July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830 known as the July Revolution, Second French Revolution or Trois Glorieuses in French, led to the overthrow of King Charles X, the French Bourbon monarch, the ascent of his cousin Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would be overthrown in 1848. It marked the shift from one constitutional monarchy, under the restored House of Bourbon, to another, the July Monarchy. Supporters of the Bourbon would be called Legitimists, supporters of Louis Philippe Orléanists. Upon Napoleon's abdication in 1815, continental Europe, France in particular, was in a state of disarray; the Congress of Vienna met to redraw the continent's political map. Many European countries attended the Congress, but decision-making was controlled by four major powers: the United Kingdom, represented by its Foreign Secretary Viscount Castlereagh. France's foreign minister, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand attended the Congress. Although considered an enemy state, Talleyrand was allowed to attend the Congress because he claimed that he had only cooperated with Napoleon under duress.
He suggested that France be restored to her "legitimate" borders and governments—a plan that, with some changes, was accepted by the major powers. France was returned to its 1791 borders; the House of Bourbon, deposed by the Revolution, was restored to the throne in the person of Louis XVIII. The Congress, forced Louis to grant a constitution, La Charte constitutionnelle. On 16 September 1824, after a lingering illness of several months, the 68-year-old Louis XVIII died childless. Therefore, his younger brother, aged 66, inherited the throne of France. On 27 September Charles X made his state entry into Paris to popular acclaim. During the ceremony, while presenting the King the keys to the city, the comte de Chabrol, Prefect of the Seine, declared: "Proud to possess its new king, Paris can aspire to become the queen of cities by its magnificence, as its people aspire to be foremost in its fidelity, its devotion, its love."Eight months the mood of the capital had worsened in its opinion of the new king.
The causes of this dramatic shift in public opinion were many, but the main two were: The imposition of the death penalty for anyone profaning the Eucharist. The provisions for financial indemnities for properties confiscated by the 1789 Revolution and the First Empire of Napoleon—these indemnities to be paid to anyone, whether noble or non-noble, declared "enemies of the revolution."Critics of the first accused the king and his new ministry of pandering to the Catholic Church, by so doing violating guarantees of equality of religious belief as specified in La Charte. The second matter, that of financial indemnities, was far more opportunistic than the first; this was because, since the restoration of the monarchy, there had been demands from all groups to settle matters of property ownership: to reduce, if not eliminate, the uncertainties in the real estate market both in Paris and in the rest of France. But opponents, many of whom were frustrated Bonapartists, began a whispering campaign that Charles X was only proposing this in order to shame those who had not emigrated.
Both measures, they claimed, were nothing more than clever subterfuge meant to bring about the destruction of La Charte. Up to this time, thanks to the popularity of the constitution and the Chamber of Deputies with the people of Paris, the king's relationship with the élite—both of the Bourbon supporters and Bourbon opposition—had remained solid. This, was about to change. On 12 April, propelled by both genuine conviction and the spirit of independence, the Chamber of Deputies roundly rejected the government's proposal to change the inheritance laws; the popular newspaper Le Constitutionnel pronounced this refusal "a victory over the forces of counter-revolutionaries and reactionism."The popularity of both the Chamber of Peers and the Chamber of Deputies skyrocketed, the popularity of the king and his ministry dropped. This became unmistakable when on 16 April 1827, while reviewing the Garde Royale in the Champ de Mars, the king was greeted with icy silence, many of the spectators refusing to remove their hats.
Charles X "later told Orléans that,'although most people present were not too hostile, some looked at times with terrible expressions'."Because of what it perceived to be growing and vitriolic criticism of both the government and the Church, the government of Charles X introduced into the Chamber of Deputies a proposal for a law tightening censorship in regard to the newspapers. The Chamber, for its part, objected so violently that the humiliated government had no choice but to withdraw its proposals. On 17 March 1830, the majority in the Chamber of Deputies passed a motion of no confidence, the Address of the 221, against the king and Polignac's ministry; the following day, Charles dissolved parliament, alarmed the Bourbon opposition by delaying elections for two months. During this time, the liberals championed the "221" as popular heroes, whilst the government struggled to gain support across the country as prefects were shuffled around the departments of France; the elections that followed returned an overwhelming majority.
