The exact facts about the battle of Leipzig will never be known. The fighting, which lasted several days, took place on a vast and complicated field, and the immense number of troops which took part in it belonged to different nations. It is on the French side that documents are chiefly lacking; so many commanders of army corps and divisions, as well as staff-officers, fell in the battle or were taken prisoners that their reports were never completed, and those which came to hand showed the hurry and disorder amid which they had been drawn up. In my own case, being colonel of a regiment, and compelled to follow all the movements of my division, I could not know what others were doing, as in the days when I was an aide-de-camp, and by carrying orders to different parts of the field was enabled to know something of the general plan of operations. I must therefore more than ever abridge my story, and confine myself to what is absolutely necessary in order to give a notion of the most important events in a battle which so powerfully influenced the destinies of Napoleon, France, and all Europe.
The ring of steel in which the enemy was preparing to enclose the French army was not yet completed round Leipzig, when the King of Wurtemberg thought it his duty to warn Napoleon that all Germany was, at the instigation of the English, about to rise against him; and that as the troops of the Confederation would shortly desert him he would not have more than time to retire behind the Main. He added that he himself would be unable to avoid following their example, for he must at length yield to the pressure of his subjects and follow the torrent of public feeling in Germany.
Strongly affected by the advice of the ablest and most loyal of his allies, the Emperor had, it is said, the idea of retreating towards the hilly district of Thuringen and Hesse, and, covered by the Saale, allowing the Coalition to attack him in a difficult country. Had this plan been carried out, it might have saved Napoleon; but for that prompt action was needed before the enemy's armies were wholly joined and near enough to attack us on the retreat. The Emperor, however, could not make up his mind to abandon any part of his conquests, nor yet to let it be believed that he considered himself beaten. The great captain's excess of courage was our ruin: he overlooked the fact that his army, weakened by its heavy losses, numbered among its ranks many strangers who were only waiting the opportunity to betray him, and that in the broad plains of Leipzig he ran every chance of being overwhelmed by numbers. If, on the other hand, he had assumed a defensive position in the mountains, the approach of winter and the need of feeding their numerous forces would soon have compelled the enemy to break up, while the French army, protected in front and on the flanks by the natural difficulties of the country, would have had the fertile valleys of the Rhine and Neckar in its rear. At the very least, we should have gained time, and perhaps wearied out the allies till they desired peace. But Napoleon's confidence in himself and in his troops prevailed, and he decided to accept battle in the plains of Leipzig.
Hardly had this fatal decision been taken when a second letter came from the King of Wurtemberg, with the news that the King of Bavaria had come to terms with the Coalition, and that the united Austrian and Bavarian armies under General von Wrede, were marching on the Rhine. With much regret Wurtemberg had been compelled by the strength of this army to unite here with it; and the Emperor might therefore expect that before long 100,000 men would be investing Mainz and threatening the French frontier.
This unforeseen news led Napoleon to think that he had better return to his plan of retiring behind the Saale; but it was too late. The main force of the allies was by this time in presence of the French army, and too near for retreat to be possible without being attacked during the operation. He therefore determined to fight, though his whole force, French and allied, amounted only to 157,000 men, including 29,000 cavalry, while Schwarzenberg could dispose of 350,000 Russians, Austrians, Prussians, and Swedes, his cavalry being 54,000.
The town of Leipzig, one of the busiest and wealthiest in Germany, stands near the middle of the vast plain which extends from the Elbe to the Harz Mountains. The situation of this district has made it the principal theatre of war in Germany. The small stream of the Ulster, almost insignificant enough to be called a brook, flows from south to north through a shallow valley amid marshy meadows. Being divided into many branches, it offers a serious obstacle to the operations of war, and requires a great many bridges for communication among the villages. The Pleisse, a still smaller stream than the Elster, flows about a league and a half from it, and joins it under the walls of Leipzig, while north of the town the Partha flows into it. Being thus at the confluence of these three streams, and almost surrounded on the north and west by their many arms, Leipzig is the key of the position. The town, which at that time was not very extensive, was surrounded by an old wall having four large and three small gates. The road to Lutzen, by Lindenau, formed the only communication open to the rear of the French army. It was on that part of the ground between the Pleisse and the Partha that the hardest fighting took place. A noticeable point is the Kolmberg, known as the Swedish redoubt, because in the Thirty Years' War Gustavus Adolphus had raised fortifications at that point.
