Battle of Prenzlau 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 . Murat then bluffed the demoralized Hohenlohe into surrendering his entire corps by claiming that the Prussians were surrounded by overwhelming forces . In fact , apart from a brigade of infantry , only Murat ' s cavalry were in the vicinity . In the days afterward , the French cowed several more Prussian forces and fortresses into surrendering . Finding its way to the northeast blocked , a second corps of retreating Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher veered northwest toward Lübeck . Background . Jena - Auerstadt . On 8 October 1806 , Napoleon ' s 180 , 000 - strong army invaded the Electorate of Saxony through the Franconian Forest . His troops were massed in a " batallion carré " ( battalion square ) made up of three columns of two army corps each , plus the Imperial Guard , the Cavalry Reserve , and a Bavarian contingent . Opposing the French army were three semi - independent Prussian - Saxon armies , the first led by Feldmarschall Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick , the second under General of Infantry Frederick Louis , Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen , and the third co - commanded by General of Infantry Ernst von Rüchel and Lieutenant General Blücher . Brunswick held a position at Erfurt in the center . Hohenlohe took station near Rudolstadt in the east , with General - Major Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien at Hof . Rüchel was at Gotha , and Blücher held Eisenach at the western end of the line with General Karl August , Grand Duke of Saxe - Weimar - Eisenach ' s division near Meiningen and General Christian Ludwig von Winning at Vacha . Eugene Frederick Henry , Duke of Württemberg ' s Reserve lay far to the north at Magdeburg . Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte ' s I Corps and Murat ' s cavalry defeated Tauentzien ' s division at the Battle of Schleiz . The next day , Marshal Jean Lannes ' V Corps mauled the 8 , 300 - man division of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia at the Battle of Saalfeld , where the young prince was slain . On 12 October , Napoleon wheeled his " batallion carré " to the left to engage his enemies in combat . In the face of this menace , Brunswick elected to march the main army north from Weimar to Merseburg , while Hohenlohe defended his flank near Jena . Rüchel was at Weimar , waiting for Saxe - Weimar to return with his division . The double Battle of Jena - Auerstedt occurred on 14 October as Napoleon ' s 96 , 000 troops attacked Hohenlohe and Rüchel ' s 53 , 000 at Jena , while Brunswick ' s 49 , 800 troops encountered the 26 , 000 - man III Corps of Marshal Louis Davout at Auerstedt . The Prussian armies were beaten and driven from both battlefields . Brunswick ' s army lost 13 , 000 casualties and 115 artillery pieces , while the casualties of Hohenlohe and Rüchel may have reached 25 , 000 . Retreat west of the Elbe . 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 . Retreat east of the Elbe . Leaving Marshal Michel Ney ' s VI Corps to begin the Siege of Magdeburg , Napoleon ordered his right wing to head for Berlin . The French emperor found time to pay a reverent visit to the tomb of Frederick the Great at Potsdam . In spite of his respect for the Prussian king , Napoleon stole Frederick ' s sword and other trophies . The French right wing consisted of Davout ' s corps , Lannes ' corps , Marshal Pierre Augereau ' s VII Corps , and Murat ' s 1st Cuirassier Division under General of Division Etienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty , 2nd Cuirassier Division led by General of Division Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul , and 3rd Dragoon Division under General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont . General of Division Emmanuel Grouchy ' s 2nd Dragoon Division trailed behind . Bernadotte , Soult , and Sahuc ' s 4th Dragoon Division formed the left wing . Louis Klein ' s 1st Dragoon Division was split between assisting Ney and patrolling the line of communications . Under orders from King Frederick William III of Prussia to march for the Oder , Hohenlohe ' s corps set out from Magdeburg on the morning of 21 October . He reinforced the garrison with 9 , 000 men , but in the confusion other units and 39 field guns stayed in the fortress so that 25 , 000 troops were left behind . That evening , Hohenlohe reached Burg bei Magdeburg where he gathered up Kalckreuth ' s column . His main body arrived at Genthin on the evening of the 22nd and Rathenow at nightfall on the 23rd . In order to feed his troops better , he split his command up into several columns . On the 24th , Blücher