Battle of the peoples near Leipzig (1813). Battle of the peoples near Leipzig (1813) Why is the battle of Leipzig called the battle of the peoples

So the Colonel of the Prussian General Staff, Baron Müfling, called the historic battle (October 16-19, 1813) near Leipzig. After the end of the battle, Colonel Müfling fell to the lot 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. In particular, he wrote: "Thus the four-day battle of peoples near Leipzig decided the fate of the world."

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

VICTORY FROM NAPOLEON WERE RUSSIAN GUARDS

In October 1813, the united army of the Sixth Coalition approached Leipzig, numbering over 300 thousand people (127 thousand Russians; 90 thousand Austrians; 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 formations of the states of the Confederation of the Rhine and the troops of Frederick I of Württemberg. The artillery of the 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, launched an offensive in the main direction along the Wachau-Libertwolkwitz front. Against the advancing allied forces, Napoleon deployed 120 thousand people. After a massive artillery preparation and fierce fighting, by 15 o'clock in the afternoon the French cavalry overturned the allied infantry columns. Barclay de Tolly covered the resulting frontal gap with parts of the Russian guard and grenadiers from the reserve of the Bohemian army, which, in fact, wrested victory from the hands of Napoleon. Despite the clear success of the battle on October 4 (16), the French troops did not manage to defeat the troops of the Bohemian army before the Allied reinforcements arrived.

On the afternoon of October 4 (16), the Silesian army advanced north of Leipzig under the command of the Prussian Field Marshal G. Blucher, 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 huge and amounted to approx. 30 thousand people on each side.

By the night of 4 (16) October, 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, having assessed the situation not in his favor, turned to the leadership of the allies with a proposal for peace, but there was no answer to this. The whole day of October 5 (17) was spent in the evacuation of the wounded and the preparation of both opposing 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 the superior advancing forces of the 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 side of the allies in full force and deployed their cannons against the Napoleonic troops. By the night of October 7 (19), Napoleon was forced to give the order to retreat through Lindenau, west of Leipzig.

THE FEAT OF THE GRENADER ROOT

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 picture is dedicated to the famous events in Russian history - the battle of Leipzig in 1813. The main character of the picture is the grenadier of the third grenadier company of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment Leonty Korennoy. In 1812, L. Korennoy was awarded the insignia of the Military Order of St. George for his bravery in the Battle of Borodino. The feat, which served as the plot 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. Korennoy with several grenadiers decided to give the commander and wounded officers the opportunity to retreat and, thereby, save their lives, while they themselves continued to fight. The forces were not equal, all the comrades of L. Root were killed. Fighting alone, the grenadier received 18 wounds and was captured by the enemy.

Napoleon, having learned about the feat of L. Root, met with him personally, after which he issued an order in which he set L. Root 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 personal order of Napoleon. In his native regiment, for his courage, Root was promoted to ensign and became the standard bearer of the regiment. He was also awarded a special silver medal around his neck with the inscription "For the love of the Fatherland." Later, the courage of the Root was captured on revolvers (in the form of a gilded decoration), which were awarded to officers who distinguished themselves during the years of the Crimean War in the defense of Sevastopol. The feat of L. Korennoy became widely known in Russia.

BIGGEST 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 about 40 thousand were killed and wounded, 15 thousand were captured, another 15 thousand were captured in hospitals. Another 15-20 thousand German soldiers went over to the Allied side. It is known that Napoleon was able to bring back to France only about 40 thousand soldiers. 325 guns went to the Allies as a trophy.

Allied losses amounted 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 of Russian glory in Leipzig. 1913 Architect V.A. Pokrovsky

Participants in the battle. The battle near Leipzig on October 16, 17 and 18 is commonly called the "battle of the peoples." Indeed, apart from the French, the Italians, the Dutch, the Belgians, and the Saxons took part "in the cause" on Napoleon's side. No less motley was the national composition of the allies: Austrians, Prussians, Swedes, Bavarians, Russians, in whose ranks representatives of many peoples of the Russian Empire fought, for example, the Bashkirs, famous for their desperation.

The first attacks of the allies. The first, highly uncoordinated and erratic Allied attacks began on October 16 at 8.30 am. The French troops had a great opportunity to counterattack, but the weather (it rained all day) delayed MacDonald's troops, and the Allies had time to restore order. The bloody battle of October 16 took place in three areas: north, west and south of Leipzig. By noon, it became obvious that the Allied advance had slowed down or bogged down in all three directions.

Instantly assessing the situation, Napoleon resumed preparing a counterattack. General A. Drouot was ordered to concentrate almost 160 guns in a narrow area between the positions of Victor and Lauriston, and Murat's cavalry of 10 thousand sabers immediately after the bombardment was supposed to make a hole in the positions of the allies, into which the infantry would immediately rush. At 2.30, Drouot's artillery brought down, according to the testimony of a participant in the events, Russian General I.I. Dibich, "... a flurry of artillery fire, unheard of in the history of wars in terms of its concentration." No sooner had the artillery cannonade subsided than ten squadrons of Murat entered the business, and after the cavalry, on the orders of Napoleon, a frontal attack by the units of Victor, Oudinot, Lauriston, Mortier, MacDonald, Poniatowski and Augereau began.