The battle of Leipzig began on October 16, 1813, and lasted three days. Without going into the details of this memorable action, I think I ought to specify the principal positions occupied by the French army, which will also give a general idea of those of the enemy. Murat commanded our right wing, the extremity of which rested on the Pleisse near the villages of Connewitz, Dölitz, and Mark- Kleeberg, which were occupied by Prince Poniatowsky and his Poles. Next to these, behind the village of Wachau, was Marshal Victor; Augereau's troops occupied Dosen. These corps of infantry were supported by cavalry under Kellermann and Michaud. The centre, under the immediate command of the Emperor, was at Liebertvolkwitz. It consisted of Lauriston's and Macdonald's corps of infantry with the cavalry of Latour-Maubourg and Sébastiani; my regiment, forming part of the latter general's corps, was posted facing the Kolmberg. The left wing, under Marshal Ney, was formed of Marmont's, Reynier's, and Souham's corps, supported by the Duke of Padua's cavalry. It occupied Taucha, Plaussig, and the banks of the Partha. A corps of observation, 15,000 strong, under General Bertrand, was sent to the further side of Leipzig to hold Lindenau and the road to Lutzen. At Probstheida, in rear of the centre, was the reserve, under Oudinot, consisting of the Old and Young Guard, and Nansouty's cavalry. The King of Saxony remained in the town of Leipzig with his own guard and a few French regiments.
During the night of the 15th, Marshal Macdonald had made a movement to concentrate on Liebertvolkwitz, but as it was not wished to let the Kolmberg fall into the enemy's hands before morning I was ordered to watch it till daybreak. It was a ticklish duty, since it involved advancing with my regiment to the foot of the hill while the army retired half a league in the opposite direction. I ran the risk of being surrounded and carried off with my whole regiment by the enemy's advance- guard. Their scouts could not fail to ascend the hill as soon as the first light of dawn should permit them to see what was going on in the plain. It was splendid weather, and one could see very well by the starlight; but, as in such a case one can much more easily perceive from below men coming on to high ground than those above can see those below, I brought my squadrons as near as possible to the hill, and, after ordering perfect silence and stillness, awaited events. Chance very nearly produced one which would have been very fortunate for France and for the Emperor, and would have made me for ever famous. It happened thus.
Half an hour before the first light of dawn, three horsemen, coming from the enemy's side, slowly ascended the Kolmberg. They could not see us, while we plainly made out their outlines and heard their conversation. They were talking French; one was a Russian, the other two Prussians. The first, who appeared to be in authority, told one of the others to let their majesties know that there were no French at that point, and that they could come up, for in a few minutes all the plain would be visible, but that they must make the most of the time lest the French should send skirmishers in that direction. The officer to whom these words were addressed remarked that the escorts were still some way off. 'What matter?' was the answer, 'since there is no one but us here.' At this my troops and I redoubled our attention, and soon perceived on the top of the hill a score of officers, one of whom dismounted.
Although I certainly had had no expectation of capturing a great prize, I had warned my officers that if we saw any of the enemy on the Swedish redoubt, two squadrons should, at a signal which I would give with my handkerchief, work round the hill to right and left, so as to cut off anyone who should have ventured so near to our army. I was, therefore, very hopeful, but just then the over-eagerness of one of my troopers wrecked my plan. The man, having accidentally let his sword drop, instantly took his carbine, and, fearing to be left behind when I gave the signal for attack, fired into the group and killed a Prussian major. As you may suppose, in the twinkling of an eye all the enemy's officers, having no escort but a few orderlies, and seeing themselves on the point of being surrounded by us, galloped away. Our people could not follow them far for fear of themselves falling into the hands of the escort, whom we could hear coming up. My men, however, captured two officers, from whom we could get no information, but afterwards I learnt from my friend, Baron von Stoch, that the Emperor Alexander of Russia and the King of Prussia were among the officers who had so nearly fallen into the hands of the French near the Swedish redoubt. If this had happened the destinies of Europe would have been changed. As, however, luck had decided otherwise, there was nothing left for one but to withdraw quickly towards the French army.
