Battle of Leipzig

Battle of Leipzig
Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition
The Battle of Leipzig by Vladimir Moshkov (1815)
Date 16–19 October 1813 Location Leipzig, Saxony Result Decisive coalition victory
Belligerents
French Empire Duchy of Warsaw Italy Naples Saxony[1]	Russia Austrian Empire Prussia Sweden Saxony[1]
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon I Józef Antoni Poniatowski † Frederick Augustus	Barclay De Tolly Count Benningsen Prince of Schwarzenberg Crown Prince Charles John Gebhard von Blücher
Strength
195,000[2] 700 guns [3]	430,000[2] 1,500 guns [3]
Casualties and losses
38,000 dead or wounded 20,000 captured	54,000 dead or wounded[2]

The Battle of Leipzig, or Battle of the Nations, was a battle of Napoleon I and his army against an allied force of several nations on October 16 to 19, 1813. Napoleon’s army had been defeated and depleted in the French invasion of Russia. The French were also losing the Peninsular War and retreating everywhere.

Being outnumbered, he attacked. His allies in the Confederation of the Rhine changed sides, and Napoleon was defeated. The batle was the one of the largest battles before World War I and involved about 600,000 soldiers and the largest cavalry charge ever. It was part of the War of the Sixth Coalition.

After the battle and the later defence of Paris (1814), Napoleon was taken to the Mediterranean island of Elba.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Defected to the allies 18 October 1813
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Chandler 1966, p. 1020 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFChandler1966 (help)
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "Leipzig : Battle of Leipzig : Napoleonic Wars : Bonaparte : Bernadotte : Charles : Blucher". Napoleonguide.com. Retrieved 2010-10-16.