In what year did the Battle of Leipzig take place? Battle of the Nations near Leipzig (1813). Events after the battle

After the defeat in Russia and return to Paris, Napoleon developed vigorous activity to create a new army. It must be said that this was his peculiarity - during a crisis situation, Napoleon awakened enormous energy and efficiency. The Napoleon of the “model” of 1813 seemed better and younger than the emperor of 1811. In his letters sent to his allies, the monarchs of the Confederation of the Rhine, he reported that Russian reports should not be trusted; Of course, the Grand Army suffered losses, but remains a powerful force of 200 thousand soldiers. In addition, the empire has another 300 thousand soldiers in Spain. Nevertheless, he asked the allies to take measures to increase their troops.

In reality, in January Napoleon already knew that the Grand Army was no more. The chief of staff, Marshal Berthier, told him briefly and clearly: “The army no longer exists.” Of the half a million people who marched across the Neman six months ago, few returned. However, Napoleon was able to form a new army in just a few weeks: by the beginning of 1813, he gathered 500 thousand soldiers under his banner. True, France was depopulated; they took not only men, but also young men. On April 15, the French emperor went to the location of the troops. In the spring of 1813 there was still an opportunity to make peace. The Austrian diplomat Metternich persistently offered his mediation in achieving peace. And peace, in principle, was possible. Petersburg, Vienna and Berlin were ready for negotiations. However, Napoleon makes another fatal mistake - he does not want to make concessions. Still confident in his talent and the power of the French army, the emperor was convinced of victory. Napoleon hoped for a brilliant revenge already on the fields of Central Europe. He has not yet realized that defeat in Russia is the end of his dream of a pan-European empire. The terrible blow struck in Russia was heard in Sweden, Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain. In fact, a turning point in European politics came - Napoleon was forced to fight with most of Europe. The armies of the sixth anti-French coalition opposed him. His defeat was a foregone conclusion.

Initially, Napoleon still won victories. The authority of his name and the French army was so great that the commanders of the sixth coalition lost even those battles that could have been won. On April 16 (28), 1813, death overtook the great Russian commander, hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov. He actually died in combat. The whole country mourned his death. Pyotr Christianovich Wittgenstein was appointed to the post of commander-in-chief of the Russian army. On May 2, 1813, the Battle of Lützen took place. Wittgenstein, initially having a numerical advantage over Ney's corps, acted indecisively. As a result, he dragged out the battle, and Napoleon was able to quickly concentrate his forces and launch a counteroffensive. The Russian-Prussian troops were defeated and were forced to retreat. Napoleon's forces reoccupied all of Saxony. On May 20-21, 1813, at the Battle of Bautzen, Wittgenstein's army was again defeated. The superiority of Napoleon's military genius over Wittgenstein was undeniable. At the same time, his army suffered greater losses in both battles than Russian and Prussian troops. On May 25, Alexander I replaced Commander-in-Chief P. Wittgenstein with the more experienced and senior Michael Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon entered Breslau. The Allies were forced to offer a truce. Napoleon's army also needed rest, the supply of the French troops was unsatisfactory, and he willingly agreed to a ceasefire. On June 4, a truce was concluded.

The war resumed on August 11, but with a significant superiority in strength among the allies, who were joined by Austria and Sweden (they were promised Danish Norway). In addition, in mid-June London pledged to support Russia and Prussia with significant subsidies to continue the war. The commander-in-chief of the allied armies was the Austrian field marshal Karl Schwarzenberg. On August 14-15 (26-27), 1813, the battle of Dresden took place. Schwarzenberg's Bohemian army had a numerical advantage, he had significant reserves, but showed indecision, allowing Napoleon to seize the initiative. The two-day battle ended in heavy defeat for the allied forces, who lost 20-28 thousand people. The Austrian army suffered the greatest losses. The Allies were forced to retreat to the Ore Mountains. True, during the retreat, the allied forces destroyed the French corps of Vandam in the battle of August 29-30 near Kulm.

It should be noted that Wittgenstein and Schwarzenberg suffered defeats from Napoleon not only as a result of their mistakes. They were often not absolute commanders in the army, like Napoleon. Important people frequented the commander-in-chief's headquarters in anticipation of glory from the victory over the French ruler - Emperor Alexander, Grand Duke Constantine, Frederick William III, Franz I. All of them were military men and believed that the army could not do without “smart” advice. Together with them, a whole court of their advisers, generals, etc. arrived at headquarters. The headquarters was turned almost into a court salon.

The victories at Lützen, Bautzen and Dresden only strengthened Napoleon's faith in his star. He believed in his military superiority, underestimated the forces opposing him, and incorrectly assessed the fighting qualities of the enemy armies. It is clear that Wittgenstein and Schwarzenberg, as commanders, were much inferior to Napoleon, and the monarchs hostile to him understood even less in military strategy and tactics. However, Napoleon did not notice that new victories led to different consequences, for example, the victories at Austerlitz and Jena. The beaten Allied army only grew stronger after each defeat. The number of his enemies, their strength and determination to fight to a victorious end grew. Previously, victory in a decisive battle crushed the enemy army, the spirit of the country's political leadership, and predetermined the outcome of the campaign. The armies that fought with Napoleon's troops became different. In fact, Napoleon ceased to be a strategist in 1813, continuing to successfully resolve operational issues. His fatal mistake finally became clear after the so-called. "Battles of Nations".

September 1813 passed without significant battles, with the exception of another unsuccessful campaign of the French army under Marshal Ney to Berlin. At the same time, the position of the French army was deteriorating: a series of minor defeats, grueling marches and poor supplies led to significant losses. According to the German historian F. Mehring, in August and September the French emperor lost 180 thousand soldiers, mainly from disease and desertion.

At the beginning of October, the allied forces, strengthened by fresh reinforcements, went on the offensive against Napoleon, who held strong positions around Dresden. The troops were going to push his troops out of there with a wide outflanking maneuver from two sides at once. The Silesian Russian-Prussian army of Field Marshal Blucher (54-60 thousand soldiers, 315 guns) bypassed Dresden from the north and crossed the river. Elbe north of Leipzig. The Northern Prussian-Russian-Swedish army of Crown Prince Bernadotte (58-85 thousand people, 256 guns) also joined it. The Bohemian Austro-Russian-Prussian army of Field Marshal Schwarzenberg (133 thousand, 578 guns) left Bohemia, bypassed Dresden from the south and also moved towards Leipzig, going behind enemy lines. The theater of military operations moved to the left bank of the Elbe. In addition, already during the battle, the Polish Russian Army of General Bennigsen (46 thousand soldiers, 162 guns) and the 1st Austrian Corps Colloredo (8 thousand people, 24 guns) arrived. In total, the allied forces ranged from 200 thousand (October 16) to 310-350 thousand people (October 18) with 1350-1460 guns. The commander-in-chief of the allied armies was the Austrian field marshal K. Schwarzenber, he was subordinate to the advice of three monarchs. The Russian forces were led by Barclay de Tolly, although Alexander regularly intervened.

The French emperor, leaving a strong garrison in Dresden and setting up a barrier against the Bohemian army of Schwarzenberg, moved troops to Leipzig, where he first wanted to defeat the armies of Blucher and Bernadotte. However, they avoided battle, and Napoleon had to deal with all the allied armies at the same time. Near Leipzig, the French ruler had 9 infantry corps (about 120 thousand bayonets and sabers), the Imperial Guard (3 infantry corps, a cavalry corps and an artillery reserve, up to 42 thousand people in total), 5 cavalry corps (up to 24 thousand) and the Leipzig garrison (about 4 thousand soldiers). In total, Napoleon had approximately 160-210 thousand bayonets and sabers, with 630-700 guns.

Location of forces. On October 15, the French emperor deployed his forces around Leipzig. Moreover, most of his army (about 110 thousand people) was located south of the city along the Pleise River, from Connewitz to the village of Markleiberg, then further east through the villages of Wachau and Liebertwolkwitz to Holzhausen. 12 thousand General Bertrand's corps at Lindenau covered the road to the west. Units of Marshals Marmont and Ney (50 thousand soldiers) were stationed in the north.