On October 16, at eight in the morning, the allied batteries gave the signal for attack. A brisk cannonade opened along all the line, and the allied army marched on us at all points. The action began on our right, where the Poles were driven back by the Prussians and abandoned the village of Mark-Kleeberg. On our centre, the Russians and Austrians six times attacked Wachau and Liebertvolkwitz, and each time were beaten with heavy loss. The Emperor, doubtless regretting the abandonment of the Swedish redoubt, whence the enemy was pouring a hail of grape upon us, gave orders to recapture the hill, which was promptly effected by the 22nd light infantry supported by my regiment.
After this success, the Emperor, being unable to produce any impression on the enemy's wing owing to the great extent of their front, resolved merely to keep them employed while he endeavoured to pierce their centre. To this end he sent Mortier with two divisions of infantry, and Oudinot with the Young Guard, towards Wachau, Dronot supporting the attack, which to some extent succeeded, with sixty guns.
On his side, Marshal Victor routed the Russian corps under Prince Eugene of Wurtemberg; but the latter rallied his troops at Jossa. At the same moment Lauriston and Macdonald debouched from Liebertvolkwitz, the enemy was put to flight, and the French took possession of the wood of Gross Possna. 1In vain did the Austrian cavalry under Klenau, supported by a 'pulk' of Cossacks, endeavour to restore the fight; it was charged and thrown into disorder by Sébastiani's corps, after desperate fighting, in which my regiment took part. I lost some men, and my senior major, M. Pozac, was wounded by a lance in the breast, in consequence of having omitted to adopt the customary protection of his rolled-up cloak.
Meanwhile, Prince Schwarzenberg, seeing his line badly shaken, brought up his reserves, upon which the Emperor determined to order a grand cavalry charge. Kellermann, Latour-Maubourg, and the dragoons of the guard took part in this, and the first overthrew a division of Russian cuirassiers, but, being taken in flank by another division, he had to retire to the high ground near Wachau, after capturing several stand of colours. Then Murat brought up the French infantry and fresh fighting took place. The Prince of Wurtemberg's corps was broken again, and lost 26 guns. After this rough handling, the enemy's centre began to bend, and was on the point of being pierced, but the Emperor of Russia quickly brought up the cavalry of his guard, and they, catching Latour-Maubourg's squadrons in the disorder which always results from a charge pushed home, drove them back in their turn, and recaptured twenty-four of the guns. In this charge, General Latour-Maubourg had his leg shot off.
As neither side had so far gained any marked advantages, Napoleon, by way of a decisive stroke, launched on the enemy's centre his reserve, composed of all the Old Guard and a corps of fresh troops from Leipzig. But at that moment a regiment of the enemy's cavalry, which had made its way by design or accident to the rear of the French, caused some uneasiness among our troops. They halted and formed square to avoid a surprise, and before the cause of the alarm could be discovered night came on, and suspended operations at that point.
On our extreme right, General Merfeldt had during the whole day been vainly trying to get possession of the passage over the Pleisse, which Poniatowski's Poles defended. Towards evening, however, he succeeded in making himself master of the village of Dölitz, thus putting our right wing in danger. But the chasseurs of the Old Guard, under General Curial, came up at the double, hurled the Austrians back over the river, taking several hundred prisoners, General Merfeldt himself falling, for the third time in his life, into the hands of the French. Although the Poles had allowed Dölitz to be taken from them, the Emperor thought it well, in order to inspirit them, to give a marshal's baton to their chief, Prince Poniatowski: he did not long enjoy the honour of bearing it.
On the other side of the Elster the Austrian general, Gyulai, had carried the village of Lindenau after seven hours' hard fighting. On hearing of this serious event, which endangered the retreat of the greater part of his troops, the Emperor ordered General Bertrand to attack Lindenau, and the position was recaptured with the bayonet.