The French break through to the headquarters of the allies. The culmination of Murat's dashing cavalry attack was the penetration of his cavalry literally to the foot of the hill near Meisdorf, where the headquarters of the allied command was located. The Emperors of Russia and Austria, the King of Prussia, Commander-in-Chief Schwarzenberg, not to mention the staff ranks and court retinue, were 800 steps away from captivity and shame! Napoleon was already celebrating success when Alexander I, having come to his senses earlier to the death of the frightened "brothers in the throne", ordered to throw into the gap the 100-gun battery of I. Sukhozanet, the division of N.N. Raevsky, F. Kleist's brigade and life Cossacks of his personal convoy. The French were driven back, the breakthrough was liquidated, and the “monarch brothers” got off with a slight fright.

Napoleon had not yet lost the chance for a common victory and prepared a strong blow to the center of the enemy. For a decisive attack, the French emperor ordered his tried and tested reserve, the Old Guard, to prepare for battle. There is no doubt: the imperial guard would have broken through the weakened positions of the enemy in the center before the approach of the troops of Bernadotte and Bennigsen. But, fortunately for the allies, Napoleon received news of a powerful Austrian attack on his right wing. Part of the guard was immediately transferred from the center to the left flank of the battle formations of the French army. Soon, the allied troops were driven back in this sector of the front across the Plaise River, and the corps commander, cavalry general Count M. Meerfeldt, was captured. Among the Allies, the hero of the first day of the battle was General York, who defeated Marshal Marmont in the battle at Mekern. By the night of October 16, there was a lull along the entire front line and the parties began to take stock of the day.

Results of the first day. The first day of the bloody battle ended in a draw. Both sides won partial victories that did not affect the overall situation: the French at Lindenau and Wachau, the allies at Meckern. The losses of Napoleon's army amounted to about 30 thousand people, the allied troops missed 40 thousand fighters. However, the allied army had one significant advantage on the eve of the second day of the battle. The armies of Bennigsen and Bernadotte, totaling 140 thousand people, came to the aid of the coalition; Napoleon could only count on a tenfold (!) smaller corps of General Reynier. Thus, when both sides received reinforcements, the allies had a double (300 thousand people) superiority over the French army (150 thousand people). The allied advantage in artillery was also huge: 1,500 guns against 900 for the French. Under such conditions, Napoleon considered victory impossible.

Napoleon's mistake. On the evening of October 16, Napoleon ordered to prepare a withdrawal, but soon canceled his order, waiting for the enemy's mistakes. But his own waiting policy was a mistake. In an effort to gain time, Napoleon, on parole, released his old acquaintance, General Meerfeldt, with an offer of peace to the Austrian emperor Franz I. However, the soul of the anti-Napoleonic coalition was not the Austrian, but the Russian emperor, who insisted on leaving Napoleon's message unanswered. While on October 17, the French emperor, counting on the courtesy of his father-in-law (Napoleon was married to the daughter of Francis I), was waiting for a response to his proposals, the allies were actively preparing to continue the battle. Only at 2 am on October 18, Napoleon ordered to begin the withdrawal. Under heavy rain, the French units located south of Leipzig retreated two miles back. But it was already too late.

Bloody second day. The plan of the allied command for October 18 in its final version provided for at least six attacks on French positions along the entire front line. Having a colossal advantage in numbers and artillery over Napoleon's army, the Allies counted not so much on the skill of their commanders, but on numerical superiority.

October 18, the second day of the "Battle of the Nations" (on the 17th there were minor clashes), was even more bloody. Throughout the day there were chaotic violent clashes. The morning was marked by the battle of the troops of Yu. Poniatowski with the superior forces of the allies. The French marshal (he received the marshal rank personally from the hands of Napoleon, right on the battlefield), a Pole by nationality, one of the best commanders of the French army, showed amazing stamina, rejecting superior enemy forces. In the afternoon, Poniatowski and Augereau held their positions, on the left flank, Victor and Lauriston successfully repulsed the onslaught of Barclay de Tolly, but on the right wing of the French defense, Bennigsen's units were significantly pressed by the troops of Sebastiani and MacDonald.

At the most critical moment of the battle, Napoleon personally led the guards into battle, recapturing the village of Probstein. The situation leveled off, but at 4.30 two brigades and a battery of Saxons from the Reynier corps (numbering from 5 to 10 thousand people) went over to the Allied side. It is unlikely that this episode can be considered decisive for the outcome of the battle, but there is no doubt that it had a depressing effect on the French troops. However, by sunset, the French held all their positions.

