The
Battle of Saalfeld (
October 10 1806) saw Marshal
Lannes and a division of his V Corps
defeat 8,300
Prussians under
Prince
Louis Ferdinand.
Battle
Prince Louis Ferdinand was one of the principal advocates of
resuming war against the French.
The French did not have the means to force battle, and the
Prussians could have joined their larger forces in nearby Jena, but
Prince Louis, apparently ignorant that Lannes division on the field
was but part of his forces (the rest were coming up) and that alone
outnumbered him, chose to take a stand on the field. Prince Louis
positioned his men on low ground outside the town, with their back
to the river, and against the French who were attacking down
hill.
Lannes and General
Suchet had
noticed the Prussians had their back to the river, and estimated
the Prussian forces to only be about half the size of V Corps.
Lannes battered them with cannon for a bit and when they showed
signs of disorganization he ordered a charge by his infantry whilst
sending a unit against the flank. Pinned and outnumbered by the
French, the Prussian infantry soon began to break under the flank
attack and were driven in disorganization under the walls of
Saalfeld.
Belatedly
seeing his mistake, trying to relieve the pressure Prince Louis put
himself at the head of his cavalry and charged the advancing
French
on the flank. The charge was repulsed and
the Prince found himself in close combat with Guindet,
quartermaster of the French 10th Hussars, who offered the Prince
quarter. Refusing to surrender, the Prince merely replied with a
slash to the man's face causing a severe wound, but was run through
and killed by the counter blow of the Quartermaster, dying
immediately.
The Prussians lost 400 killed and wounded and 20 guns. Over 1,000
were captured including General Bevilaqua, commander of the Saxon
forces.
Aftermath
Four days
after Saalfeld, the twin battles of Jena and
Auerstedt took place on the plateau west of the
river Saale
.
Although the war went on for another seven months, the decisive
defeat suffered by the
Prussian army
resulted in Prussia's effective elimination from the anti-French
coalition up until the liberation war of
1813.
Order of Battle
| French V
Corps |
Prusso-Saxon
Force |
Commander-in-chief: Marshal Jean Lannes
Chief of
staff: Général de
Division Claude Victor-Perrin
1st
Division
Général de Division Louis Gabriel Suchet
1st Brigade
Général de Brigade Michel Marie Claparède
- 2 Battalions, 17th Légère
Regiment (1500)
2nd Brigade
Général de Brigade Honoré
Charles Reille
- 4 Battalions, 34th Ligne Regiment
(3000)
- 3 Battalions, 40th Ligne Regiment (2250)
3rd Brigade
Général de Brigade Dominique Honoré Antoine
Vedel
- 3 Battalions, 64th Ligne Regiment (3000)
- 3 Battalions, 88th Ligne Regiment (2250)
Divisional Artillery
- 1 Battery, Foot Artillery (8 guns)
- 1 Battery, Horse Artillery (6 guns)
Cavalry Brigade
Général de Brigade Anne
François Trelliard
- 3 Squadrons, 9th Hussar Regiment
(540)
- 3 Squadrons, 10th Hussar Regiment (540)
- 3 Squadrons, 21st Chasseurs
à Cheval (540)
|
Generalleutenant Prince Louis Ferdinand
of Prussia
Prussian Infantry Brigade
Generalmajor Karl Gerhard von
Pelet
- Jäger
Company"Valentini" (150)
- Jäger Company "Masars" (150)
- Fusilier Battalion No. 13 "Rabenau" (600)
- Fusilier Battalion No. 14 "von Pelet" (600)
- Fusilier Battalion No. 15 "Rühle" (600)
- 2 Battalions, Infantry Regiment No. 49 "Muffling"
(1200)
- 1 Battery, Foot Artillery "Reimann" (8 guns)
Prussian Cavalry Brigade
Generalmajor Christian Ludwig Schimmelpfennig von der Oye
- 5 Squadrons, Hussar Regiment No. 6 "Schimmelpfennig von der
Oye" (900)
- 1 Battery, Horse Artillery No. 2 "Gause" (6 guns)
Saxon Infantry Brigade
Generalmajor von Bevilaqua
- 2 Battalions, Infantry Regiment No. 1 "Kurfurst"
(1200)
- 2 Battalions, Infantry Regiment No. 4 "Prince Clemens"
(1200)
- 2 Battalions, Infantry Regiment No. 9 "Prince Xavier"
(1200)
- 1 Battery, Foot Artillery (8 guns)
Saxon Cavalry Brigade
Generalmajor von Trutzschler
- 5 Squadrons, Hussar Regiment No. 1 (900)
- 1 Battery, Horse Artillery "Grossmann" (6 guns)
|
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