On our left Ney's impatience nearly brought about a great disaster. That marshal, who was commanding the left wing posted according to the Emperor's orders, finding that by ten o'clock no troops were to be seen in front of him, of his own accord sent one of his army corps under General Souham to Wachau, where the fighting appeared to be hot. But during this ill-judged movement Marshal Blucher, who had been delayed, came up with the Army of Silesia, and captured the village of Möckern. Thereupon Ney was obliged, owing to the reduction of his force, to retire towards evening within the walls of Leipzig, and to confine himself to defending the suburb of Halle. In this engagement the French lost heavily, and a bad effect was produced on those of our men who in other parts of the field could hear the firing in their rear. Towards eight in the evening all firing ceased on both sides and the night was quiet.
This first day left victory undecided, but still it was in favour of the French, since, with forces far inferior, they had not only made headway against the Coalition, but had driven them from some of the positions which they had occupied the day before. On both sides preparations were made to renew the combat next morning, but, contrary to expectation, the 17th passed without any hostile movement taking place. The allies were awaiting the arrival of the Russian army from Poland, and also the troops which Bernadotte, the Crown Prince of Sweden, was bringing up. Napoleon, on his side, regretted that he had rejected the proposals for peace made two months ago, but hoped for some result from a pacific message which he had sent the night before to the allied sovereigns by his prisoner, the Austrian general, Count Merfeldt. The sequence of events is sometimes very strange; this Count Merfeldt was the same man who, sixteen years before, had come to General Bonaparte, then commanding the Army of Italy, to sue for the famous armistice of Leoben. It was he who had brought back to Vienna the treaty of peace concluded between the Austrian Government and the Directory, represented by General Bonaparte. It was he who, during the night after the battle of Austerlitz, had carried from the Emperor of Austria to the Emperor of the French proposals for an armistice; and now that General Merfeldt's destiny brought him once more to Napoleon at the moment when Napoleon needed an armistice and a peace, there seemed an encouraging hope that the same emissary would again bring about the desired result. But things had advanced too far for the allied sovereigns to treat with Napoleon; the mere fact of his proposing it showed that he was in difficulties. Thus, although they had not been able to beat us on the 16th, they had still a hope of overwhelming us by a renewed effort with greater forces; They reckoned also on the defection of the German troops which were still among us, whose chiefs, all members of the Tugendbund, took advantage of the quasi-armistice of the 17th to agree upon the manner in which they should carry out their notable treachery. No reply was ever given to the message brought by Count Merfeldt.
Early on the 18th the army of the Coalition opened the attack. The 2nd cavalry corps, to which my regiment belonged, was posted as before between Liebertvolkwitz and the Kolmberg. The fighting was hottest towards our centre, where the village of Probstheida was attacked simultaneously by a Russian and a Prussian force. Both were repulsed with heavy loss. But the combat went on at all points, and the Russians attacked Holzhausen, which Macdonald successfully defended. Towards eleven o'clock firing was heard beyond Leipzig, in the direction of Lindenau; and we heard that our troops had at that point broken the circle in which the enemy flattered himself that he had shut up the French army, and that General Bertrand was making his way in the direction of the Rhine. The Emperor then gave orders that the baggage should be withdrawn towards Lutzen.
Meantime the plain was the scene of a fierce engagement about Connewitz and Lössnig; and the earth shook with the thunder of a thousand guns. The enemy tried to force the passage of the Pleisse, but were repulsed, though the Poles spoilt some of our finest cavalry charges. Then the 1st cavalry corps, seeing the Austrian and Prussian squadrons coming up to the aid of their allies, issued from behind Probstheida, broke the enemy and drove them back on their reserves, which were commanded by the Grand Duke Constantine. The allies at once brought up immense forces and tried to carry Probstheida, but the formidable masses were so well received by our infantry that they promptly recoiled. At this point we lost Generals Vial and Rochambeau; the latter had just been created marshal by the Emperor.
