Napoleon 1813: The Road to Leipzig

[Music] 18-12 had been a disastrous year for napoleon his invasion of Russia had led to the almost total destruction of an army of half a million men now Poland and Germany were wide open to Russian attack some advised Emperor Alexander that this was the time to make a favorable peace with Napoleon Russia's own armies had been mauled in western Russia devastated but Alexander was determined to see Napoleon defeated for good to free Europe from his clutches and avenge Moscow's destruction by taking Paris Napoleon's allies were deserting him Prussian troops had already agreed a truce with the Russians shot Sandberg's corps marched back to Austria which assumed a policy of watchful neutrality Napoleon had left marshal Murad in charge of the remnants of the army but he left for the kingdom of Naples hoping to cut a deal with the Allies that would let him keep his throne he was replaced by Napoleon's stepson who Shane who to prove himself a brave and able soldier in Russia but was unused to independent command and now faced odds of four to one as Russian forces advanced through Poland he continued to retreat West leaving Garrison's to hold strategic fortresses most of which was soon besieged on the 7th of February Russian troops entered Warsaw unopposed Napoleon's polish client state the Duchy of Warsaw effectively ceased to exist three weeks later Russian troops entered Berlin while Sweden joined the Allies [Music] Sweden was ruled by Napoleon's former marshal Bernadotte now officially known as Crown Prince Karl Johan many would accuse him of betraying Napoleon but he'd always been clear that once he became Sweden's Crown Prince he'd pursue Swedish interests which is what he now claimed to do in exchange for Norway to be taken from France's ally Denmark and 1 million pounds from Britain Bernadotte agreed to join what was now the sixth coalition against France since the revolution with an army of 30,000 troops ten days later King Frederick William of Prussia declared war on France it followed weeks of indecision the king was widely seen as a weak character and terrified of Napoleon but with guarantees of Russian military support the return of lost territory and enormous financial and material aid from Britain he agreed to field an army of 80,000 men [Music] on the 17th of March he issued a proclamation to the people of pressure and Germany and mine folk to my people summoning them to fight for Prussia and Germany's honor in what would soon be known as the German war of liberation the Prussian army had been greatly reformed since its humiliating defeat to Napoleon in 1806 a military commission headed by General von Scharnhorst at saks nearly two hundred old generals and abolished flogging expanded recruitment and introduced exams for officers and overhauled training tactics and drill when Napoleon met the new Prussian army in battle two months later he remarked these animals have learned something small consolation they'd learned most of it from him this video is sponsored by curiosity stream home of more than two and a half thousand online documentaries exploring science technology the natural world and of course history this month we've been watching a French documentary about that other great warrior son of France William the Conqueror William is famed for his bloody victory over the English at Hastings in 1066 but here we also learn about Williams early life in Normandy his loving marriage and the long struggle to acquire his English Kingdom the reconstructions are high-quality the experts are insightful and William the Conqueror gets a thumbs up from us there are many other high end documentaries like this waiting to inform and entertain you but curiosity stream which is available worldwide at an online subscription starts from just two dollars 99 amonth remember to use the promo code epic history TV and sign up to get your first 30 days free thanks to curiosity stream for sponsoring this video as his enemies massed in Germany Napoleon was in Paris working tirelessly to build a new army with which to face them 137 thousand new conscripts joined the army and laws passed to call up 100,000 more while 40,000 veterans from the Army in Spain 16,000 Marines and 80,000 men of the National Guard a home defense force were transferred to Germany the new conscripts were nicknamed Mary Louise's after Napoleon's young wife who cast the new conscription laws in his absence they were young and raw two-thirds were teenagers and there was a severe lack of experienced officers and NCOs in short the countless irreplaceable veterans now lying beneath Russian soil there was also a critical shortage of cavalry a crisis mocked by British satirist s-- it would take Napoleon longer to replace the many thousands of horses and trained horsemen who perished in Russia when Napoleon left Paris for Germany in mid-april the French situation was precarious version had been forced back behind the river Elbe to the fortified city of Magdeburg Dresden the capital of Saxony had fallen to the Prussians the Duchy of Midland Bergstein became the first German state to defect from Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine Russian Cossacks raided as far as Hamburg inspiring local revolts against French occupying forces meanwhile Austria stood on the sidelines so far declining to back either side Napoleon's miraculous feat of organization meant he now had more than 200,000 troops in Germany and the Emperor's personal magnetism was undimmed the morale of his army was high the Russians on the other hand lost their iconic commander field marshal Kutuzov to pneumoniae on the 28th of April his role was taken over by General Vidkun Stein Russian troops were exhausted and far from home their army weakened by the need to contain French Garrison's across