Chapter IV: , VII (93)

"On the 14th April, Napoleon left Paris to assume the command
of the army. Previous to his departure, with a view, perhaps,
of paying a compliment to the Emperor of Austria, the Empress
Marie Louise was appointed regent in his absence; but Prince
Schwarzenberg, who had arrived on a special mission from
Vienna, was treated only as the commander of an auxiliary
corps, to which orders would immediately be transmitted. On
the 16th he reached Mayence, where, for the last time, vassal
princes assembled courtier-like around him; and on the 20th he
was already at Erfurt, in the midst of his newly-raised army.
The roads were everywhere crowded with troops and artillery,
closing in towards the banks of the Saale. From Italy, Marshal
Bertrand joined with 40,000 men, old trained soldiers; the
Viceroy brought an equal number from the vicinity of
Magdeburg; and Marshal Macdonald having, on the 29th, taken
Merseburg by assault, the whole army, which Bade, the ablest
and most accurate of the authors who have written on this
campaign, estimates at 140,000 men, was assembled for action.
With this mighty force Napoleon determined to seek out the
enemy, and bring them quickly to battle. The Russian and
Prussian armies were no sooner united, after the alliance
concluded between the sovereigns, than they crossed the Elbe,
occupied Dresden, which the King of Saxony had abandoned, and
advanced to the banks of the Saale. General Blücher commanded
the Prussians, and Count Wittgenstein the Russian corps; and,
death having closed the career of old Marshal Kutusoff, ...
the command of both armies devolved upon the last mentioned
officer. Informed of the rapid advance of the French, the
allied monarchs joined their forces, which were drawn together
in the plains between the Saale and the Elbe; their numerous
cavalry giving them perfect command of this wide and open
country. Napoleon, always anxious for battle, determined to
press on towards Leipzig, behind which he expected to find the
Allied army, who, as it proved, were much nearer than he
anticipated. At the passage of the Rippach, a small stream
that borders the wide plain of Lützen, he already encountered
a body of Russian cavalry and artillery under Count
Winzingerode; and as the French were weak in horse, they had
to bring the whole of Marshal Ney's corps into action before
they could oblige the Russians to retire. Marshal Bessieres,
the commander of the Imperial Guard, was killed. ... On the
evening of the 1st of May, Napoleon established his quarters
in the small town of Lützen. The Allies, conscious of the vast
numerical superiority of the French, did not intend to risk a
general action on the left bank of the Elbe; but the length of
the hostile column of march, which extended from beyond
Naumberg almost to the gates of Leipzig, induced Scharnhorst
to propose an advance from the direction of Borna and Pegau
against the right flank of the enemy, and a sudden attack on
the centre of their line in the plain of Lützen. It was
expected that a decisive blow might be struck against this
centre, and the hostile army broken before the distant wings
could close up and take an effective part in the battle. The
open nature of the country, well adapted to the action of
cavalry, which formed the principal strength of the Allies,
spoke in favour of the plan. ... The bold attempt was
immediately resolved upon, and the onset fixed for the
following morning. The annals of war can hardly offer a plan
of battle more skilfully conceived than the one of which we
have here spoken; but unfortunately the execution fell far
short of the admirable conception. Napoleon, with his Guards
and the corps of Lauriston, was already at the gates of
Leipzig, preparing for an attack on the city, when about one
o'clock [May 2] the roar of artillery burst suddenly on the
ear, and gathering thicker and thicker as it rolled along,
proclaimed that a general action was engaged in the plain of
Lützen,--proclaimed that the army was taken completely at
fault, and placed in the most imminent peril. ... The Allies,
who, by means of their numerous cavalry, could easily mask
their movement, had advanced unobserved into the plain of
Lützen," and the action was begun by a brigade of Blücher's
corps attacking the French in the village of Great-Görschen
(Gross-Görschen). "Reinforcements ... poured in from both
sides, and the narrow and intersected ground between the
villages became the scene of a most murderous and
closely-contested combat of infantry. ... But no attempt was
made to employ the numerous and splendid cavalry, that stood
idly exposed, on open plain, to the shot of the French
artillery. ... When night put an end to the combat,
Great-Görschen was the sole trophy of the murderous fight that
remained in the hands of the Allies. ... On the side of the
Allies, 2,000 Russians and 8,000 Prussians had been killed or
wounded: among the slain was Prince Leopold of Hessen-Homburg;
among the wounded was the admirable Scharnhorst, who died a
few weeks afterwards. ... The loss sustained by the French is
not exactly known; but ... Jomini tells us that the 3d corps,
to which he was attached as chief of the staff, had alone 500
officers and 12,000 men 'hors de combat.' Both parties laid
claim to the victory: the French, because the Allies retired
on the day after the action; the Allies, because they remained
masters of part of the captured battlefield, had taken two
pieces of artillery, and 800 prisoners. ... The Allies
alleged, or pretended perhaps, that it was their intention to
renew the action on the following morning: in the Prussian
army every man, from the king to the humblest soldier, was
anxious indeed to continue the fray; and the wrath of Blücher,
who deemed victory certain, was altogether boundless when he
found the retreat determined upon. But ... opinion has, by
degrees, justified Count Wittgenstein's resolution to recross
the Elbe and fall back on the reinforcements advancing to join
the army. ... On the 8th of May, Napoleon held his triumphal
entrance into Dresden. ... On the advance of the Allies, the
Saxon monarch had retired to Ratisbon, and from thence to
Prague, intending, as he informed Napoleon, to join his
efforts to the mediation of Austria. Orders had, at the same
time, been given to General Thielman, commanding the Saxon
troops at Torgau, to maintain the most perfect neutrality, and
to admit neither of the contending parties within the walls of
the fortress. Exasperated by this show of independence,
Napoleon caused the following demands to be submitted to the
King, allowing him only six hours to determine on their
acceptance or refusal;

{1524}

1. 'General Thielman and the Saxon troops instantly evacuate
Torgau, and form the 7th corps under General Réynier; and all
the resources of the country to be at the disposal of the
Emperor, in conformity with the principles of the
Confederation of the Rhine.'