Up to this time Bernadotte had not fought against the French, and was said to be wavering. But at length, under the exhortations and even threats of Marshal Blucher, he decided to cross the Partha above the village of Mockau with his Swedes and one Russian corps. 2A brigade of Saxon hussars and lancers was posted at this point, and, on seeing Bernadotte's leading Cossacks approach, made as though to charge them; but they suddenly wheeled round, and forgetting the risk to which they were exposing their King, who was still in the midst of Napoleon's army, these scoundrelly Saxons turned their muskets and cannons against the French.
The head of Bernadotte's army marched along the left bank of the Partha towards Sellershausen, which Reynier was defending. That general, whose troops were almost entirely drawn from the German contingents, after witnessing the desertion of the Saxon cavalry had lost confidence in the infantry of the same nation and placed Durutte's cavalry near them to keep them in hand. But Ney, with over-confidence, bade him deploy the Saxons, and send them in support of a French regiment which was holding the village of Paunsdorf. Hardly, however, had the Saxons got away from the French troops, when, seeing the Prussian standards near Paunsdorf, they made off at full speed in that direction, led by General Russel, their unworthy chief. Some French officers, unable to imagine such treachery, thought that the Saxons were going to attack the Prussians, so that General Gressot, Reynier's chief-of-staff, actually hurried off to check what he took for over-eagerness; but he found that he had none but enemies before him. This desertion of an entire army corps not only produced an alarming gap in the French line, but rekindled the ardour of the allied forces, and the Wurtemberg cavalry instantly followed the example of the Saxons. Bernadotte welcomed the traitors into his ranks, calling upon their artillery to assist his; and even begged the English commissioner to lend him the battery of Congreve rockets which he had brought. These the former marshal of France directed upon the French.
No sooner was the Saxon corps in the ranks of the enemy than it notified its treachery by a volley from all its guns— the commander exclaiming that he had burnt half his ammunition for the French, and would now fire the rest at them! Therewith he launched a hail of projectiles at us, of which my regiment received a large share. I lost some thirty men, including Captain Bertin, a most deserving officer, whose head was taken off by a round-shot. And it was Bernadotte a Frenchman, for whom the blood of Frenchmen had earned a crown, that gave us this finishing stroke!
Among this general disloyalty the King of Wurtemberg formed an honourable exception. As I have said, he warned Napoleon that circumstances would force him to leave his cause; but even after taking this supreme decision, he carried it out with perfect loyalty, ordering his troops to take no action against the French without giving them ten days' notice. Even when he had become our enemy, he expelled from his army the general and several of the officers who had taken their troops over into the Russian ranks during the battle of Leipzig, and deprived the deserting regiments of all their decorations.
Meanwhile Probstheida continued to be the scene of a murderous struggle. The Old Guard was deployed in rear of the village, ready to aid its defenders. Bulow's corps, trying to advance, was crushed, but we lost General Delmas, a distinguished soldier and honourable man, who had fallen out with Napoleon at the creation of the Empire and lived ten years in retirement, but demanded to serve when his country was in danger. The French were maintaining their position all along the line. On the left, where MacDonald and Sébastiani had held their ground between Probstheida and Stotteritz in the teeth of frequent attacks from Klenau's Austrians and Doctoroff's Russians, we were suddenly assailed by a charge of more than 20,000 Cossacks and Bashkirs. Their efforts were chiefly directed against Sébastiani's cavalry, and in a moment the barbarians surrounded our squadrons with loud shouts, letting off thousands of arrows. The loss these caused was slight, for the Bashkirs are totally undrilled and have no more notion of any formation than a flock of sheep. Thus they cannot shoot horizontally in front of them without hitting their own comrades, and are obliged to fire their arrows parabolically into the air, with more or less elevation according to the distance at which they judge the enemy to be. As this method does not allow of accurate aiming, nine-tenths of the arrows are lost, while the few that hit are pretty well spent, and only fall with the force of their own weight, which is inconsiderable; so that the wounds they cause are usually trifling. As they have no other weapons, they are certainly the least dangerous troops in the world. However, as they were coming up in myriads, and the more of these wasps one killed the more came on—the vast number of arrows with which they filled the air were bound sooner or later to inflict some severe wounds. Thus one of