page_title: Battle of Prenzlau
section_title: Retreat west of the Elbe
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Prenzlau / Background / Retreat west of the Elbe
caption_attribution_description: English: Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher. Artist unknown, copying Paul Ernst Gebauer. Deutsch: Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, unbekannt, zw. 1815 und 1819, nach Paul Ernst Gebauer, Öl auf Kupfer, 53 x 43 cm. Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Inv.-Nr. GEM 75/10.
context_page_description: In the Battle of Prenzlau or Capitulation of Prenzlau on 28 October 1806 two divisions of French cavalry and some infantry led by Marshal Joachim Murat intercepted a retreating Prussian corps led by Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen. In this action from the War of the Fourth Coalition, Hohenlohe surrendered his entire force to Murat after some fighting and a parley. Prenzlau is located about 90 kilometers north of Berlin in Brandenburg, Germany at the intersection of routes B109 and B198.
  After their catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14 October, the Prussian armies fled north to the Elbe River with Emperor Napoleon I of France's victorious army in hot pursuit. The Prussians crossed the Elbe near Magdeburg and marched northeast, trying to reach safety behind the Oder River. Part of Napoleon's army thrust east to seize Berlin, while the rest followed the retreating Prussians. From Berlin, Murat moved north with his cavalry, trying to head off Hohenlohe.
  After several clashes on 26 and 27 October, Murat arrived at Prenzlau on the heels of Hohenlohe's corps. Fighting occurred in which several Prussian units were captured or cut to pieces.
context_section_description: In Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October, over 10,000 Prussians laid down their arms in the first of a series of shameful surrenders. The 12,000-man corps of Saxe-Weimar and Winning missed Jena-Auerstedt and remained intact, heading north through Bad Langensalza. Shot through both eyes at Auerstadt, Brunswick died on 10 November at Altona near Hamburg. Dangerously wounded at Jena, Rüchel escaped to Poland and later recovered. Filling the command void were Hohenlohe, General of Infantry Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth, and Blücher, who each led sizable bodies of Prussians from Nordhausen through the Harz Mountains to Halberstadt and Quedlinburg. These columns were energetically pursued by Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps with General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc's dragoons attached. On 17 October, Bernadotte inflicted heavy losses on Eugene of Württemberg's Reserve at the Battle of Halle.
  By 20 October, Hohenlohe and the survivors of the Reserve reached Magdeburg. Kalckreuth crossed the Elbe at Tangermünde before handing over his command in order to take up a new post in Poland. Blücher was east of Brunswick marching for the Elbe with Saxe-Weimar a day's march behind him at Salzgitter On the 20th, Soult and Murat arrived before Magdeburg. Murat sent his chief of staff Augustin Daniel Belliard to demand its surrender, which was refused by Hohenlohe. However, the Prussians foolishly allowed Belliard into the city without a blindfold. He reported back to Murat that Hohenlohe's main body was still in the city and that great confusion prevailed. Davout seized Wittenberg on the 20th, with the local people assisting his troops in putting out a fire and preventing a powder magazine from being blown up. Consequently, 140,000 pounds of gunpowder and a valuable Elbe River crossing fell into French hands. Lannes seized a second bridgehead at Dessau.
caption: Blücher stepped into the command void.
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