Battle of Leipzig
| Battle of the Nations | |||||||||
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| Part of the German campaign of the Sixth Coalition | |||||||||
Battle of Leipzig by Vladimir Moshkov (1815) | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
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France
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| Units involved | |||||||||
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See list: Based on: [2] Army of the North Army of Bohemia
Army of Poland |
See list: Based on: [2] Lindenau Leipzig Sector
Eastern Sector
Southern Sector | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
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16–17 October:
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16–17 October:
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
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54,000–80,000[l] 29 generals and 1,896 officers[11] |
60,000–79,000:[m]
325 guns 66 generals and 2,414 officers[11] | ||||||||
Location within Europe | |||||||||
German campaign
The Battle of Leipzig,[n] also known as the Battle of the Nations,[o] was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813 at Leipzig, Saxony. The Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led by Tsar Alexander I, Karl von Schwarzenberg, and Gebhard von Blücher, decisively defeated the Grande Armée of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine (mainly Saxony and Württemberg). The battle was the culmination of the German campaign of 1813 and involved about 560,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery pieces, the expenditure of 400,000 rounds of artillery ammunition, and 133,000 casualties, making it the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, and the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I.
Decisively defeated, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Sixth Coalition kept up its momentum, dissolving the Confederation of the Rhine and invading France early the next year. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814.
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- ^ Brett-James 1970, p. 183.
- ^ a b Bogdanovich 1863 – about all major units that participated in battle.
- ^ Chandler 1966, p. 922 (the strength of Schwarzenberg and Blücher).
- ^ a b Millar, Stephen (September 2004). "Allied Order-of-Battle at Leipzig: 16–18 October 1813". www.napoleon-series.org. The Waterloo Association. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
- ^ a b Chandler 1966, p. 932.
- ^ Hofschröer 2012.
- ^ a b Chandler 1966, p. 922.
- ^ napoleonguide 2010.
- ^ Chandler 1966, p. 936.
- ^ a b Smith 2001, p. 298.
- ^ a b c d Bodart 1908, p. 461.
- ^ a b Jones 1990, p. 357.
- ^ Leggiere 2002, p. 276.
- ^ Clodfelter 2008, p. 178.
- ^ Leggiere 2015, p. 747.
- ^ Riotte.
- ^ scientificamerican 1898.
- ^ nytimes 1913.