2. 'The Saxon Cavalry'--some regiments had accompanied the
King--'return immediately to Dresden.'

3. 'The King declares, in a letter to the Emperor, that he is
still a member of the Confederation of the Rhine, and ready to
fulfil all the obligations which it imposes upon him.'

'If these conditions are not immediately complied with,' says
Napoleon in the instructions to his messenger, 'you will cause
his Majesty to be informed that he is guilty of felony, has
forfeited the Imperial protection, and has ceased to reign.'
... Frederick Augustus, finding himself threatened with the
loss of his crown by an overbearing conqueror already in
possession of his capital, ... yielded in an evil hour to
those imperious demands, and returned to Dresden. ... Fortune
appeared again to smile upon her spoiled and favoured child;
and he resolved, on his part, to leave no expedient untried to
make the most of her returning aid. The mediation of Austria,
which from the first had been galling to his pride, became
more hateful every day, as it gradually assumed the appearance
of an armed interference, ready to enforce its demands by
military means. ... Tidings having arrived that the allied
army, instead of continuing their retreat, had halted and
taken post at Bautzen, he immediately resolved to strike a
decisive blow in the field, as the best means of thwarting the
pacific efforts of his father-in-law."

_Lieutenant Colonel J. Mitchell,
The Fall of Napoleon,
book 2, chapter 1 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe, 1789-1815,
chapter 75 (volume 13)._

_Duchess d'Abrantes,
Memoirs of Napoleon,
volume 2, chapter 44._

GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (May-August).
Battle of Bautzen.
Armistice of Pleswitz.
Accession of Austria and Great Britain to the Coalition
against Napoleon.

"While the Emperor paused at Dresden, Ney made various
demonstrations in the direction of Berlin, with the view of
inducing the Allies to quit Bautzen; but it soon became
manifest that they had resolved to sacrifice the Prussian
capital, if it were necessary, rather than forego their
position. ... Having replaced by wood-work some arches of the
magnificent bridge over the Elbe at Dresden, which the Allies
had blown up on their retreat, Napoleon now moved towards
Bautzen, and came in sight of the position on the morning of
the 21st of May. Its strength was obviously great. In their
front was the river Spree: wooded hills supported their right,
and eminences well fortified their left. The action began with
an attempt to turn their right, but Barclay de Tolly
anticipated this movement, and repelled it with such vigour
that a whole column of 7,000 dispersed and fled into the hills
of Bohemia for safety. The Emperor then determined to pass the
Spree in front of the enemy, and they permitted him to do so,
rather than come down from their position. He took up his
quarters in the town of Bautzen, and his whole army bivouacked
in presence of the Allies. The battle was resumed at daybreak
on the 22d; when Ney on the right, and Oudinot on the left;
attempted simultaneously to turn the flanks of the position;
while Soult and Napoleon himself directed charge after charge
on the centre. During four hours the struggle was maintained
with unflinching obstinacy; the wooded heights, where Blucher
commanded, had been taken and retaken several times--the
bloodshed on either side had been terrible--ere ... the Allies
perceived the necessity either of retiring, or of continuing
the fight against superior numbers on disadvantageous ground.
They withdrew accordingly; but still with all the deliberate
coolness of a parade, halting at every favourable spot and
renewing their cannonade. 'What,' exclaimed Napoleon, 'no
results! not a gun! not a prisoner!--these people will not
leave me so much as a nail.' During the whole day he urged the
pursuit with impetuous rage, reproaching even his chosen
generals as 'creeping scoundrels,' and exposing his own person
in the very hottest of the fire." His closest friend, Duroc,
Grand Master of the Palace, was mortally wounded by his side,
before he gave up the pursuit. "The Allies, being strongly
posted during most of the day, had suffered less than the
French; the latter had lost 15,000, the former 10,000 men.
They continued their retreat into Upper Silesia; and
Buonaparte advanced to Breslau, and released the garrison of
Glogau. Meanwhile the Austrian, having watched these
indecisive though bloody fields, once more renewed his offers
of mediation. The sovereigns of Russia and Prussia expressed
great willingness to accept it; and Napoleon also appears to
have been sincerely desirous for the moment of bringing his
disputes to a peaceful termination. He agreed to an armistice
[of six weeks], and in arranging its conditions agreed to fall
back out of Silesia; thus enabling the allied princes to
reopen communications with Berlin. The lines of country to be
occupied by the armies, respectively, during the truce, were
at length settled, and it was signed on the 1st of June [at
Poischwitz, though the negotiations were mostly carried on at
Pleswitz, whence the Armistice is usually named]. The French
Emperor then returned to Dresden, and a general congress of
diplomatists prepared to meet at Prague. England alone refused
to send any representative to Prague, alleging that Buonaparte
had as yet signified no disposition to recede from his
pretensions on Spain, and that he had consented to the
armistice with the sole view of gaining time for political
intrigue and further military preparation. It may be doubted
whether any of the allied powers who took part in the Congress
did so with much hope that the disputes with Napoleon could
find a peaceful end. ... But it was of the utmost importance
to gain time for the advance of Bernadotte; for the arrival of
new reinforcements from Russia; for the completion of the
Prussian organization; and, above all, for determining the
policy of Vienna. Metternich, the Austrian minister, repaired
in person to Dresden, and while inferior diplomatists wasted
time in endless discussions at Prague, one interview between
him and Napoleon brought the whole question to a definite
issue. The Emperor ... assumed at once that Austria had no
wish but to drive a good bargain for herself, and asked
broadly, 'What is your price? Will Illyria satisfy you? I only
wish you to be neutral--I can deal with these Russians and
Prussians single-handed.'
{1525}
Metternich stated plainly that the time in which Austria could
be neutral was past; that the situation of Europe at large
must be considered; ... that events had proved the
impossibility of a steadfast peace unless the sovereigns of
the Continent were restored to the rank of independence; in a
word, that the Rhenish Confederacy must be broken up; that
France must be contented with the boundary of the Rhine, and
pretend no longer to maintain her usurped and unnatural
influence in Germany. Napoleon replied by a gross personal
insult: 'Come, Metternich,' said he, 'tell me honestly how
much the English have given you to take their part against
me.' The Austrian court at length sent a formal document,
containing its ultimatum, the tenor of which Metternich had
sufficiently indicated in this conversation. Talleyrand and
Fouché, who had now arrived from Paris, urged the Emperor to
accede to the proffered terms. They represented to him the
madness of rousing all Europe to conspire for his destruction,
and insinuated that the progress of discontent was rapid in
France itself. Their arguments were backed by intelligence of
the most disastrous character from Spain. ...