By this time, the Allied armies had about 200 thousand bayonets and sabers in stock. Bennigsen's Polish army, Bernadotte's Northern army and Colloredo's Austrian corps were just arriving at the battlefield. Thus, at the beginning of the battle, the Allies had a slight numerical superiority. According to the plan of Commander-in-Chief Karl Schwarzenberg, the main part of the Allied forces was supposed to overcome the French resistance near Connewitz, pass through the swampy lowland between the Weisse-Elster and Pleisse rivers, bypass the enemy’s right flank and cut the shortest western road to Leipzig. About 20 thousand soldiers under the leadership of the Austrian Marshal Giulai were to attack the western suburb of Leipzig, Lindenau, and Field Marshal Blücher was to attack the city from the north, from Schkeuditz.

After objections from the Russian emperor, who pointed out the difficulty of moving through such territory (rivers, swampy lowlands), the plan was slightly changed. To implement his plan, Schwarzenberg received only 35 thousand Austrians. The 4th Austrian corps of Klenau, the Russian forces of General Wittgenstein and the Prussian corps of Field Marshal Kleist, under the general leadership of General Barclay de Tolly, were to attack the enemy head-on from the southeast. As a result, the Bohemian army was divided by rivers and swamps into 3 parts: in the west - the Austrians of Giulai, the second part of the Austrian army attacked in the south between the Weisse-Elster and Pleisse rivers, and the rest of the troops under the command of the Russian general Barclay de Tolly - in the southeast.

October 16. At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the Russian-Prussian forces of General Barclay de Tolly opened artillery fire on the enemy. Then the vanguard units went on the attack. Russian and Prussian forces under the command of Field Marshal Kleist occupied the village of Markleyberg around 9.30, which was defended by Marshals Augereau and Poniatowski. The enemy drove the Russian-Prussian troops out of the village four times, and four times the allies again took the village by storm.

The village of Wachau, located to the east, where units were stationed under the command of the French Emperor Napoleon himself, was also taken by the Russian-Prussians under the overall command of Duke Eugene of Württemberg. True, due to losses from enemy artillery shelling, the village was abandoned by noon.

Russian-Prussian forces under the overall command of General Andrei Gorchakov and Klenau's 4th Austrian Corps attacked the village of Liebertwolkwitz, which was defended by the infantry corps of Lauriston and MacDonald. After a fierce battle for every street, the village was captured, but both sides suffered significant losses. After reserves approached the French, the allies were forced to leave the village by 11 o'clock. As a result, the Allied offensive was unsuccessful, and the entire front of the anti-French forces was so weakened by the battle that they were forced to defend their original positions. The offensive of the Austrian troops against Connewitz also did not bring success, and in the afternoon Karl Schwarzenberg sent an Austrian corps to help Barclay de Tolly.

Napoleon decides to launch a counteroffensive. At approximately 3 o'clock in the afternoon, up to 10 thousand French cavalrymen under the command of Marshal Murat made an attempt to break through the central positions of the Allies near the village of Wachau. Their attack was prepared by an artillery attack from 160 guns. Murat's cuirassiers and dragoons crushed the Russian-Prussian line, overthrew the Guards Cavalry Division and broke through the Allied center. Napoleon even considered that the battle was won. The French cavalrymen managed to break through to the hill on which the allied monarchs and Field Marshal Schwarzenberg were located, but were driven back thanks to a counterattack by the Life Guards Cossack Regiment under the command of Colonel Ivan Efremov. The Russian Emperor Alexander, realizing earlier than others that a critical moment had arrived in the battle, ordered the Sukhozanet battery, Raevsky's division and the Prussian Kleist brigade to be thrown into battle. The offensive of the 5th French Infantry Corps of General Jacques Lauriston on Guldengossa also ended in failure. Schwarzenberg transferred reserve units to this position under the leadership of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich.

The offensive of the forces of the Austrian Marshal Giulai (Gyulay) on Lidenau was also repelled by the French General Bertrand. Blucher's Silesian Army achieved serious success: without waiting for the approach of the Northern Army of the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte (he hesitated, trying to save his forces to capture Norway), the Prussian field marshal gave the order to launch an offensive. Near the villages of Wiederitz and Mökern, his units encountered fierce enemy resistance. Thus, the Polish general Jan Dombrowski, who was defending Wiederitz, held his position all day, fighting off Russian troops under the command of General Langeron. 20 thousand The corps of the Prussian general York, after a series of attacks, captured Mökern, which was defended by Marmont’s corps. The Prussians showed great courage in this battle. Blucher's army broke through the front of the French troops north of Leipzig.

The first day did not reveal any winners. However, the battle was very fierce and losses on both sides were significant. On the night of October 16-17, fresh armies of Bernadotte and Bennigsen approached Leipzig. The Allied forces had an almost double numerical advantage over the forces of the French Emperor.

Position of troops on October 16, 1813.

17 October. There were no significant battles on October 17; both sides collected the wounded and buried the dead. Only in the northern direction, the army of Field Marshal Blucher took the villages of Oitritzsch and Golis, coming close to the city. Napoleon pulled his troops closer to Leipzig, but did not leave. He hoped to conclude a truce, and he also counted on the diplomatic support of his “relative” - the Austrian emperor. Through the Austrian general Merfeld, who was captured at Connewitz, late at night on October 16, Napoleon conveyed his truce terms to the enemies. However, they didn’t even answer.

October 18. At 7 a.m., Commander-in-Chief Karl Schwarzenberg gave the order to go on the offensive. The French troops fought desperately, villages changed hands several times, they fought for every street, every house, every inch of land. So, on the left flank of the French, Russian soldiers under the command of Langeron captured the village of Shelfeld from the third attack, after a terrible hand-to-hand fight. However, reinforcements sent by Marshal Marmont drove the Russians out of their position. A particularly fierce battle raged near the village of Probstheid, in the center of the French positions. By 15:00 the corps of General Kleist and General Gorchakov were able to break into the village and began to capture one house after another. Then the Old Guard and the Guards artillery of General Drouot (about 150 guns) were thrown into the battle. French troops drove the allies out of the village and attacked the main forces of the Austrians. Under the blows of the Napoleonic guard, the allied lines “crackled.” The French advance was stopped by artillery fire. In addition, Napoleon was betrayed by the Saxon division, and then by the Württemberg and Baden units.

The fierce battle continued until nightfall, the French troops held all the main key positions, but in the north and east the Allies came close to the city. The French artillery used up almost all its ammunition. Napoleon gave the order to retreat. Troops under the command of Macdonald, Ney and Lauriston remained in the city to cover the retreat. The retreating French army had only one road to Weißenfels at its disposal.

Position of troops on October 18, 1813.

October 19. The Allies planned to continue the battle to force the French to surrender. Reasonable proposals from the Russian sovereign to cross the Pleise River and Prussian Field Marshal Blücher to allocate 20 thousand cavalry to pursue the enemy were rejected. At dawn, realizing that the enemy had cleared the battlefield, the Allies moved towards Leipzig. The city was defended by soldiers of Poniatowski and MacDonald. Loopholes were made in the walls, arrows were scattered and guns were placed on the streets, among the trees and gardens. Napoleon's soldiers fought desperately, the battle was bloody. Only by the middle of the day did the Allies manage to take possession of the outskirts, knocking out the French from there with bayonet attacks. During the confusion surrounding the hasty retreat, sappers blew up the Elsterbrücke Bridge, located in front of the Randstadt Gate. At this time, about 20-30 thousand soldiers of MacDonald, Poniatowski and General Lauriston still remained in the city. Panic began, Marshal Jozef Poniatowski tried to organize a counterattack and an organized retreat, was wounded twice and drowned in the river. General Lauriston was captured, Macdonald barely escaped death by swimming across the river, and thousands of French were captured.

