Jena Auerstadt
A Day of Lost Opportunities

Conclusion

by Patrick E. Wilson

On the whole the Jena-Auerstädt Campaign from a Prussian point of view poses a lot of what if ’s. The Prussian Army was not the museum piece that J.F.C. Fuller would have us believe. Rather it was on the contrary a developing one that was moving with the times but unfortunately some of its leadership still held to ‘past glory’ of Frederick the Greet. There was resistance to the new ideas of Colonel Scharnhorst and his supporters. Frederick the Great himself would have welcomed new developments, the army under his command during the Seven Years War changed throughout that period. For example, the use of both artillery and light infantry increased in response to the use of these arms by his opponents. Still, when it came to fighting the Prussian commanders of 1806 were still up to it but at key moments they seemed to hesitate, probably through lack of combat experience and thus opportunities were missed or allowed to pass.

Would Frederick’s commanders have hesitated? I don’t think so. Prince Hohenlohe hesitated to attack Marechal Lannes on the afternoon of 13th; such an attack would have annihilated that Marechal. General Grawert would have stormed Vierzehnheilgen had not Prince Hohenlohe restrained him and thus another opportunity was lost. General von Ruechel had a clear opportunity to take up a defensive position to aid the retreat of Prince Hohenlohe’s Army but instead was given the wrong advice that only served to heighten the extent of the Prussian defeat at Jena. Yet another opportunity thrown away. And at Auerstädt, a clear opportunity to defeat Davout was missed when the Prince of Orange’s division was split instead of concentrating it upon one wing where victory would have been certain. These lost opportunities were to have fatal consequences for the Prussian army and are generally overlooked by those who see the Jena-Auerstädt campaign as Napoleon’s greatest achievement. It probably was but luck had also played a part and what is luck but the ability to exploit accidents as Napoleon himself once said.

References

1. Maude, Col. F.N., The Jena Campaign, 1806 (London: Greenhill Books, 1998 reprint of 1909 edition), p.76. 2. Ibid., p.64. 3. Ibid., p.147. 4. Hourtoulle, E. G., Jena, Auerstädt, The Triumph of the Eagle (Paris: Histoire & Collections, 1998), p.73. 5 Petre, F.Loraine, Napoleon’s conquest of Prussia 1806 (London: Arms & Armour 1977 reprint of 1907 edition), p.141. 6. Op.Cit., p.166-7.

Sources and Further Reading

Chandler, David G., The Campaigns of Napoleon (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987 reprint of 1966 edition). Chandler, David G., Jena 1806: Napoleon Destroys Prussia (London: Osprey Books, 1996). Duffy, C., Frederick the Great: A Military Life (London: Routledge 1990 reprint of 1985 edition). Esposito, Vincent J., & Elting, John R., A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars (London: Arms & Armour, 1980 reprint of 1964 edition). Gallaher, John G., The Iron Marshal: A Biography of Louis N. Davout (London: Greenhill Books, 2000 reprint of 1976 edition). Hofschroer, Peter, Prussian Light Infantry 1792-1815 (London: Osprey, 1988). Hofschroer, Peter, Prussian Cavalry of the Napoleonic: Wars 1792-1807 (London: Osprey, 1987). Hourtoulle, F.G., Jena, Auerstaedt, The Triumph of the Eagle (Paris: Histoire & Collections 1998). Maude, Col. F.N., The Jena Campaign, 1806 (London: Greenhill Books, 1998 reprint of 1909 edition). Petre, F. Loraine, Napoleon’s conquest of Prussia 1806 (London: Arms and Armour, 1977 reprint of 1907 edition). Rothenberg, Gunther, The Napoleonic Wars (London: Cassell, 1999). Showalter, Dennis E., The Wars of Frederick the Great (London: Longman, 1996).

Jena Auerstadt: A Day of Lost Opportunities Introduction

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