See SPAIN: A. D. 1812-1814.

Napoleon was urged by his military as well as political
advisers, to appreciate duly the crisis which his affairs had
reached. ... He proceeded to insult both ministers and
generals ... and ended by announcing that he did not wish for
any plans of theirs, but their service in the execution of
his. Thus blinded by arrogance and self-confidence, and
incapable of weighing any other considerations against what he
considered as the essence of his personal glory, Napoleon
refused to abate one iota of his pretensions--until it was too
late. Then, indeed, ... he did show some symptoms of
concession. A courier arrived at Prague with a note, in which
he signified his willingness to accede to a considerable
number of the Austrian stipulations. But this was on the 11th
of August. The day preceding was that on which, by the
agreement, the armistice was to end. On that day Austria had
to sign an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Russia and
Prussia. On the night between the 10th and 11th, rockets
answering rockets, from height to height along the frontiers
of Bohemia and Silesia, had announced to all the armies of the
Allies this accession of strength, and the immediate
recommencement of hostilities."

_J. G. Lockhart,
Life of Napoleon Buonaparte,
chapters 32-33._

"On the 14th of June Great Britain had become a party to the
treaty concluded between Russia and Prussia. She had promised
assistance in this great struggle; but no aid could have been
more effectual than that which she was rendering in the
Peninsula."

_C. Knight,
Popular History of England,
chapter 32 (volume 7)._

ALSO IN:
_G. R. Gleig,
The Leipsic Campaign,
chapters 7-16._

_A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and the Empire,
book 48-49 (volume 4)._

_Prince Metternich,
Memoirs, 1773-1815,
book 1, chapter 8 (volume 1)._

_J. R. Seeley,
Life and Times of Stein,
part 7, chapters 4-5 (volume 3)._

_J. Philippart,
Northern Campaign, 1812-1813,
volume 2._

GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (August).
Great battle and victory of Napoleon at Dresden.
French defeats at Kulm, Gross-Beeren and the Katzbach.