Battle of Grimm's Gate on October 19, 1813. Ernst Wilhelm Strasberger.

Results of the battle

The Allied victory was complete and had pan-European significance. Napoleon's new army was completely defeated, the second campaign in a row (1812 and 1813) ended in defeat. Napoleon took the remnants of the army to France. Saxony and Bavaria went over to the side of the Allies, and the Rhineland Union of German states, which was subject to Paris, collapsed. By the end of the year, almost all the French garrisons in Germany capitulated, so Marshal Saint-Cyr surrendered Dresden. Napoleon was left alone against almost all of Europe.

The French army lost approximately 70-80 thousand people near Leipzig, of which approximately 40 thousand were killed and wounded, 15 thousand prisoners, another 15 thousand were captured in hospitals, up to 5 thousand Saxons and other German soldiers surrendered.

The losses of the allied armies amounted to 54 thousand killed and wounded, of which about 23 thousand Russians, 16 thousand Prussians, 15 thousand Austrians and only 180 Swedes.

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For four days, from October 16 to 19, 1813, a grandiose battle, later called the Battle of the Nations, unfolded on a field near Leipzig. It was at that moment that the fate of the empire of the great Corsican Napoleon Bonaparte, who had just returned from an unsuccessful eastern campaign, was being decided.

If the Guinness Book of Records existed 200 years ago, the peoples of Leipzig would have been included in it according to four indicators at once: as the most massive battle, the longest in time, the most multinational and the most overloaded with monarchs. The last three indicators, by the way, have not yet been beaten.

Fateful decision

The catastrophic results of the 1812 campaign did not yet mean the collapse of the Napoleonic empire. Having placed young conscripts under arms early and assembled a new army, Bonaparte in the spring of 1813 launched a series of counterattacks on the Russians and their allies, restoring control over most of Germany.

However, by concluding the Pleswitz Truce, he lost time, and after its end, the anti-Napoleonic coalition was replenished with Austria and Sweden. In Germany, Bonaparte's strongest ally remained Saxony, whose king, Frederick Augustus I, was also the ruler of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw recreated on the ruins of Poland.

To protect the Saxon capital of Dresden, the French emperor allocated the corps of Marshal Saint-Cyr, he sent the corps of Marshal Oudinot to Berlin, and MacDonald's corps moved east to protect himself from the Prussians. This dispersion of forces was alarming. Marshal Marmont expressed the fear that on the day when Napoleon won one major battle, the French would lose two. And I was not mistaken.

On August 23, the Allied Northern Army defeated Oudinot at Grosberen, and on September 6 defeated Ney, who replaced him, at Dennewitz. On August 26, Blücher's Silesian army defeated Macdonald at Katzbach. True, Napoleon himself on August 27 defeated the main Bohemian army of Prince Schwarzenberg, which inadvertently approached Dresden. But on August 30, the retreating Bohemian army at Kulm smashed Vandam’s corps that turned up under its feet. The Allied command decided to refrain from fighting Napoleon himself, but to destroy large formations that had separated from his main forces. When this strategy began to produce results, Napoleon decided that he should impose a general battle on the enemy at any cost.

Executing bizarre pirouettes of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers, Bonaparte and the Allied armies from different sides were approaching the point where the fate of the campaign was to be decided. And this point was the second largest city in Saxony, Leipzig.

Two steps away from victory

Having concentrated his main forces south and east of Dresden, Bonaparte hoped to attack the enemy’s right flank. His troops stretched along the Plaise River. Bertrand's corps (12 thousand) stood at Lindenau in case the so-called Polish Army of Bennigsen appeared from the west. The troops of Marshals Marmont and Ney (50 thousand) were responsible for the defense of Leipzig itself and were supposed to repel Blucher’s offensive in the north.

On October 16, already at 8 o’clock in the morning, the Russian corps of Eugene of Württemberg attacked the French at Wachau, which ruined Napoleon’s entire plan. Instead of the destruction of the Allied right flank, the fiercest fighting broke out in the center. At the same time, the Austrian corps of Giulai became more active in the north-west, completely absorbing the attention of Marmont and Ney.

At about 11 o'clock Napoleon had to throw into battle the entire young guard and one division of the old one. For a moment, it seemed that he managed to turn the tide. A “large battery” of 160 guns brought down on the Allied center “a barrage of artillery fire unheard of in the history of wars in its concentration,” as Russian general Ivan Dibich wrote about it.

Then 10 thousand of Murat’s cavalry rushed into battle. At Meisdorf, his horsemen rushed to the very foot of the hill, on which was the headquarters of the allies, including two emperors (Russian and Austrian) and the King of Prussia. But even those still had “trump cards” in their hands.

Alexander I, having calmed his fellow crown-bearers, advanced the 100-gun battery of Sukhozanet, Raevsky’s corps, Kleist’s brigade and the Life Cossacks of his personal convoy to the threatened area. Napoleon, in turn, decided to use the entire Old Guard, but his attention was diverted by the attack of Merfeld's Austrian corps on the right flank. That’s where the “old grumps” went. They crushed the Austrians and even captured Merfeld himself. But time was lost.

October 17 was a day of reflection for Napoleon, and unpleasant reflections at that. In the north, the Silesian army captured two villages and was clearly going to play the role of a “hammer” the next day, which, having fallen on the French, would crush them to the “anvil” of the Bohemian army. What was even worse was that by the 18th the Northern and Polish armies were supposed to arrive on the battlefield. Bonaparte could only retreat to a sealed retreat, leading his troops through Leipzig and then transporting them across the Elster River. But he needed another day to organize such a maneuver.

Betrayal and fatal mistake

On October 18, with the forces of all four of their armies, the Allies hoped to launch six coordinated attacks and encircle Napoleon in Leipzig itself. It didn't all start out very smoothly. The commander of the Polish units of Napoleonic army, Józef Poniatowski, successfully held the line along the Plaise River. Blücher was essentially marking time, not receiving timely support from Bernadotte, who was taking care of his Swedes.

Everything changed with the advent of Bennigsen's Polish Army. Paskevich’s 26th Division, which was part of it, initially formed a reserve, ceding the right of the first attack to Klenau’s Austrian corps. Paskevich subsequently spoke very sarcastically about the actions of the allies. First, the Austrians marched past his troops in even ranks, with their officers shouting to the Russians something like: “We will show you how to fight.” However, after several grape shots, they turned back and again returned in orderly ranks. “We carried out an attack,” they said proudly, and they no longer wanted to go into the fire.

The appearance of Bernadotte was the final point. Immediately after this, the Saxon division, Württemberg cavalry and Baden infantry went over to the Allied side. In the figurative expression of Dmitry Merezhkovsky, “a terrible emptiness gaped in the center of the French army, as if the heart had been torn out of it.” This is said too strongly, since the total number of defectors could hardly exceed 5-7 thousand, but Bonaparte really had nothing to bridge the gaps that had formed.

Early on the morning of October 19, Napoleon's units began to retreat through Leipzig to the only bridge over the Elster. Most of the troops had already crossed when, around one o'clock in the afternoon, the mined bridge suddenly blew up. The 30,000-strong French rearguard had to either die or surrender.

The reason for the premature explosion of the bridge was the excessive timidity of the French sappers, who heard the heroic “hurray!” soldiers of that same Paskevich division burst into Leipzig. Subsequently, he complained: they say that the next night “the soldiers did not let us sleep, they pulled the French out of Elster shouting: “They caught a big sturgeon.” These were drowned officers on whom money, watches, etc. were found.”

Napoleon with the remnants of his troops retreated to French territory in order to continue and finally lose the fight the following year, which was no longer possible to win.

This is how Colonel of the Prussian General Staff Baron Müfling called the historical battle (October 16-19, 1813) near Leipzig. After the end of the battle, Colonel Müfling fell to write the corresponding report of the Prussian general staff, dated October 19, 1813. And in this report he used words that, according to the testimony of his entourage, he had already spoken earlier, on the eve of the battle. He, in particular, wrote: “So the four-day battle of nations near Leipzig decided the fate of the world.”

