2 May 1813
Napoleonic Guide's Suggested
a Prusso-Russian army of some 100,000 men moving on a small
French force at Leipzig, Napoleon
Bonaparte decided to intercept the enemy.
the head of 120,000 men, the French emperor detached Marshal
Ney's III Corps at Lutzen to use part of it as bait
to attract the attention of the enemy commanders Count
Wittgenstein and General
The plan worked and the Allies launched an immediate attack
that ran into stiff resistance from two divisions in strong
defensive positions in villages to the south of Lutzen.
the battle raged hotter Ney fed reinforcements in to help
his defenders, while Bonaparte was sending reserve troops
in to the marshal's aid.
the time Bonaparte arrived on the field the French were
more than 110,000 strong and pressuring the Allies from
the early evening, the emperor ordered his Guard forward
and, together with flank assaults, drove the Russians and
Prussians into retreat.
casualties were up to 20,000 while the Prusso-Russian losses
of up to 20,000 would have been considerably worse if the
depleted French army had not been hamstrung by a shortage