As others have said, I really recommend Epic History's series on Napoléon's marshals. I think you would really enjoy it given your appreciation of smaller stories and anecdotes to ground history beyond the large scale of the campaigns.
@@bigty390 to be honest everything they posted after this series of the napoleonic wars is of extreme high quality. So VTH just react to everything posted by epic history tv 😅👍🏻
Leipzig is my hometown. The Battle of the Nations is a very important part of our local history, not at least because of the monument (completed in 1913, one of the biggest monuments in Europe). The battle was absolutely devastating for Leipzig and its inhabitants. At the time, the city had just about 35.000 inhabitants (in contrast to 600.000 today). So more dead soldiers did lie on the battlefield than the city had inhabitants, not to mention the 23.000 sick and wounded soldiers that were cramped into its streets. The result was a typhoid epidemic and of course it took months to bury the bodies - a horrifying task for the already traumatised people. And they had also suffered from the artillery bombardment during the battle and the following street fighting. It is said that the cannonade was so intense that one couldn't hold a glass of water without spilling its content because of the vibrations. And there were civilian casualties as well. Leipzig needed decades to recover from the battle - it is a huge scar in our history. Apart from the famous big monument (which had a fascinating history of its own during the 20th century), there is also a monument on the site of the blown up bridge, where Poniatovski died. And in our local museum, there are artifacts from the battle. In 2013, there was a huge conmemorating event with thousands of reenactors from all over Europe coming to Leipzig and reenacting some of the battle actions on the southern battlefield. I was there as a spectator, it was a truly amazing sight. Of course the city has grown since 1813 and most of the villages are now part it, but some areas of the battlefield can still be seen. I would be glad to help you with getting more local information about the battle. And if you ever visit Leipzig, I would be happy to meet you if you want. :)
Amazing! Thanks so much for commenting and adding this perspective as a local resident of this historic place! I hope he does reach out to you in the future.
It's something so easiy forgotten when seeing wars as little icons moving over a colourful map. Or when historians or "historians" talk about the benefits Napoleon alledgedly brought to the rest of Europe... Wars of this size (any size really) are not bypassing the civilian population living in that area. This battle and the whole napoleonic wars were an absolute disaster for the people in the area affected. Very few vidoes talk about that aspect. Even IF Napoleon (a absolute Monarch) brought "the ideas and ideals of the french revolution" with him, which i call BS, people probably couldn't appreciate them while their houses were burning and their farms and shops were destroyed and worse things armies do when moving around.. . Improving people lifes by massive wars, was and is a stupid claim and excuse and doesn't work.
@@Thisandthat8908 I don't about this comment. While there is a lot to dislike and criticize Napoleon about, I wouldn't say what you're talking about is necessarily one or two of them. First of all, Napoleon was definitely more on board with enlightenment ideals than the other major monarchs, he sponsored scientific and economic advancement and pioneered religious freedom in Europe in a massive way. As for war, the majority of the wars he fought in were not ones he declared, the only two I 100% blame Napoleon for are Spain and Russia (and potentially the one in this video, in Germany). I do think he definitely acted with a lot of aggressive expansionism in his later years, but it's important to look at the bigger picture too, the other monarchs were also very war-like in general and it was their ceaseless wars against France and the revolution that allowed Napoleon to rise act as he did
Bernadotte was the Crown prince of Sweden at the time. He was very well aware of the fact that if he failed or lost his army he would be done for. Sweden had high hopes for Bernadotte, he was supposed to liberate Finland from Russia which Sweden had lost in 1809 while Russia was allied to Napoleon. In the end he got to conquer Norway instead. But Bernadotte always knew that his crown came whit the responsibilty to restore Sweden from its historic lowpoint, and he was always careful not to make misstakes in the field as it would quickly turn the Swedish nobility against him and most likely cost him his crown. This may be a reason for why he was so cautious whit his army, its not like Sweden had huge resources left and he most likely wanted to perserve the soldiers for the future wars to come.
Fun fact: these wars ended up being the last officially declared war against another nation as Sweden has remained in peace ever after... at least for now 👀
Although Bernadotte had some flaws as a commander, he was one of the best politicians among the marshals, and he did a lot of work to get the formerly pro-napoleon German states to switch sides. Bernadotte had spent a lot of time as a marshall in these areas, and it seems he was well liked by the Germans. It’s probably not a coincidence that the Saxon troops that switched sides surrendered to the Army of the North. Bernadotte’s strong desire to avoid large Swedish casualties is quite well illustrated at 32:53 - the yellow troops in the upper right corner are the Swedish forces, which he parked safely far away from the battlefield. (The Swedish officers, feeling left out and embarrassed, did however complain to Bernadotte until he allowed Swedish troops to storm the city of Leipzig itself.)
That's part of the reason. But Bernadotte also had hopes of gaining the crown of France after the war. He had support of Emperor Alexander I in this scheme. As such he couldn't really be seen as being eager to fight fellow Frenchmen.
As a Swede this is the best explanation so far I’ve seen in this comment section. 👍 Just like you mentioned he couldn’t rush heavy losses and come home with a bunch of dead men.
From the Polish perspective the battle is primarily remembered for the death of Poniatowski. He is remembered as the beacon of Polish independence in the Napoleonic era and his death at Leipzig is seen as the final nail in the coffin of a briefly reconstituted Poland. Getting Poniatowski killed is seen as the final disappointment brought on by Napoleon.
I've come to realise watching these video feels like I'm watching it with a good friend. You're doing a great job. The viewer can't help but share your wonder, your awe and passion. Thank you for that.
They are, though, as i commented back on the reaction to "the road to Leipzig" video. During the ACW, we had a total population of some 36 mil. France in 1812 had 50 mil, as did the UK. If you combine all the major and minor players involved you would be near if not at 200mil pop. Still crazy, still devastating to the populations, but does make it more understandable.
@@phantomJK in this time french had 30 mio people, The UK 15 mio, Russia 36 mio, Austria 20 mio and prussia 4,5 mio. europe in total had 180 mo. people, but not all nations were involved
@@HansPeter-hh5lh You sure about that, i looked up the census data the other day. France + Colonies in 1800, About 50 Mil. Ditto for UK. Russia 35mil, Austria 23 Mil. Prussia almost 11mil. that right there is over 160 mil and we have not counted a lot countries.
@@phantomJK You're taking the wrong dates. The French have annexed territories, if you count by that, Germany would have had far more inhabitants in 1942 than the United States. The majority of UK residents are Indian and other colonized people. The British exploited this economy and got their wealth, but in the battle the British bled. With the Prussians you take the data from the Peace of Tilsit where Prussia was reduced by half. In fact, you count Mio bon people twice, once as French and once as Prussians. When it comes to Austria and Russia, we're not that far apart.
@@HansPeter-hh5lh Fair points, though i don't know if the 50 mil number I saw for the UK counts India since, well, there were a lot more then 35 mil Indians in British occupied areas at the time. To the rest of your points i concede.
Ten years ago for the 200th anniversary of the battle Franz von Assisi made an enormous panorama painting of the battle 5-10m high and 10-20m in diameter. I got the chance to see it in Leipzig in a former gas tank and it was just phenomenal.
A quick look at the main sieges of garrisons confirms the tying down forces. Dresden: 30,000 defenders - 34,000 besieging plus 135 guns. Hamburg: 40,000 defenders - 56,000 attackers. Danzig about 36,000 defenders - 73,000 attackers. Only error in the garrisons seems to be dresden as bennigson doesnt stay besieging it as he leaves to fight at leipzig. Forces are sent back to besiege dresden again later. Saint-cyr was less than happy that he wasnt called upon to march to leipzig.
Over here in Ireland, Belfast we have lot's of buildings and roads named after Wellington. He was born in Ireland and raised around Belfast his family, wee have the Wellington Hotel and Wellington avenue. On TV they still play episodes of Sharpe every week, a period drama about the war played by Sean Bean.
Hey Chris, recently I’ve been watching a lot “voices of the past” videos in which he narrates first hand accounts of different events and periods in history. There’s even one of a French soldier during the Russian invasion. Pretty cool stuff and a hugely underrated channel.
The airport fight in the Avengers "Civil War" Movie was shot on Leipzig airport. Blüchers original attack on the Leipzig Battlefield happened where the movie was filmed. Leipzig is no Battlefield one can still see, unlike Austerlitz, but Leipzig has the "Völkerschlachtdenkmal" the biggest Memorial in Europe. P.S. the population of Leipzig was 35000 in 1800
The von Kleist they are taking about is Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf, he was a general (later Field Marshal) that fought in this battle. He is an ancestor of another field marshal: WW2 German Generalfeldmarschall Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, the panzer commander in the Ardennes in 1940 and in Army Group South in 1941 for Operation Barbarossa.
In the Marshalls series they asked that: "Why did Napoleon keep his best subordinate Davout away, while a major battle was going on where his skills would've been needed on the battlefield? Historians still aren't sure about the answer"
I suspect paranoia is the reason why he sent Davout away. Napoleon knew all too well that Davout had actually smashed the main Prussian army at Auerstadt while Napoleon's victory at Jena should have all the glory. Napoleon never liked glorifying aid from living commanders. Kelllerman had been killed while " marching to the sound of the guns' at Marengo, so Napoleon felt secure in praising him to the stars.