The report immediately became widely known, which determined the fate of the expression “battle of the nations.”

THE RUSSIAN GUARDS STOKED VICTORY FROM NAPOLEON

In October 1813, the united army of the Sixth Coalition approached Leipzig, numbering over 300 thousand people (127 thousand Russians; 90 thousand Austrian; 72 thousand Prussian and 18 thousand Swedish troops) with 1385 guns.

Napoleon was able to field approx. 200 thousand, which, in addition to the French troops, included Italian, Belgian, Dutch, Polish units under the command of the Napoleonic marshal and nephew of the Polish king Stanislaw August, Prince Jozef Poniatowski, military units of the states of the Confederation of the Rhine and the troops of Frederick I of Württemberg. The artillery of Napoleonic army consisted of over 700 guns. ...

On October 4 (16), the allied Bohemian Army of Schwarzenberg, consisting of 84 thousand under the command of the Russian general M. Barclay de Tolly, began an offensive on the main direction along the Wachau-Liebertvolkwitz front. Napoleon deployed 120 thousand people against the advancing allied forces. After a massive artillery barrage and fierce fighting, by 15:00 the French cavalry had overthrown the Allied infantry columns. Barclay de Tolly covered the resulting frontal gap with units of the Russian Guard and grenadiers from the reserve of the Bohemian Army, which, in essence, snatched victory from Napoleon’s hands. Despite the obvious success of the battle on October 4 (16), the French troops did not manage to defeat the troops of the Bohemian Army before the arrival of Allied reinforcements.

On the afternoon of October 4 (16), the Silesian Army advanced north of Leipzig under the command of Prussian Field Marshal G. Blücher, consisting of 39 thousand Prussian and 22 thousand Russian troops with 315 guns and forced the French troops to withdraw from the Meckern - Wiederich line.

Combat losses on the first day of the battle were enormous and amounted to approx. 30 thousand people on each side.

By the night of October 4 (16), two allied armies advanced into the combat area: the Northern, under the command of the Swedish Crown Prince Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte (the future King of Sweden Charles XIV Johan) consisting of 20 thousand Russians, 20 thousand Prussians and 18 thousand Swedish troops with 256 guns, and the Polish army of the Russian general L. Bennigsen consisting of 30 thousand Russian and 24 thousand Prussian troops with 186 guns. French reinforcements amounted to only 25 thousand people.

On October 5 (17), Napoleon, assessing the current situation not in his favor, turned to the leadership of the Allies with a proposal for peace, but there was no response to this. The entire day of October 5 (17) was spent evacuating the wounded and preparing both warring sides for the decisive battle.

On the morning of October 6 (18), the allied forces went on the offensive along the entire front in the southern, eastern and northern directions. The French army stubbornly held its position throughout the day in a fierce battle against overwhelming advancing Allied forces.

Heavy fighting continued throughout the next day. In the midst of the battle, the Saxon corps, which fought on the side of the French army, went over to the Allied side and turned its guns against Napoleonic troops. By the night of October 7 (19), Napoleon was forced to give the order to retreat through Lindenau, west of Leipzig.

FEAT OF THE INDIGENOUS GRENADIER

Babaev P.I. The feat of the grenadier of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment Leonty Korenny in the battle of Leipzig in 1813. 1846

The painting is dedicated to famous events in Russian history - the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The main character of the painting is the grenadier of the third grenadier company of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, Leonty Korenny. In 1812, for his courage in the Battle of Borodino, L. Korennaya was awarded the insignia of the Military Order of St. George. The feat that served as the subject for Babaev’s painting was accomplished by L. Korenny a year later - in the battle of Leipzig. At one point in the battle, a group of officers and soldiers was surrounded by superior French forces. L. Korennaya and several grenadiers decided to give the commander and wounded officers the opportunity to retreat and thereby save their lives, while they continued the battle. The forces were not equal, all of L. Korenny’s comrades died. Fighting alone, the grenadier received 18 wounds and was captured by the enemy.

Napoleon, having learned about the feat of L. Korenny, met with him personally, after which he issued an order in which he set L. Korenny as an example to his soldiers, calling him a hero, a model for French soldiers. After the soldier recovered, he was released to his homeland by Napoleon’s personal order. In his native regiment, for his courage, Korenny was promoted to ensign and became the regiment's standard bearer. He was also awarded a special silver medal around his neck with the inscription “For love of the Fatherland.” Later, Korenny’s bravery was imprinted on revolvers (in the form of gilded decorations), which were awarded to officers who distinguished themselves during the Crimean War during the defense of Sevastopol. The feat of L. Korennoy became widely known in Russia.

THE LARGEST BATTLE

In the four-day Battle of Leipzig, the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, both sides suffered heavy losses.

The French army, according to various estimates, lost 70-80 thousand soldiers, of which approximately 40 thousand were killed and wounded, 15 thousand prisoners, another 15 thousand captured in hospitals. Another 15-20 thousand German soldiers went over to the Allied side. It is known that Napoleon was able to bring only about 40 thousand soldiers back to France. 325 guns went to the Allies as a trophy.

Allied losses amounted to up to 54 thousand killed and wounded, of which up to 23 thousand Russians, 16 thousand Prussians, 15 thousand Austrians and 180 Swedes.

The decisive role in the victory of the allied armies was played by the actions of the Russian troops, who bore the brunt of the battle.

Temple-monument to Russian glory in Leipzig. 1913 Architect V.A. Pokrovsky

On October 4 - 7 (16 - 19), 1813, in the Leipzig region (Saxony), a decisive battle took place between the allied army of Russia, Austria, Prussia, Sweden and the army of the French Emperor Napoleon. It was the largest battle in the series of Napoleonic Wars and in world history before the First World War, up to half a million soldiers took part in it. The troops of the Duchy of Warsaw, Italy, Saxony and several states of the Rhine Confederation fought on the side of France in this battle. Therefore, in literature, the Battle of Leipzig is often called the “Battle of the Nations.” The battle ended the 1813 campaign. Napoleon was defeated, lost allies and was forced to retreat from Central Europe to France. The 1813 campaign was lost.

Background

The military-strategic situation preceding the “Battle of the Nations” was favorable for the Allies. France was exhausted by continuous wars that lasted from 1791, Napoleon's empire suffered especially great damage in the campaign of 1812, when almost the entire “Grand Army” died or was captured in Russia. France had limited opportunities to replenish the army with reinforcements, their quality dropped sharply (they had to send older people and young men into battle, there was no time to train them), it was not possible to restore full-fledged cavalry that died in Russia, industry could not cope with the task of replenishing the artillery fleet . And Napoleon’s allies, although they fielded troops, were few in number and for the most part fought poorly (except for the Poles).

The sixth anti-French coalition, which included Russia, Prussia, Austria, England, Sweden, Spain, Portugal and a number of small German states, surpassed Napoleon's empire in all respects - the number of bayonets and sabers, guns, demographic resources, financial capabilities and economic potential. For the time being, Napoleon could restrain the enemy only due to his military talent (in the ranks of his opponents, after the death of Kutuzov, no commander equal to the French emperor appeared), some indecision and poor interaction of the allied forces. Napoleon won several serious victories - the battles of Lützen (May 2), Bautzen (May 21) and Dresden (August 26-27), but they did not lead to the collapse of the anti-French coalition, as he had hoped, but only united it. The losses of the allied armies were easily replenished, and the allies even increased the number of their troops. In turn, the defeats of Napoleon's marshals and generals weakened his army. On August 29-30, Vandam's corps was defeated near Kulm in Bohemia, on September 6, Ney's corps was defeated at Dennewitz in southwestern Prussia, and on September 28, General Bertrand's corps was defeated on the banks of the Elbe near the town of Wartenburg (Saxony). France could not make up for these losses. The numerical advantage of the allied armies became more and more noticeable.

