Katzbach

26 August 1813

On the day that Napoleon Bonaparte began his successful push at Dresden, Marshal Macdonald and a force of 101,000 men stumbled into a marginally larger Allied army under Marshal Blucher.

Both sides were surprised by the encounter, which took place in heavy rain that added to the confusion as the commanders tried to organise their forces.

Macdonald seemed to recover first and, despite the fact he was meant to screen Blucher's army in a defensive mode, he sent two-thirds of his force in a flank move on the Prussian and Russian right wing. Confusion broke out in the French attack as the columns of men found themselves too far apart and they lost momentum.

The pinning French force of some 30,000 men now found itself under pressure and eventually Macdonald was forced to withdraw.

He lost 15,000 men killed, wounded or captured, while Blucher had an estimated 4000 casualties.

More importantly, Macdonald had placed the French in a precarious strategic position.