@@glynquigley4364 Minor correction. Desaix was the one who saved Napoleon at Marengo. Kellerman lived long enough to get a Marshal's baton 4 years later ;)
Similar mistakes at Waterloo. Davout left behind in Paris to be Minister of War (IIRC). Soult, another great fighting Marshal, wasted as Chief of Staff (nowhere near as good in that role as Berthier who had died by this time). Against Davout's recommendation, made Grouchy a Marshal. Grouchy had been a very effective cavalry general while directly under Napoleon's command, but was too indecisive at Waterloo. Instead of "Marching to the sound of guns" as Desaix had done in 1800 at Marengo, he continued to follow his vague orders to engage the Prussians and only ended up attacking their rearguard.
As a citizen of Leipzig I am surprised how the pronunciation of all the town names is almost spot on. Even germans from other parts of the country sometimes have trouble with that because of the heavy Silesian influence in those names.
Would love to see a video explaining exactly why napoleon was such a good general. Like what are the specific tactics and approaches to battle that let him win? Maybe even a video on tactics and types of battles from different time periods
Appreciate your work a lot Mr. VTH. It really rekindled my passion as a history uni student, and sidenote, changed my mind about american history! Im addicted now 😌😌
I think you are right about the garrisons striipping allied troops. That was probably his reasoning but one of his great axioms was "I can regain lost land but I cannot regain lost time. I suspect Eugene left them for the reason you said and although Napoleon would have rather had the men, he saw his son in law's reasoning and there were 300,000 enemy troops in the way to stop any recall.
Bernadots army was stange, he provided mostly artillery which suffered fewer casualties saving his infantry and cavalry for an attack on Denmark so that they would have to cede Norway to Sweden.
If you want to visit sides that were important during or after that battle, I would recommend cisiting the Grassimiseum. It is a museum near the city centre with a small fenced garden/park behind it. On that terrain there used to stand a church in which the french survivors where held captive after the battle had ended. I was born in Leipzig and still live just outside of this battlefield, but there is not much preserved from this battle, as the city flourished a grew to cover almost the entire area. I am so happy and honoured that you are so interested in this part of our city's history. Keep up your great work! Greetings from Leipzig
Great commentary. One point, you referred to use of rockets in the US Civil War. Congreve rockets were used during the US/Anglo War of 1812. Most notably fired of Fort McHenry in Baltimore from HMS Erebus, a ship of the line that had been modified into a rocket ship. That use of Congreve rockets inspired Francis Scott Key's phrase "...and the rockets red glare..." in the poem he wrote while witnessing the battle from the deck of HMS Surprize.
There is a case to be made that Bernadotte as more concerned about the post war world and the Russians, than being involved in this battle. By being engaged but not present he could tie down Napoleon's units without engaging. He could theme argue he did have an effect but with very little risk to his own troops and gain favourable gains to Sweden in any peace deal signed.
@@undertakernumberone1 he had 60k under his command. There is an oob is on p.35 of the osprey book. Whilst there were a lot of Prussians, 60% of the infantry were Reserve and Landwehr units as was some of the cavalry- there ok in the defensive not do much as an offensive force, the Russians provided quite good amount of infantry ( a lot of Jager units which are good at skirmishing) and a lot of his cavalry- of the 16k cavalry under his command 5k were cossacks, which were good for scouting and harassing but not so good in battle. So his offensive firepower lay in the 226 guns and 50 good infantry battalions, about 40% of this infantry was Swedish troops ( and there are a lot of guard units in that oob) and if you noticed he leads in with the Russian and Prussian troops leaving the Swedish units as his reserve.
Yet while Bernadotte's Army of the North didn't become involved in the battle of the nations until the last day, Ironically he was the first monarch to enter Leipzig after the battle. 😂😂
Hi, Chris, that was brilliant, from memory two more to come, in the Battle for France, Napoleon again demonstrates his mastery of battlefield tactics. Its fascinating to compare his military genius with his political stubbornness which in the finish cost him everything. Looking forward to the rest.
At 2:42. Everyone concentrates on the important things Napoleon was losing. But almost no one mentions the horses. Napoleon was burning through horses at an astounding rate. What shocks me is that it never crossed Napoleon's mind that horses take at least 10 years to replace. If you burn through all of France's horses in about 2 to 3 years, it will take you a good 10 years to replenish your horse population. Without horses, well, Napoleon could literally not fight, even if he had all the conscripts in the world. It's ultimately Napoleon's lack of horses that doomed him by 1813.
Great video as always. Just watching this video, I realized once more what a crafty s.o.b. Metternich was. For all who don't know this, Metternich was negotiating with Napoleon an Austrian side switch just before the battle. Austria demanded the return of all the territories it lost during the coalition wars. In exchange, Austria would become France's ally once more. Before I watched this video, I thought that Schwarzenberg's switching sides would have given Napoleon a decisive edge, and given these negotiations the Austrian troop positions make just a tad more sense. They are almost perfectly arrayed to support the French against Blücher and Bernadotte as well as attacking the Russian flank. What I failed to realize, was that the Prussian King and the Russian Tsar were at the Austrian camp. Depending on how far Metternich and Francis were willing to go with their treachery (from the coalition's point of view) there wouldn't even have been a battle. They could have simply taken Alexander and Friedrich Wilhelm prisoners and with these two as POW the battle would not have happened. Even if they manage to escape, the coalition would just have lost its commander in chief and about a third of its forces. By the way, how Austria's forces were arrayed at Leipzig was influenced by Metternich as well. After the failed negotiations, he drew a schematic on a paper towel with a silver pen for Schwarzenberg how to arrange the Austrian troops (the napkin still exists, I've seen it at an exhibition about Napoleon at the Schallerburg in Austria about ten years ago). As a Francophile, Metternich probably hoped that Napoleon would see reason in the last minute.
there it is! battle of the nations. this is my fav vid from napoelon,c series by epic history and i like your reactions so much. great vid again. please keep it up napolenic contens. i see youare gettting into this topic while videos passing by. and good luck for your planned visit to europe :)
6:02 To the amount that i have studied the subject my understanding is: as the Prussians and Austrians abandoned the French alliance after Napoleons retreat from Russia, it became a general concern that pulling back the garrisons would end up with abandoning control over the territories, which was assumed that could still somewhat be kept with those troops in place to disrupt the allied effort. By the time the Prussians and Austrians mobilized against Napoleon, it was too late as leaving the garrisons would have most likely meant the capture/destruction of the troops holding the forts. By the time Napoleon realized we wasn't going to keep partial control there for that time being, it was too late to pull them back. The garrisons, as a result, stayed and Napoleon counted on relieving them with fresh troops. I do not know for certain if there was at any point a moment where, for the people in command, it made sense to withdraw the garrisons before it was too late, and they knew about it. The sources I've studied do not strictly say that this happened (as I've not found any), but certainly indicate that this could be a likely reason. This, among other things, has been an interesting topic of discussion between me and some friends of mine. I myself specialize in Finnish History, as i am from Finland an I'm just so fascinated about how we came to be and the events that have transpired since the days of Swedish rule up until today. Historical wars and politics are of course interesting subjects always. Would love to see you react on The Winter War by Kings and Generals. You and these reaction videos have taught me a great deal of things I've been in the dark about. Last but not least. Love the videos! Keep them coming!
In fact most of those men trapped in the cities were injured and/or sick. They were not capable of actively fight. Russians suffered as much as much the French in this war .
6:25 Spot on. If I'm not mistaken, these 140,000 garrison troops were holding down at least twice their number of Coalition troops. They were a match for those 300,000 or so besieging troops when manning strong defences, but returned to the Grand Armée would have brought Napoleon's forces around Leipzig to maybe 330,000 (assuming they could even reach him in time or at all), but would swell Allied forces to well over half a million.
St Cyr and Davout hold both ends of the Elbe River, he considered them strategic assets. St Cyr is forced to surrender in November 1813. Davout holds out until April 1814. St Cyr considered that he'd been hung out to dry and in consequence he sits on his hand in the 100 Days in 1815. As a Republican he didn't want to fight for the Bourbons either. After the defeat in 1815 he does join the Bourbons as Minister of War, he reoganised the army and his reforms stayed until 1871. He protected a lot of the Napoleonic reforms and former officers under the Empire. He tries to save Ney at his trial. As well as Minister of War, St Cyr also served as Minister of the Navy after his work on the army as Minister of War.
Reflection: There have been many mentions of "the cult of the offensive" in regard to WWI. Watching this and other videos about the Napoleonic wars and how the battles unfold kind of makes me understand where that idea comes from.
First ever comment on youtube :) 4.38 I thought this was an interesting fact. Sir William Congreve's rocket system was deployed by the British in the war of 1812 at the siege of Fort McHenry. A song was later written about this siege and put to the tune of a drinking song of a London men's club. This song became the US national anthem. So when the line 'the rockets red glare' is sang it is commemorating Congreve's invention.
39:48 In 1813, Leipzig had 33,000 residents. So there were about 67,000 more people died in the battle than the entire population of the town back then.
The Frankfurt proposal was a ruse mare by Metternich and nothing more. It was a proposal to get time. Russia, Prussia never accepted the terms of such a deal. Napoleon knew it was not a serious offer. He was a commoner and they were royals with blue blood. They would never tolerate him.
I don't think that I had heard much information on this battle. The size of battle alone is wild. Nice to come into a video without knowing much and leave with a good idea of what happened and an interest in learning more. I really need to check this channel out reminds me of the good times of the history channel or something.