Napoleon's order to retreat. The results of the second day of the battle forced Napoleon to give the order to retreat. The losses of the French army turned out to be irreplaceable, ammunition was catastrophically decreasing. Even before dawn on October 19, Napoleon's army began a secret withdrawal from their positions. The retreat was covered by a 30,000-strong rearguard. Until 10 am, the general withdrawal of the French army continued unhindered. Napoleon was very close to exemplary evacuation of his army. By one o'clock in the afternoon, 100 thousand soldiers of the French army left the city in perfect order. Napoleon ordered to mine and blow up the only stone bridge across the Elster as soon as the last soldier of the rear guard crossed it. Unfortunately for the French army, the chief responsible for the crossing disappeared somewhere, entrusting the destruction of the bridge to a corporal. The latter, seeing Russian soldiers appearing in the distance, in a panic blew up the bridge, clogged with French troops. In a terrible crush, the rearguard of Napoleon's army tried to swim across the Elster. Oudinot and MacDonald succeeded, but Poniatowski, only twelve hours after his solemn appointment as marshal, was wounded and died. King of Saxony, corps generals Lauriston, J.L. Reynier and 20 other brigadier generals were captured by the Allies. About 15 thousand French soldiers were destroyed on the banks of the Elster. So ingloriously for Napoleon ended the last act of the tragedy called "Battle of the Nations".

According to experts, the battle of Leipzig was the most difficult in the history of the Napoleonic wars, with the exception of Borodino. As a result of a fierce four-day battle, the French lost at least 60 thousand people and 325 guns. Killed, in addition to Marshal Poniatowski, six generals of Napoleon. The allies also lost a little less: about 55 thousand people; among those killed were nine generals, among whom was the hero of the war of 1812, D.P. Neverovsky. The allied command failed to completely destroy Napoleon's army. The French emperor withdrew from Leipzig about 100 thousand people. The Allied attempt to delay the retreating French army failed. On October 30, in the battle of Hanau, Napoleon threw back the 50,000th corps of the Bavarian general K.F. Wrede, who acted with the support of the Russian detachments of Generals M.I. Platova, V.V. Orlova-Denisova, V.D. Ilovaisky, A.I. Chernyshev. The allies lost 9 thousand people, and Napoleon cleared an unhindered path to the borders of France.

Yet the Battle of Leipzig was a significant, decisive Allied triumph. Napoleon's empire crumbled, the entire new European order established by Bonaparte collapsed. Napoleon retreated to the "natural" borders of France, losing everything he had won in twenty years of continuous military victories. Almost the entire Confederation of the Rhine went over to the side of the coalition; the emperor was betrayed by the king of Naples - I. Murat, who went over to the enemies in order to save the throne; L. Davout, besieged in Hamburg, was doomed; left Kessel Napoleon's brother, King Jerome of Westphalia, expelled from his kingdom; Napoleon's other brother, Joseph, King of Spain, was pushed beyond the Pyrenees by the British. Napoleon's once invincible army was in a sorry state. According to an eyewitness, during the retreat of the French army, “the number of corpses and fallen horses increased every day. Thousands of soldiers, falling from hunger and fatigue, remained behind, not having the strength to get to the infirmary.

Retreating to the borders of France, Napoleon led the hordes of implacable enemies. But the main thing is that Europe refused to tolerate Napoleon's many years of dictatorship. Bonaparte “lost the “battle of the peoples” not only near Leipzig. The entire campaign of 1813 was the "battle of the peoples". The peoples of Europe did not want to accept from him, a foreign conqueror, the freedoms that he carried to them on the bayonets of his Great Army.

For four days, from October 16 to October 19, 1813, a grandiose battle unfolded on the field near Leipzig, later called the Battle of the Nations. 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 for himself, was being decided.

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

fateful decision

However, having concluded the Plesvitsky truce, he lost time, and after it ended, 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, MacDonald's corps moved east to hide from the Prussians. This dispersal of power was alarming. Marshal Marmont feared that on the day Napoleon won one major battle, the French would lose two. And I wasn't wrong.

On August 23, the Northern Allied 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 the Katzbach. True, on August 27, Napoleon himself defeated the main Bohemian army of Prince Schwarzenberg, which inadvertently poked his head towards Dresden. But on August 30, the retreating Bohemian army at Kulm smashed the Vandam Corps that had turned up under its feet. The Allied command decided to refrain from fighting Napoleon himself, but to smash the large formations that had separated from his main forces. When such a strategy began to bear fruit, Napoleon decided that a pitched battle should be forced on the enemy at all costs.

Drawing out bizarre pirouettes of maneuvers and counter-maneuvers, Bonaparte and the armies of the allies from different sides approached the point where the fate of the campaign was to be decided. And this point was the second largest city of Saxony Leipzig.

Two steps away from victory

On October 16, already at 8 o'clock in the morning, the Russian corps of Eugene of Württemberg attacked the French at the Wachau, which crumpled Napoleon's whole plan. Instead of crushing the right flank of the allies, the most fierce battles broke out in the center. At the same time, the Austrian corps of Giulai activated in the northwest, 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. For a moment, it seemed that he had succeeded in turning the tide. A "large battery" of 160 guns unleashed "a barrage of artillery fire unheard of in the history of wars in terms of its concentration," as Russian General Ivan Dibich wrote about it.

