The Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Nations, the largest battle Europe had seen, breaks Napoleon's power in Germany
Quick facts
- Location
- Leipzig, Saxony
- Date
- 16-19 October 1813
- Also known as
- Battle of the Nations
- Scale
- About 560,000 troops; roughly 133,000 casualties
What happened
Fought around Leipzig from 16 to 19 October 1813, the Battle of the Nations pitted Napoleon's rebuilt Grande Armee against the combined Sixth Coalition armies of Austria, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia, led respectively by Karl von Schwarzenberg, Gebhard von Blucher, Crown Prince Charles John, and Tsar Alexander I. About 560,000 soldiers took part with roughly 2,200 artillery pieces, making it the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars, and the four days of fighting produced around 133,000 casualties. Napoleon's forces held for most of the battle but were eventually overwhelmed by the coalition's superior numbers and forced into a costly retreat across the Elster River, during which a prematurely destroyed bridge stranded thousands of French troops.
Why it matters
Leipzig reversed the military balance that Napoleon had held in Germany since Jena-Auerstedt seven years earlier and pushed his shrinking army back across the Rhine into France itself. The battle also marked Prussia's reemergence as a major military power after its collapse in 1806, a shift that would matter again two years later at Waterloo.
How we know
World History Encyclopedia's account of Leipzig documents the troop numbers, artillery count, and casualty figures for what it calls the largest battle of the Napoleonic Wars.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Battle of Leipzig · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- Fondation Napoleon. Leipzig 1813: The Battle of the Nations · General sourcenapoleon.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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