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Battle of Jena-Auerstaedt

Battle of Jena–Auerstedt
Part of the War of the Fourth Coalition
Iena.jpg
Napoleon reviewing the Imperial Guard, by Horace Vernet.
Date 14 October 1806
Location Jena and Auerstedt, Germany
50°57′00″N 11°34′30″E / 50.95000°N 11.57500°E / 50.95000; 11.57500Coordinates: 50°57′00″N 11°34′30″E / 50.95000°N 11.57500°E / 50.95000; 11.57500
Result Decisive French victory
Territorial
changes
Grande Armée occupies the Kingdom of Prussia
Belligerents
 France  Prussia
 Saxony
Commanders and leaders
France Napoleon I
France Louis Nicolas Davout
France Michel Ney
France Joachim Murat
Kingdom of Prussia Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick 
Kingdom of Prussia Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
Strength
67,000
40,000 (Jena);
27,000 (Auerstedt)
120,500
60,000 (Jena);
60,500 (Auerstedt)
Casualties and losses
6,830 dead and wounded
2,480 (Jena);
4,350 (Auerstedt)
38,000 dead, wounded and captured
25,000 (Jena);
13,000 (Auerstedt)

The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt (older name: Auerstädt) were fought on 14 October 1806 on the plateau west of the river Saale in today's Germany, between the forces of Napoleon I of France and Frederick William III of Prussia. The decisive defeat suffered by the Prussian Army subjugated the Kingdom of Prussia to the French Empire until the Sixth Coalition was formed in 1812.

Several figures integral to the reformation of the Prussian Army participated at Jena–Auerstedt, including Gebhard von Blücher, Carl von Clausewitz, August Neidhardt von Gneisenau, Gerhard von Scharnhorst, and Hermann von Boyen.

Both armies were split into separate parts. The Prussian Army was in a very poor state. Brunswick was 71 years old while his field commanders were in their 60s. The Prussian army was still using tactics and training of Frederick The Great. Its greatest weakness was its staff organization. Most of the divisions were poorly organized and did not communicate well with each other. The Prussians had three forces:

The Grand Armée loved their Emperor and their generals. The army was very experienced and was very well led, with a good mix of older, more experienced Marshals, and younger, upcoming Marshals. Napoleon's main force at Jena consisted of about 53,000 men in total:

Further north, in the vicinity of Auerstedt, the French forces were Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps (20,000 strong) and Louis Nicolas Davout's III Corps (27,000).


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