There was a video about battle of Leipzig, I think it was wondrium, where they said that the reason why the bridge was blown early was because an officer had the order to blow the bridge when some specific unit crosses it, but he didn't know how the unit's uniforms looked like so he left his post to seek the information from superiors and left the fuse to a corporal, and when corporal saw the enemy, he panicked, lit the fuse and ran away.
David Chandler "The Campaigns of Napoleon" is a great introduction Napoleon's career. Dr. Chandler was the former head of the Dept of Military History at Sandhurst.
I’ve heard that Napoleon and Bernadotte were rivals and Napoleon allowed him to become Crown Prince of Sweden because he hoped it would prevent him from being a threat to his rule in France. If true it backfired significantly
They had their issues but at one point he considered adopting Bernadotte and naming him his heir if he should fall in battle. The two times he censured Bernadotte the worst, further information ended up exonerating Bernadotte due to what info he had at time and the condition of roads keeping him from being where Napoleon wanted him and when. Bernadotte was up front about doing what was best for Sweden if he took the Crown Prince title hence why Napoleon would much later say he could accuse Bernadotte of ingratitude but not betrayal.
Napoleon didn't like Bernadotte. But he understood why Bernadotte fought against him. I would add one reason Bernadotte kept the Swedish army from harm's way. Bernadotte would like to have an intact army against Denmark.
A point about the Saxons: I am not entirely sure why they used the word surrender. The animation shows them actually switching sides, which is what they really did. If I am not mistaken a „Saxon“ became a word for a traitor in France for a while because of that. In Germany that act with little real effect on the battle was seen as a patriotic act, especially until WW2. It could have played a role but like EHTV mentions I think it is more about just wanting it to end. Hundreds of thousands had criss crossed around Saxony and they had to eat, Leipzig had essentially been turned into one giant hospital, a difficult sight for everyone but absolutely devastating, I imagine, for the locals
in the Wagram video the Saxons are light blue. here are dark blue as the French. when they surrender they are coloured in white. maybe as a "we surrender" flag?
@@porphyry17 Thats a way to interpret it. For me it always meant taking a coalition color, the Austrians are also white, like the Saxon uniforms. For simply surrendering I would have put an actual white flag on the screen or make the corps disappear but your view could be what they meant too. Anyway, the Saxons definitely switched sides and not went into captivity or something
The rockets were used to defeat the British invasion of Mysore in the late XVIII century where (Napoleon friend by the way) Tipu Sultan mauled the British army during the first of three wars, In europe it's largest use in the era was the battle of Wagram where the Austrians fielded 4 batteries of 4 quadruple launchers, but it never had the same efect as in Mysore.
I live in Leipzig. Connewitz, Markkleeberg and Propstheida are all quite close to one another. Not exactly walkkng distance but with a car or public transport you don't need that long. Maybe 30 to 45 Minutes. And you find signs all over the places where the battles took place. And of course the Völkerschlachtdenkmal that was built in 1913 to commemorate the battle.
I think the Rohirrim at the battle for Minas Tirith was CGI-enhanced to have 6000 horses to be book-accurate. That scene really gives you an incredible sense of scale---to think that these real battles had even more---in each corps, and many such corps across many battlefields---is pretty crazy.
So to talk on the incident at the bridge with the big BOOM! The actual destruction of the bridge had initially been entrusted to a high ranking officer within the engineer section of Napoleons army. However, for some reason we are unsure of he handed it down to a junior officer and left with the baggage train - likely not wanting to potentially get caught up/forgotten during the retreat. And what did this junior officer do… well he pawned it off to some corporal and left with the baggage train too. That is the entire reason the match was left with such a young and inexperienced soldier. Literally those who had previously supposed to have been responsible pawned off said responsibility to someone lower of the totem pole and got out of there.
I wanted to comment on the battlefield preservation issue. One big problem here is that Leipzig is a big city covering a large area, many of these Saxon villages, like Connewitz, are today city districts and urbanized areas.
I would like to add a couple of things of interest. 1. In Sydney , Australia, there are a lot of things named after the peninsula war and Wellington’s famous battles , for example , Moore park rd and and Moore park , named after sir John Moore. Badajoz rd near my area , Waterloo rd , talavera rd , Beresford road, and also famous figures , not just Wellington but Beresford , Pitt and castleraigh. (Last one might not be spelt correctly). 2. Also some French commanders have things named in the United States after them , massena being one I can think of. 3. Britain’s first sea lord was admiral lord hood I think , one of his descendent was killed at the battle of Jutland , and like some famous names from the German side , the British navy named HMS hood comes from the Napoleonic wars. 4. Von Kliest was a Prussian general , which a descendent , was a general in the Wehrmacht in World War Two. 5. general Blucher was given a special title and rank for his service in the Napoleonic wars , the only other recipient was Paul von Hindenburg. 6. Shrapnel was a term made during the Napoleonic wars , in recognition of the person in England who was the first to make explosive shells for wellingtons army in the peninsular war. 7. marshal soult , after the Napoleonic wars , was part of the French delegation to Queen Victoria’s coronation , Wellington apparently snuck up on him , tapped him on the shoulder saying “at last I have got you now!” 8. Wellington has not just cities named after him , but also ships and two planes , the planes used in the 1930s and 1930s was the Vickie’s Wellesley and the famous Vickie’s Wellington , the ships named after him used his other nickname , in this case iron duke, for example the type 23 class frigate used today , is the iron duke class. 9. One other famous sailor that fought in the Napoleonic wars was Thomas Cochrane. Another famous person who after the war , helped with the Chilean navy which named their flagship after him.
Mainz! My family came from there to the US. Mainz was a catholic archbisophric before Napoleon. He removed the church from power as part of the confederation of the Rhine. At the treaty of Vienna Mainz was given to Frankfurt, which was protestant. Suddenly the once catholic majority was a minority catholic under protestant rule. The church was not returned to rule the state of Mainz and my family found protestant meddling in church affairs intolerable so they eventually left. Really interesting that Napoleon considered it safety
If you're diving into napoleonic wars books and are interested in some fiction, the aubrey maturin series by Patrick o'brien is very good. Thanks for another great video.
The Sharpe series about a British rifleman is also very good mainly because Sharpe is such a good character, but O'Brien was one of the best authors I've ever read. His ability to have his characters talk in a way that was authentic to the era while at the same time not coming off as stilted was masterful. I've seen other modern writers try to do it and it always just seems slightly off.
I dont remember where have i seen it but the bridge was to be blown up by a lt general/colonel ( I dont remember) who passed the "torch" to a major cause he was needed elsewhere, who then passed the "torch" again to a corporal who after seeing enemy skirmishers panicked and lit the fuse. Skirmishers where to be expected further than the main army and could be driven away easier but a corporal maybe didnt know that or just panicked after 3 days of carnage.
In the village of Titchfield, which is very close to Portsmouth should you ever visit HMS Victory, there’s a memorial to Captain Richard Bogue who was from Titchfield and commanded the British 2nd Rocket troop which fought at Leipzig. He was killed at the end of the 3rd day leading a cavalry charge near the village of Paunsdorf as part of Bernadotte’s army. The rocket brigade, along with a squadron of Swedish dragoons, actually managed to take a few thousand prisoners at Leipzig, despite only numbering some 200 men. Bogue had also previously fought at Coruña which you covered previously.
I cant recommend you enough the "memoirs of General Marbot", @Vlogging Through History, for a foot-soldier-to-superior-officer account of the wars, from the French side. It is not only very knowledgeable, but very moving.
When you look at a map of today's Leipzig you see all the villages in this map being suburbs of Leipzig, a lot of the grounds where the battle took place are probably covered by housing areas now.
I played SPI's Battle of the Nations board game when it came out in 1975. I remember the designer notes said that the French 'had a strong central position. Cynics would say they're surrounded.'
Don't have it and haven't read it(frankly, I already have a huge backlog of books to read about all kinds of historical topics that I haven't gotten to yet due to time constraints. One of which is Andrew Roberts's Napoleon:A Life which seems to be the most comprehensive recent biography) but the most recent scholarly book on the Napoleonic Wars and a book I've heard is really good is Alexander Mikaberidze's The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History that only came out in 2020.
I have it, listened to the audiobook version. Pretty good! Bernard Cromwell's Waterloo book also is nice. I'm talking about a non-fiction book, not one of his Sharpe's novels. I really appreciate his fondness for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (though he did get his age wrong at one point at least). The Prussians paused on the eastern side of the Lasne valley. Blücher was in a hurry, but had no choice but to wait as his straggling column caught up with the vanguard. He chivvied them. ‘Forwards!’ he was quoted as saying. ‘I hear you say it’s impossible, but it has to be done! I have given my promise to Wellington and you surely don’t want me to break it? Push yourselves, my children, and we’ll have victory!’ It is impossible not to like Blücher. He was seventy-four years old, still in pain and discomfort from his adventures at Ligny, still stinking of schnapps and of rhubarb liniment, yet he is all enthusiasm and energy. If Napoleon’s demeanour that day was one of sullen disdain for an enemy he underestimated, and Wellington’s a cold, calculating calmness that hid concern, then Blücher is all passion. He can hear the battle which is being fought just three or four miles to the west, and he knows his troops will make the difference, but for all his impetuosity he also knows he must approach the fight with a certain caution. Cornwell, Bernard. Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles (S.218-219). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle-Version.
you can find macfonalds memoirs online, if you're interested to me, the most surprising is the absence of Davout. arguably his best marshal, napoleon kept him in hamburg
The so called Bohemian army, totally fresh, was established and trained by Bennigsen. To lock Napoleonic field detachments and garrisons within the cities thus cutting them off and preventing mobilization to Napoleon's side was Bennigsen's idea. This "second rate" general, who, together with Barclay corrected numerous mistakes by Koutouzoff at Borodino, is somewhat overshadowed by his "greater" contemporaries. In fact, he played crucial role during many crucial engagements - at eastern Prussia 1806-1807, at Borodino, at Tarutino-Winkovo, and at 1813 campaign.