The Allied command, having received fresh reinforcements, decided to go on the offensive in early October to encircle and destroy the French army. Napoleon at this time held the defense around Dresden in eastern Saxony. The Silesian army under the command of Field Marshal Gebhard Blücher bypassed Dresden from the north and crossed the Elbe River north of Leipzig. The Northern Army under the command of the Swedish Crown Prince Jean Bernadotte also merged with it. The Bohemian army under the command of Field Marshal Karl Schwarzenberg, pushing back Murat's troops, bypassed Dresden from the south and also headed towards Leipzig, to the rear of Napoleon's army. Prussian troops came from the northern direction from Wartenburg, Swedish troops also from the north, but in the second echelon after the Prussians, Russian and Austrian troops from the south and west.

The French emperor left a strong garrison in Dresden and also moved towards Leipzig, planning to defeat the enemy troops piece by piece - first defeating Blücher and Bernadotte, and then Schwarzenberg. Napoleon himself wanted a decisive battle, hoping to win the campaign with one blow. However, he overestimated his forces, exhausted by previous battles and marches, underestimated the strength of the allied forces and did not have complete data on the location of the enemy forces. Napoleon Bonaparte mistakenly believed that the Russian-Prussian Silesian army was located much further north, further from Leipzig and doubted the rapid arrival of the Bohemian army.

Strengths of the parties. Disposition

By the beginning of the battle, the Bohemian Austro-Russian-Prussian Army - 133 thousand people, 578 guns and the Silesian Russian-Prussian Army - 60 thousand soldiers, 315 guns had reached Leipzig. Thus, at the beginning of the battle, the allied forces numbered about 200 thousand people. Already during the battle, the Northern Prussian-Russian-Swedish army pulled up - 58 thousand people, 256 guns, the Polish Russian army under the command of General Leontius Bennigsen - 46 thousand soldiers, 162 guns and the 1st Austrian corps under the command of Hieronymus Colloredo-Mansfeld - 8 thousand people, 24 guns. At the beginning of the battle, Bernadotte's Northern Army was in Halle (30 km north of Leipzig), and Bennigsen's Polish Army was in Waldheim (40 km east of Leipzig). During the battle, the size of the allied army increased to 310 thousand people (according to other sources, up to 350 thousand) with almost 1400 guns. The allied army included 127 thousand Russians, 89 thousand subjects of Austria - Austrians, Hungarians, Slavs, 72 thousand Prussians, 18 thousand Swedes, etc. The commander-in-chief of the allied forces was the Austrian field marshal Prince Karl Schwarzenberg. However, his power was limited by the monarchs, so the Russian Emperor Alexander I constantly intervened in the operational leadership. In addition, the commanders of individual armies and even corps had greater independence in decision-making. In the Northern Army in particular, Prussian commanders were only formally subordinate to Bernadotte.

Napoleon's army consisted of about 200 thousand soldiers (according to other sources, about 150 thousand people) and 700 guns. Near Leipzig, the French had 9 infantry corps - more than 120 thousand soldiers, Guard - 3 infantry corps, a cavalry corps and an artillery reserve, a total of up to 42 thousand soldiers, 5 cavalry corps - 24 thousand people, plus the Leipzig garrison - about 4 thousand . Human. Most of the army were French, but there were many different kinds of Germans, Poles, Italians, Belgians, and Dutch.

On October 3 (15), Napoleon positioned his troops around Leipzig. The main body of the army covered the city from the south along the Plaise River, from Connewitz to the village of Markkleiberg, then further east through the villages of Wachau, Liebertwolkwitz and to Holzhausen. The road from the western direction was covered by the corps of General Bertrand (12 thousand people), which was stationed at Lindenau. From the northern direction, Leipzig was defended by the troops of Marshals Marmont and Ney - 2 infantry and 1 cavalry corps (up to 50 thousand soldiers). Napoleon, realizing the numerical superiority of the enemy forces, wanted to strike the Bohemian army on October 4 (16), and before the rest of the enemy forces arrived, defeat it or at least seriously weaken it. For the offensive, a strike force of 5 infantry, 4 cavalry corps and 6 guard divisions was created, a total of about 110-120 thousand soldiers. It was led by Marshal Joachim Murat.

The Allied command, under pressure from the three monarchs Alexander I, Frederick William III and Franz I, also planned to conduct attack operations, fearing that Napoleon, taking advantage of his central position, could separately defeat the Northern Army, holding back the Bohemian Army with a strong barrier. In addition, there was a desire to defeat the enemy troops in parts, preventing the concentration of enemy forces. Schwarzenberg decided in the morning to strike from the south with the forces of the Bohemian Army. Initially, the Austrian field marshal proposed throwing the main forces of the army into the Connewitz area, breaking through the enemy’s defenses in the swampy lowlands of the Plaisse and Weisse-Elster rivers, bypassing the enemy’s right flank and taking the shortest western road to Leipzig. However, Russian Emperor Alexander Pavlovich criticized the plan, pointing out the difficulty of the terrain.

The Bohemian army was divided into three groups and a reserve. The first (main) grouping was under the overall command of Infantry General Barclay de Tolly - it included the 4th Austrian corps of Klenau, the Russian troops of General Wittgenstein and the Prussian corps of Field Marshal Kleist, a total of 84 thousand people, 404 guns. Barclay's group was supposed to hit the French army on the Krebern - Wachau - Liebertvolkwitz front, actually attacking the enemy head-on, from the southeast. The second group was commanded by the Austrian General Maximilian von Merfeld. It included the 2nd Austrian Corps and Austrian reserves, a total of 30-35 thousand people with 114 guns. He was supposed to advance between the rivers Place and Weise-Elster, capture the crossings and strike the right flank of the French army. The third detachment under the command of Ignaz Gyulai (Giulai) was supposed to attack from the west, towards Lindenau and seize the crossing over the Weisse Elster west of Leipzig. The group was supposed to block the escape route to the west. The basis of Gyulai's detachment was the 3rd Austrian Corps - about 20 thousand people. The Russian-Prussian Guard formed a reserve. Blücher's Silesian army was to launch an offensive from the north on the Möckerk - Wiederitz front.

Battle

Progress of the battle October 4 (16). The day turned out to be cloudy. Even before dawn, the Russian-Prussian troops began to advance and at about 8 o'clock in the morning they opened artillery fire. The advanced units began to approach the enemy. The battle came down to a series of stubborn battles for Markkleeberg, Wachau, Liebertwolkwitz, as well as the crossing at Konnewitz. Russian-Prussian troops under the overall command of Kleist - the 14th division of General Helfreihai, the 12th Prussian brigade and 4 battalions of the 9th brigade, captured the village of Markkleeberg at about 9.30. Here French-Polish troops held the defense under the command of Marshals Augereau and Poniatowski. Four times Napoleon's troops recaptured the village and four times the Russians and Prussians again took Markkleeberg by storm.

The village of Wachau was also captured by Russian-Prussian troops under the command of Duke Eugene of Württemberg - the 2nd Infantry Corps, the Russian cavalry of General Palen - hussars, lancers and Cossacks, and the 9th Prussian brigade. However, due to heavy fire from French artillery, the village was abandoned by noon. Liebertwolkwitz was stormed by Russian-Prussian troops under the overall command of Lieutenant General A.I. Gorchakov - the 5th Russian division of General Mezentsev, the 10th Prussian brigade of Major General Pirch and the 11th Prussian brigade of Lieutenant General Zieten, as well as the 4th Austrian corps of General Klenau. The defense was held by the corps of General Lauriston and Marshal MacDonald. After a fierce battle, when they had to fight for every street and house, the village was captured. Both sides suffered heavy losses. But after the French received reinforcements - the 36th Division, the Allied forces were forced to retreat. The offensive of the Austrian 2nd Corps was unsuccessful, and in the afternoon, when the French counteroffensive began, Commander-in-Chief Schwarzenberg sent Austrian troops to the aid of General Barclay de Tolly. Gyulai's attack on Lidenau by the Austrian 3rd Corps was also unsuccessful.

