The BaTTle of

leipzig 16-19 ocToBer, 1813Presenting Day One Of the Largest BattLe Of the naPOLeOnic Wars By Paul Olszanski, Background by neil smith

Now, the Battle of Leipzig was big, really BIG! Over 600,000 men from over half a dozen nations fought in and around the city of Leipzig over four days in late 1813. The result of this massive fight was the most decisive defeat of Napoleon’s armies and lead to the invasion of France (and Napoleon’s capture) in 1814.

With a battle so large, it’s very rare that you find someone crazy enough to tackle such a monumental undertaking.

Fortunately for us we found Paul Olszanski, and his friends, at FaLL IN! last year. When Paul said he was going to tackle the job, we knew he was just crazy enough to pull it off.

With 108 square feet of gaming boards, dozens of scale buildings and walls, and what must have been 10,000 15mm miniatures painted by dozens of people over the years, it was an amazing spectacle that no photos can truly do it justice.

What follows is a photo-journalistic report by our U.s. editor, Dave taylor, of a great game played one sunny, spring afternoon in western Pennsylvania.

Leipzig at a glance“Napoleon’s Russian disaster encouraged Prussia, Sweden, and austria to ally against him in 1813. although France had rebuilt it’s armies with fresh conscripts, they were now thoroughly outnumbered. after an indecisive campaign in Germany, Napoleon took up a defensive position on the plain around Leipzig on 14 October. The austrian army was the first to attack him on 16 October; by 18 October the Prussians, Russians, and Swedes had also arrived. Suffering heavy casualties, Napoleon embarked on a phased withdrawal across he single bridge over the Elster river. On the morning of the 19th, French engineers blew up the bridge, leaving 15,000 troops on the wrong side. Some drowned attemptng to cross the river; most were taken prisoner.”

- extract from Battle by DK Publishng

The year 1813 must have been a time of head-scratching and frustration for the eastern European allied commanders of the Sixth Coalition. The austrians, Prussians, and Russians, with Swedish assistance, came together again to beat Napoleon in the wake of his seeming annihilation on the retreat from Moscow the previous year; surely all they had to

do was put their armies in the field and Napoleon’s audacious new offensive would suffer the same fate as his Russian campaign? Napoleon thought otherwise.

The diminutive Frenchman’s plan was to defeat the major allied powers in detail. He had won this way before, and even if the enemy came together, as they

did at austerlitz nearly a decade ago, he would beat them collectively again. That strategy might have worked in 1805, but his army this time was a pale shadow of its former self. Moreover, Napoleon’s Corps system that depended on subordinate commanders taking the initiative now lacked the quality it once had. T

he

Bat

tle

o

f Le

ipz

ig

Clockwise from Above:

• Columns of French reinforcements stream into Leipzig from the northeast as Marmont’s troops are set to receive the brunt of Blucher’s Prussian assault.

• Bertrand’s Division take up a defensive position on the west bank of the Elster, while Giulay’s Austrians prepare for an attack.

• The French regiments from Macdonald’s Division ready themselves for an opening salvo from the Austrian artillery to the southeast of Leipzig.

• The massed guns of a Russian Grand Battery are arrayed to cause maximum carnage on the French line. During the game this battery pounded their enemies in many interesting (and devastating) ways.

• A map showing the deployment of the French and Allied armies on Day One (16 October, 1813) around the city of Leipzig.

• Part of the French column, the Old Guard Chasseurs, riding to the relief of Marmont’s and Bertrand’s commands.

