically a book per week. We shall see. If I do get the chance to look at the Napoleonic battles in any depth, I might feel equipped to assess the accuracy and true usefulness of this book (and the one on Jena).

    Book preview

    Leipzig 1813 - Peter Hofschröer

    Campaign • 25

    Leipzig 1813

    The Battle of the Nations

    Peter Hofschröer

    Series editor Lee Johnson • Consultant editor David G Chandler

    CONTENTS

    INTRODUCTION

    THE OPPOSING ARMIES

    The French Army and its Allies • Training • The Russian Army • The Austrian Army • The Prussian Army

    The Swedish Army • The Anglo-German Forces • The Mecklenburg Contingent

    THE CAMPAIGN

    French Strategy • Allied Strategy • The Opening Moves • The Battle of Grossbeeren, 23 August 1813

    The Battle of Dresden, 26–27 August 1813 • The Battle on the Katzbach, 26 August 1813

    The Battle of Kulm, 29 and 30 August 1813 • The Battle of Dennewitz, 6 September 1813

    The Battle of Wartenburg, 3 October 1813 • The Road to Leipzig

    THE BATTLE OF LEIPZIG, 14–19 OCTOBER 1813

    The Cavalry Battle of Liebertwolkwitz, 14 October 1813 • The Situation on 16 October 1813

    The Battle of Wachau and Connewitz, 16 October 1813 • The Battle of Lindenau and Möckern, 16 October 1813

    Results of the Combats of 16 October 1813 • The Day of Decision, 18 October 1813 • The Battle for Leipzig, 19 October 1813

    THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY

    CHRONOLOGY

    A GUIDE TO FURTHER READING

    WARGAMING LEIPZIG

    INTRODUCTION

    The fact of the matter is that in October 1813, Napoleon met his real Waterloo at Leipzig. Those events in and around the city of Leipzig in Saxony amounted to the greatest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and resulted in the most devastating defeat suffered by the Emperor of the French. Not for nothing was this great clash of arms known as the ‘Battle of the Nations’. Approximately half a million men from most of the nations of Europe took part in this battle, and decided the fate of that continent for a generation and more. Moreover, in terms of numbers involved it was the greatest battle in history, until overshadowed by the global conflicts of this century. The events in the Low Countries in June 1815 were of lesser significance and the result of the Battle of Waterloo merely underlined the decision made by force of arms two years previously.

    Napoleon Bonaparte. His period of rule in Europe in the early 19th century was marked by a series of wars, the scale of which were unprecedented. Not to be forgotten however are the benefits this regime brought, particularly wide-scale reforms of administration throughout Europe. From a painting by David, drawn by Bourgeois and engraved by Bertrand.

    This brief outline of the Leipzig Campaign is written in the hope of stimulating the minds of those interested in the Wars of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire and awaken their interest in a battle that, thanks to the fateful events of autumn 1989 in which Leipzig again played a major role, is now open to the visitor from the West.

    The destruction of Napoleon’s Grande Armée of 1812 in Russia, which had been until then the largest force of arms ever assembled, was a blow that would have finished most mortals. For Napoleon it proved merely a temporary set-back. While the rest of Europe paused to consider how to fill the power vacuum that had occurred as a result of the retreat from Moscow in the sub-zero temperatures of the winter of 1812/13, Bonaparte returned to France and set about filling it. Within weeks he had a new army ready to take the field against the coalition of forces preparing to confront him.

    Meanwhile some of his reluctant allies had deserted him, notably Prussia, ruled by Frederick William III, the first to throw in his lot with Tsar Alexander of Russia. Austria, under Emperor Francis, sat on the fence and hesitated, waiting to take sides with whomever offered the best terms and prospects. ‘Perfidious Albion’ was behind the scenes everywhere, offering encouragement and golden guineas to whomever would risk his throne to overthrow the arch-enemy. The rulers of Germany’s smaller states were caught between popular discontent and a desire for self-preservation and loyalty to the man who had after all, made them a present of regal status. The lesser princes of Germany vacillated. Events soon forced them to make a decision and most considered loyalty to the Emperor of France expedient, at least for the time being.

    The Grande Armée returning from Russia at the beginning of 1813. This contemporary engraving showing the sorry state of the remnants of Napoleon’s largest army was produced by Geissler, a resident of Leipzig at that time and an eye-witness.

    A later painting showing an artistically more realistic impression of the Grande Armée of 1812 on its way home. Painting by Arthur Kampf.

