LE GENDRE, ADRIEN MARIE (1752–1833). Le Gendre was born in Paris on 18 September 1752. He completed his studies in the Collège Mazarin in Paris and entered a career in mathematics. He published numerous mathematical studies and in 1782 won the prize from the Berlin Academy for a study on ballistics. Legendre collaborated in the preparation of the French tables of logarithms of numbers, sines, and tangents and natural sines in a work entitled Tables du Cadastre. His greatest fame came with his studies and researches on elliptic functions. Le Gendre died in Paris on 10 January 1833.
LEIPZIG, BATTLE OF. The battle of Leipzig, also called the “Battle of the Nations,” was fought between 16 and 19 October 1813. Napoleon attempted to defend Leipzig with 175,000 men from concentric attacks by the allied armies of Bohemia (185,000 men), Silesia (125,000 men), and the North (85,000 men). More than half a million soldiers fought a bloody three-day battle that Napoleon came close to winning, but he was eventually overpowered and forced to withdraw. During the course of the battle the Saxon army defected to the Allies, as did 700 Württembergers.
As Napoleon’s forces crossed the Elster River they passed over a series of pontoon bridges that were to be destroyed when the last French troops had escaped. However, a cowardly French engineering officer blew the bridges too soon, while they were crowded with French troops, and trapped a tremendous force on the eastern bank that would quickly become prisoners of the Allies. Napoleon lost 397 officers killed and 2,546 wounded, including 66 generals. The French losses in “other ranks” are estimated at around 43,500 dead or wounded, with 8,000 captured on the battlefield, a further 15,000 sick and wounded captured in various hospitals and 15,000 unwounded officers and men captured in the immediate pursuit. Total French losses were around 85,000 men and huge masses of irreplaceable equipment. The Allies lost nearly 52,000 dead and wounded.
The battle was pivotal in the history of the Empire. It broke Napoleon’s hold on Germany and the Confederation of the Rhine immediately fell apart, just as Austerlitz had destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. Though six more months of war remained before Napoleon’s first abdication, it was the death knell of the Napoleonic Empire.
LIPPE. In 1528 Simon V, the ruler of Lippe, became a count. In 1538 Lippe became a Lutheran state, and a Calvinist state in 1605. In 1613 the state and its lands were divided between two sons. The senior line, the Lippe-Detmold line, began a process of reunifying the Lippe lands in 1709, through the Alverdissen line, which had also founded the Schaumburg-Lippe line in the 1640s. In 1720 the house of Lippe-Detmold was raised to the rank of prince (Fürst) of the Holy Roman Empire; however this elevation was not confirmed until 1789.
In 1762 family lines ruling the associated countships of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Lippe-Weissenfeld became extinct and their territories passed to the main line, Lippe-Detmold. During the Seven Years’ War, Schaumburg-Lippe provided a small contingent that fought with the Duke of Cumberland’s army.
In 1805 Schaumburg-Lippe was ruled by Erbgraf Georg Wilhelm. His domains also include Lippe-Bückeburg. In 1806 the state of Lippe actually consisted of three smaller states: Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe-Bückeburg and Lippe-Detmold. It was quite small, having a territory of about 469 square miles. It ran from the mountains overlooking the east-west bend of the Weser River, southwest across the Detmold hills to the Werre Basin, then across the high ridge of the Teutenberg Forest to the Senne moorlands.
After the death of Friedrich Wilhelm Leopold, in 1789, the Principality of Lippe-Detmold had been ruled by Fürstin Paulina (born Princess Paulina of Anhalt-Bernburg). She served as regent for her child, Paul Alexander Leopold. Because of the weakness of her state, the Fürstin had actively sought membership in the newly forming Confederation of the Rhine. Lippe was not, initially, permitted entry into the Confederation and negotiations began in earnest in late 1806. Georg Wilhelm of Schaumburg-Lippe appears to have handled most of the negotiations for the combined states of Lippe. On 18 April 1807 the negotiations were completed and George Wilhelm was promoted to the rank of Fürst (prince) of Schaumburg-Lippe on 8 May 1807.
In 1807 Lippe consisted of two states, Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe. It was originally founded around the city of Lippestädt and in 1190, began expanding north and northeast. The towns of Lemos, Horn, Blomberg and Detmold were founded between 1200 and 1260. In the 15th century, it expanded southeast and absorbed Schwalenberg and northwest where it absorbed Sternberg.
Not only did Lippe experience a change of rulers, but it also became part of the Confederation of the Rhine. Article 5 of the Act of Confederation stated that both Lippe-Detmold and Schaumburg-Lippe would, in case of war, provide a battalion of infantry.
