LEIPSIC. 



435 



With this view, the movements of the Silesian army, 

 under Blucher, and of the northern army, under the 

 crown prince Charles John of Sweden (Bernadotte), 

 were directed to the Lower Elbe, and the movements 

 of the main army, under Schwartzenburg, to the 

 Upper Elbe. Circumstances finally determined the 

 country around Leipsic, as the place where the junc- 

 tion should be formed, and Napoleon cut oft" from 

 the Saal. In all probability, Napoleon was well 

 aware of this project, but expected to frustrate it. 

 A rapid march between the Mulda and Elbe, a quick 

 passage over the latter river at Dessau, ostensibly 

 with the view of advancing upon Berlin, were to 

 deceive and retard the northern army, and give 

 Napoleon time to turn against Schwartzenburg, 

 and drive him to the mountains of Saxony. If 

 he was conquered, Blucher and John were to be 

 defeated and destroyed. In conformity with 

 the plan of the allies, the great Bohemian army, 

 cf 120,000 men, marched, on the 12th of October, 

 in three columns, against Leipsic, over the Erzge- 

 birge. Napoleon, meanwhile, assembled his troops 

 in and around Leipsic. October 15, lie mustered 

 his army, and gave the generals their orders. His 

 whole force amounted to 80,000 or 90,000 men, the 

 corps of Ney and Regnier being still on the road, 

 or employed, under Marmont, to cover the country 

 to the northward. In case of an unfortunate issue, 

 the corps of Bertrand was to secure the pass of 

 Lindenau. Prince Schwartzenburg commanded the 

 allied forces, although the three monarchs of Aus- 

 tria, Prussia and Russia were present. His purpose 

 was an attack, with three columns, on the position of 

 the French. About seven o'clock in the morning of 

 the 16th, the allied troops put themselves in motion, 

 carried the French outposts, at the villages of Mark- 

 leburg, Wachau, and Liebertwolkwitz, and evi- 

 dently pressed on the enemy's position. The corps 

 of Victor was obliged to relinquish Liebertwolkwitz 

 to general Klenau. About nine o'clock, the battle 

 had become general, and the thunder of innumerable 

 pieces of artillery was scarcely ever heard so power- 

 ful and so uninterrupted by the oldest soldiers. Both 

 parties displayed the most brilliant courage. The 

 movement of the left wing of the allies suffered con- 

 siderably from the firmness of the Poles, who resisted 

 every attempt to cross the Pleisse, and, favoured by 

 the ground, kept up an effective fire. Napoleon 

 ordered, in person, the battle on the heights of 

 Liebertwolkwitz. Macdonald carried the Swedish 

 camp, as it was called, by storm, and thus secured 

 to the left wing of the French an essential advan- 

 tage ; but Wachau was the scene of the most obsti- 

 nate conflict. From this place Napoleon attacked, 

 repeatedly, the centre of the allies. The corps of 

 Ney, which arrived at this juncture from Delitsch, 

 might have decided the day, but Blucher's army also 

 came in sight. It had pressed forward, from Halle 

 to Skeuditz, on the 16th of October, attacked the 

 duke of Ragusa at Wahren, Lindenthal and Breiten- 

 feldt, gained a decisive victory at Mockern, after a 

 severe resistance, and now threatened Leipsic from 

 this quarter. Ney had, consequently, to be des- 

 patched against it, and the decisive moment was 

 lost : the emperor Alexander even recovered a lost 

 battery, by the attack of his regiment of Cossack 

 guards ; the Russian grenadiers restored the balance 

 of power between the Pleisse and Wachau ; and, 

 notwithstanding Napoleon caused the bells of Leip- 

 sic to be rung in honour of his victory, he had 

 acquired no advantage by it, with the exception 

 of a small portion of ground, so that the two parties 

 were very nearly in the same position, in the evening, 

 as before the battle. But the arrival of the northern 

 nrmy, which Napoleon had not in the least expected, 



but of which he was aware before the allies, made 

 him desirous to retreat. On the 17th of October, 

 the arms of the contending forces were permitted to 

 repose, by a tacit agreement ; the allies waited for 

 the arrival of their third main body, under Bennig- 

 sen, from Dresden, by way of Grimma, and Napoleon 

 was meditating an honourable retreat, for which 

 purpose he attempted to open negotiations with the 

 allies, by means of the captive Austrian count Meet- 

 veldt. He is said to have proposed an armistice, 

 demanded permission to cross the Saal without 

 opposition, proffered the cession of 'the fortresses 

 of the Oder and Vistula, and manifested an inclina- 

 tion for peace. From these measures, the allies 

 ascertained his weakness, and refused to listen to 

 the proposals, particularly as they were now in- 

 formed of the arrival of the northern army, before 

 which Ney and the duke of Ragusa retreated, over 

 the Parde, to Schonfeld. Napoleon was thus reduced, 

 on the 18th, to the necessity of sustaining a defen- 

 sive battle, and was compelled to retreat. He took 

 a position more in the rear, between the Pleisse and 

 Parde, protected by several villages. The northern 

 suburbs of Leipsic were defended by a battery, and 

 by Dombrowski and the duke of Padua (Arrighi). 

 Bertrand still kept the pass of Lindenau open, by 

 which all the unnecessary wagons were quickly 

 conveyed to Lutzen. Napoleon himself took his 

 station in the midst of his guard, at Probstheida, 

 that lie might send aid to every weak point, and 

 be able to superintend the whole. According to 

 their plan of the 16th, the allies aimed at a junction 

 with Bennigsen and the northern army. They soon 

 found themselves on a more favourable ground, 

 which gave complete efficiency to their cannon and 

 musketry. They gained various successes, and 

 effected a union with Bennigsen. Notwithstanding 

 his ill fortune, Napoleon was able to fill the chasms 

 and repair his disadvantages ; his line was nowhere 

 broken, nor was he ever assailed in the rear ; the 

 force of the allies was gradually exhausted, and a 

 fair retreat seemed possible for the French ; but it 

 was difficult, on account of the want of a free 

 passage for the columns, because all the ways 

 leading to the western suburbs of Leipsic, and 

 beyond, to the narrow pass of Lindenau, were 

 covered with flying baggage wagons, and troops 

 in great confusion, and no bridges over the Pleisse 

 had been prepared for such an event, and no pre- 

 cautions had been taken. It was but a short time 

 before, that Leipsic itself had been slightly fortified, 

 and the garden walls of the suburb, and similar 

 objects, had been transformed into means of defence. 

 Poniatowsky and Macdonald were now appointed to 

 cover the retreat, which took place at daybreak, 

 19th October. Hardly had the allies observed that 

 the position of the French was abandoned, when 

 they made preparations to assail Leipsic on all 

 sides, and, after a severe struggle, obtained pos- 

 session of two gates. To give a faithful picture 

 of the cruel confusion of this retreat, through the 

 city and environs, would be impossible. Every 

 moment increased the disorder of the flying army, 

 and, the only bridge over the Elster having been 

 blown up too soon, the flight was changed into 

 wild desperation. But a short time before, had 

 Napoleon himself, after taking leave of the king 

 of Saxony and his family, reached that important 

 bridge, not without difficulty, and by a circuitous 

 route: 15,000 or 20,000 men, in close array, more 

 than 200 pieces of artillery, and an immense quan- 

 tity of baggage, were left, and increased the trophies 

 of the victors. Poniatowsky 's and Macdonald's 

 bands attempted to escape over the narrow bridge 

 of tlie Pleisse, and then, hemmed in again by the 

 2 v. 1 