Then 10 thousand of Murat's horsemen rushed into battle. At Meisdorf, his riders 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 reassured his fellow crowned men, advanced to the threatened area the 100-gun Sukhozanet battery, Raevsky's corps, the Kleist brigade and the life Cossacks of his personal escort. 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 grumblers" went. They rolled out the Austrians and even captured Merfeld himself. But time was lost.

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

Treason and fatal mistake

Everything changed with the advent of Bennigsen's Polish Army. The 26th division of Paskevich, which was part of it, at first constituted a reserve, ceding the right of the first attack to the Austrian corps of Klenau. Paskevich subsequently spoke very caustically 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 a few canister shots, they turned back and again, in orderly ranks, returned back. “We made 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, the Württemberg cavalry and the Baden infantry went over to the Allied side. In the figurative expression of Dmitry Merezhkovsky, "a terrible void gaped in the center of the French army, as if the heart had been torn out of it." It was said too strongly, since the total number of defectors could hardly exceed 5-7 thousand, but Bonaparte really had nothing to close the gaps that had formed.

In the early morning of October 19, Napoleon's units began to retreat across Leipzig to the only bridge over the Elster. Most of the troops had already crossed over, when at about one in the afternoon the booby-trapped bridge suddenly flew into the air. The 30,000-strong French rearguard had either to die or surrender.

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

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

"BATTLE OF PEOPLES" - the name of the battle near Leipzig on October 4-6 (16-18), 1813, in which the military forces of almost all the peoples of Europe participated during its liberation from the rule of Napoleon I. Regiments of the French and Poles fought on his side , Belgians, Saxons, Italians and Dutch - 155 thousand people. On the side of the anti-Napoleonic coalition were Russian, Prussian, Austrian and Swedish troops - 220 thousand people.

The battle went on for three days. All its participants demonstrated desperate courage, but the army of the French emperor could not resist the numerous enemy, especially since in the midst of the battle the Saxon army turned its cannons against the French.

As a result, Napoleon lost 65 thousand soldiers, and the allies - 60 thousand. For him, these losses were especially heavy - they accounted for almost half of his army, and France's reserves were depleted.

As a result of the defeat, the remnants of Napoleon's army fought back to the river. Rhine. Allied troops were able to liberate Germany and then entered the territory of France. The battle at Leipzig laid the foundation for the start of a new military campaign in 1814, which ended in the complete defeat of Napoleon.

Orlov A.S., Georgiev N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 41.

Battle of the Nations

January 1, 1813 in the presence of the emperor Alexander I The Russian army crossed the river. Neman to continue the fight against Napoleon outside the Russian Empire. The Russian tsar demanded immediate and constant pursuit of the enemy. Alexander believed that it was not enough to take revenge on Napoleon for the defeats and humiliations of previous years by one expulsion from Russia. The king needed a complete victory over the enemy. He dreamed of leading the sixth coalition and becoming its leader. His dreams came true. One of the first diplomatic successes of the Russians was the transition of Prussia to the camp of opponents of the French emperor. February 16-17, 1813 M.I. Kutuzov in Kalisz and the Prussian baron K. Hardenberg in the city of Breslau, an alliance treaty was drawn up and signed between the two countries.

On February 27, the main forces of the Russian army entered Berlin. On March 15, the city of Dresden fell. Soon, through the joint efforts of Russian and Prussian partisans, the territory of central Germany was cleared of the French.

The first major battles between the Allies and Napoleon (at Lützen and Bautzen) ended in victory for the French. As a commander, Napoleon had no equal. The defeated Allied forces were forced to retreat. However, Napoleon saw that victory did not come easily to him. The battles were stubborn and bloody. Both sides fought courageously, wanting to win at all costs.

In the spring of 1813, a truce was concluded between the allies and Napoleon, which ended at the end of July. Rejecting the peace proposals of the coalition, Napoleon wanted to continue the struggle. "All or nothing!" - that was his motto. Such steps forced Austria, which had not hitherto joined the emperor's enemies, to declare war on him on August 10 and openly join the sixth coalition. However, Napoleon confirmed his slogan with a new brilliant victory. On August 14-15, 1813, the Battle of Dresden took place. The allies were defeated and began to retreat in disorder. Their losses were three times those of the French. Panic broke out among the allied monarchs. The ghost of the new Austerlitz loomed behind them. But soon the defeats were replaced by victories. On August 17-18, the Battle of Kulm took place. In this battle, the retreating Russian units defeated the corps of General D. Vandam pursuing them. Up to 5 thousand people were taken prisoner, Vavdam and his headquarters to boot. After such successes, the allies perked up and began to concentrate forces near the city of Leipzig for a decisive battle.

