Which was a bigger loss to Napoleon: Leipzig or Waterloo?

Well, Waterloo was the decisive battle, but Leipzig really turned the tide.

You can make arguments for both I guess.

Waterloo, clearly. Is this even a question?

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I don't know much about Napoleonic history but wasn't he already defeated, captured, and exiled before Waterloo?

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I have absolutely no clue.

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Which was a bigger loss to Napoleon: Leipzig or Waterloo?

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I have no idea. But I DO know that when Napoleon went to Mount Olive, Popeye was pissed.....

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Well, Waterloo was the decisive battle, but Leipzig really turned the tide.

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Both are arguable, but I come back to Russia.

Russia removed whatever aura of invincibility he once had.

It's not like his enemies were not adapting - Napoleon was way ahead of the game when he started - effectively rewrote the rules based on what he'd learned from studying - particularly Gustavus Adolphus and Frederick the Great.

However, once his tactics and operational art were matched, particularly by the Prussians, and to a lesser extent the Austrians and the U.K. - it was all over but the counting.

The Peninsular campaign - and the Sixth Coalition's decisive battle at Leipzig - they outnumbered Napoleon almost 2:1.

He was again defeated with a force nearly twice his size, roughly 5:3 at Waterloo.

But the beginning of the end was in Russia.

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Both are arguable, but I come back to Russia.

Russia removed whatever aura of invincibility he once had.

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Exactly, Russia was really where the myth of Napoleon died.

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It's not like his enemies were not adapting - Napoleon was way ahead of the game when he started - effectively rewrote the rules based on what he'd learned from studying - particularly Gustavus Adolphus and Frederick the Great.

However, once his tactics and operational art were matched, particularly by the Prussians, and to a lesser extent the Austrians and the U.K. - it was all over but the counting.

The Peninsular campaign - and the Sixth Coalition's decisive battle at Leipzig - they outnumbered Napoleon almost 2:1.

He was again defeated with a force nearly twice his size, roughly 5:3 at Waterloo.

But the beginning of the end was in Russia.

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Bongo again. Napoleon changed how the game was played. He introduced a style of warfare that dominated the world for over a century and only ended in the mud, shite, and blood of the trenches of WWI. But his adversaries were both numerous and
clever. They learned the master's lessons well and within a short time turned these lessons on him.

As for the original question, both Leipzig and & Waterloo were staggering losses. In fact the Battle of Leipzig was bigger than Waterloo in number of men participating. In fact, until WWI it was the largest battle ever fought in Europe. But there is one key difference that makes Waterloo more significant. Napoleon (and France) still had fight left in them after Leipzig, but not after Waterloo.

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Kick Six

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Well played.