Lippe remained with the Confederation of the Rhine, providing a small military contingent that served in Napoleon’s armies, until its lands were overrun by the Allies in 1813. At that time it abandoned the French and joined the allied cause, but made no major military contributions.
LIGNY, BATTLE OF. The battle of Ligny was fought on 16 June 1815 in southern Belgium. As Napoleon advanced north to engage the English at Waterloo, he first encountered Blücher with most of the Prussian army, some 87,000 men. He had detached Ney, with 24,500 men, to the west and he advanced with 77,000 against the Prussians. Ney became engaged at Quatre-Bras, while d’Erlon, with 14,500 men, advanced behind him. Napoleon sent for d’Erlon to strike Blücher’s right flank, but Ney countermanded the order when he became engaged at Quatre-Bras and d’Erlon was unable to intervene in either battle. Ligny was a frontal engagement with a 60-gun French battery eventually breaking the Prussian center, followed by an infantry assault. The Prussians abandoned the field and withdrew to the east, away from Wellington as he gathered at Waterloo. The French lost 11,500 casualties, while the Prussians lost 34,000, including 12,000 deserters.
LOUIS-PHILIPPE, KING OF FRANCE (1773–1850). Louis-Philippe was born in the Palais Royal in Paris on 6 October 1773. He was the eldest son of Louis-Philippe d’Orléans, and Louise-Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon-Penthièvre, daughter of the Duc de Penthièvre. When the Revolution erupted, both he and his identified with it. In 1790 Louis-Philippe joined the Jacobin club, in which moderate elements still predominated. Louis-Philippe attended the National Assembly and became a welcomed participant. At that time he served as a colonel of dragoons and in 1792 was given command of the Army of the North. Though only aged 18, Louis-Philippe was a lieutenant general at the battle of Valmy (20 September 1792) and Jemappes (6 November 1792).
With the declaration of the French Republic, Louis-Philippe abandoned his title, Duc de Chartres, and assumed the same surname as his father—Égalité. Louis-Philippe was too young to be elected to the National Assembly where his father, a representative, voted for the execution of Louis XVI. Louis-Philippe served with Dumouriez in Holland and was at the defeat at Neerwinden (18 March 1793). Louis-Philippe was implicated in Dumouriez’s plot to overthrow the Republic and on 5 April escaped with Dumouriez to the Austrian lines. In late 1793 he became the center of émigré intrigues. As the émigré movement slowly withered he declined in importance, but was still a thorn in the Republic’s side. In 1796 the Directory offered to liberate his mother and two brothers, who had been held in prison, if he went to America. In October Louis-Philippe settled in Philadelphia, where he was soon joined by his brothers. When the three brothers learned of the coup d’État du 18 brumaire they returned to Europe. Until Napoleon’s abdication Louis-Philippe lived quietly in Sicily. When Napoleon abdicated and Louis XVIII became king, his military rank was confirmed and he was appointed colonel-général des hussards. Those estates that had not been sold by the revolutionary governments were restored to him by royal ordinance.
Louis-Philippe’s sympathies remained with the liberal opposition to the kings and during the 1830 Revolution he was made king. In 1848 a new revolution erupted, though this one broke throughout Europe. Louis-Philippe escaped from the Tuileries and fled to England where he died on 26 April 1850.
LOUIS XVIII, DE BOURBON, KING
OF FRANCE (1755–1824). Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, Comte de Provence, the third son of Dauphin Louis, son of Louis XV and Maria Josepha of Saxony, was born at Versailles on 17 November 1755. On 14 May 1771 he married Louise de Savoie. Louis XVIII stood next in succession after Louis XVI until the birth of his son in 1781. This was a blow to his ambitions, ambitions that would eventually be realized. In June 1791, during Louis XVI’s flight to Varennes, Louis XVIII departed France via another route and escaped to Germany. Louis XVIII put himself at the head of the counterrevolutionary movement, was appointed ambassador, and solicited aid from the other European kings and especially Catherine II of Russia. Louis XVIII’s policies were selfish and he flouted the National Assembly, issuing uncompromising manifestoes in September 1791 and August 1792. After Valmy he withdrew to Hamm in Westphalia, where on the death of Louis XVI he proclaimed himself regent. Louis then moved to Verona where, upon the death of Louis XVII he declared himself Louis XVIII. In April 1796 Louis XVIII joined Condé’s army on the German frontier, but was shortly asked to depart the country. Czar Paul I permitted him to settle in Mittau, where he stayed until 1801. While in Mittau Louis XVIII succeeded in marrying Madame Royale, daughter of Louis XVI, to his eldest son Comte d’Artois. Louis XVIII declined the pension offered him by Napoleon.
