Thomas Hartwell Horne (1780–1862)
An illustrated record of important events in the annals of Europe, during the last four years: comprising a series of views of the principal places, battles, etc. etc. etc. connected with those events…
London: printed by T. Bensley and Son, for R. Bowyer, 1816
Harley-Mason.bb.84, ‘View of the Grimma Suburb, Leipsic’

The Prussian and Russian forces entered the city through the Grimma gate. This scene shows the district in Leipzig in the aftermath of the battle. Cossacks from the Russian forces are stripping a body, while other casualties await collection. The appalling conditions in Leipzig during and after the battle, arising from the great numbers of wounded and famished soldiers, are set out in Horne’s text through quotations from Frederic Shoberl’s Narrative of the most remarkable events which occurred in and near Leipzig, immediately before, during, and subsequent to, the sanguinary series of engagements between the allied armies and the French (1814): ‘The city was covered with carcases, and the rivers obstructed with dead bodies. Thousands of hands were necessary to remove and bury these disgusting objects before any attention could be paid to the clearing of the field of battle about Leipsic. As all sought relief, there was of course none to afford it. It was difficult to decide whether first to build, to slaughter, to brew, to bake, to bury the dead, or to assist the wounded, as all these points demanded equally prompt attention.’