crossed the Elbe at Sandau , while Saxe - Weimar crossed there after deceiving Soult into believing he was heading for Magdeburg . During the operation , Oberst Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg fought a successful rear guard action at Altenzaun on the 26th . Once the column was safely on the east bank of the Elbe , Saxe - Weimar was relieved by Winning in command . Hohenlohe reached Neustadt an der Dosse on the 24th . He sent out General - Major Christian Ludwig Schimmelpfennig toward Fehrbellin , between Neustadt and Oranienburg , and site of a 1675 battle . Schimmelpfennig ' s task was to cover his right flank and keep the French from interfering with the main body ' s march to Szczecin ( Stettin ) on the Oder . Hohenlohe gave Blücher command of his rear guard . The dilapidated fortress of Spandau fell on 25 October to General of Division Louis Gabriel Suchet ' s division of Lannes ' corps . The commandant Major Benekendorf was discussing terms with the French when they rushed the gate and broke into the fortress . Altogether , 71 cannon and 920 soldiers , including the 3rd battalion of the " König " Infantry Regiment # 18 , three companies of soldiers unfit for field duty , and 65 gunners were surrendered , the garrison being released on parole . In 1808 , Benekendorf was hauled before a court - martial and condemned to be shot , but the king commuted his sentence to life in prison . On 25 October , Davout ' s corps marched through Berlin in triumph . That evening , Hohenlohe ' s main body was between Neuruppin and Lindow , Blücher ' s rear guard division at Neustadt , Oberst von Hagen ' s infantry and General - Major von Schwerin ' s cavalry at Wittstock , and General - Major Rudolph Ernst Christoph von Bila ' s brigade at Kyritz , just north of Neustadt . Napoleon sent Murat and Lannes marching north from Berlin to intercept Hohenlohe . General of Brigade Antoine Lasalle ' s light cavalry and Grouchy ' s dragoons were already at Oranienburg with General of Brigade Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud ' s light cavalry nearby . Lasalle overtook Schimmelpfennig ' s 1 , 300 troops at Zehdenick around noon on 26 October . At first , the Prussians held back the French , but the dragoon divisions of Grouchy and Beaumont soon arrived . The " Königin " Dragoons # 5 , four squadrons strong , charged and drove back Lasalle ' s hussars , but Grouchy ' s dragoons intervened and nearly wiped out the regiment . The Prussians lost one color and 14 officers and 250 men killed , wounded , or captured . Pursued by the French until evening , Schimmelpfennig ' s crippled force fled to Stettin . Hearing of this setback , Hohenlohe changed his line of march from Gransee farther north through Lychen . On the morning of the 27th he waited at Lychen for Blücher and Bila . Since neither turned up , his column set out for Boitzenburg . As Hohenlohe neared Boitzenburg on the 27th , he met Graf von Arnim who notified him that he had collected supplies for the hungry soldiers at his manor , the " Schloss " Boitzenburg . Unfortunately , when the Prussians arrived around 2 : 00 PM they found that Milhaud ' s cavalrymen got there first and were pillaging the estate . It took Hohenlohe ' s advanced guard three hours to drive Milhaud ' s brigade out of the town . In the meantime , Murat heard the sound of the battle and hurried north with Grouchy ' s dragoons . South of Boitzenburg at Wichmannsdorf , Hohenlohe ' s right flank guard blundered into Grouchy ' s column . Three regiments of French dragoons drove the Prussian " Gensdarmes " Cuirassier Regiment # 10 against a marsh and forced its surrender . But without infantry , Murat was unable to halt Hohenlohe ' s column from hurrying past toward Prenzlau . Battle . After the clash at Boitzenburg , Hohenlohe knew that the French were on the Berlin highway , which went northeast from Zehdenick to Prenzlau . So instead of continuing on the Lychen - Boitzenburg - Prenzlau road , which intersected with the Berlin highway , he veered northeast to Schönermark - Nordwestuckermark . At 4 : 00 AM on 28 October and the column reached Schönermark , only eight kilometers from Prenzlau . Hohenlohe held a council of war at which the officers argued whether to march east to Prenzlau or to go north to Pasewalk . A cavalry vedette reported that Prenzlau was clear of the French at 6 : 00 AM , so the march continued , though three hours were wasted before getting underway . It was very difficult to get the column moving again and angry protests were heard from the starving soldiers . Schwerin led the column with a cuirassier regiment and a battery of horse artillery . The bulk of the infantry trailed behind Schwerin ' s vanguard