Battle of Jena-Auerstedt

The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (older name: Auerstädt) were fought on October 14, 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia. The decisive defeat suffered by the Prussian army resulted in Prussia's elimination from the anti-French coalition up until the liberation war of 1813.

The Opposing Armies

Both armies were split into separate parts: Napoleon's main force at Jena consisted of Soult's IV Corps, Lannes' V Corps, Ney's VI Corps, Augereau's VII Corps, and the cavalry of Murat, about 96,000 men in total. Further north, in the vicinity of Auerstedt, was Bernadotte's I Corps (20,000 strong) and Davout's III Corps (27,000). Opposing them, the Prussian king had three forces: 55,000 men under the Duke of Brunswick, 38,000 under Prince Hohenlohe, and 15,000 under General von Ruchel.

Overview

The battles began when elements of Napoleon's main force encountered Hohenlohe's troops near Jena. Initially only 48,000 strong, the Emperor took advantage of his carefully-planned and flexible dispositions to rapidly build up a crushing superiority. The Prussians were slow to grasp the situation, and slower still to react. Before Ruchel's 15,000 men could arrive from Weimar, Hohenlohe's force was routed. Nevertheless, it was a fierce battle, and Napoleon mistakenly believed that he had faced the main body of the Prussian army.

Further north at Auerstedt, both Davout and Bernadotte received orders to come to Napoleon's aid. Davout attempted to comply, but Bernadotte, for reasons never fully explained, did not. Davout's route south, however, was blocked by the Prussian main force of 55,000 men, including the King in person. A savage battle ensued. Although outnumbered two to one, Davout's superbly trained and disciplined III Corps endured repeated attacks before eventually taking the offensive and putting the Prussians to flight.

Battle of Jena

The battle of Jena began with the chance evening meeting of Marshal Lannes' corps and a Prussian force of 38,000 men under General Friedrich Hohenlohe.

Sending for immediate reinforcements, Lannes camped near the enemy positions. Throughout the night new units moved up until French forces numbered at least 50,000, and more were on the way, ensuring Napoleon Bonaparte would have some 90,000 men available. The initial French move was to push the Prussians into open ground, where the advantage of numbers would be telling, and while the resistance was strong it was eventually achieved. Hohenlohe urgently sent for assistance from Ruchel's nearby 15,000 men and hoped to hold on until they arrived.

Meanwhile, all of the good work done by marshals Augereau and Lannes was almost undone by the impatient Marshal Ney, who launched an unauthorised assault in the centre. Neither side could believe the stupidity of the assault and soon Ney was in danger of being swamped by Prussian cavalry. Fortunately for the fiery marshal, Lannes, Bertrand, and massed French cavalry intervened before the trap could shut.

At 1 pm, Bonaparte ordered a general advance and within two hours the exhausted Prussians gave way, fleeing the field and trying to avoid the sabres of Marshal Murat's horsemen. Jena cost Bonaparte some 5,000 men, but the Prussians had a staggering 25,000 casualties.

Battle of Auerstedt

Gudin's troops were on the move from Nauburg before 6:30am. By 7 am the 1st Chasseurs were stopped cold in their tracks outside of Poppel by Prussian cavalry and artillery. There was a heavy fog that had lifted just as they approached the village. Once Davout became aware of the Prussian force he ordered Gudin to deploy his force at Hassenhausen.

The present Prussian commander on the field was Schmettau and his division was actually under orders to proceed down the very road that Davout was on to block his advance in the Kosen Pass. While his troops were deploying to attack Hassenhausen, Blucher arrived with his cavalry and deployed on his left. Together they attacked Gudin's troops and pushed them back to the village.

Wartensleben arrived at 8:30am with Brunswick who ordered his infantry to the left flank and his cavalry to the right. The rest of the French cavalry arrived at 9 am and was placed on Gudin's left. Friant and the 12pr artillery arrived at 9:30am and moved in squares on Gudin's right. The advance of the French squares forced Blucher's cavalry back. Seeing no other option available he ordered his cavalry to attack. At this very moment two of Wartensleben's regiments attacked Hassenhausen.

Everything failed, three cavalry regiments were routed and the infantry fell back. At this critical point, Brunswick needed to take drastic action. Shortly before 10 am he ordered a full assault on Hassenhausen. By 10 am Brunswick was carried from the field mortally wounded along with Schmettau who was also badly wounded. With the loss of these two commanders the Prussian command broke down. The Prussian army was in danger of collapse.

Blucher's infantry and the Prince of Orange arrived about 10:30am and the King made his only decision of the day, to split Orange's command in two, half to each flank. On the French side Morand's Division arrived and was sent to secure Gudin's left. Davout could now see that the Prussians were wavering so at 11 am he ordered his infantry to counter attack. By noon Schmettau's center was broken and forced back over the Lissbach Stream, Blucher's cavalry was blown and Wartensleben was trying to reposition his troops. The Prussians realized all was now lost and the King ordered a withdrawal.

Results

Napoleon initially did not believe that Davout's single Corps had defeated the Prussian main body unaided, and responded to the first report by saying "Tell your Marshal he is seeing double". As matters became clearer, however, the Emperor was unstinting in his praise. Bernadotte was severely censured and came within an ace of being dismissed on the spot — despite being within earshot of Auerstedt and within marching distance of Jena, he ignored his orders and did not fire a shot in either battle. Davout was made Duke of Auerstedt. Soult, the hero of Jena, was not so honoured, possibly because Napoleon judged it best for reasons of prestige to keep the glory for himself.

On the Prussian side, Brunswick had been mortally wounded at Auerstedt, and over the next few days the remaining forces were unable to mount any serious resistance to Murat's ruthless cavalry pursuit. Davout led his exhausted III Corps into Berlin on October 25th. Hohenlohe's force surrendered on October 28th, Blucher's on November 7th. Isolated Prussian resistance remained, but Napoleon's primary foe was now Russia, and the Battle of Eylau awaited.

Influences

The battle proved most influential in demonstrating the need for liberal reforms in what was then still a very much feudal Prussian state and army. Important Prussian reformers like Scharnhorst, Geisenau and Clausewitz served at the battle. Their reforms, together with civilian reforms instituted over the following years, began Prussia's transformation into a modern state, which would take the forefront in expelling France from Germany and eventually assume a leading role on the continent.

The German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, who was then a professor at the University of Jena, is said to have completed his chef d'oeuvre, the Phenomenology of Spirit, while the battle raged. Hegel considered this battle to be "the end of the history", in terms of evolution of human societies towards what we would call the "liberal democracy". More on that in Francis Fukuyama's book: The End of History and the Last Man.

External link

Prussian Army during the Napoleonic Wars

Sources

1806 | Battles of the Napoleonic Wars | Battles of Prussia

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