Battle of Leipzig. Late afternoon. As on other occasions, Napoleon, after attacking the enemy’s flank, now strikes in the center: Murat launches his cavalry to break through the enemy’s center line, toward the hill where Schwarzenberg and all the Allied sovereigns are directing the battle. This is the climax of the day: the sovereigns themselves are at risk. 5,000 French cavalrymen attack the Russians, who are not yet deployed. Russian General Sevic is killed by a cannonball while trying to organize his lines, and the Russians are overwhelmed. The French come within a few hundred meters of their opposing sovereigns, halt in front of a stream or drainage ditch, and lose a few crucial minutes. During this time, the Russian Guard Hussars, followed by the Cossacks, arrive from behind them. This causes panic among the French, who are paying the price for the lack of a second line of cavalry to defend the first.
