What if Davout was with Napoleon at Leipzig ?
- Thread starter Jena
- Start date
The problem was not Davout’s absence. Leipzig was a tactically locked battle. The armies of the coalition played on their wide numerical advantage to take no risk of being outsmarted.
At this stage, Napoleon’s worst mistake was that he had ordered tens of thousands of troops to remain in fortresses they held in Germany instead of calling them back on time to fight the decisive pitched battle.
And even without Davout, Leipzig came to an inch of being à French miraculous victory on the first day of the battle : a French squadron almost captured the Russian and Prussian sovereigns and their general staffs.
Not necessarily. The ferocious fighting at Mockern on the first day forced Napoleon to detach forces to fight Blucher, instead of massing for a decisive blow against the Main Army, which had a good chance of success. If Davout had been commanding the fighting at Mockern, Napoleon could rest assured that front was stable and attack with maximum force.
Depends. If Napoleon captures a king and a czar with their whole general staff and entourage and wins an Austerlitz-scale victory, Russia and Prussia are out of the Coalition, but the rest might stay and the French are still very stretched for manpower. Then again, the idea that Napoleon cannot be defeated by anything short of a force of nature will be even more prominent.
Strategically speaking, a crushing victory at Leipzig gives the French much needed strategic depth, and if the Prussians and Russians are out, Austria might not pursue further attacks on the Rhine, at least not until Britain provides some meaningful support. The smart move at this point would be to abandon Spain and wait for the British to make a mistake, such as giving Napoleon what he wants by offoring him an open battle, perhaps following a landing in Germany or the Netherlands (attempting to link up with the Habsburgs perhaps). If they do that and get promptly crushed by the French, Austria will be ready to make peace and maybe even Britain can be persuaded if Napoleon is willing to let Spain go.
Too bad it would be very unlike Napoleon to abandon the Spanish ambition, especially if the just defeated another coalition. Perhaps Talleyrand can work his magic on him? Or maybe he sees how stretched his forced and reserves are?
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