Nevertheless, Napoleon’s campaign in Germany started off well. He defeated Russo-Prussian armies at Lutzen on 2 May and again on 20-21 May. That forced the coalition to take a deep breath through an armistice, but fighting was soon renewed. The Emperor beat the allies once more at Dresden on 27 august, but he could not follow up

with his weakened army. Moreover, the allies struck back almost immediately, at Kulm, crushing a French Corps under Dominique Vandamme. Then French Marshal Nicolas Oudinot tried to capture Berlin but fell short, losing the fight at Dennewitz and leaving Napoleon with little choice but to fall back on his line of supplies. That brought the French army

to Leipzig, sitting on the east bank of the River Elster.

after a couple of delaying actions, Napoleon’s army of nearly 200,000 and 700 cannons took up positions around the city but primarily to the north and south to oppose allied advances. The French lines connected a series of satellite

although Paul Olszanski has been wargaming for many years, it is really only over the last five years or so that he has plunged into the broad and deep river that is the Napoleonic period, and he has really taken to the period. To continue the analogy, it’s like he was born swimming there. You may remember his Battle of Waterloo table from our coverage of FaLL IN! (WI268) or his Battle of Katzbach table from our Cold Wars coverage (WI271), these were obviously precursors to this amazing production.

Paul has been using the Age of Eagles (aka The Napoleonic Fire & Fury) ruleset since his introduction to the period and it’s a ruleset that he loves, particularly for depicting the large, sweeping conflicts of the Napoleonic Wars.

“The best thing about Age of Eagles is that it is really Fire & Fury, but if I was to break it down”, says Paul “it would be three things. a) the ease of play with the “30 Minute Turns” taking an average of 27 minutes to complete, B) this means you can complete a big battle (like this) in one sitting, and C) it creates an awesome spectacle. The battles look like the contemporary Napoleonic paintings of enormous battles.”

villages around Leipzig’s perimeter and whoever possessed them controlled the battle. The allies closed in, numbering over 300,000 with 1,500 guns. By 16 October, both sides stood ready to fight, although the allies as yet fielded only around half of their total force.

Europe’s largest battle before World

War I opened with concentric attacks around the French perimeter. The austrians struck first in the south, becoming embroiled in a fierce firefight with some of Napoleon’s Polish troops around Dölitz. The ferocity of that fighting typified the tenacity of the Grande armee’s resistance throughout the battle. The Polish showed similar

obstinacy in the village of Markkleeberg but they too were eventually pushed out. More heartening for the French was the repulse of a joint Russian and Prussian attack on Wachau, a key position on the southern line. a second chance to break the allied stranglehold came at the village of Liebertwolkwitz where 18,000 French met an austrian attack of

Clockwise from Above:

• Dennis (as Bertrand) and Hillary (as Giulay) discuss the finer points of manouvering infantry through the crowded streets of Lindenau.

• Contrary to historical actions, the men of Merveldt’s Division avoid the forces of Poniatowski and move to bolster the left flank of Schwarzenburg’s main assault.

• The massed guns of the Russian Grand Battery. Not only did they cause a lot of damage at range, but they were able to see off charges from various French cavalry units with the judicious use of cannister.

• Corey and Steven, who shared the Allied command to the south and southeast of the city, ponder their next move.

• Determined to turn the flank of the Austrians deployed to the west of Leipzig, this unit of Polish Lancers took a rather long detour through the village of Connewitz.

25,000. a French counterattack supported by a grand battery of over 100 cannons recaptured the village and blasted a hole between the austrian Corps and supporting Russians and Prussians. Into that hole poured the ever valiant Joachim Murat and 10,000 French cavalry only to have the door slammed in their faces by the allied cavalry’s more flexible tactics.

Fighting was equally desperate on the northern perimeter. Russian forces took the twin villages of Wiederitzsch but only after suffering heavy casualties. Then the Prussians led by Gebhard von Blücher tried to take the hastily fortified village of Möckern, unleashing a storm of fire from the French defenders under Marshal auguste Marmont. The battle raged back

and forward but swung decisively when Marmont ordered a cavalry charge that failed to materialize. Constant pounding by artillery and a swift surge by Prussian hussars as night fell finally cracked the French defence. Both sides between them lost 18,000 casualties in this sector alone.

October 17 saw more consolidation

Obviously Paul was spot on with all of his observations, as game play tended to run smoothly and many of the players new to the system were able to pick it up quickly. Questions were only asked when complicated or obviously confusing situations arose. Due to the vast number of units of varying fighting prowess on the table, no doubt.