By the beginning of October, the members of the sixth coalition had about 1 million soldiers. The main Allied forces were concentrated in 4 armies: 1) Bohemian - under the command of K.F. Schwarzenberg; 2) Silesian - under the command of Blucher; 3) Northern Army - under the command of the Swedish Crown Prince (former Napoleonic Marshal) J.B. Bernadotte and 4) the Polish army under the command of the Russian General Bennigsen. The total strength of these armies was 306,000 men and 1,385 guns. (Troitsky N.A. Alexander 1 and Napoleon. M., 1994. S. 227.) The official commander-in-chief of the allied forces was Prince Schwarzenberg, who was subordinate to the council of three monarchs - Russian, Prussian and Austrian. The plan of the coalitionists was to encircle and destroy Napoleon's army in the Leipzig region, numbering up to 180 thousand people with 600-700 guns, with the forces of all armies.

Napoleon, realizing the numerical superiority of the allied armies, decided to defeat the armies of Schwarzenberg and Blucher facing him before approaching the battlefield of the armies of Bernadotte and Bennigsen.

On October 16, on the plain near the city of Leipzig, one of the greatest battles of the era of the Napoleonic wars began, which went down in history under the name "Battle of the Nations". By the beginning of the battle, Napoleon had, according to various sources, from 155 to 175 thousand people and 717 guns, the allies - about 200 thousand people and 893 guns.

At 10 o'clock in the morning the battle began with the cannonade of the allied batteries and the allied advance on the village of Wachau (Washau). In this direction, Napoleon concentrated several large batteries and infantry forces, which repulsed all the attacks of the allies. At this time, the center of the Bohemian army tried to cross the river. Place to strike around the left flank of the French. However, the opposite bank of the river was strewn with guns and French arrows, which forced the enemy to retreat with well-aimed fire.

In the first half of the day, the battle went on with varying success in all sectors of the battle. In some places, the allies managed to capture several sectors of the enemy’s defenses, but the French and their allies, straining their forces, went over to counterattacks and threw the enemy back to their original positions. At the first stage of the battle, the Allies failed to break the courageous resistance of the French and achieve decisive success anywhere. Moreover, skillfully organizing the defense of their positions. Napoleon by 15 o'clock in the afternoon prepared a bridgehead for a decisive offensive and a breakthrough of the allied center.

Initially hidden from the eyes of the enemy, 160 guns, on the orders of General A. Drouot, unleashed heavy fire on the breakthrough site. "The earth trembled from an unbearable, deafening roar. Separate houses were blown away like a hurricane; in Leipzig, framed windows rang eight miles away." (Heroes and battles. A public military-historical reader. M:, 1995. S. 218.) Exactly at 15 o'clock a massive attack of infantry and cavalry began. Against 100 squadrons of Murat, several battalions of Prince E. Wurtenberg lined up in a square, weakened by the cannonade of Drouot; and opened shotgun fire. However, the French cuirassiers and dragoons, with the support of the infantry, crushed the Russian-Prussian line, overturned the guards cavalry division and broke through the center of the allies. Pursuing the fugitives, they found themselves 800 paces from the headquarters of the allied sovereigns. This stunning success convinced Napoleon that the victory had already been won. The authorities of Leipzig were ordered to ring all the bells in honor of the triumph. However, the battle continued. Alexander 1, realizing before others that a critical moment had come in the battle, ordered the battery of I.O. to be sent into battle. Sukhozanet Russian division N.N. Raevsky and the Prussian brigade of F. Kleist. Before the reinforcements approached, the enemy was held back by a company of Russian artillery and Life Cossacks from Alexander's convoy.

From his headquarters on the hill near Tonberg, Napoleon saw how the allied reserves had come into motion, how fresh cavalry divisions stopped Murat, closed the gap in the allied positions and wrested, in fact, from the hands of Napoleon the victory he was already triumphant. Determined to prevail at any cost before the approach of the troops of Berndot and Benigsen, Napoleon gave the order to send foot and horse guard forces to the weakened center of the allies. However, the unexpected attack of the Austrians on the right flank of the French changed his plans and forced him to send part of the guard to help Prince Yu. Poniatowski, who could hardly restrain the Austrian strikes. After a stubborn battle, the Austrians were driven back, and the Austrian general Count M. Merveld was captured.

On the same day, in another part of the battle, General Blucher attacked the troops of Marshal O.F. Marmont, who with 24 thousand soldiers held back his onslaught. The villages of Mekern and Wiederich changed hands several times during the battle. One of the last attacks showed the courage of the Prussians. General Gorn led his brigade into battle, giving them orders not to fire. Under the drumbeat, the Prussians launched a bayonet attack, and General Horn with the Brandenburg hussars cut into the French columns. The French generals said later that they had rarely seen such unbridled courage displayed by the Prussians. When the first day of the battle ended, Blucher's soldiers made themselves barriers from the corpses of the dead, determined not to give the French the occupied territories.

The first day of the battle did not reveal the winners, although the losses on both sides were huge (about 60-70 thousand people). On the night of October 16-17, fresh forces of Bernadotte and Benigsen approached Leipzig. The Allied forces now had a double numerical advantage over Napoleon's forces. On October 17, both sides removed the wounded and buried the dead. Taking advantage of the lull and realizing the impossibility of defeating a numerically superior enemy, Napoleon summoned the captured General Merveld to himself and released him with a request to convey the peace proposal to the allies. There was no answer. By the night

On the 17th, Napoleon ordered to pull his troops closer to Leipzig.

