Jena Auerstadt
A Day of Lost Opportunities
The Campaign
by Patrick E. Wilson
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On 8th October the French Army crossed the border into Saxony, their march was unopposed all that day and it was not until the following morning that any clash occurred when General Tauentzien’s advance guard was driven out of Schliez in a brisk engagement. By which time the different Prussian Armies had moved as follows: Brunswick’s were nearing Weiner, Prince Hohenlohe had ordered troops to concentrate along the Saale between Rudolstadt and Kahla, including his Saxon troops, prior to advancing to Auma in support of his advance guards. General von Ruechel’s small force had now reached Gotha. Meanwhile Prince Hohenlohe’s second advance guard under Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia held firm at Saalfeld, this was to have serious consequences for that commander and we must now look into the reasons behind the decision he took. It would seem that Prince Louis was under the impression that he was to cover Prince Hohenlohe as he crossed the Saale and assembled his forces at Auma, for it was known that Marechal Lannes was already at Grafenthal. Prince Louis by occupying and defending Saalfeld would therefore protect Prince Hohenlohe’s right as he assembled at Auma. Prince Louis also expected to be supported, if not reinforced, by the advance guard of the Duke of Brunswick’s main army, who he expected at Rudolstadt that day. Unfortunately for Prince Louis, a hesitant Duke of Brunswick had cancelled Prince Hohenlohe’s move across the Saale and Prince Louis would not hear of this until 10.00am on the 10th October when he was already engaged against Marechal Lannes. What was even worse, the expected advance of the Duke of Brunswick’s advance guard did occur either and as a result Prince Louis led his command to disaster that day. Jena Auerstadt: A Day of Lost Opportunities Introduction
The Prussian Army of 1806 The Campaign Battle of Saalfeld Battle of Jena Battle of Auerstadt Conclusion Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #63 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
The coming campaign was to be brief. And yet, it was not until early October that things begin to happen. The Prussian deployments, after much vacillation, were thus: The principal army of the Duke of Brunswick was between Eisenach, Gotha and LangensaIza marching upon Erfurt.
Prince Hohenlohe’s Prusso-Saxon contingent was a little more widely dispersed, having advance guards towards to the Thuringerwald at Saalfeldand Schliez, his main body between Rudolstadt and Kahla. The Saxons were primarily about Roda. General von Ruechel’s small force was
approaching Eisenach from the northeast.