[Sidenote: Leipzig, the "Battle of the Nations," October 1813]
Napoleon was now at Dresden in supreme command of armies aggregating
about 400,000 men, opposed by 250,000 Austrians in Bohemia under
Schwarzenberg; 100,000 Prussians and Russians in Silesia under Bluecher;
100,000 Swedes, Prussians, and Russians near Berlin under the Crown
Prince Bernadotte of Sweden; and at least 300,000 reserves. At Dresden,
in August, he won his last great victory, against the Austrian army of
General Schwarzenberg. As his marshals suffered repeated reverses, he
was unable to follow up his own successes and found himself gradually
hemmed in by the allies, until at Leipzig he turned at bay. There, on
16-19 October, was fought the great three-day "Battle of the Nations."
Against the 300,000 troops of the allies, Napoleon could use only
170,000, and of these the Saxon contingent deserted in the heat of the
fray. It was by military prowess that the French Empire had been
reared; its doom was sealed by the battle of Leipzig.
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