This came after another
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon I's French and allied army against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen. The battle led to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British-led alliance against France. In 1809, the French military presence in Germany was diminished as Napoleon transferred a number of soldiers to fight in the Peninsular War; as a result, the Austrian Empire saw its chance to recover some of its former sphere of influence and invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria, a French ally. Recovering from his initial surprise, Napoleon beat the Austrian forces and occupied Vienna at the beginning of May 1809. Despite the string of sharp defeats and the loss of the empire's capital, Archduke Charles salvaged an army, with which he retreated north of the Danube; this allowed the Austrians to continue the war. Towards the end of May, Napoleon resumed the offensive, suffering a surprise defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Essling.
It took Napoleon six weeks to prepare his next offensive, for which he amassed a 165,000-man French and Italian army in the vicinity of Vienna. The Battle of Wagram began after Napoleon crossed the Danube with the bulk of these forces during the night of 4 July and attacked the 145,000-man strong Austrian army. Having crossed the river, Napoleon attempted an early breakthrough and launched a series of evening attacks against the Austrian army; the Austrians were thinly spread in a wide semicircle, but held a strong position. After the attackers enjoyed some initial success, the defenders regained the upper hand and the attacks failed. Bolstered by his success, the next day at dawn Archduke Charles launched a series of attacks along the entire battle line, seeking to take the opposing army in a double envelopment; the offensive nearly broke Napoleon's left. However, the Emperor countered by launching a cavalry charge, which temporarily halted the Austrian advance, he redeployed IV Corps to stabilise his left, while setting up a grand battery, which pounded the Austrian right and centre.
The tide of battle turned and the Emperor launched an offensive along the entire line, while Maréchal Louis-Nicolas Davout drove an offensive, which turned the Austrian left, rendered Charles's position untenable. Towards mid-afternoon on 6 July, Charles admitted defeat and led a retreat, frustrating enemy attempts to pursue. After the battle, Charles decided to retreat to Bohemia. However, the Grande Armée caught up with him and scored a victory at the Battle of Znaim. With the battle still raging, Charles decided to ask for an armistice ending the war. With 80,000 casualties, the two-day battle of Wagram was bloody due to the use of 1,000 artillery pieces and the expenditure of over 180,000 rounds of artillery ammunition on a flat battlefield packed with some 300,000 men. Although Napoleon was the uncontested winner, he failed to secure an overwhelming victory and the Austrian casualties were only greater than those of the French and allies. Nonetheless, the defeat was serious enough to shatter the morale of the Austrians, who could no longer find the will to continue the struggle.
The resulting Treaty of Schönbrunn meant the loss of one sixth of the Austrian Empire's subjects, along with some territories, rendering it landlocked until the German Campaign of 1813. After the battle, Emperor Napoleon bestowed to Louis-Alexandre Berthier, his Marshal, Chief of Staff and Vice-Constable of the Empire, the victory title of 1st Prince of Wagram, making him an official member of the French nobility. Berthier had been granted the title of Sovereign Prince of Neuchâtel and the Prince of Valangin in 1806; this allowed his descendants to carry the titles of Princess of Wagram. In 1809, the First French Empire held a dominant position on the European continent. Resounding victories during the 1805 to 1807 wars against the Third and Fourth coalitions had ensured undisputed continental hegemony, to such an extent that no other European power could challenge the might of Napoleon's empire. However, despite having defeated Austria, forced Russia into an uneasy alliance and reduced Prussia to the rank of a second-rate power, Napoleon did not manage to force the United Kingdom to make peace.
With the British in complete control of the seas, Napoleon thus opted for an economic war, imposing the Continental System against the British Isles, in a bid to dry up vital British commercial relations with the continent. To ensure the effectiveness of the Continental System, he sought to force Portugal, a traditional British trading partner, to observe it. In a move that would prove to be both uninspired and ill-handled, Napoleon opted to change the ruling dynasty of Spain, replacing King Charles IV with his own brother, who became King José I of Spain; the new king was, not well received by the population and much of the country's ruling elite, which triggered a bloody guerrilla war throughout the country. The French position in the peninsula was rendered untenable after the Battle of Bailen, a rare and resounding defeat for the French forces and an event that encouraged the Austrian war party. With Napoleon forced to intervene and commit significant forces to the Spanish, the French military position in central Europe was weakened.