The Bohemian army exhausted its strength and lost its offensive impulse. Her strength was now only enough for defense. In the current situation, the French emperor decided to strike at the center of enemy positions in the general direction of Wachau - Guldengoss. At 15:00, the French cavalry under the command of Murat (about 10 thousand horsemen), supported by a strong artillery group - 160 guns of General A. Drouot, delivered a powerful blow. French cuirassiers and dragoons, supported by infantry and artillery, broke through the Russian-French line. The allied monarchs and Schwarzenberg were under threat, and the enemy cavalry broke through to the hill where they watched the battle. The French were already several hundred meters away, pursuing the fleeing. They were saved by a counterattack by the Life Guards Cossack Regiment under the command of Ivan Efremov. The Cossacks and a company of Russian artillery held back the enemy's onslaught until reinforcements arrived. Palen's cavalry detachment, a grenadier division from Raevsky's corps, and a Prussian brigade from Kleist's corps were thrown against the French cavalry. The reinforcements finally stopped the enemy and closed the gap in the front.

Hood. Bechlin. Attack of the Cossack Life Guards near Leipzig.

Napoleon, determined to win at any cost before the arrival of new enemy armies, gave the order to attack the weakened center of the Bohemian army with the forces of foot and horse guards. However, an attack by Austrian troops on the right flank of the French troops changed his plans. The emperor was forced to send part of the guard to help Poniatowski's troops. After a stubborn battle, the Austrian troops were driven back, and Merfeld himself was captured by the French.

Battle on the Vakhaut Heights. V. I. Moshkov (1815).

Blücher's Silesian army struck in the area of ​​Wiederitz and Möckern. Blucher did not wait for Bernadotte’s Northern Army to approach and went on the offensive. The village of Wiederitz was defended by the Polish general Dombrowski, who spent the whole day holding back the onslaught of the Russian troops of General Langeron. Marmont's corps defended positions in the area of ​​the village of Mökern. Marmont received orders to move south to Wachau to take part in the battle. However, having received news of the approach of enemy forces, he stopped and sent a request for help to Marshal Ney. York's Prussian corps, after numerous attacks, took the village, suffering heavy losses. Marmont's corps was defeated. Thus, the Silesian Army broke through the French defenses north of Leipzig, and the forces of Marmont and Ney were unable to take part in the key Battle of Wachau.

With the onset of darkness, the battle ended. Most of the battlefield remained with the French army. The French pushed back the allied forces from Wachau to Guldengossa and from Liebertwolkwitz to the University Forest, but were unable to break through the front and achieve a decisive victory. In general, the first day of the battle did not live up to the hopes of either the French or the allies, although both sides suffered huge losses - up to 60-70 thousand people. The places of the most stubborn battles were simply littered with corpses. Prussian soldiers from Blücher's army made rubble out of corpses, determined to hold their captured positions. On the night of October 5 (17), fresh Northern and Polish armies arrived. Now the allied army had a serious superiority over the enemy.

Actions October 5 (17). The French emperor was aware of the danger, but did not leave his position at Leipzig. He hoped to conclude a truce and begin peace negotiations. Napoleon, through the Austrian general Merfeld, sent a letter to all allied monarchs proposing a ceasefire and the beginning of peace negotiations. Napoleon was ready for decisive concessions. He agreed to give up the already lost Duchy of Warsaw, as well as Holland and the Hanseatic cities, was ready to restore the independence of Italy, and even renounce the Rhineland and Spain. Napoleon made the only demand - England had to return the captured French colonies.

However, the allied monarchs did not respond. Apparently, Napoleon's proposal was considered an admission of weakness. In general, the day passed calmly, both sides searched for the wounded and buried the dead. Only in the northern direction did Blucher’s troops continue their offensive and, having captured the villages of Eitrich (Oitritzsch) and Golis, came close to Leipzig itself. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon a military meeting was held in the village of Zestevitz. Commander-in-Chief Schwarzenberg proposed to immediately resume the battle. But Bennigsen said that his army was tired from the long march and needed rest. It was decided to resume the offensive the next morning. Bennigsen's army was supposed to attack on the right flank, together with the 4th Austrian corps.

Napoleon, realizing that the previous positions could not be maintained, regrouped his forces on the night of October 6 (18). The old positions, which it was unreasonable to defend due to lack of strength, were abandoned. The troops retreated to a distance of approximately 1 hour from the city. By morning, French troops took up positions on the line Lindenau - Connewitz - Holzhausen - Schönefeld. New positions were defended by up to 150 thousand soldiers with 630 guns.

He's covered in blood, he's all wounded,
But the spirit in him is strong and strong,
And the glory of Mother Russia
He did not disgrace himself in battle.

In front of the French bayonets
He did not lose his Russian heart
To die for the Motherland, for the brothers
He looked with secret pride.

Soldier's song about the grenadier Leonty Korenny.

At 7 o'clock in the morning the allied command gave the order to attack. The columns of allied troops advanced unevenly, some started moving late, and as a result of a simultaneous attack along the entire front, it did not work out. Austrian troops under the command of the Crown Prince of Hesse-Homburg were advancing on the left flank. The Austrians attacked French positions at Delitz, Deusen and Lösnig. Austrian troops tried to push the French away from the Place River. First they captured Dölitz, and at about 10 o'clock - Dösen. The battle was difficult, the French fought much more fiercely than was necessary to cover the retreat. They constantly counterattacked. The Prince of Hesse-Homburg was seriously wounded, and Hieronymus von Colloredo took command. He himself was wounded in the chest, but hid it from those around him, continuing the battle at Konnewitz and Delitz. The Austrians made their way to Konnewitz, but then two French divisions sent by Napoleon arrived under the command of Marshal Oudinot. French troops launched a counterattack, and the Austrians retreated from Connewitz. They also left Dezen. The Austrians retreated, regrouped their forces, and went on the offensive again. By lunchtime they captured Lösnig, but were unable to re-occupy Connewitz, which was defended by the Poles and the Young Guard under the command of Marshals Oudinot and Augereau.

Napoleon's headquarters were located at Stötteritz. A stubborn battle broke out in the center, in the area of ​​Probsthaid (Probsthaida), where troops under the command of Marshal Victor and General Lauriston held the line. The village had a stone fence and was an important center of French defense. The general leadership of the Russian-Prussian troops that attacked in this direction was carried out by Barclay de Tolly. First, two Prussian brigades from Kleist's corps went on the attack. Prussian soldiers were able to make their way into the village from the eastern side, but were met with grapeshot fire and retreated. Then the Russian corps of Eugene of Württemberg went on the attack. The troops of Shakhovsky, Gorchakov and Kleist burst into the village. However, Napoleon, at the head of the Old Guard and the Guards artillery of General Drouot (about 150 guns), launched a counteroffensive and drove the Russian-Prussian troops out of the village. But further advance of the French troops was stopped by heavy artillery fire. Both sides suffered heavy losses. The battle continued into the night, but the allied troops were unable to break through to Probsteida.

Things were best on the right flank and in the northern direction. The army of General Bennigsen was advancing on the right flank. She moved towards the enemy very late, at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Russian troops captured Zukelhausen, Holzhausen and Paunsdorf. In the assault on Paunsdorf, despite Bernadotte's objections, troops of the Northern Army also took part - the Prussian corps of General Bülow and the Russian corps of General Wintzingerode. In the north, the troops of Langeron and Sacken (Silesian Army) captured Schönefeld and Golis. At the height of the battle, Napoleon's German allies betrayed him - the entire Saxon division (3 thousand soldiers, 19 guns) went over to the side of the allies, the Saxons were followed by Württemberg, Westphalian and Baden units. This seriously complicated Leipzig's defense. The Saxons even immediately took the side of the allied army. True, this did not save Saxony; it became a state for post-war division between the winners.

In the eastern and northern directions, French troops were pushed back to a distance of a 15-minute march from the city. In the western direction, the Austrians were not active that day. Commander-in-Chief Schwarzenberg doubted the need to force Napoleon into a final life-or-death battle. Therefore, he ordered Gyulai's III Corps to only observe the French and not to storm Lindenau.