"Dresden, during the armistice, had been converted by Napoleon
into such a place of strength that it might be called one
citadel. All the trees in the neighbourhood, as well as those
which had formed the ornament of the public gardens and walks
of that beautiful capital, were cut down and converted into
abattis and palisades; redoubts, field-works, and fosses had
been constructed. The chain of fortresses garrisoned by French
troops secured to Napoleon the rich valley of the Elbe.
Hamburg, Dantzic, and many strong places on the Oder and
Vistula were in his possession. ... His army assembled at the
seat of war amounted to nearly 300,000 men, including the
Bavarian reserve of 25,000 under General Wrede, and he had
greatly increased his cavalry. This powerful force was divided
into eleven army corps, commanded by Vandamme, Victor, Bertrand,
Ney, Lauriston, Marmont, Reynier, Poniatowski, Macdonald,
Oudinot, and St. Cyr. Murat, who, roused by the news of the
victories of Lutzen and Bautzen, had left his capital, was
made commander-in-chief of all the cavalry. ... Davoust held
Hamburg with 20,000 men. Augereau with 24,000 occupied
Bavaria. The armies of the allies were computed at nearly
400,000 men, including the divisions destined to invade Italy.
Those ready for action at the seat of war in Germany were
divided into three great masses,--the army of Bohemia,
consisting mainly of Austrians commanded by Prince
Schwartzenburg; the army of Silesia, commanded by Blucher; and
the troops under the command of Bernadotte, stationed near
Berlin. These immense hosts were strong in cavalry and
artillery, and in discipline and experience far exceeded the
French soldiers, who were nearly all young conscripts. Two
Frenchmen of eminence were leaders in the ranks of the enemies
of France,--Bernadotte and Moreau; Jomini, late chief of the
engineer department in Napoleon's army, was a Swiss. These
three men, well instructed by the great master of the art of
war, directed the counsels of the allied Sovereigns and taught
them how to conquer. Bernadotte pointed out that Napoleon lay
in Dresden with his guard of five-and-twenty thousand men,
while his marshals were stationed in various strong positions
on the frontiers of Saxony. The moment a French corps d'armée
was attacked Napoleon would spring from his central point upon
the flank of the assailants, and as such a blow would be
irresistible he would thus beat the allied armies in detail.
To obviate this danger Bernadotte recommended that the first
general who attacked a French division and brought Napoleon
into the field should retreat, luring the Emperor onward in
pursuit, when the other bodies of allied troops,
simultaneously closing upon his rear, should surround him and
cut him off from his, base. This plan was followed: Blucher
advanced from Silesia, menacing the armies of Macdonald and
Ney, and Napoleon, with the activity expected, issued from
Dresden on the 15th of August, rapidly reached the point of
danger, and assumed the offensive. But he was unable to bring
the Prussian general to a decisive action, for Blucher,
continuing to retreat before him, the pursuit was only
arrested by an estafette reporting on the 23rd that the main
body of the allies threatened Dresden. On the 25th, at 4 in
the afternoon, 200,000 allied troops led by Schwartzenburg
appeared before that city. St. Cyr, who had been left to
observe the passes of the Bohemian mountains with 20,000 men,
retreated before the irresistible torrent and threw himself
into the Saxon capital, which he prepared to defend with his
own forces and the garrison left by the Emperor.
{1526}
It was a service of the last importance. With Dresden Napoleon
would lose his recruiting depot and supplies of every kind.
... The Austrian commander-in-chief deferred the attack till
the following day, replying to the expostulations of Jomini
that Napoleon was engaged in the Silesian passes. Early on the
morning of the 26th the allies advanced to the assault in six
columns, under cover of a tremendous artillery fire. They
carried one great redoubt, then another, and closed with the
defenders of the city at every point, shells and balls falling
thick on the houses, many of which were on fire. St. Cyr
conducted the defence with heroism; but before midday a
surrender was talked of. ... Suddenly, from the opposite bank
of the Elbe columns of soldiers were seen hastening towards
the city. They pressed across the bridges, swept through the
streets, and with loud shouts demanded to be led into battle,
although they had made forced marches from the frontiers of
Silesia. Napoleon, with the Old Guard and cuirassiers, was in
the midst of them. His enemies had calculated on only half his