In addition, Franco-Russian relations had deteriorated and, althou
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV John or Carl John, from 1818 until his death was King of Sweden and King of Norway and served as de facto regent and head of state from 1810 to 1818. He was the Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo, in south-central Italy, from 1806 until 1810, he served a long career in the French Army. He subsequently acquired the full name of Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, he was appointed as a Marshal of France by Napoleon. Napoleon made him Prince of Pontecorvo on 5 June 1806, but he stopped using that title in 1810 when his service to France ended and he was elected the heir-presumptive to the childless King Charles XIII of Sweden, his candidacy was advocated by Baron Carl Otto Mörner, a Swedish courtier and obscure member of the Riksdag of the Estates. Upon his Swedish adoption, he assumed the name Carl. Since he was a royal prince there, he did not use the surname of Bernadotte in Sweden, but founded the Swedish dynasty by that name. Bernadotte was born in Pau, France, as the son of Jean Henri Bernadotte, prosecutor at Pau, his wife Jeanne de Saint-Jean, niece of the Lay Abbot of Sireix.
The family name was du Poey, but was changed to Bernadotte – a surname of an ancestress at the beginning of the 17th century. Soon after his birth, Baptiste was added to his name, to distinguish him from his elder brother Jean Évangeliste. Bernadotte himself added Jules to his first names as a tribute to the French Empire under Napoleon I. At the age of 14, he was apprenticed to a local attorney. However, the death of his father when Bernadotte was just 17 stopped the youth from following his father's career. Bernadotte joined the army as a private in the Régiment Royal–La Marine on 3 September 1780, first served in the newly conquered territory of Corsica. Subsequently, the Régiment stationed in Besançon, Vienne and Ile de Re, he reached to the rank of Sergeant in August 1785 and was nicknamed Sergeant Belle-Jambe, for his smart appearance. In early 1790 he was promoted to Adjudant-Major, the highest rank for noncommissioned officers in the Ancien Régime. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution, his eminent military qualities brought him speedy promotion.
By 1794 he was promoted to brigadier, attached to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. After Jourdan's victory at Fleurus, he became a divisional general. At the Battle of Theiningen, Bernadotte contributed, more than anyone else, to the successful retreat of the French army over the Rhine after its defeat by the Archduke Charles of Austria. At the beginning of 1797 he was ordered by the Directory to march with 20,000 men as reinforcements to Napoleon Bonaparte's army in Italy, his successful crossing of the Alps through the storm in midwinter was praised but coldly received by the Italian Army. Upon receiving insult from Dominique Martin Dupuy, the commander of Milan, Bernadotte was to arrest him for insubordination. However, Dupuy was a close friend of Louis-Alexandre Berthier and this started a long-lasting feud between Bernadotte and Napoleon's Chief of Staff, he had his first interview with Napoleon in Mantua and was appointed the commander of the 4th division. During the invasion of Friuli and Istria, Bernadotte distinguished himself at the passage of the Tagliamento where he led the vanguard, at the capture of the fortress of Gradisca.
After the 18th Fructidor, Napoleon ordered his generals to collect from their respective divisions' addresses in favor of the coup d'état of that day. After the treaty of Campo Formio, Napoleon gave Bernadotte a friendly visit at his headquarters at Udine, but after deprived him of half his division of the army of the Rhine, commanded him to march the other half back to France. Paul Barras, one of five directors, was cautious that Napoleon would overturn the Republic, so he appointed Bernadotte commander-in-chief of the Italian Army in order to offset Napoleon’s power. Bernadotte was pleased with this appointment but Napoleon lobbied Talleyrand-Périgord, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to appoint him to the embassy of Vienna instead. Bernadotte was dissatisfied. After returning from Vienna, he resided in Paris, he married Désirée Clary in August 1798, the daughter of a Marseilles merchant and Joseph Bonaparte's sister-in-law. In November of the same year he was made commander of the army of observation on the upper Rhine.
