LEIPZIG. 109 LEIPZIG. bakery is one of the features of the city. The environs, attractive for their fine woods and meadows, are famous as having been the scene of the great battle of Leipzig ( see Leipzig, Battles OF). In 1900 the population was 455,089, nearly all Evangelical. The town of Leipzig arose about the beginning of the eleventh century, close to a Slavic settle- ment called Lipzi (afterward Lipzk, Lipzik), a name derived from Lipa. a linden-tree. It ob- tained municipal rights in the twelfth century and soon became a flourishing seat of commerce. It came under the dominion of the House of Wet- tin, and after the partition of the Saxon terri- tories in 1485 belonged to the Albertine line. Leipzig suffered terribly in the Thirty Years' •^•ar. LEIPZIG, B.^TTLES OF. Leipzig was the scene of three noteworthy battles, two in the Thirty Years' War Iq.v. ). and one in the Xapoleonic wars. (1) The first battle of Leipzig (or Brei- tenfeld. from the plain on which it was fought, about a mile from the city) was the first great battle in Germany of Gustavus Adolphus (q.v.). The Elector of Saxony, John George I. ( q.v. ) , was vacillating between the Imperial side and that of his fellow-Protestants when Tilly (q.v.), the Imperial general, invaded Saxony and took Leipzig. The Elector closed an alliance with Gustavus, who on the 7th (new style. 17th) of September. 1631, joined battle with Tilly. The Imperial army numbered about 44.000 men. that of Gustavus about 20.000, Swedes and Saxons. Tilly succeeded in routing the Saxon troops, but succumbed to the valor of the Swedes and the genius of their commander. The 'Imperial army lost from 7000 to 10.000 men, while the loss on the part of the Protestant forces was about 2700, of whom only 700 were Swedish troops. The battle of Leipzig or Breitenfeld is important in military history as decisively demonstrating the superior- ity of mobility over weight in battle. More im- portant still was its eiTect upon the progress of the Thirty Years' War. It was the first serious check which triumphant Catholicism had as yet encountered. (2) The second battle of Leipzig or Breiten- feld was won by the Swedes under Torstenson against the Imperialists, October 23 (new stvle, November 2). 1642. ( 3 ) The most celebrated of the battles around Leipzig was that fought between the French under Xapoleon and an allied army of Austrians, Russians. Prussians, and Swedes under the su- preme command of Prince Schwarzcnberg. Octo- ber 16-19. 1813. It marked the triumphant issue of the Prussian War of Liberation, and is known as the Battle of the Nations from the number of nationalities that participated in the contest. GJcrman, Spanish, Italian. Portuguese, and Polish contingents fought in the ranks of the French army. .t Dresden, on August 26-27, 1813. Xa- poleon had won his last great victory in Ger- many, and this had been followed by a series of conflicts. Culm. Gross-Beren, and Katzbach among others, in which separate corps of the French army met with disaster. Xapoleon took his last stand at Leinzisr as the most favor- able situation from which to threaten the in- dividual armies that were convertrin? on his position from Bohemia, Silesia, and the Xorth. The disposition of the French forces on the first day of the battle was as follows : To the south- east of the town and at a distance of some four miles was the main force under Xapoleon, num- bering about 130,000 men, with 700 cannon, and stretching in a great semicircle between the villages of ilarkkleeberg and Holzhausen. The extreme right of the line was held by the Poles under Poniatowski, with the corps of Augereau and Oudinot in the centre, and Victor and Lauriston on the left. The Old and Young Guard and the cavalry under ilurat and Latour-
- Maubourg were held in reserve. Xapoleon direct-
ed the battle in person from the hillock of Wa- chau. To the west of the town was a force of 10,000 men under Bertrand at Lindenau, guard- ing the only line of retreat to France, and to the north 30,000 men under ilarmont at ilijckern, in- tended to prevent the junction of the Army of Silesia under Blucher and the Army of the Xorth imder Bernadotte with the main" army of the Allies advancing from Bohemia. Marshal Xey held the general command over the forces of Ber- trand and JIarmont. Schwarzcnberg. who had 200.000 men at his disposal, made the costly mis- take of directing an attack on Napoleon's extreme right, and for this purpose a force of 35,000 men was detailed to operate in the swampy ground to the west of the Pleisse in what turned out to be a veritable cul de sac, while at the same time the centre of the Allies was greatl.v weakened. The battle began about 9 o'clock in the morning of October 16th with a tremendous cannonade, which caused fearful havoc in both armies, owing to their compact formation. The fight- ing was desperate along the entire line. The village of Markkleeberg was taken four times by the Prussians under Kleist and retaken by Poniatowski ; at Wachau the Russians under Barclay de Tolly fought with consummate courage, but after six charges were driven back with loss. An attempt to turn the French left likewise failed. Pursuing his advantage, Xapoleon directed a fierce cannon fire against the enemy's centre, and followed this up with a charge of 8000 cavalry supported by the infantry corps of Victor and Lauriston." The French horse broke through the first lines of the enemy and advanced almost to the foot of the hill from which the Emperor Alexander and Frederick William III. of Prussia were watching the progress of the battle. Here, however, the Cossacks and the infantry of the guard made a desperate stand, and the French, threatened besides by a renewed attack on their right, de- livered by the Austrian troops, who had finally been recalled from their useless expedition to the other side of the Pleisse, retreated to their original position. Had Xapoleon received reen- forcements in time from Xey, the victory would have been assured; but Xey, after dispatching one of ilarmont's corps to the support of Xapo- leon, recalled it on becoming aware of the approach of Bliieher, with the result that valuable time was lost in marching and counter- marching, and this division was able to render aid neither to Xapoleon nor Marmont. The latter, who had now about 20.000 men at his dis- posal, was attacked in his position at ifiickern by the superior force of Bliieher. and after desperate fighting, in which the French lost 4000 men and the Prussians 5500, was compelled to retreat. .t Lindenau. Bertrand held his own against the Austrians under Gyulai. On the 17th, a Sunday, there was no fighting
