Battle of Jena – 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 . Opposing armies . Both armies were split into separate parts . The Prussian king had three forces : Napoleon ' s main force at Jena consisted of about 150 , 000 men in total : Further north , in the vicinity of Auerstedt , the French forces were Bernadotte ' s I Corps ( 20 , 000 strong ) and Davout ' s III Corps ( 27 , 000 ) . Overview . The battles began when elements of Napoleon ' s main force encountered Hohenlohe ' s troops near Jena . Initially only 48 , 000 strong , the Emperor took advantage of his carefully planned and flexible dispositions to rapidly build up a crushing superiority . The Prussians were slow to grasp the situation , and slower still to react . Before Ruchel ' s 15 , 000 men could arrive from Weimar , Hohenlohe ' s force was routed . Nevertheless , it was a fierce battle , and Napoleon mistakenly believed that he had faced the main body of the Prussian army . Further north at Auerstedt , both Davout and Bernadotte received orders to come to Napoleon ' s aid . Davout attempted to comply via Ekartsberg ; Bernadotte , via Dornburg . Davout ' s route south , however , was blocked by the Prussian main force of 55 , 000 men , including the Prussian King , the Duke of Brunswick and Field Marshals von Möllendorf and von Kalckreuth . A savage battle ensued . Although outnumbered two to one , Davout ' s superbly trained and disciplined III Corps endured repeated attacks before eventually taking the offensive and putting the Prussians to flight . Though in sight of the battle , Bernadotte took no steps to come to Davout ' s aid , for which he was later censured by Napoleon . Battle of Jena . Planning . Prussia ' s main weakness in 1806 was a very weak high command structure that included command positions being held by multiple officers . One such example is the position of Chief of Staff , held by three different officers , General Phull ( or Pfuel ) , Colonel Gerhard von Scharnhorst and Colonel Rudolf Massenbach . This confusing system led to delays and complexities that resulted in over a month ' s delay before the final order of battle was prepared . The Prussian army was divided into three armies drawn from across Prussia . Another obstacle facing the Prussians was the creation of a unified plan of battle . Five main plans emerged for discussion ; however , protracted planning and deliberating shifted the initiative to the French . Thus , the Prussian plans became mere reactions to Napoleon ' s movements . Although Prussia had begun its mobilization almost a month before France , Napoleon had kept a high state of readiness after the Russian refusal to accept the peace from the Third Coalition . Napoleon conceived a plan to force Prussia into a decisive battle , like Austerlitz , and pre - empt the Prussian offensive . Napoleon had a major portion of his Grande Armée in position in present day Baden - Württemberg in southwest Germany , and thus decided on a northeast advance into Saxony and onto Berlin . The Battle of Jena . The battle commenced on the morning of 14 October 1806 , on the grassy fields near Jena . The first movements of the French Army were attacks on either flank of the Prussian lines . This gave the supporting armies ( making up the central attack ) time to get into position . These skirmishes had little decisive success save for a breakthrough by the French General Saint - Hilaire who attacked and isolated the Prussian left flank . At this time , French Marshal Michel Ney had completed his maneuvers and had taken up position as ordered by Napoleon . However , once in position Ney decided to attack the Prussian line despite having no orders to do so . This proved to be an almost disastrous move . Ney ' s initial assault was a success , but he found himself overextended and under heavy fire from Prussian artillery . Recognizing this distressed salient , the Prussian general ordered a counterattack and enveloped Ney ' s forces ; Ney formed them into a square to protect all their flanks . Napoleon recognized the situation Ney was in and ordered Marshal Lannes to shift from the center of attack to help Ney . This action would leave the French center weak . However , Napoleon deployed his reserve Imperial Guard units to hold the French center until Ney could be rescued . This adaptability was one of Napoleon ' s greatest strengths . He kept his Imperial Guard under his direct command , and could order them to take positions depending on the situation that the battle presented him . This rescue worked and Ney ' s unit was able to retreat from the battle . Although the French were in a troubling situation at this moment , the Prussian commanders did not take the initiative to push at the French weaknesses . This would later be considered their undoing . The inactivity of the Prussian infantry left them open to artillery and light infantry fire . One Prussian general later wrote " the area around the entrance of the village was the scene of the most terrible blood - letting and slaughter " . It was at this time around one p . m . that Napoleon decided to make the decisive move . He ordered his flanks to push hard and try to break through the Prussian flanks and encircle the main center army , while the French center would try to crush the Prussian center . The attacks on the flanks proved to be a success and caused many of the Prussian divisions on the flanks to flee the battlefield . With its flanks broken , the Prussian army was forced to withdraw and Napoleon had won another battle . In total the Prussian army suffered 10 , 000 casualties , 15 , 000 prisoners of war taken and had lost 150 artillery guns . Battle of Auerstedt . General Etienne Gudin ' s Division were on the move from Naumburg