page_title: Battle of Saalfeld
section_title: French Movements
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Saalfeld / Background / French Movements
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Copie en buste d'après le portrait en pied de Lannes par Gérard
context_page_description: The Battle of Saalfeld took place on the 10 October 1806, at which a French force of 12,800 men commanded by Marshal Jean Lannes defeated a Prussian-Saxon force of 8,300 men under Prince Louis Ferdinand. The battle took place in Thuringia in what was the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The battle was the second clash in the Prussian Campaign of the War of the Fourth Coalition.
context_section_description: Napoleon had arranged the Grand Armée into three columns to cross the Thuringian Forest to attack the Prussian-Saxon army. The westernmost column was headed by V Corps commanded by Jean Lannes, with Pierre Augereau’s VII Corps following behind. They had orders to march from Coburg via Gräfenthal due at Saalfeld on the 11 October. V Corps set out on 8 October, and by the end of 9 October was at Gräfenthal with light cavalry on the road to Saalfeld. At 5am on 10 October, Lannes with Louis-Gabriel Suchet’s division and Anne-François-Charles Trelliard brigade of light cavalry of V corps began advancing down the road to Saalfeld, aware that a Prussian-Saxon force was in front of them.
caption: Jean Lannes
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