Paul I, ever capricious, expelled him from Mittau in 1801 and he moved to Warsaw in the depth of winter. His conspiracies continued endlessly and fruitlessly. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor in May 1804, Louis XVIII went to Kalmar, Sweden where, with the Comte d’Artois, in September 1804, he issued a protest against Napoleon’s action. Warned not to return to Poland, Czar Alexander I of Russia permitted him to return to Mittau where he stayed until forced to leave by the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. Louis XVIII took refuge in England. While there his wife and mistress died. He began conspiring with Bernadotte, now King of Sweden.
In May 1814, when the Allies entered Paris, the door to the French throne was opened up to him. At age 60, on 2 May 1814, Louis XVIII entered Paris. He was shortly crowned king and many of his acts immediately turned the French people against him. When Napoleon returned to France he fled Paris, returning on 8 July after the second abdication. Because of his age, and despite his tendency toward a policy of prudence and common sense, he was unable to control the machinations of the royalist parties. Louis XVIII died on 16 September 1824 and was succeeded by Charles X.
LOUISIANA PURCHASE. The Louisiana Purchase transferred ownership of the Louisiana territory from France to the United States. It was signed on 20 December 1803. In exchange for this territory, the United States paid $15,000,000, which included $11,250,000 to be paid directly, with the balance to be covered by the assumption by the United States of French debts to American citizens. France had taken possession of Louisiana by the terms of the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso, signed on 7 October 1800.
LUCCHESINI, GIROLAMO (1751–1825). Lucchesini was born in Lucca, Italy, on 7 May 1751. He was the eldest son of the Marquis Lucchesini. Lucchesini entered Prussian service in 1779 and was employed on missions to Rome in 1787, Warsaw in 1788 and became ambassador to Poland in 1789. His principal duty in Warsaw was to secure the support of Poland in the event of a war between Prussia and either Russia or Austria. Lucchesini concluded the Prusso-Polish Alliance of March 1790 and in the fall of 1790 went to Sistova to join the peace talks between Austria and Turkey. Unfortunately, before he could return to Warsaw his treaty was dead and Prussia was contemplating the second partition of Poland. Lucchesini was recalled and sent to the Rhine to deal with the French Revolution. In 1793 Lucchesini became ambassador to Vienna. Lucchesini was not well received at court and was recalled to Berlin in 1797. In 1800 Lucchesini was sent to France on a mission and became ambassador to France in 1802. After the battles of Jena-Auerstädt he was dismissed from Prussian service and joined the court of Élisa Bonaparte, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Napoleon’s sister. Lucchesini died in Florence on 20 October 1825.
LÜTZEN, BATTLE OF. The battle of Lützen was fought on 2 May 1813. It was the first major battle of the 1813 campaign. Napoleon commanded the newly rebuilt Grande Armée, containing approximately 144,000 men, of which about 78,000 would become involved in the battle. Facing Napoleon was Wittgenstein, commanding 93,000, of whom he was able to engage around 70,000. The Allies enjoyed a tremendous cavalry superiority, but failed to avail themselves of its capabilities over the cavalry-short French. Napoleon brought his forces against the front and two flanks of the allied forces, locked them in a tremendous infantry engagement, and forced them from the field. Wittgenstein’s handling of the battle was very inept. The French lost 3,000 killed and 17,000 wounded. The Allies lost around 12,000 dead and wounded.
LUTZOWSCHE FRIEKORPS. The Lutzowsche Freikorps was raised by Major Adolf von Lützow, von Helden-Sarnowski and von Petersdorf, former officers of the von Schill Freikorps between 9 and 18 February 1813. On 9 February these three officers began calling for the formation to organize and on 18 February the King of Prussia issued a decree authorizing its raising. When the war resumed in August 1813 the Friekorps contained about 2,000 formed in three infantry battalions, a mixed hussar/uhlan cavalry regiment with a peak strength of around 770 men, and an artillery battery. The Lutzowsche Freikorps was engaged in only one major battle, the battle of Göhrde (16 September 1813).