energy and rapidity, and had forgotten that he could return as
quickly as he left. The Prussians had penetrated the Grosse
Garten on the French left, and so close was the Russian fire
that Witgenstein's guns enfiladed the road by which Napoleon
had to pass; consequently, to reach the city in safety, he was
compelled to dismount at the most exposed part, and, according
to Baron Odeleben (one of his aides-de-camp), creep along on his
hands and knees (ventre à terre). Napoleon halted at the
palace to reassure the King of Saxony, and then joined his
troops who were already at the gates. Sallies were made by Ney
and Mortier under his direction. The astonished assailants
were driven back. The Young Guard recaptured the redoubts, and
the French army deployed on the plateau lately in possession
of their enemies. ... The fury of the fight gradually
slackened, and the armies took up their positions for the
night. The French wings bivouacked to the right and left of
the city, which itself formed Napoleon's centre. The allies
were ranged in a semicircle cresting the heights. ... They had
not greatly the advantage in numbers, for Klenau's division
never came up; and Napoleon, now that Victor and Marmont's
corps had arrived, concentrated nearly 200,000 men. ... The
next day broke in a tempest of wind and rain. At six o'clock
Napoleon was on horseback, and ordered his columns to advance.
Their order of battle has been aptly compared to 'a fan when
it expands.' Their position could scarcely have been worse.
... Knowing that in case of disaster retreat would be almost
an impossibility, Napoleon began an attack on both flanks of
the allied army, certain that their defeat would demoralize
the centre, which he could overwhelm by a simultaneous
concentric attack, supported by the fire of 100 guns. The
stormy weather which concealed their movements favoured them;
and Murat turning and breaking the Austrian left, and Ney
completely rolling up the Austrian right, the result was a
decisive victory. By three in the afternoon of the 27th the
battle was concluded, and the allies were in full retreat,
pursued by the French. The roads to Bohemia and those to the
south were barred by Murat's and Vandamme's corps, and the
allied Sovereigns were obliged to take such country paths and
byways as they could find--which had been rendered almost
impassable by the heavy rain. They lost 25,000 prisoners, 40
standards, 60 pieces of cannon, and many waggons. The killed
and wounded amounted on each side to seven or eight thousand.
The first cannon-shot fired by the guard under the
direction of Napoleon mortally wounded Moreau while talking to
the Emperor Alexander. ... The French left wing, composed of
the three corps of Vandamme, St. Cyr, and Marmont, were
ordered to march by their left along the Pirna road in pursuit
of the foe, who was retreating into Bohemia in three columns,
and had traversed the gorges of the Hartz Mountains in safety,
though much baggage, several ammunition waggons, and 2,000
prisoners, fell into the hands of the French. The Russians,
under Ostermann, halted on the plain of Culm [or Kulm] for the
arrival of Kleist's Prussians; the Austrians hurried along the
Prague route. Vandamme marched boldly on, neglecting even the
precaution of guarding the defile of Peterswald in his rear.
Trusting to the rapid advance of the other French corps, he
was lured on by the hope of capturing the allied Sovereigns in
their headquarters at Toplitz. Barclay de Tolly, having
executed a rapid detour from left to right, brought the bulk
of his Russian forces to bear on Vandamme, who, on reaching
Culm, was attacked in front and rear [August 29-30], surprised
and taken, losing the whole of his artillery and between 7,000
and 8,000 prisoners; the rest of his corps escaped and
rejoined the army. This disaster totally deranged Napoleon's
plans, which would have led him to follow up the pursuit
towards Bohemia in person. Oudinot was ordered to march
against Bülow's corps at Berlin and the Swedes commanded by
Bernadotte, taking with him the divisions of Bertrand and
Reynier--a force of 80,000 men. Reynier, who marched in
advance, fell in with the allies at Gross-Beeren, attacked
them precipitately and suffered severely, his division,
chiefly composed of Saxons, taking flight. Oudinot also
sustained considerable losses, and retreated to Torgau on the
Elbe. Girard, sallying out of Magdeburg with 5,000 or 6,000
men, was defeated near Leibnitz, with the loss of 1,000 men,
and some cannon and baggage. Macdonald encountered Blucher in
the plains between Wahlstadt and the Katzbach under
disadvantageous circumstances [August 26], and was obliged to
retire in disorder."