and Oberst Prince Augustus of Prussia led the rear guard , which consisted of a cavalry regiment and an infantry battalion . Two dragoon regiments protected the right flank . Two roads approached the west side of Prenzlau , the Berlin highway to the southwest and the road through Schönermark to the northwest . The two roads entered the city at gates about 500 meters apart . The roads were raised above the surrounding marshland and passed through suburbs about one kilometer in length . The several kilometer long Unteruckersee ( Lower Ucker Lake ) lies on the south side of the city . The Uecker River flows north from the lake on the west side of Prenzlau . Marshal Murat had two divisions and two brigades of cavalry , plus 12 guns in three horse artillery batteries . Lasalle ' s brigade included the 5th and 7th Hussar Regiments , and Milhaud ' s brigade comprised the 1st Hussar and 13th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments . Grouchy ' s 2nd Dragoon Division had the 3rd , 4th , 10th , 11th , 13th , and 22nd Dragoon Regiments , 24 squadrons . Beaumont ' s 3rd Dragoon Division was made up of the 5th , 8th , 12th , 16th , 19th , and 21st Dragoon Regiments , 24 squadrons . The total French strength was 12 , 000 men . Another authority wrote that Milhaud ' s brigade consisted of the 13th Chasseurs and a dragoon regiment , and that 3 , 000 of Lannes ' picked infantry were at hand . Hohenlohe ' s command included the " Rabiel " , " Schack " , " Dohna " , " Osten " , " Borcke " , " Losthin " , and " Hahn " Grenadier battalions , and the 1st battalion " Arnim " Infantry Regiment # 13 , 1st battalion " Garde " Infantry Regiment # 15 , " König " Infantry Regiment # 18 , " Brunswick " Infantry Regiment # 21 , " Möllendorf " Infantry Regiment # 25 , " Grawert " Infantry Regiment # 47 , Cuirassier Regiment # 3 , " Leib " Cuirassier Regiment # 5 , " Prittwitz " Dragoon Regiment # 2 , " Krafft " Dragoon Regiment # 11 , " Wobeser " Dragoon Regiment # 14 . The field artillery included one horse and two 12 - pounder foot batteries . Altogether , the Prussians had about 10 , 000 soldiers , 64 guns , and 1 , 800 horses for the cavalry and artillery . As Hohenlohe marched along the Schönermark road , his troops kept bumping into French patrols in the morning mist . As the column passed through the marshes , the dragoon flankers returned to the main road and pushed their way into the line of march . This spread the column out over a greater distance . Lasalle tried to block the Prussian approach march in the suburb , but Schwerin ' s cuirassiers brushed the French hussars out of the way . Hohenlohe directed his troops to move through the city and draw rations from a wagon train parked on the other side of Prenzlau . To cover his march , Hohenlohe posted General - Major von Tschammer with two grenadier battalions across the Berlin highway with their battalion guns trained on the road . Smaller detachments guarded the lake shore , the town gate , and a paper - mill . At this time , French Captain Hugues appeared out of the mist with a flag of truce and was taken to Hohenlohe . Hugues spun " a wonderful tissue of lies " , claiming that Murat had 30 , 000 troops at hand and that Lannes with 60 , 000 more lurked on the road to Stettin . He insisted that the Prussian general surrender , which Hohenlohe refused to do . However , he sent his chief of staff Oberst Christian Karl August Ludwig von Massenbach back with Hugues , apparently to see what he could find out . Murat then launched his attack , Lasalle ' s hussars leading the way , followed by Grouchy ' s dragoons , while Beaumont brought up the rear . The French horse artillery rapidly silenced Tschammer ' s cannons . In order to harass the rear of Hohenlohe ' s column , the French marshal detached one of Beaumont ' s brigades and placed it under the command of his aide - de - camp Colonel Louis Chrétien Carrière Beaumont . Murat sent it circling to the left through the hamlet of Göllmitz on the Boitzenburg road . Murat then ordered General of Brigade André Joseph Boussart ' s brigade from Grouchy ' s division to attack the Prussian column of march . After fording a small stream west of the town , Boussart ' s dragoons smashed into Hohenlohe ' s marching column from the south . The cavalrymen overran a substantial part Hohenlohe ' s troops and captured Tschammer . The Prussians were forced into Prenzlau , leaving eight guns and many prisoners in French hands . Cut off , the rear guard was set upon from two directions by both Beaumont ' s division and Beaumont ' s brigade and driven northward . After trapping his command against the Uecker , the two Beaumonts compelled Prince Augustus to surrender . Marching to the sound of