Leipsic

A city of the kingdom of Saxony, situated about 65 miles west-northwest of Dresden, near the Pru ian border, in a large and fertile plain. The Elster, the Pleisze, and the Parthe flow through or past the city, and unite about 3 miles below it. The city sprung up at the junction of the Pleisze and the Parthe, and is first mentioned as a town in 1015. It gradually increased in prosperity and importance. The famous Leipsic Conference between Luther, Eck, and Carlstadt, in 1519, greatly tended to the promotion of the Reformation. It suffered greatly in the Thirty Years’ War, in which it was five times besieged and taken, and again in the Seven Years’ War; and although the commercial changes connected with the French revolution at first affected it very favorably, yet it suffered not a little amidst the terrible struggle of the years 1812 and 1813, when it was alternately in po e ion of the French and of the allies. The immediate neighborhood of Leipsic has been the scene of two battles of great importance in the history of Germany and of Europe,—the battle of Leipsic, or of Breitenfeld (see Breitenfeld ), on September 7, 1631, and the great battle called the Battle of the Nations , which continued for three days, October 16-18, 1813. The latter was one of the most bloody and decisive of those which effected the deliverance of Europe from French domination. The troops under Napoleon in this battle amounted to about 180,000 men, and those of the allies, commanded by Prince Schwarzenberg, Marshal Blücher, and Bernadotte, crown-prince of Sweden, to almost 300,000. About 2000 pieces of artillery were brought to the field. The lo of the French was reckoned at about 38,000 killed and wounded, and 30,000 prisoners; that of the allies to about 48,000. The victory of the allies was complete; the French being compelled to evacuate Leipsic, and to retreat.