Although solicited to do so by Barras and Joseph Bonaparte, he did not take part in the coup d'état of the 30th Prairial. From 2 July to 14 September he was Minister of War. However, his popularity and contacts with radical Jacobins aroused antipathy towards him in the government. On the morning of 13 September he found his resignation announced in the Moniteur before he was aware that he had tendered it; this was a trick. He declined to help Napoleon Bonaparte stage his coup d'état of November 1799 but accepted employment from the Consulate, from April 1800 to 18 August 1801 commanded the army in the Vendée and successfully
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under Louis Philippe I, starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848. It marks the end of the Bourbon Restoration, it began with the overthrow of the conservative government of Charles X, the last king of the House of Bourbon. Louis Philippe, a member of the more liberal Orléans branch of the House of Bourbon, proclaimed himself as Roi des Français rather than "King of France", emphasizing the popular origins of his reign; the king promised to follow the "juste milieu", or the middle-of-the-road, avoiding the extremes of either the conservative supporters of Charles X and radicals on the left. The July Monarchy was dominated by numerous former Napoleonic officials, it followed conservative policies under the influence of François Guizot. The king promoted friendship with Great Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, notably the conquest of Algeria. By 1848, a year in which many European states had a revolution, the king's popularity had collapsed, he was overthrown.
Louis Phillipe was pushed to the throne by an alliance between the people of Paris. However, at the end of his reign, the so-called "Citizen King" was overthrown by similar citizen uprisings and use of barricades during the February Revolution of 1848; this resulted in the proclamation of the Second Republic. After Louis-Philippe's ousting and subsequent exile to Britain, the liberal Orleanist faction continued to support a return of the House of Orléans to the throne, but the July Monarchy proved to be the last Bourbon-Orleans monarchy of France. The Legitimists withdrew from politics to their castles, leaving the way open for the struggle between the Orleanists and the Republicans; the July Monarchy is seen as a period during which the haute bourgeoisie was dominant, marked the shift from the counter-revolutionary Legitimists to the Orleanists. They were willing to make some compromises with the changes brought by the 1789 Revolution. For instance, Louis-Philippe was crowned "King of the French", instead of "King of France": this marked his acceptance of popular sovereignty.
Louis-Philippe, who had flirted with liberalism in his youth, rejected much of the pomp and circumstance of the Bourbons and surrounded himself with merchants and bankers. The July Monarchy, ruled during a time of turmoil. A large group of Legitimists on the right demanded the restoration of the Bourbons to the throne. On the left and Socialism, remained a powerful force. Late in his reign Louis-Philippe became rigid and dogmatic and his President of the Council, François Guizot, had become unpopular, but the king refused to remove him; the situation escalated until the Revolutions of 1848 resulted in the fall of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic. However, during the first few years of his reign, Louis-Philippe was taking action to develop legitimate, broad-based reform; the government found its source of legitimacy within the Charter of 1830, written by reform-minded members of Chamber of Deputies and committed to a platform of religious equality among Catholics and Protestants.
Louis-Phillipe and his ministers adhered to policies that seemed to promote the central tenets of the constitution. However, the majority of these policies were veiled attempts to shore up the power and influence of the government and the bourgeoisie, rather than legitimate attempts to promote equality and empowerment for a broad constituency of the French population. Thus, though the July Monarchy seemed to move toward reform, this movement was illusory. During the years of the July Monarchy, enfranchisement doubled, from 94,000 under Charles X to more than 200,000 men by 1848. But, this number still represented only one percent of population and a small number of those men of eligible age; as the qualifications for voting was related to payment of a certain level of taxes, only the wealthiest men gained this privilege. The extended franchise tended to favor the wealthy merchant bourgeoisie more than any other group. Beyond resulting in the election of more bourgeoisie to the Chamber of Deputies, this electoral expansion meant that the bourgeoisie could politically challenge the nobility on legislative matters.
