The Battle of Leipzig 16th to 18th  October 1813.                                                                                           After two attempts to take the Capital of Berlin, Napoleon withdrew his army west of the River Elbe on September 24 th 1813  Napoleon was planning to use Leipzig situated on the River Elster as his forward command base.  At this time the combined allied forces were moving towards Leipzig. The Prussian force under General Blucher from Wartenburg where he had arrived on the 3rd October 1813.  The  Austrian Force under the command of Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg approached from Dresdon to the south of Leipzig. The third Force under the command of The Swedish crown Prince Jean Bernadotte.( It is interesting to learn that Bernadotte had once been a French Marshal) He approached with his army from the North of Leipzig.   The French Army had a total of 122,000 men at Leipzig  with another 53,000 still to arrive.                                                                                                                                                             The Battle started on the 16th of October with a Russian assault under the command of General Mikhail Barclay de Tolly. The Russian assault of78,000 did not break the southern French defenses and the attack petered out. Giving the French time to counter attack which drove back the Russian army.  The Nightfall the french had held their position  after two attacks one on each flank. On the 17th their was little fighting  instead Napoleon had time to bring his force upto full strength as the other 53,000 men managed to withdraw into Leipzig. The allies took swelled their ranks as all three armies occupied the area around Leipzig and on the 18th The full strength armies of thre allies totalling  some 355,000 men Launched a huge attack on all French fortifications   These huge assaults gained little ground as the fench held their positions. Napoleon knew that he army could not hold off such a large force for long and during the night withdrew most of his force across the Elstere towards the town of Erfurt.  Unfortunately for Napoleon His rearguard force of some 20,000 men were cut off when the only bridge across the river Elster was blown up before they could cross.  The French casualties were 38,000 Killed or wounded plus a total of 30,000 taken prisoner which included many thousands who had been in the city Hospitals during the Battle. Amongst the French dead was the Polish prince Jozef Poniatowski who had been a French Marshal.  and a major figure taken prisoner was The French General Jacques Lauriston. The Allies lost a total of 52,000.                                                                                                          The Battle of Leipzig is often referred to as the Battle of the nations. another interesting fact is that a small contingent of British Forces under the command of the Swedish Prince Bernadotte, This force included the Royal Horse artillery Rocket troop.