The German Wikipedia article on the population development of Leipzig says that the city's population was 32,146 in 1800 and 36,093 in 1819, so there was likely a population of about 35,000 at the time, I'd imagine. I hope that helps add some context.
Hey mate - Love the content. Could you please share [if any] the books you are looking at reading for your personal research regarding Napoleonic Wars?
did napoleon noticeably influence any tactics of generals in later wars ? just wondering if there are any vivid examples? also please go to bletchley park when you come here to the uk. it is drenched in history and not far from london
Well, Lee and other Civil War generals (and students/Readers of Jomini) basically tried to emulate Boney over all, especially with the cahse for the big, decisive battles and so on. Should've studied Clausewitz instead.
The Coalition had days to try to cut of Napoleons retreat. I think somebody in command read Sun Tzu and avoided creating a "Deaths Ground" for Napoleons army.
It illustrates Napoleon's incompetence that he failed to throw a couple of pontoon bridges across the river, and left it to a corporal to decide when to blow up the existing bridge, rather than put a senior officer in charge with some reliable troops.
To the question why napoleon didn't pull his troops out you can say at first of course that those city's that got sieged were deep in enemy land and a retreat was probably as dangerous as holding the walls. Also a big point that wasn't really mentioned yet was that especially in Germany many independent geurilla companies has formed who constantly attacked any form of supply to the the French army and often also fought in the battles. The most famous one were the lützower hunter's which later became the lützower brigade, they were famous for their black, red and golden uniforms which later became the colors of the German revolution and symbol of freedom and against tyranny. That's why those flag was banned under Hitler and why they are the colors of Germany today.
I knee nothing of this before video, awesome job! I'm new to this channel but you should react to History scopes video about the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials at done point. It's super interesting nd I feel most people dong know about the details of the trials very much
If you want napoleonic books I’d recommend Napoleons War by Charles Esdaile for the best single volume for the whole war, he also has a good book on the peninsular war. Also 1812 Napoleons fateful March on Moscow by Adam Zamoyski is great or Bernard Cornwell’s Waterloo Book is an adrenaline inducing read. Beyond that osprey publishing have lots of books on specific campaigns, regiments, uniforms ect. Or if you want an analysis of the napoleonic art of war then try The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, Charles de Gaulle himself reckoned it was the best book on the subject. Happy reading 🫡😉
@@undertakernumberone1 heard of it but haven’t read it yet 👍 when I do I’ll recommend it if it’s good as I’m sure it is. I know he’s got a new book out on Kutuzov which I’d like to get too as well, plus he’s written some of the osprey books which I mentioned 🙂
@@undertakernumberone1 reading it now, interesting read and very detailed in some areas not usually referred too, though I have found 4 errors in 120 pages and it perhaps overemphases events not as integral. I know he’s putting the spotlight on those events but you can’t have 10 pages on Americas relationship with the directory and less than one page on Napoleons Italian campaign including the negotiations for the treaty of Campo Formio. There should be a little more balance. Besides that I am enjoying it on the whole.
It's quite interesting from a prussian/german perspective that the names that stuck most with german "folklore" as true patriots of the "Völkerschlacht" and the ongoing "Befreiungskriege" weren't Blücher or Gneisenau, but rather people like Ludwig von Yorck, Wilhelm von Lützow and Turnvater Jahn with their enormous contributions to get rid of the french occupiers. Of course the marshals got their statues all over Prussia, but they never received the same admiration as the other three from the common soldier and other "germans".
Napoleon had given orders to build 6 additional bridges but in the chaos of the battle the orders got lost. When he marched in Leipzig on the third day all the troops Wounded or else got up and gave him an epic ovation that could be heard from the coalition side even if he was defeated But he was shocked when he saw no bridges had been built
what is impressive about the battlefield is that today, its all the city of Leipzig. Urban growth as made towns like Liebertwolkwitz, Connewitz and Möckern are now suburbs with in the city limits of Leipzig. its a MASSIVE area
Yeah, Leipzig grew very much during the late industrial revolution. In 1813 it had 35.000 inhabitants, nowadays it has about 600.000. But there are still some parts of the battlefield which have not been built over.
Now here's my question they said that the but cavalry got cloaks to catching the empebirds what if they had, I know we said that even if Napoleon won't lipes it would have been another battle or another battle but what if he would have captured the emperor is there
Mortier was a Prime minister of Louis Philippe, (was a kind of centre-right monarchy, with parties on the soft left and soft center running the cabinet until Guizot soft right cost Louis Phillippe his reign). But overall the king of the frenchs Louis Phillipe was the candidate of Lafayette, there were many more at the left who reluctantly agreed altought some like Lamarque soon critizice the government.
It would have been interesting if Napoleon had withdrew and maneuvered after the failure of the first day. The question is where though. Would he have swung north, south or withdrew westwards? Would he have attacked or found better ground for a stand?
I am from Saxony, and 1813 is seen as one of the worst years in the regions history. The 3,000 men that switched sides during the battle were the last troops Saxony could muster - out of a population of 1 million. Saxony had suffered heavy casualties in 1806 and 1809, and more or less a complete annihilation in russia. It's army could do no more. It generals had already defected after being replaced by French Commanders. Switching sides was not the choice to be on the winning side. It was the question whether any Saxon wanted to survive the war Saxon Artillery had no guns, the infantry consisted largely of youths and older men, and the cavalry had effectively perished at Borodino. The country had faced an enitre year of looting and quartering soldier, its hospitals were bursting from all the wounded from the Battles of Dresden, Lützen, Bautzen etc. Diseases claimed thousands of victims, and prices for bread went through the roof. Leipzig had 30,000 inhabitants, but the populations of all the villages in the area, as well as thousands of refugees may have doubled that. They had to share a city with 130,000 french troops on the last day. A city built for 30,000 hosted perhaps as many as 200,000 people on the last day of battle It took decades for Saxony to recover from the ordeal of the Napoleonic Wars
Why Napoleon didn't recall all of those garrisons? besides the time run out quickly after Katzbacht Kulm Denewitz and his marshals battles. Many were defending their own country (polish troops) defending Modlin, defending the free city of Danzig (who had a Polish minority and was used by the duchy as an access to the sea). Hamburg was to prevent an outflanking from the north however the most important asset not used may be the comander at Hamburg Marshal Davout
As others have said, I really recommend Epic History's series on Napoléon's marshals. I think you would really enjoy it given your appreciation of smaller stories and anecdotes to ground history beyond the large scale of the campaigns.
The decembrists revolt and the 1848 revolutions would be Nice reactions too
@@classical_music_enjoyer yup love thise two series
@@bigty390 to be honest everything they posted after this series of the napoleonic wars is of extreme high quality.
So VTH just react to everything posted by epic history tv 😅👍🏻
@@ConkerVonZapyup epic history tv is Just soo good and VTH is one of the best reaction channels there is
@@ConkerVonZap I think the Decmbrist and Napoleon Marshall's are a good follow up
Leipzig is my hometown. The Battle of the Nations is a very important part of our local history, not at least because of the monument (completed in 1913, one of the biggest monuments in Europe).
The battle was absolutely devastating for Leipzig and its inhabitants. At the time, the city had just about 35.000 inhabitants (in contrast to 600.000 today). So more dead soldiers did lie on the battlefield than the city had inhabitants, not to mention the 23.000 sick and wounded soldiers that were cramped into its streets. The result was a typhoid epidemic and of course it took months to bury the bodies - a horrifying task for the already traumatised people. And they had also suffered from the artillery bombardment during the battle and the following street fighting. It is said that the cannonade was so intense that one couldn't hold a glass of water without spilling its content because of the vibrations. And there were civilian casualties as well. Leipzig needed decades to recover from the battle - it is a huge scar in our history.
Apart from the famous big monument (which had a fascinating history of its own during the 20th century), there is also a monument on the site of the blown up bridge, where Poniatovski died. And in our local museum, there are artifacts from the battle. In 2013, there was a huge conmemorating event with thousands of reenactors from all over Europe coming to Leipzig and reenacting some of the battle actions on the southern battlefield. I was there as a spectator, it was a truly amazing sight. Of course the city has grown since 1813 and most of the villages are now part it, but some areas of the battlefield can still be seen.
I would be glad to help you with getting more local information about the battle. And if you ever visit Leipzig, I would be happy to meet you if you want. :)
your English is amazing, considering its your second language!
Amazing! Thanks so much for commenting and adding this perspective as a local resident of this historic place! I hope he does reach out to you in the future.
Very interesting, thanks for the comment
It's something so easiy forgotten when seeing wars as little icons moving over a colourful map. Or when historians or "historians" talk about the benefits Napoleon alledgedly brought to the rest of Europe... Wars of this size (any size really) are not bypassing the civilian population living in that area. This battle and the whole napoleonic wars were an absolute disaster for the people in the area affected. Very few vidoes talk about that aspect.