Thus, while appearing to honor his pledge to increase suffrage, Louis-Philippe acted to empower his supporters and increase his hold over the French Parliament. The election of only the wealthiest men tended to undermine any possibility for growth of a radical faction in Parliament, served conservative ends; the reformed Charter of 1830 limited the power of the king—stripping him of his ability to propose and decree legislation, as well as limiting his executive authority. However, Louis believed in a kind of monarchy in which the king was more than a figurehead for an elected Parliament, as such, he was involved in legislative affairs. One of his first acts in creating his government was to appoint the conservative Casimir Perier as the premier of his cabinet. Perier, a banker, was instrumental in shutting down many of the Republican secret societies and labor unions that had formed during the early years of the regime. In addition, he oversaw the dism
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. Infantry divisions during the World Wars ranged between 30,000 in nominal strength. In most armies, a division is composed of several brigades; the division has been the default combined arms unit capable of independent operations. Smaller combined arms units, such as the American regimental combat team during World War II, were used when conditions favored them. In recent times, modern Western militaries have begun adopting the smaller brigade combat team as the default combined arms unit, with the division they belong to being less important. While the focus of this article is on army divisions, in naval usage division has a different meaning, referring to either an administrative/functional sub-unit of a department aboard naval and coast guard ships, shore commands, in naval aviation units, to a sub-unit of several ships within a flotilla or squadron, or to two or three sections of aircraft operating under a designated division leader.
Some languages, like Russian, Serbo-Croatian and Polish, use a similar word divizion/dywizjon for a battalion-size artillery or cavalry unit. In administrative/functional sub-unit usage, unit size varies though divisions number far fewer than 100 people and are equivalent in function and organizational hierarchy/command relationship to a platoon or flight. In the West, the first general to think of organising an army into smaller combined-arms units was Maurice de Saxe, Marshal General of France, in his book Mes Rêveries, he died without having implemented his idea. Victor-François de Broglie put the ideas into practice, he conducted successful practical experiments of the divisional system in the Seven Years' War. The first war in which the divisional system was used systematically was the French Revolutionary War. Lazare Carnot of the Committee of Public Safety, in charge of military affairs, came to the same conclusion about it as the previous royal government, the army was organised into divisions.
It made the armies more flexible and easy to maneuver, it made the large army of the revolution manageable. Under Napoleon, the divisions were grouped together because of their increasing size. Napoleon's military success spread the corps system all over Europe; the divisional system reached its numerical height during the Second World War. The Soviet Union's Red Army consisted of more than a thousand divisional-size units at any one time, the total number of rifle divisions raised during the Great Patriotic War is estimated at 2,000. Nazi Germany had hundreds of numbered and/or named divisions, while the United States employed 91 divisions, two of which were disbanded during the war. A notable change to divisional structures during the war was completion of the shift from square divisions to triangular divisions that many European nations started using in World War I; this was done to pare down chain of command overhead. The triangular division allowed the tactic of "two forward, one back", where two of the division's regiments would be engaging the enemy with one regiment in reserve.
All divisions in World War II were expected to have their own artillery formations the size of a regiment depending upon the nation. Divisional artillery was seconded by corps level command to increase firepower in larger engagements. Regimental combat teams were used by the US during the war as well, whereby attached and/or organic divisional units were parceled out to infantry regiments, creating smaller combined-arms units with their own armor and artillery and support units; these combat teams would still be under divisional command but have some level of autonomy on the battlefield. Organic units within divisions were units which operated directly under Divisional command and were not controlled by the Regiments; these units were support units in nature, include signal companies, medical battalions, supply trains and administration. Attached units were smaller units that were placed under Divisional command temporarily for the purpose of completing a particular mission; these units were combat units such as tank battalions, tank destroyer battalions and cavalry reconnaissance squadrons.
In modern times, most military forces have standardized their divisional structures. This does not mean that divisions are equal in size or structure from country to country, but divisions have, in most cases, come to be units of 10,000 to 20,000 troops with enough organic support to be capable of independent operations; the direct organization of the division consists of one to four brigades or battle groups of its primary combat arm, along with a brigade or regiment of combat support and a number of direct-reporting battalions for necessary specialized support tasks, such as intelligence, logistics and combat engineers. Most militaries standardize ideal organization strength for each type of division, encapsulated in a Table of Organization and Equipment which specifies exact assignments of units and equipment for a division; the modern division became the primary identifiable combat unit in many militaries during the second half of the 20th century, supplanting the brigade.