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MACDONALD, JACQUES-ÉTIENNE-JOSEPH-ALEXANDRE, DUC DE TARENTE, MARÉCHAL D’EMPIRE (1765–1840). Macdonald was born to a Scottish Jacobite émigré to France in Sedan on 17 November 1765. Macdonald began his military career on 1 April 1785 when he enlisted in the Dillon Infantry Regiment. Macdonald became a sous-lieutenant on 12 June 1787. On 29 August 1792 he was an aide-de-camp to Dumouriez and served at Jemappes on 6 November. Macdonald was promoted to chef de brigade on 8 March 1793 and général de brigade on 26 August 1793. He served at Tourcoing, Werwick and Menin. He commanded and won a second engagement at Werwick on 23 November 1793. Macdonald was at the battle of Courtrai on 11 May 1794, at Tourcoing on 18 May, Hoogelede on 13 June, and covered the siege of Bois-le-Duc from 23 September to 9 October 1794. Macdonald continued his military career in the Lowlands until 1798, when he was sent to Italy. He was victorious at Civita Castellana on 5 December, was victorious at Otricoli, and attacked Capua without success on 3 January 1799. Macdonald was both victorious and wounded at Modena on 12 June 1799. Late in 1799 he was sent to the Army of the Rhine to serve under Moreau.
On 1 April 1801 Macdonald became minister to Denmark, but returned to France in January 1802. He was disgraced by his defense of Moreau in 1804 and went into service in the Army of the Kingdom of Naples in 1807, eventually serving under Prince Eugène de Beauharnais. Macdonald was wounded at the battle of Pavia on 8 May 1809, carried Laibach, blockaded Graz, and overthrew the Austrian center at Wagram, where he gave Napoleon his great victory. Macdonald was promoted to maréchal d’Empire on 12 July 1809. After the 1809 campaign he was sent to Spain where he served as commander of the Army of Catalonia until called to command the X Corps in the invasion of Russia. The X Corps consisted, principally, of the Prussian Hilfkorps and it eventually defected. In 1813 Macdonald was victorious at Merseburg, fought at Lützen, was victorious at Bischofswerda, commanded the right at Bautzen, was beaten at Katzbach, fought at Leipzig and Hanau. In 1814 he fought at Mormant, Ferté-sur-Aube, Nogent-sur-Seine, and Saint-Dizier.
In 1815 Macdonald escorted Louis XVIII to the frontier and returned to Paris where he served as a common grenadier in the National Guard. In 1815 Macdonald was restored to his rank by the Bourbons and served France honorably until his death in 1840. He died in the château de Courcelles-le-Roi on 25 September 1840.
MACK VON LEIBERICH, KARL, FREIHERR (1752–1828). Mack was born on 25 August 1752 in Nenslingen, Bavaria. In 1770 he enlisted in the Austrian cavalry and seven years later was promoted to the officer ranks. During the War of the Bavarian Succession Mack served on the staff of Count Kinsky and then Field Marshal Count Lacy. He became a f
irst lieutenant in 1778 and captain in 1783. In 1785 he married Katherine Gabrieul and was ennobled under the name of Mack von Leiberich. During the wars with Turkey Mack served on the headquarters staff, was promoted to major in 1788 and served as the personal aide-de-camp to the Emperor. In 1789 Mack was a lieutenant colonel. A dispute with Loudon in 1789 caused him to demand a court-martial and to leave the front. Despite that, Mack was promoted to colonel in 1789. Mack reconciled with Loudon and they served together in 1790. Early in the revolutionary wars Mack received a serious wound to his head, from which he never fully recovered. In 1793 he became quartermaster-general (chief-of-staff) to Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg, then commanding the Austrian armies in the Netherlands. In 1797 he was promoted to feldmarschal-leutnant and in 1798 was given command of the Neapolitan army. Mack’s command of the Neapolitans was not successful; he was forced to flee his men and escaped to the French, who sent him to Paris as a prisoner. Escaping two years later, Mack was unemployed for several years. In 1804 he again became quartermaster-general of the army and was instructed to prepare it for war with France. Mack issued a number of reforms to the army and prepared a new drill regulation. Unfortunately, he became commander in chief of the army and was told to take it into the field before these reforms were completed. Mack advanced with his army into Bavaria with the understanding that the Russians were advancing to join him. Confusion between the Gregorian and Julian calendars, however, had the Russians 12 days and 180 miles behind schedule and Mack advanced alone. Mack concentrated his army around Ulm and soon he found himself overwhelmed and surrounded. Mack surrendered his entire army to Napoleon on 20 October 1805. His failure caused the Hapsburgs to condemn him to death, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment and he was pardoned in 1809. Mack died in disgrace in 1828.
Historical Dictionary of the Napoleonic Era Page 23