    The armies of the King of Prussia and the Tsar of Russia took the field in the spring of 1813 against the hastily mobilized but highly motivated force of raw recruits fielded by France. Sweden, her Crown Prince a former Marshal of Napoleon’s, joined the war in favour of the Allies and hoped for territorial gain. It is possible that Sweden’s king-to-be even had a hankering for the crown of France. The other great European power, the Austrian Empire, awaited events. Vienna, as so often in her history, was a hotbed of spies and conspiracies.

    The first major clash of arms of this spring campaign came within a whisker of being the decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars. On 2 May 1813 a Prusso-Russian Army under the command of Kutusov’s successor, Wittgenstein, moved against the flank of the French Army marching towards Leipzig. Ney’s Corps was caught asleep around the village of Gross-Görschen. His command could have been wiped out, but a determined defence and the confusion that prevailed at Allied Headquarters saved him. The chance to defeat the French corps in detail as it marched up the road from Weissenfels to Leipzig was lost and the Allies, heavily outnumbered, were compelled to retire from that corpse-strewn field in Saxony, leaving the French claiming victory even though they failed to launch a pursuit of the Allies and had suffered twice the number of casualties.

    Gone was the opportunity for a Prusso-Russian alliance to defeat France unaided. The Prussian General Scharnhorst, wounded at Gross-Görschen, departed for Vienna in the hope of pushing the Austrians off their proverbial fence.

    The French now had the initiative, but their lack of cavalry caused by the enormous loss of horses suffered during the Russian campaign, meant that they could do little with it. Gross-Görschen (otherwise known as Lützen) was not an easy contest. It was clear that Napoleon, despite having the larger army, was not going to defeat this Prusso-Russian alliance with the relative ease of 1806–7.

    Napoleon planning a battle. This painting is an interesting indication of how the Napoleonic command system functioned. He is sitting alone making his plans. Orders are then given to the clerk on his left who transcribes them and passes them on to the aides in the background. The orders are then delivered to the various sub-commanders. Such a system worked well with the smaller armies Napoleon commanded in his earlier campaigns but by 1813 it was shown to be outdated. Napoleon’s system was simply too inflexible to cope with warfare on such a massive scale. Painting by Armand-Dumaresq.

    The second major battle of this campaign took place at Bautzen in Saxony on 21 and 22 May 1813. A total of 96,000 Prusso-Russian troops held their ground against more than 150,000 French before being compelled to retire into Silesia.

    Both sides had now exhausted themselves and needed time to take stock of the situation and bring up fresh forces. At Napoleon’s suggestion the protagonists agreed to an armistice which was eventually extended into August. The French, twice victorious on the field of battle, were too weak to make anything of their favourable position. The Allies, exhausted by these two battles and lacking the strength to offer a third, welcomed an opportunity to lick their wounds and recover. Their ability to take on a larger French force and not suffer a decisive defeat gave them the moral victory and increased the chances of Austria joining this coalition, which would shift the weight of numbers from the French side to the Allies.

    That summer Vienna was a hive of diplomatic activity. Austria joined the Allies and tipped the scales in their favour. Sweden put an army into northern Germany to assert her claims to a role in Europe, and the stage was set for the Campaign of Autumn 1813, for Leipzig, the Battle of the Nations, and one of the decisive battles in history.

    THE OPPOSING ARMIES

    The French Army and its Allies

    The Grande Armée of 600,000 men that went to Russia in 1812 was virtually entirely destroyed. The Viceroy of Italy, acting as Napoleon’s representative in Germany, was able to put together a holding force of 15,000 men, 1,600 horses and 28 cannon while Bonaparte, having returned to Paris on 18 December 1812, set about building a new army. He was fortunate in that he still had 20,000 officers and NCOs who would form the backbone of his new army. In his depots he had at least 10,000 men with a certain level of training. Then there were the 98 companies guarding French warships in their harbours, a total of about 7,000 men. The naval artillery regiments, some twelve battalions, provided him with 12,000 veterans and 4,000 new recruits from the class of 1812. The Municipal Guard of Paris (two battalions) and the Reserve Companies of the Départements (116 companies) provided another 4,050 trained men, and 3,000 men of the Gendarmerie were also available plus about 40,000 veterans of the Peninsula campaigns. Not counting the men already deployed in Germany, Napoleon had a total of approximately 100,000 trained men around whom he could form a new army. This task was to be his main objective during the coming weeks.

    Immediately to hand were the 78,000 men in the cohorts of the National Guard, a kind of para-military police force. These were young men between the ages of 20 and 27 who had not already served in the field. Having been called up in March 1812, they were already clothed and equipped in the same way as the line infantry. By the spring of 1813 they had one year’s service behind them and were transferred to the army to form 22 infantry regiments of four field battalions of six companies each and one depot battalion of four companies together with three artillery regiments each of 22 companies.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1