The Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations, was fought on October 16-19, 1813. On one side stood the French, Polish and Saxon armies (which they had betrayed in the course of the battle), and on the other side - the forces of the 6th anti-Napoleonic coalition composed of Austrian, Prussian, Russian and Swedish soldiers. Napoleon Bonaparte was in command on the French side, while Gerhard von Blücher, Karl Schwarzenberg and Jean Bernadotte as King Charles XIV of Sweden were in command on the coalition side. Both sides had enormous forces - on the French side it was around 195,000 at its peak. people, on the allied side - approx. 365 thousand people. In addition, both sides had a total of approximately 2,200 guns. Napoleon tried to lead the battle from mid-position, but the battle quickly took an unsuccessful turn for the French. On the very first day, October 16, the Allies launched an attack on Napoleon's southern and northern flanks, but these attacks were repulsed. On the next day, no major actions were taken, which some historians consider Napoleon's mistake. On October 18, the Allies launched an attack in several directions using their overwhelming numerical advantage, making it difficult for the French to use communication on the internal lines, which brought them success and forced some Napoleonic troops to give up the field. On the night of October 18-19, Napoleon ordered a retreat, which, however, as a result of errors at the low levels of command, turned into a disgraceful defeat. It is assumed that the French side lost as much as 70-73 thousand in that battle. killed, wounded and captured, and over 300 guns.