_R. H. Horne,
History of Napoleon,
chapter 37._

"The great battle of the Katzbach, the counterpart to that of
Hohenlinden, [was] one of the most glorious ever gained in the
annals of European fame. Its trophies were immense. ...
Eighteen thousand prisoners, 103 pieces of cannon, and 230
caissons, besides 7,000 killed and wounded, presented a total
loss to the French of 25,000 men."

_Sir A. Alison,
History of Europe,
chapter 80, section 68 (volume 17)._

"Of the battle of Kulm it is not too much to say that it was
the most critical in the whole war of German liberation. The
fate of the coalition was determined absolutely by its
results. Had Vandamme been strong enough to keep his hold of
Bohemia, and to block up from them the mouths of the passes,
the allied columns, forced back into the exhausted mountain
district through which they were retreating, must have
perished for lack of food, or dissolved themselves."

_G. R. Gleig,
The Leipzig Campaign,
chapter 27._

{1527}

ALSO IN:
_Baron Jomini,
Life of Napoleon,
chapter 20 (volume 4)._

_Major C. Adams,
Great Campaigns in Europe,
1796 to 1870, chapter 5._

GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (September-October).
French reverse at Dennewitz.
Napoleon's evacuation of Dresden.
Allied concentration at Leipsic.
Preparations for the decisive battle.

"The [allied] Army of the North had been nearly idle since the
battle of Grossbeeren. The Prussian generals were extremely
indignant against Bernadotte, whose slowness and inaction were
intolerable to them. It took them, under his orders, a
fortnight to advance as far as a good footman could march in a
day. They then unexpectedly met a new French army advancing
against them from a fortified camp at Wittenberg. Napoleon had
now assigned to Marshal Ney--the bravest of the brave'--the
work of beating 'the Cossack hordes and the poor militia,' and
taking Berlin. Under him were Oudinot, Regnier, Bertrand, and
Arrighi, with 70,000 men. On September 6 Tauenzien met their
superior forces at Jüterbogk, but sustained himself valiantly
through a perilous fight. Bernadotte was but two hours' march
away, but as usual disregarded Bülow's request to bring aid.
But Bülow himself brought up his corps on the right, and took
the brunt of the battle, extending it through the villages
south of Jüterbogk, of which Dennewitz was the centre. The
Prussians took these villages by storm, and when evening came
their victory was complete, though Bernadotte had not
stretched out a hand to help them. ... Bülow bore the name of
Dennewitz afterward in honor of his victory. Ney reported to
his master that he was entirely defeated. Napoleon unwisely
ascribed his defeat entirely to the Saxons, who fought well
that day for him, but for the last time. By his reproaches he
entirely alienated the people from him. The French loss in
this battle was 10,000 killed and wounded, and 10,000
prisoners, besides 80 guns. The Prussians lost in killed and
wounded more than 5,000. Thus five victories had been won by
the Allies in a fortnight, compensating fully for the loss of
the battle of Dresden. The way to the Elbe lay open to the
Army of the North. But Bernadotte continued to move with
extreme slowness. Bülow and Tauenzien seriously proposed to
Blücher to leave the Swedish prince, whom they openly
denounced as a traitor. Blücher approached the Elbe across the
Lausitz from Bohemia, and it would have been easy to cross the
river and unite the two armies, threatening Napoleon's rear,
and making Dresden untenable for him. Napoleon advanced in
vain against Blücher to Bausitz. The Prussian general wisely
avoided a battle. Then the emperor turned against the Army of
Bohemia, but it was too strong in its position in the valley
of Teplitz, with the mountains in its rear, to be attacked.
Then again he moved toward Blücher, but again failed to bring
about an action. At this time public opinion throughout Europe
was undergoing a rapid change, and Napoleon's name was losing
its magic. The near prospect of his fall made the nations he
had oppressed eager and impatient for it, and his German
allies and subjects lost all regard and hope for his cause. On
October 8 the Bavarian plenipotentiary, General Wrede,
concluded a treaty with Austria at Ried, by the terms of which
Bavaria left Napoleon and joined the allies. This important
defection, though it had been for some weeks expected, was
felt by the French emperor as a severe blow to his prospects.
Napoleon's circle of movement around Dresden began to be
narrowed. The Russian reserves under Benningsen, 57,000
strong, were also advancing through Silesia toward Bohemia.
Blücher was therefore not needed in Bohemia, and he pressed
forward vigorously to cross the Elbe. His army advanced along
the right bank of the Black Elster to its mouth above
Wittenberg. On the opposite bank of the Elbe, in the bend of
the stream, stands the village of Wartenburg, and just at the
bend Blücher built two bridges of boats without opposition. On
October 3 York's corps crossed the river. But now on the west
side, among the thickets and swamps before the village, arose
a furious struggle with a body of 20,000 French, Italians, and
Germans of the Rhine League under Bertrand. York displayed
eminent patience, coolness, and judgment, and won a decided
victory out of a great danger. Bernadotte, though with much
hesitation, also crossed the Elbe at the mouth of the Mulde,
and the army of the North and of Silesia were thus united in
Napoleon's rear. It was now evident that the successes of
these armies had brought the French into extreme danger, and
the allied sovereigns resolved upon a concerted attack.
Leipsic was designated as the point at which the armies should
combine. Napoleon could no longer hold Dresden, lest he should
be cut off from France by a vastly superior force. The
partisan corps of the allies were also growing bolder and more
active far in Napoleon's rear, and on October 1 Czernicheff
drove Jerome out of Cassel and proclaimed the kingdom of
Westphalia dissolved. This was the work of a handful of
Cossacks, without infantry and artillery; but though Jerome
soon returned, the moral effect of this sudden and easy
overthrow of one of Napoleon's military kingdoms was immense.
On October 7 Napoleon left Dresden, and marched to the Mulde.
Blücher's forces were arrayed along both sides of this stream,
below Düben. But he quietly and successfully retired, on
perceiving Napoleon's purpose to attack him, and moved
westward to the Saale, in order to draw after him Bernadotte
and the Northern army. The plan was successful, and the united
armies took up a position behind the Saale, extending from
Merseburg to Alsleben, Bernadotte occupying the northern end
of the line next to the Elbe. Napoleon, disappointed in his
first effort, now formed a plan whose boldness astonished both
friend and foe. He resolved to cross the Elbe, to seize Berlin
and the Marches, now uncovered, and thus, supported by his
fortresses of Magdeburg, Stettin, Dantzic, and Hamburg, where
he still had bodies of troops and magazines, to give the war
an entirely new aspect. But the murmurs of his worn-out
troops, and even of his generals, compelled him to abandon
this plan, which was desperate, but might have been effectual.
The suggestion of it terrified Bernadotte, whose province of
Lower Pomerania would be threatened, and he would have
withdrawn in headlong haste across the Elbe had not Blücher
persisted in detaining him. Napoleon now resolved to march
against the Bohemian army at Leipsic. On October 14, on
approaching the city from the north, he heard cannon-shots on
the opposite side. It was the advanced guard of the main army,
which was descending from the Erz-Gebirge range, after a sharp
but indecisive cavalry battle with Murat at the village of
Liebertwolkwitz, south of Dresden.
{1528}
In the broad, thickly settled plains around Leipsic, the
armies of Europe now assembled for the final and decisive
conflict. Napoleon's command included Portuguese, Spaniards,
Neapolitans, and large contingents of Germans from the Rhine
League, as well as the flower of the French youth; while the
allies brought against him Cossacks and Calmucks, Swedes and
Magyars, besides all the resources of Prussian patriotism and
Austrian discipline. Never since the awful struggle at
Chalons, which saved Western civilization from Attila, had
there been a strife so well deserving the name of 'the battle
of the nations.' West of the city of Leipsic runs the Pleisse,
and flows into the Elster on the northwest side. Above their
junction, the two streams run for some distance near one
another, inclosing a sharp angle of swampy land. The great
highway to Lindenau from Leipsic crosses the Elster, and then
runs southwesterly to Lützen and Weissenfels. South of the
city and east of the Pleisse lie a number of villages, of
which Wachau, Liebertwolkwitz, and Probstheida, nearer the
city, were important points during the battle. The little
river Partha approaches the city on the east, and then runs
north, reaching the Elster at Gohlis. Napoleon occupied the
villages north, east and south of the city, in a small circle
around it."

