Atlas of Battles

battle, major, Revolutionary and Napoleonic

Battle of Dresden

Battle of Dresden was a battle fought on 26 August 1813 at Dresden, in what is now Germany; it lasted 1 day. It was part of the War of the Sixth Coalition, which ran from 1813 to 1814. The recorded result: French victory. Recorded strength: 100,000–135,000 against 200,000–215,000.

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Battle of Dresden
Wilhelm Sattler, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought26 August 1813lasted 1 day
WhereDresden, Germany51.033N, 13.733E
OutcomeFrench victory
BelligerentsFirst French Empire; SaxonyagainstAustrian Empire; Russian Empire; Prussia
Part ofWar of the Sixth Coalition1813 to 1814

Where it sits in the War of the Sixth Coalition

Siege of Danzig, 1813Battle of Arnhem, 1813Siege of Erfurt, 1813Battle of Berlin (1813), 1813Battle of Möckern, 1813Battle of Lützen, 1813Battle of Halle, 1813Battle of Bautzen, 1813Battle of Reichenbach, 1813Battle of Haynau, 1813Battle of Halberstadt, 1813Battle of Luckau, 1813Battle of Großbeeren, 1813Battle of Dresden, 1813Battle of Katzbach, 1813Battle of Kulm, 1813Battle of Dennewitz, 1813Battle of Feistritz, 1813Siege of Magdeburg, 1813Battle of the Göhrde, 1813Göhrdeschlacht, 1813Battle of Altenburg, 1813Battle of Wartenburg, 1813Battle of Leipzig, 1813Battle of Hanau, 1813Siege of Venice, 1813Siege of Deventer, 1813Siege of Delfzijl, 1813Battle of Caldiero, 1813Siege of Mainz, 1813Battle of Boden, 1813Battle of Bornhöved, 1813Battle of Sehested, 1813Siege of Breda, 1813Battle of Mâcon, 1814Siege of Juliers, 1814Siege of Metz, 1814Battle of Hoogstraten, 1814Battle of Épinal, 1814First Battle of Bar-sur-Aube, 1814Battle of Saint-Dizier (January 1814), 1814Battle of Brienne, 1814Battle of La Rothière, 1814Battle of Lesmont, 1814Battle of the Mincio River, 1814Battle of Champaubert, 1814Battle of Montmirail, 1814Battle of Château-Thierry, 1814Battle of Vauchamps, 1814Battle of Mormans, 1814Battle of Montereau, 1814Battle of Bar-sur-Aube, 1814Battle of Gué-à-Tresmes, 1814Battle of Saint-Julien, 1814Siege of Soissons, 1814Battle of Craonne, 1814Battle of Laon, 1814Battle of Reims, 1814Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube, 1814Battle of Limonest, 1814Battle of Fère-Champenoise, 1814Capture of La Spezia, 1814Battle of Lerici, 1814Battle of Saint-Dizier, 1814Siege of the Santa Maria Fortress, 1814Battle of Paris, 1814Battle of Courtrai, 1814Siege of Genoa, 1814Battle of Taro, 181418131814Battle of Dresden, 1813
69 placed engagements of the War of the Sixth Coalition in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date26 August 1813
to 27 August 1813
PlaceDresden, Germany
51.033N, 13.733E
KindBattle, Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Strength100,000–135,000200,000–215,000
Casualties and losses10,000 killed or wounded
Commanders
Battle of DresdenBattle of DresdenSiege of DresdenSiege of DresdenBattle of MaxenSiege of PirnaSiege of Meissen (1015)Battle of MaxenSiege of Meissen (1015)PragueLeipzigMagdeburgZielona GóraPardubiceCottbusJenaHof100 km51.033N, 13.733E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Dresden
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Dresden today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-12. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 126 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 0 to 303 m, 303 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 48% built-up, 41% tree cover, 7% grassland.

built-up: 48%tree cover: 41%grassland: 7%cropland: 3%built-up 48%tree cover 41%grassland 7%cropland 3%
west to east, 10.0 km112 to 234 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 228 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 1760 and 1813.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1813

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ALLIED (AUS, RUSS, PR)Defender: FR ARMY
Strength170,000120,000
Casualties40,000 (23.5%)10,000 (8.3%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1036
Outcomedefender won
Duration2.0 days
Front width13 km13 km
Attacker advanced-10 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 137), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Dresden is one of 3,507 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 538 in present-day Germany.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q17594, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Dresden, revision 1376635332, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.