Poland and Germany Russia and Sweden had yet to fully mobilize their strength and Allied forces barely mustered 100,000 men they were now heavily outnumbered by Napoleon and the French Emperor decided to strike quickly he ordered marshal de veau to Hamburg with 35,000 men to secure his northern flank he would march against the Russian and Prussian forces converging on Leipzig to force a decisive battle victory would make Austria think twice about joining the Allies allow him to rescue the ninety thousand men trapped in Garrison's across Germany and Poland and reestablish his dominance over Europe [Music] as Napoleon advanced on Leipzig the Allies faced a predicament to risk battle against Napoleon's larger army will give up Germany without a fight a potentially devastating blow to Allied morale and any chance of winning Austria over to their cause allied headquarters made the bold decision to attack they knew most of Napoleon's army was made up of raw conscripts that their own troops were better trained and had a great superiority in cavalry and artillery the Allies agreed that as Napoleon crossed the Sarla River they would hit his right flank before he could concentrate the full mass of his forces the two armies were on a collision course but Napoleon's shortage of cavalry meant he lacked information about allied movements on the 1st of May marshal Bessie air commanding the cavalry in near as absence was carrying out reconnaissance himself but he was hit by a cannonball killed instantly Vesey air was the second of Napoleon's marshals to be killed in action and like land an old comrade and trusted friend the Allies were able to surprise Napoleon falling on marshal neighs third Corps near lützen neighs troops had to cling on the face of a Russian and Prussian onslaught bar Napoleon rapidly redirected his other Corps to fall on the enemy's flanks at one stage Napoleon had to personally help rally routing troops as they broke in the face of determined Russian assaults but on the whole his young conscripts fought with courage and despite hours of savage fighting Pitkin Stein could not exploit his early advantage as French reinforcements arrived the battle turned against him towards dusk the Allies were forced to break off the engagement though they'd inflicted around 22,000 casualties losing just half as many men General von Scharnhorst mortally wounded was among them crucially Napoleon's lack of cavalry meant he was unable to pursue the enemy who retreated in good order expecting the Prussians to fall back on Berlin Napoleon sent marshal ney in pursuit while he continued East but the Allied army stayed together withdrawing to a defensive position at bouncing deliberately close to the Austrian border hoping to entice Schwarzenberg to intervene and daring Napoleon to violate Austrian neutrality neither happened instead Napoleon ordered ney to swing south to fall on the allies northern flank but he launched a frontal assault to pin them in place the battle lasted two days as French infantry struggled forward against the Prussian and Russian lines but a misunderstanding over nays orders caused a delay that allowed the Allies to narrowly escape Napoleon's trap once more the Allies fought with great determination and inflicted many more losses that they suffered there were more casualties during the pursuit including the next day general du rock grand marshal of the palace responsible for Napoleon's personal arrangements and his closest surviving friend riding with Napoleon's staff a freak cannon shot ricocheted off a tree and disemboweled him his slow painful death deeply upset Napoleon the Emperor continued his pursuit to pres Lao once again hindered by his lack of experienced cavalry while you do know was sent north to take Berlin but was held at la cow by von Bulow's Prussian Corps on the 2nd of June with both sides strained to breaking point neutral Austria proposed a ceasefire which to the surprise of many Napoleon accepted the armistice of plasmids would last more than two months a period of intense diplomacy and military mobilization by both sides Napoleon wanted time to rebuild his cavalry a shortage of which had allowed the Allies to escape twice but he also wanted to keep Austria on site which he feared might join the Allies with 200,000 troops even though Emperor Francis the first was now his father-in-law since Napoleon's marriage to his daughter Marie Louise in 1810 Austrian foreign minister clemens von metonic who'd become one of nineteenth-century Europe's most influential statesmen now toke center stage met Annie wanted peace and to see Austria restored as a great European power which meant Napoleon contained but not crushed which would hand too much power to Russia in June he travelled to Dresden to ask Napoleon to make concessions while promising the Allies that if he did not Austria would join them but Napoleon dismissed met on his terms out of hand he would not return the Illyrian provinces to Austria agreed to the repartition of Poland or the breakup of the Confederation of the Rhine all were out of the question Napoleon famously threw his hat to the ground in fury peace and war lie in your Majesty's hands retinic is said to have warned him today you can still make peace tomorrow it may be too late but Napoleon preferred war to what he called a humiliating peace [Music] [Music] on the 12th of August 1813 Austria joined the sixth coalition and declared war on France the Allies now had a numerical advantage of three to two and a new strategy the trackin Berg plan recognizing Napoleon's genius the Allies would avoid battle with the Emperor and instead target his marshals threatened his flanks and wear down french forces until it was time to close in for the kill over the next few months the coalition would also receive massive materiel