The Battle of Nations & the Campaign for Germany Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Firstly we'll look at the campaign leading up to Leipzig. In the early stages of the campaign a French corps under the command of Marshal Ney was attacked by surprise by the Russians of General Wittgenstein. The battle was later salvaged by the arrival of Napoleon with considerable reinforcements. What was the name of this battle?

Answer: Lutzen

The Battle of Lutzen was the first major engagement of the 1813 campaign and was an early indication that the war would go on for some time - the battle was a slight French victory, although casualties were roughly even for both sides - 20,000.

2. Following defeat in the first major battle of the campaign the Allied army of Blucher and Wittgenstein found itself outnumbered by about 200,000 Frenchmen against their combined total of 100,000. They managed however to escape relatively intact after a senior French officer poorly positioned his forces. Which officer ruined Napoleon's chances at a clean victory at Bautzen?

Answer: Ney

The result of Bautzen was almost identical to that at Lutzen - 20,000 casualties a side and an inconclusive French victory. Ney's failure to properly position his troops on 20 May cost Napoleon a decisive victory and the war was once more prolonged.

3. On 2 June, despite not having gained a decisive victory Napoleon felt he had sufficient diplomatic leverage with his relative triumphs at Bautzen and elsewhere to secure an armistice. Where was this armistice signed?

Answer: Pleischwitz

Napoleon's goal with the armistice was to gain sufficient time in which to reinforce his armies in Germany and mobilize his allies. At the beginning of the campaign he had said that he wanted an army as large as the one he took into Russia although by June he was still well below that figure.

Although his armies did expand during the armistice to about 400,000, total Allied forces were approaching a million by the armistice's end (500,000 front line troops, 350,000 reserves).

4. On 12 August Austria declared war on France and ended the armistice. With the resumption of hostilities a French dettachment was defeated at Gross Beeren. However Napoleon finally managed to secure a stunning major victory a few days later. Where was this battle?

Answer: Dresden

At Dresden Napoleon initially held off in excess of 150,000 Allied troops with his force of around 70,000. The emperor successfully halted the Allies until he had sufficient strength to defeat them, something which he did spectacularly. However, he lacked sufficient numbers of experienced cavalry to turn the Allied retreat into a rout in the days after the battle and the Allied army was not completely annihilated.

5. The following questions will relate to the Battle of Nations itself. Firstly to basics. When was the Battle of Nations?

Answer: 16-19 October

The Battle of Leipzig was one of the longest major battles of the wars lasting more than three days - and this despite the overwhelming numerical superiority of the Allies!

6. The Battle of Leipzig contained the largest concentration of artillery of any clash in the Napoleonic Wars.

Answer: True

The French battery at the Battle of Nations numbered about 700 guns - more than any army had had in any previous battle. Despite this the Allies still vastly outnumbered the French in these stakes with around 1500 pieces of ordnance.

7. Which French marshal held the northern sector against the fiery Prussian general, Blucher?

Answer: Marmont

Marmont was a quietly competent marshal who lacked the obsession with show and glory that pervaded the careers of such men as Ney and Murat. At Leipzig he easily held off Blucher's superior numbers, despite the latter's reputation (only gained later after he won at Waterloo) for being an immensely skillful commander.

8. The battle's intensity escalated on the second day when fresh reinforcements arrived to bolster both sides.

Answer: False

The second day saw a lull in the fighting during which both sides licked their wounds after the vicous combat of the previous day that resulted in tens of thousands of casualties. During this time the Allies received reinforcements of more than 150,000 men compared to only 14,000 troops under General Sebastiani that were received by Napoleon.

9. Which Allied commander was in charge of the largest Allied force at Leipzig, the Army of Bohemia?

Answer: Carl Schwarzenberg

Carl Schwarzenberg, an Austrian aristocrat, had only the previous year served under Napoleon during the invasion of Russia, but following Austria's treacherous turn on Napoleon Schwarzenberg was placed in command of the largest of the Allied armies - well over 200,000 men.

10. On the fourth day of battle Napoleon realised the hopelessness of the situation - the previous day he had barely managed to fight off co-ordinated attacks by around 350,000 Allied troops and the noose was tightening. He attempted a withdrawal west out of the city across the Bridge of Lindenau. The withdrawal went perfectly until an inexperienced corporal prematurely blew the charges on the bridge and left 20,000 men stranded as well as killing many. Amongst the dead was which marshal of France?

Answer: Jozef Poniatowski

Prince Jozef Poniatowski had only received his marshal's baton a few days prior to his death. He held the distinction of being the only non-French officer ever to receive a promotion to the rank of Imperial Marshal and was the nephew of the last king of Poland Stanislaw August Poniatowski.

Following the retreat across the bridge of Lindenau Napoleon was forced back into France after defeating the Bavarians at Hanau when they tried to block his path back into France.

Leipzig was the single most decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars, making the French Emperor's eventual defeat inevitable. In all French losses there were 70,000 to 55,000 for the Allies. Around 650,000 men fought at Leipzig.

Source: Author Findlay

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Beatka before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

In 1813 Napoleon mounted one last defence of Germany after the disaster in Russia the previous year. This was to be the largest campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. Test your knowledge of this epic campaign and its climax at Leipzig, the Battle of Nations.

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