On October 9, 1806, the Grand Army, in three columns, is completing its crossing of the Frankenwald in order to enter Saxony. The advance guard of the army (First Corps and three cavalry Divisions under Murat) precedes the central column. It has beaten, at Saalburg and Schleiz, the Tauenzien Division. In the right hand column, the lead corps (IVth Corps) has reached Plausen and the VIth, which is following, is at Hof. In the left hand column, the Vth Corps (Lannes) which forms the vanguard is coming from Coburg. On October 9, after a long and difficult march, it has reached Gtaffenthal with the Suchet Division and its cavalry; its 2nd Division is four miles to the rear; the VIIth Corps (Augereau) has reached Coburg (see Map 1). Napoleon knows the main enemy army under Brunswick is between Gotha and Erfurt, the advance guard at Eisenach and Hohenlohe's army to be at Jena, advance guard at Saalfeld. The Emperor believes the intention of the enemy is to march on Wiirtzburg, the first army via Gotha and Meningen, the other via Saalfeld and Coburg. He has to foresee the possibility of his enemy's forestalling his central column, and attacking with superior forces the left column of the Grand Army. Hence the line of conduct he fixes for Marshal Lannes . [2] He orders him: (1) To call up the VIIth Corps and to attack if the enemy has not more than 15,000 to 18,000 men. (2) In the contrary case, that is if the enemy has more, to hold on so as to give the Emperor the time to arrive with 20,000 to 25,000 men. (3) In case the enemy's rapid advance should not allow time for help to intervene, to withdraw to Graffenthal. On October 10, Lannes Corps progresses toward Saalfeld at the speed of 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) an hour on a single column. The column consists of: (1) Advance Guard, A light cavalry brigade (Treillard): 9th and 10th Hussars, 21st Chasseurs of 3 squadrons each, 1 section of artillery (24-pdr), 1 "elite" battalion (8 companies of the last 4 regiments of the Division). The 17th Leger (2 battalions and 2 "elite" companies) under Claparede. (2) Main Body: 34th of the Line (3 battalions), 40th, 64th, 88th of the Line Q battalions each) and the Divisional artillery (2 12-pdr, 6 8-pdr and 2 howitzers). There is no interval between the advance guard and the main body. At the head of the troops rode Marshal Lannes. His Chief of Staff is General Victor, the eldest senior officer of the column, forty years old. The cavalry had been sent forward and pushed back some enemy patrols. A few enemy squadrons were seen above Saalfeld. The cavalry brigade came up at a trot for the issue of the woods followed by the "elite" battalion which hurried forward. The Marshal arrived at the edge of the woods. A few enemy outposts had been established near the road and on the hills commanding Saalfeld. They were reconnoitered, then attacked with infantry (first action at about 9 A.M.). They were driven back. The advance guard arrived in front of Saalfeld. It was nearly 10 A.M. Map 1 MAP 1 SHOWING THE FORWARD MOVEMENT OF NAPOLEON'S BATTALION CARRE TOWARD SAALFELD-JENA. LANNES WITH THE V CORPS IS THE VANGUARD OF THE LEFT COLUMN. AUGEREAU'S VII CORPS FOLLOWS. More 1806 Battle of Saalfeld Introduction I: Grand Army and Lannes' Movement Prior to Battle II: Initial Situation at Saalfeld III: Events and Intents from the Prussian Side IV: Lannes' Initial Disposition and Deployment V: Preliminary Action on Prussian Side VI: Prussian Attack VII: Lannes' Attack VIII: Combats Around Garnsdorf, Saalfeld, and the Pursuit IX: Conclusions X: Further Conclusions XI: The Battlefield Today Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 6 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Emperor's Headquarters 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