When I poked Paul for a bit more information on why he decided to tackle a battle of this size (and more particularly the first day of the battle) his response was quite simple. “about 20 years ago I read an article or two in Wargames Illustrated about a guy who had put on a 6mm game of the first day of the Battle of Leipzig, and it just stuck with me all these years. I think I still have that old magazine kicking around somewhere.”

and less fighting. The rest of the allied army arrived, including the Swedes, and closed the circle on the east bank of the River Elster. Still, the Russians seized the opportunity to capture the village of Gohlis from the stubborn Poles, and the newly promoted Field Marshal Blücher attacked the French III Cavalry Corps causing them great loss. It would not be

until the following day, however, before the Battle of Leipzig would be decided.

The final day of the battle opened with a simultaneous assault all along the French perimeter – nine hours of savage often no-quarter fighting followed. The action again raged around the important village strongholds. although the French

abandoned Wachau and it fell without a fight, the allies had a much harder time winkling the French out of Lößnig and Dölitz. all around Leipzig, the French held on but they could ill-afford to stand toe to toe against such overwhelming odds, and ammunition and supplies were running out. Moreover, morale in some areas began to crumble, leading to 5,000

Clockwise from Left:

• French reinforcements continue to pour into the city though its eastern gate.

• Knowing they must silence the guns of the Russian battery, the French players begin to throw the first wave of infantry and cavalry at the Allied positions.

• Chris ensures his flank is well-supported, while Doug and Chuck discuss the best disposition of the arriving French reinforcements.

• When players found themselves struggling to reach the center of the table, the table could simply be pulled apart to allow easy access to all areas.

• As well as supplying many laminated sheets of the age of eagles charts to the players, Paul also posted BIG copies up on the wall for easy reference.

• During a pause in the gaming some of the players and onlookers took the time to survey the enormity of the table. Clockwise from left: Corey, Steven, Billy, Corey, Dennis, Doug, Hillary, and Chuck.

• As quickly as the French entered Leipzig via its northern gate, they were deployed across the bridge over the Elster River. This bridge was be the scene of much confusion and carnage on 19 October, 1813.

Saxons of Napoleon’s VII Corps turning coat and fleeing to the allies. By the end of the day, Napoleon knew he had to get his army out of Leipzig if it was to survive.

The French began withdrawing across the Elster under the cover of darkness and it would not be until the next morning

before the allies twigged to what was happening. The combined allied armies tried to catch the fleeing enemy but a desperate rearguard action by Oudinot’s Corps brought them to a halt. So far, the French retreat was a textbook operation, but disaster struck when a French corporal received orders to blow

the only bridge out of the city and he did so immediately instead of waiting for the rearguard to cross. Up to 20,000 Frenchmen and their allies remained in the city, but upon hearing and seeing the bridge explode, they panicked, many of them drowning in the river and many more captured by the allied soldiers.

Once back in the office I scrambled to check through the back issue PDFs we have on file and discovered that the first article (of a three part series) by Peter Heath had appeared exactly 20 years earlier in WI32 (april 1990). Subsequent articles appeared in WI33 and WI34.

While we were sitting around, watching the game unfold and in-between the occasional question from the commanders, Paul let me know that it had taken the whole five years of his Napoleonic wargaming to collect the figures needed for the game. With somewhere close to 10,000 models on the table, I could certainly believe it.

although it was a 20-year old article that inspired him, Paul only really got stuck into the planning around six months before the game we were watching unfold, and during that time he spent many an hour talking things over with Bill Gray, author of Age of Eagles. Discussions about Orders of Battle, the scale of the table, deployment of troops, all the things neccessary to not only get close to history, but (perhaps more importantly) to create an exciting game.

note: Paul would like to thank Bill Gray for all the advice and counsel he has provided for Paul’s games over the years. He would also like to publicly thank his wife Debbie, who likes to keep a clean house but put up with Paul’s miniatures strewn throughout the house for over two months while he finalized the Katzbach and Leipzig games.