At 8 am on October 18, the Allies launched an offensive. The French fought desperately, villages changed hands several times, every house, every street, every inch of land had to be stormed or defended. On the left flank of the French, the Russian soldiers of Count A.F. Langeron was repeatedly stormed vil. Shelfeld, whose stone-walled houses and cemetery were perfectly adapted to defense. Twice thrown back Langeron for the third time led his soldiers with hostility, and after a terrible hand-to-hand fight took possession of the village. However, the reserves sent by Marshal Marmont against him drove the Russians out of their position. A particularly fierce battle was in full swing at the village. Probsteid (Probstgate), in the center of the French position. The corps of General Kleist and General Gorchakov broke into the village by 15:00 and began to storm the fortified houses. Then the Old Guard was thrown into the business. It was led into battle by Napoleon himself. The French drove the allies out of Probsteid and moved to attack the main Austrian forces. Under the blows of the guards, the enemy lines "cracked" and were ready to crumble, when suddenly, in the midst of the battle, the entire Saxon army, which fought in the ranks of the Napoleonic troops, went over to the side of the allies. It was a terrible blow. “A terrible void gaped in the center of the French army, as if the heart had been torn out of it,” - A.S. figuratively described the consequences of this betrayal. Merezhkovsky. (Merezhkovsky A. S. Napoleon. Nalchik, 1992. P. 137.)

However, the battle continued until nightfall. By the end of the day, the French managed to keep in their hands all the key positions of the defense. Napoleon nevertheless understood that he would not survive another day, and therefore on the night of

On October 18-19, he gave the order to retreat. The exhausted French army began to retreat through Leipzig beyond the river. Elster. At dawn, having learned that the enemy had cleared the battlefield, the allies moved to Leipzig. The city was defended by the soldiers of Poniatowski and MacDonald. Loopholes were made in the walls, arrows were scattered in the streets, in gardens and bushes and guns were placed. Every step cost the allies blood. The attack was cruel and terrible. Only in the middle of the day did they manage to capture the suburbs, knocking out the French from there with bayonet attacks. Panic began, at the same time the only bridge across the river. Elster flew into the air. It was blown up by mistake, as the soldiers guarding it, seeing the advance detachment of Russians breaking through to the bridge, set fire to the fuses in a panic.

By this time, half of the army had not yet managed to cross the river. Napoleon managed to withdraw only about 100 thousand people from the city, 28 thousand had not yet managed to cross. In the ensuing panic and confusion, the soldiers refused to obey orders, some threw themselves into the water and tried to swim across the river, but either drowned or died from enemy bullets. Marshal Poniatowski (he received a marshal's baton for the battle of October 17), trying to organize an attack and retreat, was twice wounded, rushed into the water on a horse and drowned. The allies who burst into the city finished off the frustrated army, killed, slaughtered, and captured. Thus, up to 13 thousand people were destroyed, 20 divisional and brigadier generals were captured along with 11 thousand Frenchmen. The battle of Leipzig is over. The Allied victory was complete and of great international significance. Napoleon's army was defeated, the second campaign in a row ended in failure. All of Germany rose up against the conquerors. Napoleon realized that his empire was crumbling; the community of countries and peoples, welded together with iron and blood, was disintegrating. The peoples of the enslaved lands did not want to endure his yoke, they were ready to sacrifice the lives of their children, just to throw off the hated conquerors. The battle of Leipzig showed that the end of Napoleonic rule was near and inevitable.

Used materials from the book: "One Hundred Great Battles", M. "Veche", 2002

Literature:

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2. Bogdanovich M.I. History of the Patriotic War of 1812 according to reliable sources. -T.I-3. -SPb) 1859-1860.

3. Buturlin D.P. The history of the invasion of Emperor Napoleon on Russia in 1812. -4.1-2. - St. Petersburg, 1823-1824.

4. Military encyclopedia. - SPb., Ed. I.D. Sytin, 1914. -T.14. - S. 563-569.

5. Military encyclopedic lexicon published by the society of military men and writers. - Ed. 2nd. - In the 14th vol. - St. Petersburg, 1855. - Vol. 8. - S. 141-154.

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8. History of France: In 3 volumes / Redkol. A.3. Manfred (responsible ed.). - M., 1973. - V.2. - S. 162-163.

9. Levitsky N.A. Leipzig operation in 1813. - M., 1934.

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Battle of Leipzig(Also Battle of nations, German Volkerschlacht bei Leipzig, -19 October 1813) - the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars and the largest in world history before the outbreak of World War I, in which Emperor Napoleon I Bonaparte was defeated by the allied armies of Russia, Austria, Prussia and Sweden.

The battle took place on the territory of Saxony, with German troops participating on both sides. On the first day of the battle on October 16, Napoleon successfully attacked, but under pressure from superior Allied forces, he was forced to retreat to Leipzig on October 18. On October 19, Napoleon began his retreat to France with heavy losses.

