1813, Russia, Alexander I. Battle of Leipzig Medal. R!

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1813, Russia, Alexander I. Battle of Leipzig Medal. R! Mint Year: 1813 Medallist: Lauer Mint Place: Nurnberg Medallist: Johannes Stettner (Germany) Condition: Numerous hairlines and scratches, otherwise a nice VF+ Reference: Diakov 368.2, Montenuovo 2387. Reichel 3261. Bramsen 1259. Weight: 11.83gm Diameter: 33mm Material: Brass Obverse: Facing busts of the allied Emperors Alexander I of Russia and Francis I of Austria. Legend: FRANZ.I.KAISER.V.OESTERREICH*ALEXANDER.KAISER.V:RUSSLAND Reverse: Crowned russian imperial eagle flying over skyline of Leipzig, Napoleon´s army retreating to left. Legend: DIE ENTSCHEIDENDE SCHLACHT DER ALLIERTEN BEY LEIPZIG. Exergue: DEN 18-19. OCT: 1813At your attention a beautiful and important brass medal issued to commemorate the historical Battle of Leipzig. Authenticity unconditionally guaranteed. ! On 18 October, the Allies launched a huge assault from all sides. In over nine hours of fighting, in which both sides suffered heavy casualties, the French troops prevented a breakthrough but were slowly forced back towards Leipzig. The Sixth Coalition had Field Marshal Blücher (Prussian) and Crown Prince Carl Johan of Sweden to the north, the Generals Barclay De Tolly, Bennigsen (both Russian) and Prince von Hessen-Homburg (Austrian) to the south, and General Gyulay (Austrian) to the west. The Prussian 9th brigade occupied the abandoned village of Wachau while the Austrians, with General Bianchi's Hungarians, threw the French out of Lößnig. The Austrians proceeded to give a demonstration of combined arms cooperation as Austrian cavalry attacked French infantry to give Austrian infantry time to arrive and deploy in the attack on Dölitz. The Young Guard Division threw them out. At this point, three Austrian grenadier battalions began to contest for the village with artillery support. In the meantime, at the behest of his Swedish officers, who felt embarrassed that they had not participated in the battle, Bernadotte gave the order for his light infantry to participate in the final assault on Leipzig itself. The Swedish jägers performed very well, losing about 121 men in the attack. During the fighting, 5,400 Saxons of Jean Reynier's VII Corps defected to the Allies. Napoleon saw that the battle was a lost cause and on the night of 18–19 October, he began to withdraw the majority of his army across the river Elster. The allies didn't learn of the evacuation until 7 a.m, and were then held up by Oudinot's ferocious street-to-street rearguard action in Leipzig. The retreat went smoothly until early afternoon when the general tasked with destroying the only bridge over the Elster delegated the task to a Colonel Montfort. The colonel in turn passed this responsibility on to a corporal, who, unaware of the carefully planned time schedule, ignited the fuses at 1 p.m, when the bridge was still crowded with French troops, and Oudinot's rearguard was still in Leipzig. The explosion and subsequent panic and rout resulted in the deaths of thousands of French troops, and the capture of many thousands more. During that unfortunate event, Poniatowski, the gallant Polish leader, drowned while crossing the river. The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, fought on 16–19 October, 1813, was one of the most decisive defeats suffered by Napoleon Bonaparte. The Battle of Leipzig was fought on German soil and involved German troops on both sides, as a large proportion of Napoleon's troops actually came from the German Confederation of the Rhine. It is considered the largest battle in Europe before World War I, with over 500,000 troops involved.Casualties on both sides were staggering; estimates range from 80,000 to 110,000 total killed or wounded. Napoleon lost about 38,000 killed and wounded. The Allies captured 15,000 able-bodied Frenchmen, 21,000 wounded or sick, 325 cannon and 28 eagles, standards or colours, and had received the men of the de... read more

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