the guns , Milhaud ' s brigade observed the prince ' s capture before continuing north to Pasewalk . Grouchy ' s dragoons broke down the town gate and trotted through Prenzlau and out the other side to view Hohenlohe ' s 10 , 000 troops drawn up on the road to Pasewalk . Murat sent Belliard to demand Hohenlohe ' s surrender , which the Prussian declined again . By this time some of Lannes ' infantry were on the field . Together with Grouchy and Lasalle ( but not Beaumont ) , there were only 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 French confronting the Prussians . At this time , Massenbach was allowed to return to the Prussian lines . Completely deceived by the French , Massenbach reported to Hohenlohe that their enemies were now between them and Stettin . Murat asked for a head - to - head parley with Hohenlohe which was granted . The marshal lied to Hohenlohe on his " word of honor " that he was surrounded by 100 , 000 French in the corps of Lannes , Soult , and Bernadotte . When a munitions wagon blew up in the distance , a quick - witted French officer explained that it was Soult ' s signal gun announcing that he was now blocking the Prussians ' retreat route . Hohenlohe requested terms . These were harsh , with the officers and the Royal Guards being released on parole and the rank and file being made prisoners . After consulting with his officers , the Prussian prince surrendered his entire corps . Result . Historian Digby Smith stated that 10 , 000 Prussian troops , 1 , 800 cavalry horses , and 64 guns fell into French hands , while Murat ' s cavalry suffered few casualties . Francis Loraine Petre noted that the Prussians ' total losses were nearly 12 , 000 , with Hohenlohe surrendering 10 , 000 , Boussart ' s brigade killing or capturing 1 , 000 , and Beaumont ' s division accounting for the 1 , 000 - man rear guard . Between Prenzlau and the fighting at Boitzenburg and Zehdenick , the Prussians lost nearly 13 , 500 men . Beaumont was given responsibility for escorting the prisoners . Evidently some escaped , because Beaumont reported his captives numbered 9 , 534 , not counting the approximately 400 paroled officers . Hohenlohe ' s capitulation proved to be a bad precedent to a subsequent string of abject Prussian surrenders in the next few days . In the Capitulation of Pasewalk on 29 October , 4 , 000 Prussians surrendered to a force smaller than their own . Soon afterward , in the Capitulation of Stettin , Lasalle ' s light cavalry brigade bluffed the fortress commandant into surrendering his 5 , 000 - man garrison . Since Auerstedt , Blücher had carefully preserved an artillery convoy . But on 30 October , Major von Höpfner surrendered with 600 soldiers and 25 guns to some of Lannes ' units at Boldekow , 14 kilometers south of Anklam . On 1 November , the fortress of Küstrin capitulated to General of Brigade Nicolas Hyacinthe Gautier ' s brigade of Davout ' s corps . A French dragoon brigade caught up with the 1 , 100 infantry and 1 , 073 cavalry of Bila at Anklam . Bila had been joined by his older brother Karl Anton Ernst von Bila with a battalion from Hanover . On 31 October , General of Division Nicolas Léonard Beker forced them to withdraw to the north side of the Peene River and convinced them to capitulate the next day . After Prenzlau , Blücher ' s escape path to the northeast was blocked . At Neustrelitz he swung his columns to the northeast and raced toward Lübeck . By this time , Winning ' s division joined him to raise his total strength to 22 , 000 men . The Battle of Lübeck occurred on 6 November . Petre believed that Hohenlohe ' s surrender was unnecessary and his chief of staff Massenbach was partly responsible . He thought that the Prussians could have fought their way into Stettin , and probably would have if a strong - willed general like Blücher had been in command . The brigades of Hagen and Bila were not far away at the time and these forces might have helped prevent Murat from encircling Hohenlohe . Petre listed several criticisms of Hohenlohe . First , he marched too slowly from Burg and took too many detours to the north at the incompetent Massenbach ' s advice . It might have been possible for him to reach Prenzlau a day earlier , in which case he would have escaped Murat . Second , he kept too much cavalry and Hagen ' s infantry brigade on his left flank , where there were no enemies . Only Schimmelpfennig ' s weak brigade of 1 , 300 men was in the critical sector on the right flank . Third , his best troops marched in the rear guard with Blücher , while the major threat was on the right flank . External references . " The following websites are excellent sources for the full names of French and Prussian generals . "