The battle ended the 1813 campaign with only France remaining under Napoleon's rule, leading to the Allied invasion of France in 1814 and Napoleon's first abdication.

background

Napoleon, having recruited recruits to replace the veterans who died in Russia, managed to win 2 victories over the Russian-Prussian troops at Lutzen (May 2) and at Bautzen (May 21), which led to a short-term ceasefire from June 4.

Karl Schwarzenberg

The Austrian Field Marshal Prince Schwarzenberg was considered the commander-in-chief of the allied forces. A descendant of an ancient family, in the campaign of 1805, at the head of a division, he successfully fought near Ulm against the French. During Napoleon's Russian campaign, he commanded an Austrian auxiliary corps (about 30,000) as part of Napoleon's Grand Army. He acted extremely carefully and managed to avoid big battles with the Russian troops. After the defeat of Napoleon in Russia, he did not participate in active hostilities, but covered the rear of the retreating French corps Rainier. After Austria joined the Sixth Coalition against Napoleon in August 1813, he was appointed commander of the allied Bohemian army. In August 1813, at the battle of Dresden, the Bohemian army was defeated and retreated to Bohemia, where it remained until early October. He created a reputation for himself as a cautious commander, able to maintain good relations with monarchs.

Alexander I

Although Russian forces were commanded by generals, of whom Barclay de Tolly was the most influential, Emperor Alexander I interfered in operational leadership. Alexander became the main creator of the Sixth Coalition of 1813 against Napoleon. The invasion of Napoleon's armies into Russia was perceived by Alexander not only as the greatest threat to Russia, but also as a personal insult, and Napoleon himself became his personal enemy. Alexander in turn rejected all offers of peace, as he believed that this would devalue all the sacrifices made during the war. Many times the diplomatic character of the Russian monarch saved the coalition. Napoleon considered him an "inventive Byzantine", northern Talma, an actor who is able to play any prominent role.

The course of the battle

The disposition of opponents on the eve of the battle

After the objections of Alexander I, who pointed out the difficulty of crossing such a territory, Schwarzenberg received only 35 thousand Austrians from the 2nd Corps of General Merfeld under the overall command of Crown Prince Friedrich of Hesse-Homburg to carry out his plan. The 4th Austrian corps of Klenau, the Russian troops of General Wittgenstein and the Prussian corps of Field Marshal Kleist, under the overall command of the Russian General Barclay de Tolly, were to attack the French head-on from the southeast. Thus, the Bohemian army was divided by rivers and swamps into 3 parts: in the west - the Austrians of Giulaia, another part of the Austrian army operated in the south between the rivers Weisse-Elster and Pleise, and the rest of the Bohemian army under the command of General Barclay de Tolli - on southeast.

October 16

The offensive of the troops of Marshal Giulai on Lidenau was also repulsed by the French general Bertrand, but the Silesian army achieved important success. Without waiting for the approach of Bernadotte's Northern Army, Blucher gave the order to join the general offensive. Under the villages of Wiederitz Wideritz) and Möckern (German. Mockern) his troops faced fierce resistance. The Polish General Dombrovsky, who defended the village of Videritz, kept it from being captured by the Russian troops of General Lanzheron all day long. The 17,000 soldiers under Marshal Marmont who were defending Möckern were ordered to leave their positions and march south to the Wachau, causing them to leave their well-fortified positions in the north. Upon learning of the approach of the enemy, Marmont decided to detain him and sent a request for help to Marshal Ney.

The Prussian general Yorck, who commanded a 20,000th corps in this sector, took the village after many attacks, losing 7,000 soldiers. Marmont's corps was destroyed. Thus, the front of the French troops north of Leipzig was broken through, Napoleon's 2 corps were distracted from participating in the key battle of the Wachau.

As night fell, the fighting subsided. The offensive cost the Allies about 20,000 dead and wounded. Despite successful Allied counterattacks near Güldengossa and in the University Forest (near the village of Wachau), most of the battlefield remained with the French. They pushed back the Allied troops from the Wachau to Gülgengossa and from Libertwolkwitz to the University Forest, but were unable to break through the front. In general, the day ended without much advantage for the parties.

17 October

Battle of Leipzig
Colorized 19th century engraving

In the battles on the eve of Napoleon failed to defeat the enemy. Reinforcements of 100,000 soldiers were sent to the allies, while the French emperor could only count on von Duben's corps. Napoleon was aware of the danger, however, hoping for family ties with the Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, he did not leave the extremely vulnerable position near Leipzig. Through the Austrian general Merfeld, captured at Konnevitz, late at night on October 16, he conveyed to the opponents his terms of truce - the very ones that had already brought him peace in August. However, this time the allies did not honor the emperor with an answer. According to some researchers, the offer of a truce turned out to be a serious psychological mistake of Napoleon: the allies, disappointed with the results of the previous day, believed in the weakness of the French if the emperor was the first to offer peace.

