Battle of Jena, 1806
The French Grand Armee in three columns crossed the hilly Thuringian Forest, and surprised a large
Prussian army of 130,000 men under the command of King Frederick William
III. On the 10th October 1906. The French were attacked in the rear and on
the Left Flank. The Prussian Force turned to meet the Attacking French
forces. The Prussian army was split into two forces. A Force of 48,000 men
under the command of Prince Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen were
deployed between Jena and Weimar. The second force of 63,000 men
under the command of The Duke of Brunswick (Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand) were
positioned at Auerstedt. (11 miles north of Jena).
On the 14th October Napoleon attacked
Prince Freidrich of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen force with his main army of
56,000 men. The fighting was bitter with the Prussian army counter
attacking in a Parade ground formation. Firing Volleys only when
ordered. The French Artillery and Infantry fire began to weaken the
Prussian attack with heavy losses. When the Prussian and Saxon Line began
to falter. Napoleon sent two more corps (Marshal Pierre Augereau's 7th
Corp and Marshal Nicolas Saoult 4th's Corps) to Join the V corp under
Marshal Jean Lanne. The Prussian Fell back in disorder losing 11,000
Killed or wounded and another 15,000 captured. compared to the French Losses of 5,000. The French pushed onto Weimar.
On the other flank of Napoleon's army.
Marshal Louis Davout's 3rd Corps and also attacked the Prussian forces
near Weimar. The Duke of Brunswick's main Prussian Army meet the
French forces at Auerstedt but by using his superior numbers in small
counter attacking units lost a decisive advantage. It was then that the
Duke of Brunswick was mortally wounded and was immediately replace by King
Frederick himself. The Prussian forces fell back in disorder, giving
the advantage to the French who also brought forward there artillery which
caused heavy losses on the Prussian army. By 1PM. Davout's
attack had decimated the Prussian line. and with a loss of 8,000
men had killed or wounded 12,000 and taking another 3,000 prisoners and a
total of 115 guns. Davout's skilful tactics and winning a victory over a
enemy force twice his size. would give him The title of Duc d'Auerstedt.
These two victories would give Napoleon a clear path onwards to Berlin,
while the Prussian army fell back towards the Baltic Sea