Even IF Napoleon (a absolute Monarch) brought "the ideas and ideals of the french revolution" with him, which i call BS, people probably couldn't appreciate them while their houses were burning and their farms and shops were destroyed and worse things armies do when moving around.. . Improving people lifes by massive wars, was and is a stupid claim and excuse and doesn't work.
@@Thisandthat8908 I don't about this comment. While there is a lot to dislike and criticize Napoleon about, I wouldn't say what you're talking about is necessarily one or two of them. First of all, Napoleon was definitely more on board with enlightenment ideals than the other major monarchs, he sponsored scientific and economic advancement and pioneered religious freedom in Europe in a massive way. As for war, the majority of the wars he fought in were not ones he declared, the only two I 100% blame Napoleon for are Spain and Russia (and potentially the one in this video, in Germany).
I do think he definitely acted with a lot of aggressive expansionism in his later years, but it's important to look at the bigger picture too, the other monarchs were also very war-like in general and it was their ceaseless wars against France and the revolution that allowed Napoleon to rise act as he did
Bernadotte was the Crown prince of Sweden at the time. He was very well aware of the fact that if he failed or lost his army he would be done for. Sweden had high hopes for Bernadotte, he was supposed to liberate Finland from Russia which Sweden had lost in 1809 while Russia was allied to Napoleon. In the end he got to conquer Norway instead. But Bernadotte always knew that his crown came whit the responsibilty to restore Sweden from its historic lowpoint, and he was always careful not to make misstakes in the field as it would quickly turn the Swedish nobility against him and most likely cost him his crown. This may be a reason for why he was so cautious whit his army, its not like Sweden had huge resources left and he most likely wanted to perserve the soldiers for the future wars to come.
Fun fact: these wars ended up being the last officially declared war against another nation as Sweden has remained in peace ever after... at least for now 👀
Although Bernadotte had some flaws as a commander, he was one of the best politicians among the marshals, and he did a lot of work to get the formerly pro-napoleon German states to switch sides. Bernadotte had spent a lot of time as a marshall in these areas, and it seems he was well liked by the Germans. It’s probably not a coincidence that the Saxon troops that switched sides surrendered to the Army of the North.
Bernadotte’s strong desire to avoid large Swedish casualties is quite well illustrated at 32:53 - the yellow troops in the upper right corner are the Swedish forces, which he parked safely far away from the battlefield.
(The Swedish officers, feeling left out and embarrassed, did however complain to Bernadotte until he allowed Swedish troops to storm the city of Leipzig itself.)
That's part of the reason. But Bernadotte also had hopes of gaining the crown of France after the war. He had support of Emperor Alexander I in this scheme. As such he couldn't really be seen as being eager to fight fellow Frenchmen.
@@Benjo32m Funny that Swedens last war was agains my home country, and in the end they could not even keep little old Norway.
As a Swede this is the best explanation so far I’ve seen in this comment section. 👍
Just like you mentioned he couldn’t rush heavy losses and come home with a bunch of dead men.
Can we also appreciate the amazing music used in this series as well? Does so well to set the mood.
From the Polish perspective the battle is primarily remembered for the death of Poniatowski. He is remembered as the beacon of Polish independence in the Napoleonic era and his death at Leipzig is seen as the final nail in the coffin of a briefly reconstituted Poland. Getting Poniatowski killed is seen as the final disappointment brought on by Napoleon.
I've come to realise watching these video feels like I'm watching it with a good friend. You're doing a great job. The viewer can't help but share your wonder, your awe and passion. Thank you for that.
I’m glad you feel that way. I love learning history together with you all.
I'm amazed by this community. The respect, and the extended information given on the commentary section are mind -blowing for me.
Coming from a guy who (like you) has mostly studied the ACW, the numbers here in this battle are absolutely bonkers.
They are, though, as i commented back on the reaction to "the road to Leipzig" video. During the ACW, we had a total population of some 36 mil. France in 1812 had 50 mil, as did the UK. If you combine all the major and minor players involved you would be near if not at 200mil pop. Still crazy, still devastating to the populations, but does make it more understandable.
@@phantomJK in this time french had 30 mio people, The UK 15 mio, Russia 36 mio, Austria 20 mio and prussia 4,5 mio. europe in total had 180 mo. people, but not all nations were involved
@@HansPeter-hh5lh You sure about that, i looked up the census data the other day. France + Colonies in 1800, About 50 Mil. Ditto for UK. Russia 35mil, Austria 23 Mil. Prussia almost 11mil. that right there is over 160 mil and we have not counted a lot countries.
@@phantomJK You're taking the wrong dates. The French have annexed territories, if you count by that, Germany would have had far more inhabitants in 1942 than the United States.
The majority of UK residents are Indian and other colonized people. The British exploited this economy and got their wealth, but in the battle the British bled.
With the Prussians you take the data from the Peace of Tilsit where Prussia was reduced by half. In fact, you count Mio bon people twice, once as French and once as Prussians.
When it comes to Austria and Russia, we're not that far apart.
@@HansPeter-hh5lh Fair points, though i don't know if the 50 mil number I saw for the UK counts India since, well, there were a lot more then 35 mil Indians in British occupied areas at the time. To the rest of your points i concede.
Ten years ago for the 200th anniversary of the battle Franz von Assisi made an enormous panorama painting of the battle 5-10m high and 10-20m in diameter. I got the chance to see it in Leipzig in a former gas tank and it was just phenomenal.
A quick look at the main sieges of garrisons confirms the tying down forces. Dresden: 30,000 defenders - 34,000 besieging plus 135 guns. Hamburg: 40,000 defenders - 56,000 attackers. Danzig about 36,000 defenders - 73,000 attackers.
Only error in the garrisons seems to be dresden as bennigson doesnt stay besieging it as he leaves to fight at leipzig. Forces are sent back to besiege dresden again later. Saint-cyr was less than happy that he wasnt called upon to march to leipzig.
Over here in Ireland, Belfast we have lot's of buildings and roads named after Wellington. He was born in Ireland and raised around Belfast his family, wee have the Wellington Hotel and Wellington avenue. On TV they still play episodes of Sharpe every week, a period drama about the war played by Sean Bean.
Hey Chris, recently I’ve been watching a lot “voices of the past” videos in which he narrates first hand accounts of different events and periods in history. There’s even one of a French soldier during the Russian invasion. Pretty cool stuff and a hugely underrated channel.
The airport fight in the Avengers "Civil War" Movie was shot on Leipzig airport. Blüchers original attack on the Leipzig Battlefield happened where the movie was filmed. Leipzig is no Battlefield one can still see, unlike Austerlitz, but Leipzig has the "Völkerschlachtdenkmal" the biggest Memorial in Europe.
P.S. the population of Leipzig was 35000 in 1800
The von Kleist they are taking about is Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf, he was a general (later Field Marshal) that fought in this battle. He is an ancestor of another field marshal: WW2 German Generalfeldmarschall Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist, the panzer commander in the Ardennes in 1940 and in Army Group South in 1941 for Operation Barbarossa.
In the Marshalls series they asked that: "Why did Napoleon keep his best subordinate Davout away, while a major battle was going on where his skills would've been needed on the battlefield? Historians still aren't sure about the answer"
I suspect paranoia is the reason why he sent Davout away. Napoleon knew all too well that Davout had actually smashed the main Prussian army at Auerstadt while Napoleon's victory at Jena should have all the glory. Napoleon never liked glorifying aid from living commanders. Kelllerman had been killed while " marching to the sound of the guns' at Marengo, so Napoleon felt secure in praising him to the stars.
@@glynquigley4364 Minor correction. Desaix was the one who saved Napoleon at Marengo. Kellerman lived long enough to get a Marshal's baton 4 years later ;)
Similar mistakes at Waterloo. Davout left behind in Paris to be Minister of War (IIRC). Soult, another great fighting Marshal, wasted as Chief of Staff (nowhere near as good in that role as Berthier who had died by this time). Against Davout's recommendation, made Grouchy a Marshal. Grouchy had been a very effective cavalry general while directly under Napoleon's command, but was too indecisive at Waterloo. Instead of "Marching to the sound of guns" as Desaix had done in 1800 at Marengo, he continued to follow his vague orders to engage the Prussians and only ended up attacking their rearguard.
Ffs
Please delete your comment it’s a huge spoiler.
@@melkor3496 ffs we're talking about history here not a Reality TV show /smh Newsflash: Napoleon is NOT still emperor of France!
As a citizen of Leipzig I am surprised how the pronunciation of all the town names is almost spot on. Even germans from other parts of the country sometimes have trouble with that because of the heavy Silesian influence in those names.
Would love to see a video explaining exactly why napoleon was such a good general. Like what are the specific tactics and approaches to battle that let him win? Maybe even a video on tactics and types of battles from different time periods
Appreciate your work a lot Mr. VTH. It really rekindled my passion as a history uni student, and sidenote, changed my mind about american history! Im addicted now 😌😌
I think you are right about the garrisons striipping allied troops. That was probably his reasoning but one of his great axioms was "I can regain lost land but I cannot regain lost time. I suspect Eugene left them for the reason you said and although Napoleon would have rather had the men, he saw his son in law's reasoning and there were 300,000 enemy troops in the way to stop any recall.