Napoleon managed to get a great part of his army out of Leipzig and began the sorry march back to France where his reign would end the following year. He left behind him over 38,000 dead and wounded and another 15,000 prisoners of the allies. The Emperor also had to abandon nearly half his artillery. The

allies stopped temporarily to lick their wounds and savour their victory. Over 50,000 allied troops littered the fields around Leipzig and in the scorched city streets. In 1814, the allies marched into France confident of beating Napoleon again thanks to the hard fought victory over the Little Emperor at Leipzig.

Clockwise from Left:

• Hillary and Chuck check the stats of a French unit, conveniently listed under the command stand, while Joey (Paul’s 10-year old nephew) prepares to bring more of his Russian troops onto the table.

• After a few hours of back and forth fighting, Chris (as Ney) was able to hammer his cavalry through the Prussian lines of Blücher, played by Sam.

• Taking his Austrian cavalry further than anyone had expected, Corey drives back the French lines from Stötteritz and comes close to over-running Napoleon himself!

• With their lines in disarray and fresh units unable to be brought to the fore, The French commanders pull back towards Leipzig.

• The Russian reinforcements cross the river to aid Giulay in his struggle against Bertand’s constantly reinforced position.

• With the artillery tiring and the cavalry well advanced, the Austrian infantry finally move up from their positions, ready to start the mopping up.

While Dörnberg didn’t actually fight at the Battle of Leipzig, there were a couple of other names that might be familiar to readers of our Lübeck article, his old commander - Field Marshal Blücher - led the Prussian army, and his old opponent - Jean Baptiste Bernadotte - commanded the Swedish army that arrived on the second day of the battle.

Where was von Dornberg?

Obviously with such a large battle to cover, there’s no way that we could fit it all into these ten pages (or even half a magazine). So rather than leaving you wondering what the rest of the photos looked like, we’ll be putting up a huge batch of them on our website.

We will also be including the Orders Of Battle for Age of Eagles, and additional information about the commanders of the allied armies of the Sixth Coalition, the men who lead their forces to victory in the largest European battle to take place prior to World War One!

When it came to talk about the tables themselves, Paul pulled out a map from an old strategy game, Napoleon at Leipzig. With everything laid out, it was obvious to see how the table had been designed, down to the roads, rivers and streams, and the all important bridges. The team behind building the tables (three 4' x 6' and three 4' x 3' boards in all) were Paul, his daughters Brittany and Chelsea, Kristen Landis, Dennis Kalember, Corey White, and Chriss Funkhouser.

It was during this discussion that Dennis Kalember (playing Bertrand’s command in the game) pointed out that with another two months or so before HISTORICON, there’d be enough time to enhance the tables even further “fleshing out the rivers, adding small whitecaps, that sort of thing.” Without doubt this game will be a great spectacle at the July convention.

Having seen Paul set up his Katzbach tables at Cold Wars, I was fearful of asking the question that must keep so many games masters awake at night before a big convention event. “How long did it all take to set up?”

Paul sighed (just a little) as he cast his mind back over the previous week. “My daughters helped out a lot, so I guess it was a total of around 30 hours of work to get all the troops in place before the day itself.” That may sound like a lot, but seeing 15+ gamers spending eight hours each gaming over the table as though they were truly in command of many, many divisions of soldiers was certainly all worth it, or so Paul’s grin said.

On the day of the “refight” losses were around 17,000 allies and around 15,000 French, but as the allies were in a position to split Napoleon’s army in half, the consensus was a minor allied victory!

Next stop for this awesome spectacle? HISTORICON (Valley Forge, Pa, 8-11 July). Paul was musing, at the conclusion to a long day, that he might run it as “Day Three” at HISTORICON. “Why’s that?” I asked.

“It’s even bigger, and isn’t that what it’s all about? Seeing all your figures out on the table?” Paul, I think you’re right!

.net