my non-commissioned officers, named Meslin; was pierced from breast to back by an arrow. Seizing it in both hands he broke it and drew the two portions from his body, but died a few minutes later. I fancy this was the only case of death caused by the Bashkirs' arrows: but I had several men and horses hit, and was myself wounded by the ridiculous weapon. I had my sword in my hand, and was giving orders to an officer. As I raised my arm to indicate the direction in which he was to go, I felt my sword unexpectedly checked, and perceived a slight pain in the right thigh. Looking down I saw that an arrow four feet long was sticking an inch deep in my right thigh, though in the excitement of the fight I had not perceived the wound. I got Dr. Parot to take it out and place it in the regimental ambulance, for I wished to preserve it as a curious relic; but I am sorry to say it has been mislaid. As you may suppose, I did not leave my regiment for so slight a wound: and, indeed, the moment was very critical. The reinforcements brought up by Bernadotte and Blucher were attacking the suburb of Schönfeld, not far from the point where the Partha enters the town of Leipzig. Generals Lagrange and Friederichs repulsed seven assaults on this important point, driving the allies from the houses which they carried. General Friederichs was killed in the combat; he was an excellent and brave officer, and had the further advantage of being the handsomest man in the French army. The enemy would, however, have probably captured Schönfeld, had not Marshal Ney flown to the support of that village. He himself received a contusion in the shoulder, which compelled him to leave the field.
When night fell, the two armies were over most part of their lines in the same position as when the battle began. That evening my troopers, and indeed all Sébastiani's corps, tethered their horses to the same pickets which they had used for the three previous days, and most of the battalions occupied the same bivouacs. Thus this battle, so vaunted as a victory by our enemies, was indecisive. We were inferior in numbers, with nearly all the nations of Europe against us and a crowd of traitors in our ranks, and yet did not lose an inch of ground. The English general, Sir Robert Wilson, who was present at Leipzig as British commissioner and whose evidence cannot be suspected of partiality, says: 'In spite of the defection of the Saxon army in the middle of the battle, in spite of the ardent and persevering courage of the allied troops, they could not carry a single one of the villages which the French proposed to hold as vital to their position. The action was closed by night, leaving to the French, and especially to the defenders of Probstheida, the glory of having inspired a generous envy in their enemies.'
When darkness came on, I received orders to bid the useless sharpshooting, which usually follows engagements, cease along the front of my regiment. It is not easy in these cases to separate the men who have just been fighting each other, all the more so that in order to prevent the enemy knowing what is done one cannot use drums or trumpets to sound the 'cease firing' and the 'recall,' but one has to give the word in a low voice to the section leaders, and they send sergeants to take the order quietly to the outposts. On his side, the enemy does the same, and the fire gradually slackens, and soon ceases entirely.
In order to be sure that no vedette was forgotten on the ground, and that the little retreat towards the bivouac was carried out in good order, my practice was to have it seen to by an adjutant. The one on duty that evening was named Captain Joly, a capable soldier and very courageous. He had given proof of this some months before, when, being entrusted with the distribution of the re-mounts which the Emperor presented to such of the officers as had served in the Russian campaign, M. Joly, in spite of all that I and his friends could say, had selected for himself a splendid white horse which the rest of us had declined on account of his too conspicuous vesture, and which I had at first assigned to the trumpeters. Now on the evening of the battle of Leipzig, as M. Joly was passing at a walk behind the skirmishing line, his white horse was so plainly seen by the enemy, in spite of the darkness, that horse and man were both severely wounded. The captain was shot through the body, and died in the course of the night in a house in the suburb of Halle, where I had had Major Pozac taken the day before. His wound was not dangerous, but he was melancholy at the thought that the French army would probably retire and leave him in the hands of the enemy, who then would get possession of the sword of honour which he had received when a sergeant from the hands of the First Consul after the battle of Marengo. But I calmed his natural regrets by making myself responsible for the glorious sword. One of the surgeons of the regiment took charge of it, and it was handed back to Pozac when he returned to France.
A.Army
of Bohemia, under Schwarzenburg.
The map is 10 miles N-S and 12 miles E-W.
Left-click on the map to see it in far greater detail.