_C. T. Lewis,
History of Germany,
chapter 30, sections 7-11._

ALSO IN:
_E. Baines,
History of the Wars of the French Revolution,
book 4, chapter 23 (volume 3)._

GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (October).
"The Battle of the Nations."

"The town of Leipsic has four sides and four gates. ... On the
south is the rising ground called the Swedish Camp; and
another called the Sheep-walk, bordering on the banks of the
Pleisse. To this quarter the Grand Army of the Allies was seen
advancing on the 15th of October. Buonaparte made his
arrangements accordingly. Bertrand and Poniatowski defended
Lindenau and the east side of the city, by which the French
must retreat. Augereau was posted farther to the left, on the
elevated plain of Wachau, and on the south, Victor, Lauriston,
and Macdonald confronted the advance of the Allies with the
Imperial Guards placed as a reserve. On the north, Marmont was
placed between Mœckern and Euterist, to make head against
Blücher, should he arrive in time to take part in the battle.
On the opposite quarter, the sentinels of the two armies were
within musket-shot of each other, when evening fell. ... The
number of men who engaged the next morning was estimated at
136,000 French, and 230,000 on the part of the Allies. ...
Napoleon remained all night in the rear of his own Guards,
behind the central position, facing a village called Gossa,
occupied by the Austrians. At daybreak on the 16th of October
the battle began, The French position was assailed along all
the southern front with the greatest fury. ... The Allies
having made six desperate attempts, ... all of them
unsuccessful, Napoleon in turn assumed the offensive. ... This
was about noon. The village of Gossa was carried by the
bayonet. Macdonald made himself master of the Swedish Camp;
and the eminence called the Sheep-walk was near being taken in
the same manner. The impetuosity of the French had fairly
broken through the centre of the Allies, and Napoleon sent the
tidings of his success to the King of Saxony, who ordered all
the bells in the city to be rung. ... The King of Naples, with
Latour-Maubourg and Kellermann, poured through the gap in the
enemy's centre at the head of the whole body of cavalry, and
thundered forward as far as Magdeburg, a village in the rear
of the Allies, bearing down General Rayefskoi with the
Grenadiers of the Russian reserve. At this moment, while the
French were disordered by their own success, Alexander, who
was present, ordered forward the Cossacks of his Guard, who,
with their long lances, bore back the dense body of cavalry
that had so nearly carried the day. Meantime, as had been
apprehended, Blücher arrived before the city, and suddenly
came into action with Marmont, being three times his numbers.
He in consequence obtained great and decided advantages; and
before night-fall had taken the village of Mœckern, together
with 20 pieces of artillery and 2,000 prisoners. But on the
south side the contest continued doubtful. Gossa was still
disputed. ... General Mehrfeldt fell into the hands of the
French. The battle raged till night-fall, when it ceased by
mutual consent. ... The armies slept on the ground they had
occupied during the day. The French on the southern side had
not relinquished one foot of their original position, though
attacked by such superior numbers. Marmont had indeed been
forced back by Blücher, and compelled to crowd his line of
defence nearer the walls of Leipsic. Thus pressed on all sides
with doubtful issues, Buonaparte availed himself of the
capture of General Mehrfeldt to demand an armistice and to
signify his acceptance of the terms proposed by the Allies,
but which were now found to be too moderate. ... Napoleon
received no answer till his troops had recrossed the Rhine;
and the reason assigned is, that the Allies had pledged
themselves solemnly to each other to enter into no treaty with
him 'while a single individual of the French army remained in
Germany.' ... The 17th was spent in preparations on both
sides, without any actual hostilities. At eight o'clock on the
morning of the 18th they were renewed with tenfold fury.
Napoleon had considerably contracted his circuit of defence,
and the French were posted on an inner line, nearer to
Leipsic, of which Probtsheyda was the central point. ...
Barclay, Wittgenstein, and Kleist advanced on Probtsheyda,
where they were opposed by Murat, Victor, Augereau, and
Lauriston, under the eye of Napoleon himself. On the left
Macdonald had drawn back his division to a village called
Stoetteritz. Along this whole line the contest was maintained
furiously on both sides; nor could the terrified spectators,
from the walls and steeples of Leipsic, perceive that it
either receded or advanced. About two o'clock the Allies
forced their way ... into Probtsheyda; the camp-followers
began to fly; the tumult was excessive. Napoleon ... placed
the reserve of the Old Guard in order, led them in person to
recover the village, and saw them force their entrance ere he
withdrew to the eminence from whence he watched the battle.
... The Allies, at length, felt themselves obliged to desist
from the murderous attacks on the villages which cost them so
dear; and, withdrawing their troops, kept up a dreadful fire
with their artillery.
{1529}
The French replied with equal spirit, though they had fewer
guns; and, besides, their ammunition was falling short. Still,
however, Napoleon completely maintained the day on the south
of Leipsic, where he commanded in person. On the northern
side, the yet greater superiority of numbers placed Ney in a
precarious situation; and, pressed hard both by Blücher and
the Crown-Prince, he was compelled to draw nearer the town,
and had made a stand on an eminence called Heiterblick, when
on a sudden the Saxons, who were stationed in that part of the
field, deserted from the French and went over to the enemy. In
consequence of this unexpected disaster, Ney was unable any
longer to defend himself. It was in vain that Buonaparte
dispatched his reserves of cavalry to·fill up the chasm that
had been made; and Ney drew up the remainder of his forces
close under the walls of Leipsic. The battle once more ceased
at all points. ... Although the French army had thus kept its
ground up to the last moment on these two days, yet there was
no prospect of their being able to hold out much longer at
Leipsic. ... All things counselled a retreat, which was
destined (like the rest of late) to be unfortunate. ... The
retreat was commenced in the night-time; and Napoleon spent a
third harassing night in giving the necessary orders for the
march. He appointed Macdonald and Poniatowski ... to defend
the rear. ... A temporary bridge which had been erected had
given way, and the old bridge on the road to Lindenau was the
only one that remained for the passage of the whole French
army. But the defence of the suburbs had been so gallant and
obstinate that time was allowed for this purpose. At length
the rear-guard itself was about to retreat, when, as they
approached the banks of the river, the bridge blew up by the
mistake of a sergeant of a company of sappers who ... set fire
to the mine of which he had charge before the proper moment.
This catastrophe effectually barred the escape of all those
who still remained on the Leipsic side of the river, except a
few who succeeded in swimming across, among whom was Marshal
Macdonald. Poniatowski ... was drowned in making the same
attempt. In him, it might be said, perished the last of the
Poles. About 25,000 French were made prisoners of war, with a
great quantity of artillery and baggage."

_W. Hazlitt,
Life of Napoleon,
chapter 50 (volume 3)._

"The battle of Leipsic was over. Already had the allied
sovereigns entered the town, and forcing, not without
difficulty, their way through the crowd, passed on to the
market-place. Here, the house in which the King of Saxony had
lodged was at once made known to them by the appearance of the
Saxon troops whom Napoleon had left to guard their master. ...
Moreover, the King himself ... stood bare-headed on the steps
of the stairs. But the Emperor of Russia, who appears at once
to have assumed the chief direction of affairs, took no notice
of the suppliants. ... The battle of Leipsic constitutes one
of those great hinges on which the fortunes of the world may
be said from time to time to turn. The importance of its
political consequence cannot be overestimated. ... As a great
military operation, the one feature which forces itself
prominently upon our notice is the enormous extent of the
means employed on both sides to accomplish an end. Never since
the days when Persia poured her millions into Greece had armies
so numerous been marshalled against each other. Nor does
history tell of trains of artillery so vast having been at any
time brought into action with more murderous effect. ... About
1,300 pieces, on the one side, were answered, during two days,
by little short of 1,000 on the other. ... We look in vain for
any manifestations of genius or military skill, either in the
combinations which rendered the battle of Leipsic inevitable,
or in the arrangements according to which the attack and
defence of the field were conducted. ... It was the triumph,
not of military skill, but of numbers."

