Lecture 26: 1813 Leipzig—The Grand Coalition
x Russia and Prussia moved aggressively, sending a combined army
against Napoleon’s numerically superior force. In two battles,
Napoleon defeated them, each time compelling the combined army
to retreat, but partially because of his lack of cavalry, he was not
able to destroy them or take the initiative himself. Thus, although
these battles technically counted as victories, they also revealed
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Austria to side with the Sixth Coalition.x In the late summer and early autumn of 1813, Napoleon sparred
with coalition forces all across greater Germany. He won a clever
victory at Dresden, but this was balanced out by the defeat of nearly
all his marshals in other battles. Again, Napoleon’s ability to track
the various coalition armies was severely hampered by his shortage
of cavalry. Eventually, the remaining French forces, numbering
about 185,000 soldiers, coalesced around Napoleon at Leipzig.x Closing in on the city were four separate coalition armies, totaling
approximately 330,000 men. The largest of these was a Russian-
Austrian force of about 150,000: the Army of Bohemia. The others
were the predominantly Russian Army of Poland with about 50,000
men, the Army of the North with 65,000, and the Army of Silesia
with another 65,000.The Battle
x The Battle of Leipzig lasted from October 16 to October 19,
unfolding in a number of separate stages. On the morning of October
16, Napoleon launched his main offensive, which he personally
oversaw, against the Army of Bohemia to the south. Meanwhile, he
ordered Marshal Marmont to conduct a holding action against the
allied forces coming toward Leipzig from the north.x 0XFKRIWKH¿JKWLQJFHQWHUHGRQWKHYLOODJHRI:DFKDXDQGLWV
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seesawed over the course of the day, with ownership of the village
changing hands no fewer than three times.