Napoleon, commanding troops from headquarters at the Stötteritz tobacco mill (German. Stotteritz), defended much more fiercely than was necessary to cover the retreat. The allied columns went on the offensive unevenly, some of them moved too late, because of which the blow was not struck along the entire front at the same time. The Austrians advancing on the left flank under the command of the Crown Prince of Hesse-Homburg attacked the positions of the French near Dölitz (German. Dolitz), Dösen (German. Dosen) and Lösnig (German. Lössnig), seeking to push the French back from the Pleise River. Dölitz was taken first, and at about 10 o'clock Dösen was taken. The Prince of Hesse-Homburg was seriously wounded, and Colloredo took command. The French troops were pushed back to Konnewitz, but there they came to the aid of 2 divisions sent by Napoleon under the command of Marshal Oudinot. The Austrians were forced to retreat, leaving Dösen behind. Regrouping, they again went on the offensive and captured Lösning by lunchtime, but they failed to retake Konnewitz, defended by the Poles and the young guards under the command of marshals Oudinot and Augereau.

A stubborn battle flared up near Probstheida (German. Probstheida), defended by Marshal Victor from General Barclay de Tolly. Napoleon sent there the Old Guard and General Drouot's artillery guards (about 150 guns). The Old Guard tried to develop a counteroffensive to the south, but was stopped by artillery fire, located on a small hill 500 meters from the battlefield. Until the end of daylight, the Allies failed to take Probstheid, the battle continued after dark.

At about 2 p.m. on the right flank, Bennigsen's army, which went on the offensive late, captured Zuckelhausen (German. Zuckelhausen), Holzhausen and Paunsdorf (German. Paunsdorf). In the assault on Paunsdorf, despite the objections of Bernadotte, units of the Northern Army, the Prussian corps of General Bülow and the Russian corps of General Winzingerode also participated. Parts of the Silesian army under the command of generals Langeron and Sacken captured Schönefeld and Golis. In the battle near Paunsdorf, a new weapon was used for the first time - English rocket batteries, the contribution of Great Britain to the Battle of the Nations (they were part of the Northern Army).

In the midst of the battle, the entire Saxon division (3 thousand soldiers, 19 guns), who fought in the ranks of the Napoleonic troops, went over to the side of the allies. A little later, the Württemberg and Baden units did the same. The consequences of the Germans' refusal to fight for Napoleon are figuratively conveyed by the following quotation:

“A terrible void gaped in the center of the French army, as if the heart had been torn out of it”

By evening, in the north and east, the French were pushed back to the distance of a 15-minute march from Leipzig. After 6 hours, the onset of darkness ceased hostilities, the troops prepared to resume the battle the next morning. Already after Napoleon gave the order to retreat, the head of his artillery presented a report according to which 220 thousand cores were used up in 5 days of fighting. There were only 16 thousand left, and no delivery was expected.

Schwarzenberg doubted the need to force a still dangerous opponent into a desperate battle. Marshal Giulai was ordered only to watch the French and not attack Lindenau. Thanks to this, the French General Bertrand was able to use the road to Weissenfels (German. weissenfels), through Lindenau in the direction of Salle, where the convoy and artillery were pulled after him. During the night, the retreat of the entire French army, guards, cavalry and corps of Marshals Victor and Augereau began, while Marshals MacDonald, Ney and General Lauriston remained in the city to cover the retreat.

October 19

Since Napoleon, when planning the battle, counted only on victory, insufficient measures were taken to prepare for the retreat. At the disposal of all the columns was only one road to Weissenfels.

Results of the battle

Historical implications

The battle ended with Napoleon's retreat across the Rhine to France. After the defeat of the French near Leipzig, Bavaria sided with the Sixth Coalition. The combined Austro-Bavarian corps under the command of the Bavarian General Wrede tried to cut off the French army's retreat route on the way to the Rhine near Frankfurt, but on October 31 was repulsed with losses by Napoleon in the battle of Hanau. On November 2, Napoleon crossed the Rhine to France, and 2 days later the allied armies approached the Rhine and stopped there.

Shortly after Napoleon's retreat from Leipzig, Marshal Saint-Cyr surrendered Dresden with all its huge arsenal. Except for Hamburg, where Marshal Davout was desperately defending himself, all the other French garrisons in Germany surrendered before the beginning of 1814. The Confederation of the Rhine of the German states, subject to Napoleon, collapsed, Holland was liberated.

In early January, the Allies launched the 1814 campaign with an invasion of France. Napoleon was left alone with France against advancing Europe, which led in April 1814 to his first abdication.

Side losses

The French army, according to rough estimates, lost 70-80 thousand soldiers near Leipzig, of which about 40 thousand were killed and wounded, 15 thousand were captured, another 15 thousand were captured in hospitals, and up to 5 thousand Saxons went over to the Allied side. In addition to combat losses, the lives of the soldiers of the retreating army were carried away by a typhus epidemic. It is known that Napoleon was able to bring back to France only about 40 thousand soldiers. Among the dead was Marshal Jozef Poniatowski (nephew of the King of Poland Stanislaw August), who received his marshal's baton only 2 days before the fateful day. 325 guns went to the Allies as a trophy.