Incredible series. The artwork and quotes gave me goosebumps many times. Thanks for doing these reactions!
Bernadots army was stange, he provided mostly artillery which suffered fewer casualties saving his infantry and cavalry for an attack on Denmark so that they would have to cede Norway to Sweden.
If you want to visit sides that were important during or after that battle, I would recommend cisiting the Grassimiseum. It is a museum near the city centre with a small fenced garden/park behind it. On that terrain there used to stand a church in which the french survivors where held captive after the battle had ended.
I was born in Leipzig and still live just outside of this battlefield, but there is not much preserved from this battle, as the city flourished a grew to cover almost the entire area.
I am so happy and honoured that you are so interested in this part of our city's history. Keep up your great work!
Greetings from Leipzig
Great commentary. One point, you referred to use of rockets in the US Civil War. Congreve rockets were used during the US/Anglo War of 1812. Most notably fired of Fort McHenry in Baltimore from HMS Erebus, a ship of the line that had been modified into a rocket ship. That use of Congreve rockets inspired Francis Scott Key's phrase "...and the rockets red glare..." in the poem he wrote while witnessing the battle from the deck of HMS Surprize.
Best know use of Congreve Rockets is the attack on Ft McHenry and it's their "rockets red glair" that's quoted in the star spangled banner.
There is a case to be made that Bernadotte as more concerned about the post war world and the Russians, than being involved in this battle. By being engaged but not present he could tie down Napoleon's units without engaging. He could theme argue he did have an effect but with very little risk to his own troops and gain favourable gains to Sweden in any peace deal signed.
But his own troops mainly were Prussians and Russians.
@@undertakernumberone1 he had 60k under his command. There is an oob is on p.35 of the osprey book. Whilst there were a lot of Prussians, 60% of the infantry were Reserve and Landwehr units as was some of the cavalry- there ok in the defensive not do much as an offensive force, the Russians provided quite good amount of infantry ( a lot of Jager units which are good at skirmishing) and a lot of his cavalry- of the 16k cavalry under his command 5k were cossacks, which were good for scouting and harassing but not so good in battle.
So his offensive firepower lay in the 226 guns and 50 good infantry battalions, about 40% of this infantry was Swedish troops ( and there are a lot of guard units in that oob) and if you noticed he leads in with the Russian and Prussian troops leaving the Swedish units as his reserve.
Yet while Bernadotte's Army of the North didn't become involved in the battle of the nations until the last day, Ironically he was the first monarch to enter Leipzig after the battle. 😂😂
Hi, Chris, that was brilliant, from memory two more to come, in the Battle for France, Napoleon again demonstrates his mastery of battlefield tactics. Its fascinating to compare his military genius with his political stubbornness which in the finish cost him everything. Looking forward to the rest.
At 2:42. Everyone concentrates on the important things Napoleon was losing. But almost no one mentions the horses. Napoleon was burning through horses at an astounding rate. What shocks me is that it never crossed Napoleon's mind that horses take at least 10 years to replace. If you burn through all of France's horses in about 2 to 3 years, it will take you a good 10 years to replenish your horse population. Without horses, well, Napoleon could literally not fight, even if he had all the conscripts in the world. It's ultimately Napoleon's lack of horses that doomed him by 1813.
Great video as always. Just watching this video, I realized once more what a crafty s.o.b. Metternich was. For all who don't know this, Metternich was negotiating with Napoleon an Austrian side switch just before the battle. Austria demanded the return of all the territories it lost during the coalition wars. In exchange, Austria would become France's ally once more.
Before I watched this video, I thought that Schwarzenberg's switching sides would have given Napoleon a decisive edge, and given these negotiations the Austrian troop positions make just a tad more sense. They are almost perfectly arrayed to support the French against Blücher and Bernadotte as well as attacking the Russian flank. What I failed to realize, was that the Prussian King and the Russian Tsar were at the Austrian camp. Depending on how far Metternich and Francis were willing to go with their treachery (from the coalition's point of view) there wouldn't even have been a battle. They could have simply taken Alexander and Friedrich Wilhelm prisoners and with these two as POW the battle would not have happened. Even if they manage to escape, the coalition would just have lost its commander in chief and about a third of its forces.
By the way, how Austria's forces were arrayed at Leipzig was influenced by Metternich as well. After the failed negotiations, he drew a schematic on a paper towel with a silver pen for Schwarzenberg how to arrange the Austrian troops (the napkin still exists, I've seen it at an exhibition about Napoleon at the Schallerburg in Austria about ten years ago). As a Francophile, Metternich probably hoped that Napoleon would see reason in the last minute.
there it is! battle of the nations. this is my fav vid from napoelon,c series by epic history and i like your reactions so much. great vid again. please keep it up napolenic contens. i see youare gettting into this topic while videos passing by. and good luck for your planned visit to europe :)
6:02 To the amount that i have studied the subject my understanding is: as the Prussians and Austrians abandoned the French alliance after Napoleons retreat from Russia, it became a general concern that pulling back the garrisons would end up with abandoning control over the territories, which was assumed that could still somewhat be kept with those troops in place to disrupt the allied effort. By the time the Prussians and Austrians mobilized against Napoleon, it was too late as leaving the garrisons would have most likely meant the capture/destruction of the troops holding the forts. By the time Napoleon realized we wasn't going to keep partial control there for that time being, it was too late to pull them back. The garrisons, as a result, stayed and Napoleon counted on relieving them with fresh troops.
I do not know for certain if there was at any point a moment where, for the people in command, it made sense to withdraw the garrisons before it was too late, and they knew about it.
The sources I've studied do not strictly say that this happened (as I've not found any), but certainly indicate that this could be a likely reason. This, among other things, has been an interesting topic of discussion between me and some friends of mine.
I myself specialize in Finnish History, as i am from Finland an I'm just so fascinated about how we came to be and the events that have transpired since the days of Swedish rule up until today. Historical wars and politics are of course interesting subjects always. Would love to see you react on The Winter War by Kings and Generals. You and these reaction videos have taught me a great deal of things I've been in the dark about.
Last but not least. Love the videos! Keep them coming!
In fact most of those men trapped in the cities were injured and/or sick. They were not capable of actively fight.
Russians suffered as much as much the French in this war .
6:25 Spot on. If I'm not mistaken, these 140,000 garrison troops were holding down at least twice their number of Coalition troops. They were a match for those 300,000 or so besieging troops when manning strong defences, but returned to the Grand Armée would have brought Napoleon's forces around Leipzig to maybe 330,000 (assuming they could even reach him in time or at all), but would swell Allied forces to well over half a million.
St Cyr and Davout hold both ends of the Elbe River, he considered them strategic assets. St Cyr is forced to surrender in November 1813. Davout holds out until April 1814. St Cyr considered that he'd been hung out to dry and in consequence he sits on his hand in the 100 Days in 1815. As a Republican he didn't want to fight for the Bourbons either. After the defeat in 1815 he does join the Bourbons as Minister of War, he reoganised the army and his reforms stayed until 1871. He protected a lot of the Napoleonic reforms and former officers under the Empire. He tries to save Ney at his trial. As well as Minister of War, St Cyr also served as Minister of the Navy after his work on the army as Minister of War.
Reflection: There have been many mentions of "the cult of the offensive" in regard to WWI. Watching this and other videos about the Napoleonic wars and how the battles unfold kind of makes me understand where that idea comes from.
That last line and riff from the guitar sent me chills
Would you ever consider doing their belisarius series? It’s up there with their napoleon stuff. Great vid as always!
I really hope that you’ll react to Napoleon’s marshals after this series. I think most of us would really wanna watch that.
First ever comment on youtube :)
4.38 I thought this was an interesting fact. Sir William Congreve's rocket system was deployed by the British in the war of 1812 at the siege of Fort McHenry.
A song was later written about this siege and put to the tune of a drinking song of a London men's club. This song became the US national anthem.
So when the line 'the rockets red glare' is sang it is commemorating Congreve's invention.
39:48 In 1813, Leipzig had 33,000 residents. So there were about 67,000 more people died in the battle than the entire population of the town back then.
This is something I hope to see as a movie or series before I die.
The Frankfurt proposal was a ruse mare by Metternich and nothing more. It was a proposal to get time. Russia, Prussia never accepted the terms of such a deal. Napoleon knew it was not a serious offer. He was a commoner and they were royals with blue blood. They would never tolerate him.
Could you read the on-screen quotes out loud (for those of us with bad vision or who may be listening audio only)? Thanks for the great vids!
I don't think that I had heard much information on this battle. The size of battle alone is wild. Nice to come into a video without knowing much and leave with a good idea of what happened and an interest in learning more. I really need to check this channel out reminds me of the good times of the history channel or something.
Been liking the reactions from the channel, it's great.
There was a video about battle of Leipzig, I think it was wondrium, where they said that the reason why the bridge was blown early was because an officer had the order to blow the bridge when some specific unit crosses it, but he didn't know how the unit's uniforms looked like so he left his post to seek the information from superiors and left the fuse to a corporal, and when corporal saw the enemy, he panicked, lit the fuse and ran away.
I love this series and your comments to it - a really fascinating era! Greetings from Germany 👍
David Chandler "The Campaigns of Napoleon" is a great introduction Napoleon's career. Dr. Chandler was the former head of the Dept of Military History at Sandhurst.