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations was fought from 16 to 19 October 1813, at Leipzig, Saxony. The coalition armies of Russia, Prussia and Sweden, led by Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg, decisively defeated the French army of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. Napoleon's army contained Polish and Italian troops, as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine; the battle was the culmination of the German campaign of 1813 and involved 600,000 soldiers, 2,200 artillery pieces, the expenditure of 200,000 rounds of artillery ammunition and 127,000 casualties, making it the largest battle in Europe prior to World War I. Decisively defeated for the first time in battle, Napoleon was compelled to return to France while the Coalition kept up their momentum, dissolving the Confederation of the Rhine and invading France early the next year. Napoleon was forced to abdicate and was exiled to Elba in May 1814; the French Emperor Napoleon I attempted to militarily coerce Tsar Alexander I of Russia into rejoining his unpopular Continental System by invading Russia with about 650,000 troops, collectively known as the Grande Armée, occupied Moscow in late 1812, after the bloody yet indecisive Battle of Borodino.
However, the Russian Tsar refused to surrender as the French occupied the city, burnt by the time of its occupation. The campaign ended in complete disaster as Napoleon and his remaining forces retreated during the bitterly cold Russian winter, with sickness and the constant harrying of Russian Cossack marauders and partisan forces leaving the Grande Armée destroyed by the time it exited Russian territory. Making matters worse for Napoleon, in June 1813 the combined armies of Great Britain and Spain, under the command of Britain's Arthur Wellesley, Marquess of Wellington, had decisively routed French forces at the Battle of Vitoria in the Peninsular War, were now advancing towards the Pyrenees and the Franco-Spanish border. With this string of defeats, the armies of France were in retreat on all fronts across Europe. Anti-French forces joined Russia as its troops pursued the remnants of the destroyed Grande Armée across central Europe; the allies regrouped as the Sixth Coalition, comprising Russia, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain and certain smaller German states whose citizens and leaders were no longer loyal to the French emperor.
Napoleon hurried back to France and managed to mobilize an army about the size of the one he had lost in Russia, but severe economic hardship and news of battlefield reverses had led to war-weariness and growing unrest among France's citizenry. Despite opposition at home, Napoleon rebuilt his army, with the intention of either inducing a temporary alliance or at least cessation of hostilities, or knocking at least one of the Great Powers of the Coalition out of the war, he sought to regain the offensive by re-establishing his hold in Germany, winning two hard-fought tactical victories, at Lützen on 2 May and Bautzen on 20–21 May, over Russo-Prussian forces. The victories led to a brief armistice, he won a major victory at the Battle of Dresden on 27 August. Following this, the Coalition forces, under individual command of Gebhard von Blücher, Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden, Karl von Schwarzenberg, Count Benningsen of Russia, followed the strategy outlined in the Trachenberg Plan: they would avoid clashes with Napoleon, but seek confrontations with his marshals.
This policy led to victories at Großbeeren, Kulm and Dennewitz. After these defeats, the French emperor could not follow up on his victory at Dresden. Thinly-stretched supply lines spanning now somewhat hostile Rhineland German lands, coupled with Bavaria's switching of sides to the Coalition just eight days prior to the battle, made it impossible to replace his army's losses of 150,000 men, 300 guns and 50,000 sick. With the intention of knocking Prussia out of the war as soon as possible, Napoleon sent Marshal Nicolas Oudinot to take the Prussian capital of Berlin with an army of 60,000. Oudinot was defeated at the Battle of Großbeeren, just south of the city. With the intact Prussian force threatening from the north, Napoleon was compelled to withdraw westward, he crossed the Elbe with much of his army between late September and early October, organized his forces around Leipzig, to protect his crucial supply lines and oppose the converging Coalition armies arrayed against him. He deployed his army around the city, but concentrated his force from Taucha through Stötteritz, where he placed his command.
