The Prussians in 1806:
Dispelling the Myths

Footnotes and Bibliographical Notes

by James Gaite, UK

Footnotes [1] Different sources seem to lack agreement on the Duke of Brunswick’s age; some quote 71, some 72 and some even as old as 73. I have opted to follow David Chandler in listing his age as seventy-one (Chandler quotes his date of birth as 1735). [2] For those not conversant with Napoleon’s campaign in Austria in 1805, General Mack, commander of the main Austrian Army, marched into Bavaria without awaiting his Russian allies under General Kutusov. Isolated from his allies, Mack suddenly found himself encircled and outnumbered by the French army and, after an abortive attempt to break through Napoleon’s ranks, was forced to sue for peace and surrender the cream of Austria’s army into Napoleon’s hands. [3] The last part of this quote is, itself, a quote extracted from the text of “Decisive Battles of the Western World, Volume II” by General Fuller. [4] The Royal House of Prussia [5] The Duke of York estimated that he would require just over 200,000 troops to effectively defend the shores of Britain. Although many of these would be volunteers or fencibles, it was reckoned that, by the end of 1806, he was still short of over 40,000 regular troops. [6] With Britain still at war with Prussia at the time of the outbreak of hostilities between Prussia and France, it would have been impossible for any British force to have been assembled and dispatched to the Thuringian theatre before the defeat of the Prussian armies at Jena and Auerstädt. [7] Not to be confused with his fourth son, the future Duke of Brunswick-Oels, who fought under his father in 1806, led his ‘Black Legion’ in rebellion against the French in 1809 and fought and died at the Battle of Quatre Bras under the Duke of Wellington in 1815. [8] Other royal figures holding commands in the Prussian army of 1806 were William, Prince of Orange, related to Frederick William III by marriage, and Prince William of Prussia, the brother of the Prussian monarch (not to be confused with Prince William of Prussia, Frederick William’s son, who at this time was a minor, and who later became Kaiser William I). The former commanded the “1st Division” of the main army under the Duke of Brunswick, while the latter was given the responsibility to lead that division’s cavalry contingent. These two individuals played little part in the intrigues of autumn 1806 and have been included in the narrative simply in the interest of completeness. [9] He was posted as commander of the Advanced Guard of Prince Hohenlohe’s army. Bibliographical Notes The books from which quotes are taken are identified throughout this article, along with the appropriate page numbers, in square brackets immediately following the selected extracts. A key to the abbreviations used is given below and this list, along with the subsidiary list of other books referred to, form a bibliography of many of the books researched during the composition of this article. Unfortunately, due to the limitation of space, it is impossible to provide a full bibliography. A&U Arms and Uniforms, Volume I by Liliane and Fred Funcken Bon Bonaparte by Cornelli Barnett BSN The British Strategy in the Napoleonic Wars, 1803-1815 by Christopher Hall FTG Frederick the Great by Alan Palmer GWF Passages in the Great War with France by Sir Henry Bunbury HOP History of Prussia by H. W. Koch MBM The Memoirs of Baron von Müffling by Baron Carl von Müffling MMa The Memoirs of Baron de Marbot, Volume I, Chapter XIV NCP Napoleon’s Conquest of Prussia by F. L. Petre NGA Napoleon’s Great Adversary: Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army 1792-1814 by Gunther Rothenberg NIR Napoleon in Russia by Alan Palmer NME Napoleon, Master of Europe 1805-1807 by Alastair Horne NSB Napoleonic Source Book by P. J. Haythornthwaite QLP A Biography of Queen Louise of Prussia by Constance Wright RFP Rise and Fall of Prussia by Sebastian Haffnel TIM The Iron Marshal: A Biography of Louis N Davout by John G Gallaher TJC The Jena Campaign 1806 by Col. F. N. Maude, CB Other books referred to in this work are: Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars by David Chandler Napoleon’s Campaigns by David Chandler Finally, figures for British subsidies, along with other information, were taken from: The Longman Companion to Napoleonic Europe By Clive Emsley More Prussians in 1806 Prologue Introduction A Discussion on Strategy The Traditional Theories The Prussian Commanders Footnotes and Bibliographical Notes Other Parts The Prussians in 1806 Part II Strategy and Prussian Leadership The Duke of Peace Prussian Despair French Superiority Strategic Summary The Prussians in 1806 Dispelling the Myths Part III [FE63] Introduction Supply Reconnaissance Higher Organization Logistical Conclusion The Prussians in 1806 Dispelling the Myths Part IV [FE65] Introduction Infantry Cavalry Artillery Prussians in 1806 Dispelling the Myths Part Va: Tactics [FE66] Prussians in 1806 Dispelling the Myths Part Vb: Jena [FE68] Related 1806: A Precis Introduction The Collapse of the Third Coalition Napoleon, France and the Building of an Empire The Turning of the Tide The Lightning Campaign Prussian Defiance at the End of the Year Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #60 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2001 by First Empire. 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