I’ve heard that Napoleon and Bernadotte were rivals and Napoleon allowed him to become Crown Prince of Sweden because he hoped it would prevent him from being a threat to his rule in France. If true it backfired significantly
Clown prince is a truly fear inspiring title.
No hard feelings, no one is safe from typos but the opportunity was too good to miss :D
@@BeWe1510 it’s my phones fault. It’s old and glitchy. Getting a new one this week. You won’t believe the amount of eroors its haz made mi doh
@@fraur001 Reckon Prince Harry is the new Clown Prince
They had their issues but at one point he considered adopting Bernadotte and naming him his heir if he should fall in battle. The two times he censured Bernadotte the worst, further information ended up exonerating Bernadotte due to what info he had at time and the condition of roads keeping him from being where Napoleon wanted him and when. Bernadotte was up front about doing what was best for Sweden if he took the Crown Prince title hence why Napoleon would much later say he could accuse Bernadotte of ingratitude but not betrayal.
Napoleon didn't like Bernadotte. But he understood why Bernadotte fought against him. I would add one reason Bernadotte kept the Swedish army from harm's way. Bernadotte would like to have an intact army against Denmark.
Bernadotte got the same critique from Napoleon before when fighting for France... Often slow to arrive to the battle according to Napoleon.
The fact that the battlefield was about the same width as Fredericksburg, yet had around 3x the troops engaged is crazy.
A point about the Saxons: I am not entirely sure why they used the word surrender. The animation shows them actually switching sides, which is what they really did. If I am not mistaken a „Saxon“ became a word for a traitor in France for a while because of that.
In Germany that act with little real effect on the battle was seen as a patriotic act, especially until WW2. It could have played a role but like EHTV mentions I think it is more about just wanting it to end. Hundreds of thousands had criss crossed around Saxony and they had to eat, Leipzig had essentially been turned into one giant hospital, a difficult sight for everyone but absolutely devastating, I imagine, for the locals
in the Wagram video the Saxons are light blue. here are dark blue as the French. when they surrender they are coloured in white. maybe as a "we surrender" flag?
@@porphyry17 Thats a way to interpret it. For me it always meant taking a coalition color, the Austrians are also white, like the Saxon uniforms. For simply surrendering I would have put an actual white flag on the screen or make the corps disappear but your view could be what they meant too. Anyway, the Saxons definitely switched sides and not went into captivity or something
@@BeWe1510 the rectangles disappear after a while. now i saw it.they(EHTV) meant it as a surrender it seems.
Saxony enjoyed a lot of additional territory thanks to Napoleon and France. Their king was Duke of Varsovie. They betrayed indeed
@@walideg5304 Why should the average Saxon care about which fancy titles Napoleon bestowed upon their Duke?
The rockets were used to defeat the British invasion of Mysore in the late XVIII century where (Napoleon friend by the way) Tipu Sultan mauled the British army during the first of three wars, In europe it's largest use in the era was the battle of Wagram where the Austrians fielded 4 batteries of 4 quadruple launchers, but it never had the same efect as in Mysore.
I live in Leipzig. Connewitz, Markkleeberg and Propstheida are all quite close to one another. Not exactly walkkng distance but with a car or public transport you don't need that long. Maybe 30 to 45 Minutes. And you find signs all over the places where the battles took place. And of course the Völkerschlachtdenkmal that was built in 1913 to commemorate the battle.
I think the Rohirrim at the battle for Minas Tirith was CGI-enhanced to have 6000 horses to be book-accurate. That scene really gives you an incredible sense of scale---to think that these real battles had even more---in each corps, and many such corps across many battlefields---is pretty crazy.
The next episode is probably my favourite thing on youtube
So to talk on the incident at the bridge with the big BOOM!
The actual destruction of the bridge had initially been entrusted to a high ranking officer within the engineer section of Napoleons army.
However, for some reason we are unsure of he handed it down to a junior officer and left with the baggage train - likely not wanting to potentially get caught up/forgotten during the retreat.
And what did this junior officer do… well he pawned it off to some corporal and left with the baggage train too.
That is the entire reason the match was left with such a young and inexperienced soldier.
Literally those who had previously supposed to have been responsible pawned off said responsibility to someone lower of the totem pole and got out of there.
I wanted to comment on the battlefield preservation issue. One big problem here is that Leipzig is a big city covering a large area, many of these Saxon villages, like Connewitz, are today city districts and urbanized areas.
Read Chandler's "The Campaigns of Napolean". Hugely detailed, a very good (but hard) read.
I would like to add a couple of things of interest.
1. In Sydney , Australia, there are a lot of things named after the peninsula war and Wellington’s famous battles , for example , Moore park rd and and Moore park , named after sir John Moore. Badajoz rd near my area , Waterloo rd , talavera rd , Beresford road, and also famous figures , not just Wellington but Beresford , Pitt and castleraigh. (Last one might not be spelt correctly).
2. Also some French commanders have things named in the United States after them , massena being one I can think of.
3. Britain’s first sea lord was admiral lord hood I think , one of his descendent was killed at the battle of Jutland , and like some famous names from the German side , the British navy named HMS hood comes from the Napoleonic wars.
4. Von Kliest was a Prussian general , which a descendent , was a general in the Wehrmacht in World War Two.
5. general Blucher was given a special title and rank for his service in the Napoleonic wars , the only other recipient was Paul von Hindenburg.
6. Shrapnel was a term made during the Napoleonic wars , in recognition of the person in England who was the first to make explosive shells for wellingtons army in the peninsular war.
7. marshal soult , after the Napoleonic wars , was part of the French delegation to Queen Victoria’s coronation , Wellington apparently snuck up on him , tapped him on the shoulder saying “at last I have got you now!”
8. Wellington has not just cities named after him , but also ships and two planes , the planes used in the 1930s and 1930s was the Vickie’s Wellesley and the famous Vickie’s Wellington , the ships named after him used his other nickname , in this case iron duke, for example the type 23 class frigate used today , is the iron duke class.
9. One other famous sailor that fought in the Napoleonic wars was Thomas Cochrane. Another famous person who after the war , helped with the Chilean navy which named their flagship after him.
Mainz! My family came from there to the US. Mainz was a catholic archbisophric before Napoleon. He removed the church from power as part of the confederation of the Rhine. At the treaty of Vienna Mainz was given to Frankfurt, which was protestant. Suddenly the once catholic majority was a minority catholic under protestant rule. The church was not returned to rule the state of Mainz and my family found protestant meddling in church affairs intolerable so they eventually left.
Really interesting that Napoleon considered it safety
If Blucher had arrived 1 day after, Napoleon maybe would emerge victorious!
Even without Davout, and with teenage conscripts
If you're diving into napoleonic wars books and are interested in some fiction, the aubrey maturin series by Patrick o'brien is very good. Thanks for another great video.
The Sharpe series about a British rifleman is also very good mainly because Sharpe is such a good character, but O'Brien was one of the best authors I've ever read. His ability to have his characters talk in a way that was authentic to the era while at the same time not coming off as stilted was masterful. I've seen other modern writers try to do it and it always just seems slightly off.
@@alanansara2190 Bernard Cromwell also wrote a non-fiction book about Waterloo btw.
@@undertakernumberone1 I read it. I like most of what Cornwell writes.
Been reading the Temeriere series recently, neat touch and cool napoleonic stories.
Can't wait till you finally come to Germany. Alone on this little are from Berlin to Leipzig there is so much to see and learn!
I dont remember where have i seen it but the bridge was to be blown up by a lt general/colonel ( I dont remember) who passed the "torch" to a major cause he was needed elsewhere, who then passed the "torch" again to a corporal who after seeing enemy skirmishers panicked and lit the fuse. Skirmishers where to be expected further than the main army and could be driven away easier but a corporal maybe didnt know that or just panicked after 3 days of carnage.
In the village of Titchfield, which is very close to Portsmouth should you ever visit HMS Victory, there’s a memorial to Captain Richard Bogue who was from Titchfield and commanded the British 2nd Rocket troop which fought at Leipzig.
He was killed at the end of the 3rd day leading a cavalry charge near the village of Paunsdorf as part of Bernadotte’s army.
The rocket brigade, along with a squadron of Swedish dragoons, actually managed to take a few thousand prisoners at Leipzig, despite only numbering some 200 men.
Bogue had also previously fought at Coruña which you covered previously.
Finally! Been looking forward to this reaction.
I cant recommend you enough the "memoirs of General Marbot", @Vlogging Through History, for a foot-soldier-to-superior-officer account of the wars, from the French side. It is not only very knowledgeable, but very moving.
When you look at a map of today's Leipzig you see all the villages in this map being suburbs of Leipzig, a lot of the grounds where the battle took place are probably covered by housing areas now.
24:30 Classic Bernadotte, turns up just in time to reap the glory. Why Napoleon fired him in the first place.
I played SPI's Battle of the Nations board game when it came out in 1975. I remember the designer notes said that the French 'had a strong central position. Cynics would say they're surrounded.'
The mere _sound_ of 10,000 horsemen must have been absolutely deafening.
Don't have it and haven't read it(frankly, I already have a huge backlog of books to read about all kinds of historical topics that I haven't gotten to yet due to time constraints. One of which is Andrew Roberts's Napoleon:A Life which seems to be the most comprehensive recent biography) but the most recent scholarly book on the Napoleonic Wars and a book I've heard is really good is Alexander Mikaberidze's The Napoleonic Wars: A Global History that only came out in 2020.
