It is about 2 p.m.. Marshal Lannes find's that the situation is maturing: (1) All his troops are present and deployed; (2) the enemy has been well reconnoitered; (3) he has been immobilized; (4) his forces are in a dispersed order and already shaken. He decides to attack in the direction previously decided upon, i.e. between Beulwitz and Crosten. He will strike the enemy mass in the plain with the main forces of the Division. That is the Claparede brigade (17th and 64th) attacking in front and the Reille brigade (34th and 40th) attacking in flank. But he must, before that attack, protect himself against the troops holding the Sandberg and Aue and give the two attacking brigades the space required for deployment. The Reille brigade is entrusted with that two fold task. Consequently, it marches in the direction of the Sandberg toward Aue wood under the protection of skirmishers, the 34th being in the first line. In echelon to the left rear comes the 40th and in echelon to the right rear, the 21st Leger. [7] The brigade first strikes the Clement regiment, then the battery of the Sandberg, 15 guns, which it captures. The 40th is almost entirely spent in this struggle against the battery and its support, so it shall secure the vital points: Aue and the Sanberg. As ordered, a pursuit is carried out with part of his forces and with what is remains available, the wing attack upon the enemy right flank. The 34th will carry out the attack. It is nearly 3 p.m.. The moment has come to conclude the whole affair and to carry out the final attack which has been planned since the morning. The artillery has arrived in the meantime. It is ordered to take position near Beulwitz. Then it advances and by firing a few rounds of canister, prepares the infantry attack. Lannes orders the charge to be beaten and sounded on the whole line. Then, on that enemy already shaken by fire, arrives "masses of infantry which, coming down at full speed from the heights, falls on the Prussians battalions like wild torrents and rout them in one instant" (Marbot). Engineer Mumpfling also describes this very well: "At about 3, " he writes, "the French columns fell upon us like an avalanche. In the twinkling of an eye, we found ourself cut up into three bodies, surrounded by a circle of fire and forced back on the river." Such are the results from the Prussian side. But what had happened on the French side? At the general signal of attack given by Lannes, all the troops near Beulwitz pushed forward. Thus was launched: (1) A frontal attack, including to the right, 9th and 10th Hussars, in the center, 54th Line, to the left 21 st Leger; having in the second line the 87th Line and 17th Leger. (2) A flank attack, 34th Line (3 battalions). So, Marshall Foch remarks that we have the whole cavalry, the whole artillery (less 2 guns) and 4 infantry regiments (out of 5) attacking, all at once, an enemy already shaken by fire. The attack was carried from a short distance (i.e. by surprise) and a superiority of means on the very point of the enemy line which had been selected as the easiest to approach and specially prepared as a point of attack. The front of the attack was 1500 to 1800 yards wide for all the acting troops. This is less than the 300 yards of front to a battalion prescribed by the regulations. It is mainly the French left which strikes the more advanced Prussian wing. To the right, we find cavalry supported by infantry (88th). They came down in one mass to the plain. That cavalry soon found a favorable opportunity for charging the Prussian infantry, which was being hard pressed on all sides by the French infantry and fired on by artillery. The cavalry charged and sabered through the mass of men for half an hour. Prince Louis of Prussia, seeing his infantry beaten, hurried up to his squadrons near Wolsdorf. But all the cavalry force he could muster consisted of only five weak squadrons. Nevertheless he came on, but in vain, at their head attacking the 9th and 10th Hussars, who were advancing to complete the work of the infantry. The superior strength of the hussars enabled them to overlap both flanks of the enemy, who had been, moreover, disorganized by the uneven ground. The Prussian defeat was complete. There remained nothing but fugitives flying as best as they could towards Blankenberg, Schwarza or across the Saale. 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