Napoleon and Poniatowski near Leipzig. Sukhodolsky (XIX century).

The capabilities of the French troops to defend Leipzig were depleted. The enemy's numerical superiority was becoming increasingly noticeable. German troops went over to the side of the Allied army. Ammunition was running low. According to the report of the chief of artillery, the army spent 220 thousand cannonballs in a few days, only 16 thousand shells remained, and no delivery was expected. Napoleon did not count on a long battle and defense of the city, planning to win a decisive victory. Some military leaders advised the emperor to continue the battle - to burn the outskirts of the city, to stay behind the walls. But the French emperor decided to retreat.

Insufficient measures were taken to prepare for a possible retreat. In particular, having prepared the only bridge for explosion, the French did not think about creating several additional crossings in case of withdrawal. Thanks to this, the French troops could retreat only in one direction to Weißenfels. French General Bertrand, commander of the corps covering the western direction, began the withdrawal of troops, convoys and artillery to Weissenfels, through Lindenau in the direction of Salle. At night, the rest of the troops followed him, first the guard, artillery and the corps of Victor and Augereau. The troops of MacDonald, Ney and Lauriston were supposed to cover the retreat.

The Allied command made a big mistake that day. The fierce resistance of the French troops on October 6 led many to conclude that Napoleon's army would continue the battle the next day. Although assumptions about the need to strengthen the left flank and its ability to pursue the enemy were put forward. Thus, the Russian Emperor Alexander Pavlovich proposed concentrating efforts on crossing the rivers Pleisse and Weiss-Elster, and the Prussian military leader Blücher spoke about the need to allocate a 20 thousand cavalry group to pursue the enemy. Later, General Gyulay, who commanded the troops in the western direction, was accused of allowing Napoleon's troops to retreat without being captured. But his explanations were considered satisfactory, since he acted on the orders of Prince Schwarzenberg.

While the French troops retreated through the western Randstadt Gate, the Allied armies began to advance. King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony offered to surrender the city without a fight if the allied command gave the French 4 hours to retreat. But Emperor Alexander I rejected this proposal and gave the order to launch an offensive. The answer to the Saxon monarch was delivered by General Toll, who also organized his security when Russian troops began storming the palace.

Due to the fact that all troops had to retreat along only one road, turmoil and disorder began. The French emperor himself was only able to escape from Leipzig with difficulty. Russian troops under the command of generals Langeron and Osten-Sacken occupied the eastern suburb of Halles, Prussian units under the command of General Bülow - the suburb of Grimmas, Bennigsen's troops captured the southern gate of Leipzig - Peterstor. The chaos in the French troops reached its peak when sappers mistakenly blew up the Elsterbrücke bridge, which was located in front of the Randstadt Gate. Hearing the distant cries of “Hurray!”, they decided that it was necessary to stop the enemy’s advance and destroyed the bridge. And there were still about 20-30 thousand French left in the city, including Marshals MacDonald and Poniatowski and Generals Lauriston and Rainier. The hospitals did not have time to evacuate either. Many died, including while trying to swim across the river and climb the steep opposite bank, under enemy fire; others were captured. Marshall Macdonald swam across the river. Poniatowski, who fought well in the Battle of Leipzig, and the only foreigner in Napoleon's service, received the rank of French marshal, was wounded and drowned during the crossing. Lauriston was captured. By one o'clock in the afternoon the city was completely captured.

The retreating French army blows up the bridge prematurely. Colorized engraving from the 19th century.

The explosion of the bridge itself characterizes the degree of chaos that was happening at that time. Napoleon entrusted this task to General Duloloy, who, in turn, entrusted the responsibility for preparing the bridge for destruction to a certain Colonel Montfort, who left his post, leaving it to the corporal of the engineering troops. When the warrior asked when the charge should be lit, he was answered: “At the first appearance of the enemy.” War cries and the appearance of several Russian riflemen near the bridge, from where they began to fire at the enemy, became the reason to raise the bridge into the air, although it was clogged with French troops. The corporal carried out the order exactly. Thousands of French were doomed to death and captivity. In addition, the blowing up of the bridge, the only crossing, completely deprived the will to resist those troops who were still fighting in the rearguards. And the maneuver of the Old Guard, which deployed on the opposite bank to protect the rearguard troops, was in vain.

Prince Schwarzenberg informs the allied monarchs of victory in the “Battle of the Nations” at Leipzig. Johann Peter Kraft. 1817 Museum of Military History, Vienna.

Results

Napoleon's army suffered a crushing defeat, but avoided (largely due to the lack of management of the allied command) encirclement and complete destruction. Neither Commander-in-Chief Schwarzenberg nor the council of the three emperors were able to fully manage the military operations of the huge allied army. Good chances to complete the won were lost. The lack of unity of command prevented the implementation of broad operational plans, led to indecision in the actions of some parts of the army, when others had to withstand the full brunt of enemy blows, and the reservation of large masses of troops who were inactive at the moment when the outcome of the battle could be decided. The decisive role in the battle was played by Russian troops, who withstood the strongest blows of Napoleon's army.

French troops lost approximately 70-80 thousand people: 40 thousand killed and wounded, 30 thousand prisoners (including those captured in hospitals), several thousand Germans went over to the side of the allied army. In addition, a typhus epidemic began in the French army, and Napoleon was able to bring only about 40 thousand soldiers to France. The French army lost one marshal and three generals killed; the king of Saxony, two corps commanders (except Lauriston, captured the commander of the 7th corps, Rainier), and two dozen divisional and brigadier generals were captured. The army lost half of its artillery - 325 cannons, 960 charging boxes, 130 thousand guns (including Leipzig arsenals) and most of the convoy.

The Allied forces also suffered heavy losses - up to 54 thousand killed and wounded, of which up to 23 thousand Russians (8 generals were killed or mortally wounded - Neverovsky, Shevich, Ginet, Kudashev, Lindfors, Manteuffel, Rhubarb and Schmidt), 16 thousand . Prussians, 15 thousand Austrians and 180 Swedes. The low losses of Swedish troops are explained by the fact that Bernadotte was saving troops for the war with Denmark for Norway. For valor in this battle, four Russian military leaders - Kaptsevich, Osten-Sacken, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich and Eugene of Württemberg received the Order of St. George, 2nd degree. Pyotr Mikhailovich Kaptsevich, despite a severe concussion, was one of the first to rush into the city. Osten-Sacken was noted for the capture of the Gallic suburb. The corps of E. Württemberg distinguished itself in the battle for Wachau and Probstaid. Grand Duke Constantine commanded reserve units, which also distinguished themselves in the battle. This is an exceptionally high assessment, especially considering the fact that for the Battle of Borodino only one person was awarded this order - Barclay de Tolly, and in just 150 years of the existence of the Order of St. George, the 2nd degree was awarded only 125 times. Barclay de Tolly, who was “one of the main culprits of the victory,” received the honor of entering Leipzig with the emperor and was elevated to the dignity of a count of the Russian Empire.

Temple-monument to Russian glory in Leipzig. 1913 Architect V.A. Pokrovsky.

The defeat of Napoleon's army had a great military-strategic and political effect. Napoleon's troops retreated across the Rhine River to France. The fortresses remaining behind the French, many of which were already deep in the rear of the Allies, began to surrender one after another. In November-December 1813 and January 1814, Dresden capitulated (Saint-Cyr with the 14th Corps surrendered there), Torgau, Stettin, Wittenberg, Küstrin, Glogau, Zamosc, Modlin and Danzig. By January 1814, all French fortresses along the Vistula, Oder and Elbe had capitulated, except for Hamburg (it was defended by Napoleon’s “iron marshal” - Davout, he surrendered the fortress only after Napoleon’s abdication) and Magdeburg. They held out until May 1814. The capitulation of the fortress garrisons deprived Napoleon of about 150 thousand soldiers and a huge amount of artillery necessary for the defense of France. In Dresden alone, about 30 thousand people surrendered with 95 guns of field troops and 117 fortress cannons.