support from Britain including eight million pounds in silver and gold coin two hundred cannon with transport 120,000 firearms 18 million rounds of ammunition 23 thousand barrels of gunpowder 30 thousand swords and sabers 150 thousand uniforms 175 thousand pairs of boots 1.5 million pounds of beef biscuit and flour and 28 thousand gallons of rum and brandy the total value of British aid to the Coalition in 1813 was eleven point three million pounds today worth around half a billion dollars Napoleon meanwhile had turned Dresden into a major supply depot and strengthened his cavalry on though it remained a pale shadow of its glorious past Mira returned to lead it his secret approach to the allies having been rebuffed but when news arrived of King Joseph's disastrous defeat to Wellington's Anglo Spanish Portuguese army at the Battle of Vitoria Napoleon had to send marshal suit one of his best commanders to salvage the situation on the 15th of august s-- nepoleon left Dresden and advanced against what he considered the most urgent threat the joint Prussian Russian army of Silesia commanded by general Gebhardt font blue hair soon to win the nickname marshal 4vets marshal for words for his aggressive leadership but blue hair followed the new plan and retreated when he learned of Napoleon's advance Napoleon then received news from marshal Sancerre holding Dresden with 20,000 men that Schwarzenberg gigantic army of Bohemia was approaching the city and its supplies were in danger Napoleon left marshal MacDonald to keep an eye on blue hair and raced back to Dresden sending Van Dam's first Corps to threaten France of Burke's communications by the time the allied assault began enough reinforcements had arrived to fight off the attack the next day despite being heavily outnumbered Napoleon ordered a counter-attack struggling through mud and heavy rain Marshall Boras advanced supported by Victor's second core broke the allied left flank and took thirteen thousand prisoners the Allies had suffered a disastrous defeat because they'd ignored their own would don't take on Napoleon in battle but news soon arrived that turned the situation on its head marshal adeno had resumed his advance on Berlin with 66,000 men but in three days of heavy combat around gross Baron he was defeated by bernadotte's army of the north some of the most savage fighting was between Napoleon's Saxon allies and von Bulow's Prussians two German states that for now remained on opposing sides three days later at the cat's back river blew her inflicted a crushing defeat on marshal o'donald driving some French troops into the river itself macdonald lost thirty thousand men three eagles and a hundred guns for blue cares 22,000 casualties [Music] three days after Napoleon's victory at Dresden as phantoms call pursued the Allies it became trapped in wooded valleys around ku and was overrun general Phan dam himself was dragged from his horse by Cossacks as he and 10,000 of his men were made prisoner Napoleon sent ney to take over from you Dino who engaged rulers Prussian Corps at benefits the Prussians fighting to save Berlin held their own until Russian and Swedish reinforcements arrived to turn the battle decisively in the Allies favor nay's retreat became a route with the loss of another 22,000 men Napoleon's brilliant victory at Dresden had been completely overturned in just 10 days the Allied plan was working Napoleon became increasingly frustrated as allied armies withdrew wherever he advanced and advanced wherever he was not his teenage conscripts were exhausted by constant marching and famished as Saxony had been stripped bare of supplies thousands fell sick thousands more deserted Russian and Prussian light troops were now operating behind Napoleon's army harrassing his communications with France many of Napoleon's marshals advised him to pull back to the River Rhine but Napoleon wasn't giving up Germany without a fight [Music] by October 1813 Napoleon faced a third of a million Allied troops in Germany converging on him from three directions 900 miles away Field Marshal Wellington was crossing the bitter sewer river into France the first enemy Army on French soil in nearly 20 years while the kingdom of Bavaria a French Ally since the days of Austerlitz had secretly agreed to switch sides and would declare war on France on the 14th of October Napoleon planned to defend the line of the river elbe but the arrival of general Bennigsen reserve russian army freed up luther who suddenly marched to join forces with Bernadotte and forced his way across the elder at vertibird [Music] Napoleon went north with a hundred and fifty thousand men seeking the decisive battle that would change his fortunes but once more Blucher narrowly escaped him then came news from Mira who'd been left with 67,000 men to cover Schwarzenberg the enemy had bypassed Dresden and was heading for Leipzig if the city fell Napoleon would be cut off from France once more he was advised to fall back to the Rhine but instead Napoleon ordered all his forces to concentrate at Leipzig he would risk everything in one great battle to decide the fate of his empire and the fate of Europe thank you to all our patreon supporters for making this series possible and to curiosity stream for sponsoring this video visit our patreon page to find out how you too can support the channel get exclusive updates and free early access and help to choose future topics [Music]

Channel: Epic History TV

Views: 636,011

Rating: 4.9538679 out of 5

Keywords: epic history tv, history, epic history, napoleon, napoleonic wars, 1813, battle of leipzig, battle of dresden, lützen, bautzen, blücher, kutuzov, bernadotte, german war of liberation, military history

Id: ky9xet0lmI8

Length: 26min 18sec (1578 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 14 2020