A Mid-Battle Betrayal
The Battle of Leipzig’s first day, October 16th, 1813, ended in a hard-fought stalemate. Allied attacks were defeated, while Napoleon’s outnumbered forces were unable to achieve a breakthrough. The 17th saw limited actions. By the 18th, Napoleon was running low on supplies and munitions, and prepared to withdraw. An attempt to negotiate an exit was rejected by the coalition. Instead, they launched a massive attack all along the line that day, which steadily pushed Napoleon’s forces back into Leipzig. Only fierce resistance prevented a breakthrough. The bottom fell out, however, when Napoleon’s Saxon allies pulled off a well-timed betrayal on the afternoon of the 18th.
Napoleon’s forces were already stretched to their limit. That was when a Saxon corps of about 10,000 men who occupied sector of the French line suddenly abandoned their positions, deserted Napoleon, and marched out to meet the allies. They left a huge hole in Napoleon’s lines. Le Empereur’s forces had to abandon that entire sector, and that night, with their positions untenable, began a retreat. It went smoothly at first. However, the following day, incompetence led to the premature blowing up of a bridge while it was still crowded with retreating Frenchmen. A panicked rout ensued, in which thousands were killed. Tens of thousands more were stranded on the wrong side of the destroyed bridge and captured. That transformed the battle from an arguable tactical draw, into a catastrophic French defeat.