Battle of Dresden

Battle of Dresden
Part of the German campaign of the War of the Sixth Coalition

Battle of Dresden by Carle Vernet and Jacques François Swebach
Date26–27 August 1813
Location51°02′N 13°44′E / 51.033°N 13.733°E / 51.033; 13.733
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France
Saxony
 Austria
 Russia
 Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon I
Michel Ney
Auguste de Marmont
Joachim Murat
Claude Victor
Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr
Édouard Mortier
Alexander I
Peter Wittgenstein
Barclay de Tolly
Grand Duke Konstantin
Nikolay Raevsky
Dmitry Golitsyn
Jean Moreau (DOW)
Francis II
Karl von Schwarzenberg
Ignác Gyulay
Johann von Klenau
Hesse-Homburg
Frederick William III
Friedrich Graf Kleist
Strength
100,000
135,000
200,000
215,000
Casualties and losses
10,000 killed or wounded 38,000
14,000 killed or wounded, 24,000 captured, 40 guns
Location within Europe
180km
112miles
19
18
17
16
Leipzig
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
  current battle
  Napoleon in command
  Napoleon not in command

The Battle of Dresden (26–27 August 1813) was a major engagement of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle took place around the city of Dresden in modern-day Germany. With the recent addition of Austria, the Sixth Coalition felt emboldened in their quest to expel the French from Central Europe. Despite being heavily outnumbered, French forces under Napoleon scored a victory against the Army of Bohemia led by Generalissimo Karl von Schwarzenberg. However, Napoleon's victory did not lead to the collapse of the coalition, and the weather and the uncommitted Russian reserves who formed an effective rear-guard precluded a major pursuit. Three days after the battle, the Coalition surrounded and destroyed a French corps advancing into their line of withdrawal at the Battle of Kulm.