France was left alone against an entire coalition. Subject to Emperor Napoleon, the Rhine Confederation of German states collapsed. Bavaria took the side of the anti-French alliance, and Württemberg followed suit. Saxony was withdrawn from the war. Almost all small German state entities joined the coalition. France was to begin withdrawing troops from Holland. Denmark was isolated by Swedish troops and, under pressure from Sweden and England, was forced to capitulate. One of Napoleon's leading commanders, King Murat of Naples, concluded a secret treaty with Austria and moved his forces against the troops of the Kingdom of Italy, led by Eugene Beauharnais (although he avoided active hostilities, played for time and conducted secret negotiations with Napoleon).

In early January 1814, the anti-French coalition launched a new campaign by invading France. Napoleon was left alone with France against the forces of almost all of Europe, which led to his defeat and abdication.

A monument in memory of the Battle of Leipzig and its reflection in the “Lake of Tears Shed for Fallen Soldiers.” 1913

Appendix 1. Capture of General Lauriston

In “Officer's Notes” N.B. Golitsyn describes the capture of General Lauriston as follows: “One of the prisoners unbuttoned his overcoat, showed us his insignia and announced that he was General Lauriston. We quickly took him with us. Not far from there we saw a fairly wide street in a Leipzig suburb that crossed our road. Just as we were about to cross it, we saw a French battalion marching in great order, with loaded guns. There were about twenty officers ahead. When we mutually noticed each other, we stopped. The windings of the path along which we were traveling and the trees that were on its sides hid our small number. General Emmanuel, feeling that there was no room for long reflection here, and noticing some confusion among the French, shouted to them: “Bas les armes!” (“Drop your weapons!”) The amazed officers began to consult among themselves; but our intrepid commander, seeing their hesitation, shouted to them again: “Bas les armes ou point de quartier!” (“Throw down your weapons, otherwise there will be no mercy for you!”) And at the same moment, waving his saber, he turned with amazing presence of mind to his small detachment, as if in order to command an attack. But then all the French guns fell to the ground as if by magic and twenty officers, led by Major Augereau, the marshal’s brother, brought their swords to us.” What about Lauriston? “Loriston, deep in thought during a strange procession of more than four hundred people who laid down their weapons in front of twelve Russians, turned to our commander with the question: “To whom did I have the honor of giving my sword?” “You had the honor to surrender,” he answered, “to the Russian Major General Emmanuel, commander of three officers and eight Cossacks.” You should have seen the frustration and despair of Lauriston and all the French.”

On the way to their G.A. Emmanuel got into conversation with the Marquis de Lauriston.

“Oh, general, how fickle military happiness is,” the latter complained.

Until recently I was an ambassador to Russia, and now I am her prisoner!

“What happened to you,” Emmanuel replied, “could well have happened to me.”

Appendix 2. Outstanding feat of the soldier Root.

Leonty Korenny (Uncle Korenny) - a Russian grenadier soldier who served in the Life Guards Finnish Regiment, a hero of the Battle of Borodino, performed a feat during the Battle of Leipzig that delighted even the French Emperor Napoleon and became known to the entire army.

Battle participant A.N. Marin, the first historiographer of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, described this feat as follows: “In the battle of Leipzig, when the Finnish regiment was pushing the French out of the village of Gossy, and the 3rd battalion of the regiment went around the village, the battalion commander, Colonel Gervais, and his officers were the first to climb over the stone fence, and the rangers rushed after them, already chasing the French; but, being surrounded by numerous enemies, they firmly defended their place; many officers were wounded; then Korennoy, having transferred the battalion commander and his wounded commanders across the fence, himself gathered the daring, desperate rangers and began to defend while other rangers rescued the wounded officers from the battlefield. The native with a handful of dashing riflemen stood strong and held the battlefield, shouting: “don’t give up, guys.” At first they fired back, but the large number of the enemy constrained ours so much that they fought back with bayonets... everyone fell, some killed and others wounded, and Korennoy was left alone. The French, surprised by the brave huntsman, shouted for him to surrender, but Korennoy responded by turning the gun, taking it by the barrel and fighting back with the butt. Then several enemy bayonets laid him down on the spot, and all around this hero lay all our people desperately defending themselves, with heaps of the French they had killed. “We all mourned,” the narrator adds, “for the brave “Uncle Root.” A few days later, to the great joy of the entire regiment, “Uncle Root” emerged from captivity, covered with wounds; but, fortunately, the wounds were not serious.” Covered with 18 wounds, Korennoy, returning to the regiment, spoke about his time in captivity, where the fame of his outstanding bravery spread throughout all the French troops, and he himself was introduced to Napoleon, who was interested in seeing the Russian miracle hero. The act of Korenny so delighted the great commander that in an order for his army, he set the Finnish grenadier as an example to all his soldiers.

The feat of the grenadier of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment Leonty Korenny in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. P. Babaev (1813-1870).

Using additional information, find out how the battle of Leipzig took place, write (in your notebook) a story on the topic “Battle of the Nations” - the decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars?

Answer

The Battle of Leipzig took place on October 16-19, 1813. It was the largest in all history until the First World War. Not only the French fought on Napoleon’s side, but also the troops of the kingdoms of Saxony, Württemberg and Italy, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Warsaw and the Union of the Rhine. The troops of the entire VI anti-French coalition, that is, the Russian and Austrian empires, the kingdoms of Sweden and Prussia, opposed him. That is why this battle is also called the Battle of the Nations - regiments from almost all of Europe met there.

Initially, Napoleon occupied a central position between several armies and attacked the nearest Bohemian, consisting of Russian and Prussian troops, hoping to defeat it before the others arrived. The battle unfolded over a large area, with battles taking place simultaneously over several villages. By the end of the day, the Allied battle lines were barely holding. From 3 o'clock in the afternoon they were basically just defending themselves. Napoleon's troops launched fierce attacks, such as an attempt to break through 10 thousand cavalrymen of Marshal Murat in the area of ​​​​the village of Wachau, which was stopped only thanks to a counterattack by the Life Guards Cossack Regiment. Many historians are convinced that Napoleon could have won the battle on the first day, but he did not have enough daylight - it became impossible to continue attacks in the dark.

On October 17, local battles took place only for some villages; the bulk of the troops were inactive. 100 thousand reinforcements were coming to the allies. 54 thousand of them (the so-called Polish Army of General Bennigsen (that is, the Russian army coming from the territory of Poland)) appeared on this day. At the same time, Napoleon could only count on the corps of Marshal von Düben, who never arrived that day. The Emperor of the French sent a proposal for a truce to the allies and therefore conducted almost no military operations that day - he was waiting for an answer. He was never given an answer.

On the night of October 18, Napoleon's troops retreated to new, more fortified positions. There were about 150 thousand of them, considering that at night the troops of the kingdoms of Saxony and Württemburg went over to the enemy’s side. The Allies sent 300 thousand soldiers into the fire in the morning. They attacked all day, but were unable to inflict a decisive defeat on the enemy. They took some villages, but only pushed back, and did not crush or break through the enemy battle formations.

On October 19, Napoleon's remaining troops began to retreat. And then it turned out that the emperor was counting only on victory; there was only one road left for retreat - to Weissenfels. As usually happened in all wars up to the twentieth century, retreat entailed the greatest losses.

Only 40 thousand people and 325 guns (about half) returned to France via the Rhine. True, the Battle of Hanau also played a role in this, when the retreating emperor tried to stop the corps of the Bavarian general Wrede. The battle as a whole was successful for Paris, but also cost heavy losses.

For the second time in a short time, Napoleon gathered a huge army, and the second time he lost almost all of it. Also, as a result of the retreat after the Battle of the Nations, he lost almost all the captured lands outside of France, so he no longer had any hope of putting such a number of people under arms for the third time. That is why this battle was so important - after it, the advantage in both numbers and resources was always on the side of the allies.