Editing Battle of Leipzig (section)

===19 October===
[[File:Napoleon.Leipzig.jpg|thumb|Napoleon's retreat on 19 October 1813, showing the explosion of the bridge]]
The Allies had only learned of the French evacuation at 7:00 on the morning of the 19 October.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=935}} Soon thereafter between 8:00–9:00 am they launched a full-scale assault from the north, south, and east against the retreating French. But they were held up in Leipzig because of a ferocious street-to-street rearguard action fought by Marshal Oudinot's 30,000 troops.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=935}} As the Russians and Prussians entered the city through the Halle and Grimma gates they fell upon barricades and houses full of French soldiers. Civilians were forced into hiding as the bloody [[urban warfare|urban combat]] raged throughout the city.{{sfn|Smith|2001|p=256}}

Napoleon's disorganized retreat, where he failed to order the building of more bridges for the French retreat, continued until early afternoon when General Dulauloy, tasked with destroying the only bridge over the Elster, delegated the task to Colonel Montfort.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=935}} The colonel then passed this responsibility to a corporal, who was unaware of the carefully planned time schedule.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=935}} The corporal ignited the fuses at 1:00 in the afternoon while the bridge was still crowded with retreating French troops and Oudinot's rearguard was still in Leipzig.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=935}} The explosion and subsequent panic caused a rout that resulted in the deaths of thousands of French troops and the capture of 30,000 others.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|pp=935–936}} Both Oudinot and MacDonald managed to swim their way across but Poniatowski, hampered by his wounds, was one of the many who drowned while attempting to cross the river.{{sfn|Chandler|1966|p=936}}<ref>see also [[Gottschedstrasse (Leipzig)]]</ref>