before 6 : 30 a . m . By 7 a . m . the 1st Chasseurs were stopped cold in their tracks outside of Poppel by Prussian cavalry and artillery . There was a heavy fog that had lifted just as they approached the village . Once Davout became aware of the Prussian force , he ordered Gudin to deploy his force at Hassenhausen . The Prussian commander on the field was Friedrich Wilhelm Carl von Schmettau . His division was actually under orders to proceed down the very road that Davout was on , to block his advance in the Kösen Pass . While Schmettau ' s troops were deploying to attack Hassenhausen , Blücher arrived with his cavalry and deployed on his left . Together they attacked Gudin ' s troops and pushed them back to the village . Wartensleben arrived at 8 : 30 a . m . with Brunswick , who ordered his infantry to the left flank and his cavalry to the right . The rest of the French cavalry arrived at 9 a . m . and was placed on Gudin ' s left . General Louis Friant ' s Division and the 12 - pound artillery arrived at 9 : 30 a . m . and moved in squares on Gudin ' s right . The advance of the French squares forced Blucher ' s cavalry back . Seeing no other option available he ordered his cavalry to attack . At this very moment two of Wartensleben ' s regiments attacked Hassenhausen . Everything failed : three Prussian cavalry regiments were routed and the infantry fell back . At this critical point , Brunswick needed to take drastic action . Shortly before 10 a . m . he ordered a full assault on Hassenhausen . By 10 a . m . Brunswick was carried from the field mortally wounded along with Schmettau who was also badly wounded . With the loss of these two commanders the Prussian command broke down . The Prussian army was in danger of collapse . Oswald ' s infantry and the Prince of Orange , the later William I of the Netherlands , arrived about 10 : 30 a . m . , and the King made his only decision of the day , to split Orange ' s command in two , half to each flank . On the French side , Morand ' s Division arrived and was sent to secure Gudin ' s left . Davout could now see that the Prussians were wavering , so at 11 a . m . he ordered his infantry to counter - attack . By noon Schmettau ' s center was broken and forced back over the Lissbach Stream , Blucher ' s cavalry was blown , and Wartensleben was trying to reposition his troops . The Prussians realized all was now lost and the King ordered a withdrawal . Results . Napoleon initially did not believe that Davout ' s single Corps had defeated the Prussian main body unaided , and responded to the first report by saying " Tell your Marshal he is seeing double " , a reference to Davout ' s poor eyesight . As matters became clearer , however , the Emperor was unstinting in his praise . Bernadotte was severely censured and came within an ace of being dismissed on the spot — despite being within earshot of Auerstedt and within marching distance of Jena , he ignored his orders and did not participate in either battle . Davout was made Duke of Auerstedt . Lannes , the hero of Jena , was not so honored , possibly because Napoleon judged it best for reasons of prestige to keep the glory for himself . On the Prussian side , Brunswick was mortally wounded at Auerstedt , and over the next few days the remaining forces were unable to mount any serious resistance to Murat ' s ruthless cavalry pursuit . In the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October , a large body of Prussian troops became prisoners with hardly a shot being fired . Bernadotte crushed Eugene Frederick Henry , Duke of Württemberg ' s Prussian Reserve on the 17th in the Battle of Halle . Davout led his exhausted III Corps into Berlin on 25 October . Hohenlohe ' s force surrendered on 28 October after the Battle of Prenzlau , followed soon after by the Capitulation of Pasewalk . The French ran down and captured several small Prussian columns at Boldekow on 30 October , Anklam on 1 November , Wolgast on 3 November , and Wismar on 5 November . The corps of Blücher and Winning were destroyed at the Battle of Lübeck on 6 and 7 November . The Siege of Magdeburg ended on 11 November with Ney ' s capture of the fortress . Isolated Prussian resistance remained , but Napoleon ' s primary foe was now Russia , and the Battle of Eylau awaited . Martin van Creveld has stated about the effects on command that : Influences . The battle proved most influential in demonstrating the need for liberal reforms in what was then still a very much feudal Prussian state and army . Important Prussian reformers like Scharnhorst , Gneisenau and Clausewitz served at the battle . Their reforms , together with civilian reforms instituted over the following years , began Prussia ' s transformation into a modern state , which took the forefront in expelling France from Germany and eventually assumed a leading role on the continent . The German philosopher Hegel , who was then a professor at the University of Jena , is said to have completed his " chef d ' œuvre " , the " Phenomenology of Spirit " , while the battle raged . Hegel considered this battle to be " the end of the history " , in terms of evolution of human societies towards what we would call the " universal homogeneous state " Napoleon built a bridge in Paris which he named after this battle . When he was defeated , the Prussian contingent of the allied forces of occupation was so incensed by its name that they wished to destroy the bridge . Talleyrand ( temporarily ) renamed the bridge after the French Grand Army , which dissuaded them from doing so . The station of the Paris Metro at the bridge has the same name . The battle is depicted in the alternate history / fantasy novel " Black Powder War " by Naomi Novik , the third in the " Temeraire " series .