I have it, listened to the audiobook version. Pretty good! Bernard Cromwell's Waterloo book also is nice. I'm talking about a non-fiction book, not one of his Sharpe's novels. I really appreciate his fondness for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (though he did get his age wrong at one point at least).
The Prussians paused on the eastern side of the Lasne valley. Blücher was in a hurry, but had no choice but to wait as his straggling column caught up with the vanguard. He chivvied them. ‘Forwards!’ he was quoted as saying. ‘I hear you say it’s impossible, but it has to be done! I have given my promise to Wellington and you surely don’t want me to break it? Push yourselves, my children, and we’ll have victory!’
It is impossible not to like Blücher. He was seventy-four years old, still in pain and discomfort from his adventures at Ligny, still stinking of schnapps and of rhubarb liniment, yet he is all enthusiasm and energy. If Napoleon’s demeanour that day was one of sullen disdain for an enemy he underestimated, and Wellington’s a cold, calculating calmness that hid concern, then Blücher is all passion. He can hear the battle which is being fought just three or four miles to the west, and he knows his troops will make the difference, but for all his impetuosity he also knows he must approach the fight with a certain caution.
Cornwell, Bernard. Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies and Three Battles (S.218-219). HarperCollins Publishers. Kindle-Version.
you can find macfonalds memoirs online, if you're interested
to me, the most surprising is the absence of Davout. arguably his best marshal, napoleon kept him in hamburg
The so called Bohemian army, totally fresh, was established and trained by Bennigsen. To lock Napoleonic field detachments and garrisons within the cities thus cutting them off and preventing mobilization to Napoleon's side was Bennigsen's idea.
This "second rate" general, who, together with Barclay corrected numerous mistakes by Koutouzoff at Borodino, is somewhat overshadowed by his "greater" contemporaries.
In fact, he played crucial role during many crucial engagements - at eastern Prussia 1806-1807, at Borodino, at Tarutino-Winkovo, and at 1813 campaign.
The German Wikipedia article on the population development of Leipzig says that the city's population was 32,146 in 1800 and 36,093 in 1819, so there was likely a population of about 35,000 at the time, I'd imagine. I hope that helps add some context.
At last! I’ve been waiting for this one!
Hey mate - Love the content. Could you please share [if any] the books you are looking at reading for your personal research regarding Napoleonic Wars?
did napoleon noticeably influence any tactics of generals in later wars ? just wondering if there are any vivid examples? also please go to bletchley park when you come here to the uk. it is drenched in history and not far from london
Well, Lee and other Civil War generals (and students/Readers of Jomini) basically tried to emulate Boney over all, especially with the cahse for the big, decisive battles and so on. Should've studied Clausewitz instead.
@@undertakernumberone1Thank you 🙂
About a month ago I went to Leipzig and visited a monument to the batle of the nations. This monument is huge
Good to see! Always love your videos!
The Coalition had days to try to cut of Napoleons retreat. I think somebody in command read Sun Tzu and avoided creating a "Deaths Ground" for Napoleons army.
It illustrates Napoleon's incompetence that he failed to throw a couple of pontoon bridges across the river, and left it to a corporal to decide when to blow up the existing bridge, rather than put a senior officer in charge with some reliable troops.
Will you react to some more sabaton when their new EP comes out?
It's truly astonishing that these historical figures existed in our past and did so much.
To the question why napoleon didn't pull his troops out you can say at first of course that those city's that got sieged were deep in enemy land and a retreat was probably as dangerous as holding the walls. Also a big point that wasn't really mentioned yet was that especially in Germany many independent geurilla companies has formed who constantly attacked any form of supply to the the French army and often also fought in the battles. The most famous one were the lützower hunter's which later became the lützower brigade, they were famous for their black, red and golden uniforms which later became the colors of the German revolution and symbol of freedom and against tyranny. That's why those flag was banned under Hitler and why they are the colors of Germany today.
I knee nothing of this before video, awesome job!
I'm new to this channel but you should react to History scopes video about the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials at done point. It's super interesting nd I feel most people dong know about the details of the trials very much
Will you be doing epic history tvs series on Napoleons marshals too? Wpuld be great, gives you closer details
If you want napoleonic books I’d recommend Napoleons War by Charles Esdaile for the best single volume for the whole war, he also has a good book on the peninsular war. Also 1812 Napoleons fateful March on Moscow by Adam Zamoyski is great or Bernard Cornwell’s Waterloo Book is an adrenaline inducing read. Beyond that osprey publishing have lots of books on specific campaigns, regiments, uniforms ect. Or if you want an analysis of the napoleonic art of war then try The Campaigns of Napoleon by David Chandler, Charles de Gaulle himself reckoned it was the best book on the subject. Happy reading 🫡😉
What about Alexander Mikaberidze's Napoleonic Wars book?
@@undertakernumberone1 heard of it but haven’t read it yet 👍 when I do I’ll recommend it if it’s good as I’m sure it is. I know he’s got a new book out on Kutuzov which I’d like to get too as well, plus he’s written some of the osprey books which I mentioned 🙂
@@undertakernumberone1 reading it now, interesting read and very detailed in some areas not usually referred too, though I have found 4 errors in 120 pages and it perhaps overemphases events not as integral. I know he’s putting the spotlight on those events but you can’t have 10 pages on Americas relationship with the directory and less than one page on Napoleons Italian campaign including the negotiations for the treaty of Campo Formio. There should be a little more balance. Besides that I am enjoying it on the whole.
In fact, Leipzig is predominantly military conflict of Germanic peoples and monarchs, with some presence of Romanic and Slavic peoples.
17:58 You can visual it by watching the third lord of the ring movie, and it's only 6 000 horsemen and not 10 000
It's quite interesting from a prussian/german perspective that the names that stuck most with german "folklore" as true patriots
of the "Völkerschlacht" and the ongoing "Befreiungskriege" weren't Blücher or Gneisenau, but rather people like Ludwig von Yorck, Wilhelm von Lützow and Turnvater Jahn with their enormous contributions to get rid of the french occupiers. Of course the marshals got their statues all over Prussia, but they never received the same admiration as the other three from the common soldier and other "germans".
Napoleon had given orders to build 6 additional bridges but in the chaos of the battle the orders got lost.
When he marched in Leipzig on the third day all the troops Wounded or else got up and gave him an epic ovation that could be heard from the coalition side even if he was defeated
But he was shocked when he saw no bridges had been built
what is impressive about the battlefield is that today, its all the city of Leipzig. Urban growth as made towns like Liebertwolkwitz, Connewitz and Möckern are now suburbs with in the city limits of Leipzig. its a MASSIVE area
Yeah, Leipzig grew very much during the late industrial revolution. In 1813 it had 35.000 inhabitants, nowadays it has about 600.000. But there are still some parts of the battlefield which have not been built over.
Now here's my question they said that the but cavalry got cloaks to catching the empebirds what if they had, I know we said that even if Napoleon won't lipes it would have been another battle or another battle but what if he would have captured the emperor is there
Mortier was a Prime minister of Louis Philippe, (was a kind of centre-right monarchy, with parties on the soft left and soft center running the cabinet until Guizot soft right cost Louis Phillippe his reign). But overall the king of the frenchs Louis Phillipe was the candidate of Lafayette, there were many more at the left who reluctantly agreed altought some like Lamarque soon critizice the government.
It would have been interesting if Napoleon had withdrew and maneuvered after the failure of the first day. The question is where though. Would he have swung north, south or withdrew westwards? Would he have attacked or found better ground for a stand?
If you want to saw crazy numbers check for the 3rd battle of Panipat. in the XVIII century between Afghanistan and the Marathian empire.
Wow 120,000 casualties
Is it possible I request these to quotes are read out loud in future videos? I listen while driving. Thank you for considering.
I am from Saxony, and 1813 is seen as one of the worst years in the regions history.
The 3,000 men that switched sides during the battle were the last troops Saxony could muster - out of a population of 1 million.
Saxony had suffered heavy casualties in 1806 and 1809, and more or less a complete annihilation in russia.
It's army could do no more. It generals had already defected after being replaced by French Commanders.
Switching sides was not the choice to be on the winning side. It was the question whether any Saxon wanted to survive the war
Saxon Artillery had no guns, the infantry consisted largely of youths and older men, and the cavalry had effectively perished at Borodino.
The country had faced an enitre year of looting and quartering soldier, its hospitals were bursting from all the wounded from the Battles of Dresden, Lützen, Bautzen etc. Diseases claimed thousands of victims, and prices for bread went through the roof.
Leipzig had 30,000 inhabitants, but the populations of all the villages in the area, as well as thousands of refugees may have doubled that. They had to share a city with 130,000 french troops on the last day. A city built for 30,000 hosted perhaps as many as 200,000 people on the last day of battle
It took decades for Saxony to recover from the ordeal of the Napoleonic Wars
"The deal" was already signed five times in favor of France, now one against France would not detter a coalition.
Why Napoleon didn't recall all of those garrisons? besides the time run out quickly after Katzbacht Kulm Denewitz and his marshals battles. Many were defending their own country (polish troops) defending Modlin, defending the free city of Danzig (who had a Polish minority and was used by the duchy as an access to the sea). Hamburg was to prevent an outflanking from the north however the most important asset not used may be the comander at Hamburg Marshal Davout