The Prussians advanced from Wartenburg, the Austrians and Russians from Dresden, the Swedish force from the north. The French had around 160,000 soldiers along with 700 guns plus 15,000 Poles, 10,000 Italians, 40,000 Germans belonging to the Confederation of the Rhine, totaling to 225,000 troops on the Napoleonic side; the coalition had some 380,000 troops along with 1,500 guns, consisting of 145,000 Russians, 115,000 Austrians, 90,000 Prussians, 30,000 Swedes. This made Leipzig the largest battle of the Napoleonic wars, surpassing Borodino, Wagram and Auerstadt, Dresden; the French Grande Armée, under the supreme command of Emperor Napoleon, was in a weakened state. Napoleon conscripted these men to be readied for an larger campaign against the newly formed Sixth Coalition and its forces stationed in Germany. While he won
Order of Saint Louis
The Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis is a dynastic order of chivalry founded 5 April 1693 by King Louis XIV, named after Saint Louis. It was intended as a reward for exceptional officers, notable as the first decoration that could be granted to non-nobles. By the authorities of the French Republic, it is considered a predecessor of the Legion of Honour, with which it shares the red ribbon. Although abolished by the government authorities of the July Revolution in 1830 following the French Revolution, its activities carried on as a dynastic order of the sovereign royal family; as such, it is still recognised by the International Commission on Orders of Chivalry. The King was the Grand Master of the order, the Dauphin was automatically a member as well; the Order had three classes: Grand-Croix Commandeur Chevalier The entire order included 8 Grand Crosses, 28 Commanders and a variable number of Knights. Officers of the Order included, after a Trésorier, a Greffier and a Huissier; the badge of the order consisted of a portrait of Saint Louis surrounded by the motto « LUD M IN 1693 ».
The reverse features a sword interlaced with a laurel crown and a white sash, with the inscription « BELL VIRTUTIS PRAEM ». Knights wore the badge suspended from a ribbon on the breast, Commanders wore a red ribband over the right shoulder, recipients of the Grand Cross wore the ribband as well as a star on the left breast; the general assembly of the Order was held annually on 25 August, the feast day of Saint Louis, in the residence of the King. Conditions for being inducted did not include nobility. Members of the Order received a pension. Hereditary nobility was granted to a knight's son and grandsons. Another decoration, the Institution of Military Merit was created for the Protestant officers in service of the French king; until the death of Louis XIV, the medal was awarded to outstanding officers only, but it came to be an award that most officers would receive during their career. On 1 January 1791, during the French Revolution, a decree changed the name to décoration militaire, it was subsequently withdrawn on 15 October 1792.
One of the first acts of Louis XVIII was to reinstate the Order of Saint Louis, using it to award officers of the Royal and Imperial armies alike. In 1830 the new king Louis-Philippe abolished the order, never reinstated. Louis, by the grace of God King of Navarre, to all present and yet to come, hail; the officers of our troops have distinguished themselves by so many actions of considerable virtue and courage, in the conquest which it pleased God to bless the justice of our arms, ordinary awards becoming insufficient to the affection and the thankfulness which we have for them, we have deemed it necessary to seek new ways to reward their zeal and fidelity. In this view have we decided to establish a purely military Order to which, in addition to the external marks of honour which are associated to it, we shall guarantee revenues and pensions which shall rise in proportion to them growing more and more worthy through their behaviour. We have decided that only officers still serving in our troops shall be introduced and that virtue and distinguished service in our armies shall be the only criteria to enter.
We shall in the future give a particular attention to increase the advantages of this order, so that we shall have the satisfaction to always be able to grant graces to the officers, on the other hand, seeing rewards guaranteed by valour, they would every day bear renewed ardour in deserving them by their actions. In these causes, with the advice of our council, our certain science, full power and royal authority, we have created and built, by the present, our military Order with the name of Saint Louis, with the forms, statutes and rules as follow: Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis—includes photographs, explanations and a 20,000 name list of recipients Histoire de l'Ordre royal & militaire de Saint-Louis—History of the Order
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gérard, Étienne Maurice". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 764.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the 
.svg)