_G. R. Gleig,
The Leipsic Campaign,
chapter 41._

"No more here than at Moscow must we seek in the failure of
the leader's talents the cause of such deplorable results,--
for he was never more fruitful in resource, more bold, more
resolute, nor more a soldier,--but in the illusions of pride,
in the wish to regain at a blow an immense fortune which he
had lost, in the difficulty of acknowledging to himself his
defeat in time, in a word, in all those errors which we may
discern in miniature and caricature in an ordinary gambler,
who madly risks riches acquired by folly; errors which are
found on a large and terrible scale in this gigantic gambler,
who plays with human blood as others play with money. As
gamblers lose their fortunes twice,--once from not knowing
where to stop, and a second time from wishing to restore it at
a single cast,--so Napoleon endangered his at Moscow by wishing
to make it exorbitantly large, and in the Dresden campaign by
seeking to restore it in its full extent. The cause was always
the same, the alteration not in the genius, but in the
character, by the deteriorating influence of unlimited power
and success."

_A. Thiers,
History of the Consulate and the Empire,
book 50 (volume 4)._

ALSO IN:
_Duke de Rovigo,
Memoirs,
volume 3, part 2, chapter 17._

_J. C. Ropes,
The First Napoleon._

_Baron de Marbot,
Memoirs,
volume 2, chapter 38-39._

GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (October-December).
Retreat of Napoleon beyond the Rhine.
Battle of Hanau.
Fall of the kingdom of Westphalia.
Surrender of French garrisons and forces.
Liberation achieved.

"Blucher, with Langeron and Sacken, moved in pursuit of the
French army, which, disorganised and dejected, was wending its
way towards the Rhine. At the passage of the Unstrutt, at
Freyberg, 1,000 prisoners and 18 guns were captured by the
Prussian hussars; but on the 23d the French reached Erfurth,
the citadels and magazines of which afforded them at once
security and relief from their privations. Here Napoleon
halted two days, employed in reorganising his army, the
thirteen corps of which were now formed into six, commanded by
Victor, Ney, Bertrand, Augereau, Marmont, and Macdonald, and
amounting in all to less than 90,000 men; while twice that
number were left blockaded in the fortresses on the Elbe, the
Oder, and the Vistula. On the 25th, after parting for the last
time with Murat, who here quitted him and returned to Naples,
he resumed his march, retreating with such rapidity through
the Thuringian forest, that the Cossacks alone of the pursuing
army could keep up with the retiring columns--while the men
dropped, exhausted by fatigue and hunger, or deserted their
ranks by hundreds; so that when the fugitive host approached
the Maine, not more than 50,000 remained effective round their
colours--10,000 had fallen or been made prisoners, and at
least 30,000 were straggling in the rear. But here fresh
dangers awaited them.
{1530}
After the treaty of the 8th October, by which Bavaria had
acceded to the grand alliance, an Austro-Bavarian force under
Marshal Wrede had moved in the direction of Frankfort, and was
posted, to the number of 45,000 men, in the oak forest near
Hanau across the great road to Mayence, and blocking up
entirely the French line of retreat. The battle commenced at
11 A. M. on the 30th; but the French van, under Victor and
Macdonald, after fighting its way through the forest, was
arrested, when attempting to issue from its skirts, by the
concentric fire of 70 pieces of cannon, and for four hours the
combat continued, till the arrival of the guards and main body
changed the aspect of affairs. Under cover of the terrible
fire of Drouot's artillery, Sebastiani and Nansouty charged
with the cavalry of the guard, and overthrew everything
opposed to them, and Wrede at length drew off his shattered
army behind the Kinzig. Hanau was bombarded and taken, and
Mortier and Marmont, with the rear divisions, cut their way
through on the following day, with considerable loss to their
opponents. The total losses of the Allies amounted to 10,900
men, of whom 4,000 were prisoners; and the victory threw a
parting ray of glory over the long career of the revolutionary
arms in Germany. On the 2d of November the French reached
Mayence, and Napoleon, after remaining there six days to
collect the remains of his army, set out for Paris, where he
arrived on the 9th; and thus the French eagles bade a final
adieu to the German plains. In the mean time, the Allied
troops, following closely on the footsteps of the retreating
French, poured in prodigious strength down the valley of the
Maine. On the 5th of November the Emperor Alexander entered
Frankfort in triumph, at the head of 20,000 horse; and on the
9th the fortified post of Hochheim, in advance of the
tête-du-pont of Mayence at Cassel, was stormed by Giulay. From
the heights beyond the town the victorious armies of Germany
beheld the winding stream of the Rhine; a shout of enthusiasm
ran from rank to rank as they saw the mighty river of the
Fatherland, which their arms had liberated; those in the rear
hurried to the front, and soon a hundred thousand voices
joined in the cheers which told the world that the war of
independence was ended and Germany delivered. Nothing now
remained but to reap the fruits of this mighty victory; yet so
vast was the ruin that even this was a task of time and
difficulty. The rickety kingdom of Westphalia fell at once,
never more to rise; the revolutionary dynasty in Berg followed
its fate; and the authority of the King of Britain was
re-established by acclamation in Hanover, at the first
appearance of Bernadotte and Benningsen. The reduction of
Davoust, who had been left in Hamburg with 25,000 French and
10,000 Danes, was an undertaking of more difficulty; and
against him Walmoden and Bernadotte moved with 40,000 men. The
French marshal had taken up a position on the Stecknitz; but,
fearful of being cut off from Hamburg, he retired behind the
Bille on the advance of the Allies, separating himself from
the Danes, who were compelled to capitulate. The operations of
the Crown-Prince against Denmark, the ancient rival of Sweden,
were now pushed with a vigour and activity strongly
contrasting with his luke-warmness in the general campaign;
and the court of Copenhagen, seeing its dominions on the point
of being overrun, signed an armistice on the 15th December, on
which was soon after based a permanent treaty [of Kiel]. ...

See SCANDINAVIAN STATES: A. D. 1813-1814.