Capitulation of Erfurt In the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806 a large body of troops from the Kingdom of Prussia under Lieutenant General the Prince of Orange surrendered to Marshal Joachim Murat at the city of Erfurt . The Prussian soldiers were demoralized by their shattering defeat at the Battle of Jena - Auerstedt on 14 October and unwilling to put up much resistance . The event occurred during the War of the Fourth Coalition , part of the Napoleonic Wars . Erfurt is located on the Gera River about 40 kilometers west of Jena . Only eight days before , Emperor Napoleon I of France invaded the Electorate of Saxony with a large army and quickly inflicted two minor setbacks on his enemies . This was followed by the catastrophe of 14 October . In the aftermath of the battle , the organization of the Prussian army disintegrated . Large numbers of Prussian fugitives from the battle entered Erfurt and could not be induced to leave . When Murat ' s French cavalry arrived before the city , it was surrendered without any fighting . Background . At the beginning of October , three Prussian armies assembled in the Electorate of Saxony under Feldmarschall Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick , General of Infantry Frederick Louis , Prince of Hohenlohe - Ingelfingen , and General of Infantry Ernst von Rüchel . Hohenlohe ' s army included 20 , 000 Saxons . In the center , Brunswick concentrated at Erfurt , Hohenlohe defended Rudolstadt in the east , and Rüchel held Gotha and Eisenach in the west . General Karl August , Grand Duke of Saxe - Weimar - Eisenach ' s division of Rüchel ' s right wing felt south toward the French line of communications . General Eugene Frederick Henry , Duke of Württemberg ' s Reserve lay far to the north at Magdeburg . On 8 October , Napoleon ' s 180 , 000 troops began crossing the Saxon border through the Franconian Forest . His troops formed in a " batallion carré " ( battalion square ) made up of three columns of two army corps each , plus the Cavalry Reserve , Imperial Guard , and some Bavarian allies . On 9 October , the French won the minor Battle of Schleiz . The next day , Marshal Jean Lannes ' V Corps crushed the division of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia at the Battle of Saalfeld , killing the young prince . On 12 October , Napoleon ordered his army to make a left wheel to the west . The Prussian generals decided to retreat , using the Saale River to protect their flank . Brunswick marched the main army north from Weimar , while Hohenlohe stood on the defensive near Jena as a flank guard . Rüchel ' s orders were to stay at Weimar until Saxe - Weimar returned with his division . The double Battle of Jena - Auerstedt occurred on 14 October as Napoleon attacked Hohenlohe while Brunswick ran into Marshal Louis Davout ' s III Corps . The troops of Brunswick , Hohenlohe , and Rüchel were driven in rout from the two battlefields . Brunswick ' s army lost 13 , 000 men and its commander was mortally wounded . Hohenlohe and Rüchel suffered as many as 25 , 000 casualties . At 5 : 00 AM on 15 October , Napoleon began issuing orders to exploit his tremendous victory at Jena . He heard about Marshal Louis Davout ' s triumph at Auerstedt four hours later . Murat ' s Cavalry Reserve was split , with half directed to advance west to Erfurt and half northwest to Buttelstedt . Napoleon sent Marshal Michel Ney ' s VI Corps toward Erfurt to back up Murat ' s horsemen , and ordered Marshal Nicolas Soult ' s IV Corps to Buttelstedt . The emperor instructed Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte ' s untouched I Corps to march to Bad Bibra north of Auerstedt so that he could prevent the fleeing Prussians from escaping east across the Elbe River . In consideration for the troops that had done the hardest fighting on the 14th , he allowed Marshal Jean Lannes ' V Corps and Marshal Pierre Augereau ' s VII Corps to remain near Weimar and Davout ' s III Corps to march a short distance to Naumburg . Capitulation . After the battles on the 14th , a large number of refugees appeared at Erfurt . At first they were refused entrance , but later the gates were opened and soon the city thronged with at least 12 , 000 demoralized soldiers . Attempts were made by some officers to return the troops to their regiments , but the men refused to cooperate . By noon on the 15th , Murat was near Erfurt with the leading elements of his cavalry . General - Major von Jung - Larisch stood in battle line in front of the city . His position was poor , with the Gera River at his back , so he ordered his infantry to retreat into the city . Murat ' s horsemen charged and drove Jung - Larisch ' s cavalry back across the river , capturing an artillery battery . Losses for this action are not given . The Duke of Saxe - Weimar ' s division , which missed the 14 October battle , soon appeared west of Erfurt . Feldmarschall Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf attempted to organize an orderly retreat from Erfurt northwest to Bad Langensalza , ordering Saxe - Weimar to cover the move . The wagon train was to lead the retreat , followed by the cavalry , then the infantry . Möllendorf , who had been wounded at Auerstedt , then collapsed and proved unable to carry out the operation . At 2 : 30 PM , Murat sent French Colonel Claude Antoine Hippolyte Préval into Erfurt under a flag of truce . The Frenchman demanded an immediate surrender , which the Prussian fortress commandant at first refused . Saxe - Weimar waited near Erfurt in the hope that large numbers of troops would join the retreat , but few did so . In the evening , Saxe - Weimar withdrew toward Langensalza . After joining with General Johann Friedrich Winning ' s detachment , he commanded 12 , 000 troops and 24 guns in 14 battalions , 30 squadrons , and three batteries . With Möllendorf out of the picture , the resolve of the fortress commandant weakened and broke . That night , he signed the articles of capitulation . Included in the terms were the surrender of the Petersberg fortress and large quantities of gunpowder and munitions . Altogether , about 12 , 000 Prussian and Saxon troops under command of the Prince of Orange became prisoners and 65 artillery pieces were captured . Colors ( in parentheses ) from the following units were surrendered to the victors , Infantry Regiments " Grenadier Garde " # 6 ( 2 ) , " Schenck " # 9 ( 4 ) , " Wedel " # 10 ( 4 ) , " Arnim " # 13 ( 1 ) , " Brunswick " # 21 ( 1 ) , " Winning " # 23 ( 4 ) , " Zenge " # 24 ( 1 ) , " Alt - Larisch " # 26 ( 1 ) , " Hohenlohe " # 32 ( 2 ) , " Prince Ferdinand " # 34 ( 2 ) , " Prince Heinrich " # 35 ( 2 ) , " Zweiffel " # 45 ( 1 ) , " Hessen " # 48 ( 4 ) , and " Wartensleben " # 59 ( 2 ) , and Dragoon Regiment " Irwing " # 3 ( 4 ) . Another authority states that between 9 , 000 and 14 , 000 Prussian troops fell into French hands at the surrender . The number may include up to 8 , 000 wounded . At the time of the capitulation , Murat had about 16 , 000 troops near Erfurt . The 7 , 000 cavalry immediately available included General of Division Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty ' s 1st Cuirassier Division , General of Division Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul ' s 2nd Cuirassier Division , and General of Division Marc Antoine de Beaumont ' s 3rd Dragoon Division . As the first batch of prisoners were being marched from Erfurt to Frankfort - on - the - Main , the column encountered 50 troopers of the " Pletz " Hussar Regiment # 3 . The hussars scattered the inadequate escort and released between 4 , 000 and 5 , 000 prisoners . When he heard about it , an enraged Napoleon blamed Murat for the fiasco . However , Saxe - Weimar was unable to exploit this success . He tried to round up the released prisoners but they all ran away , and none could be returned to their units . Result . Erfurt ' s surrender permitted Napoleon to reroute his line of communication from Mainz on the Rhine ' s west bank , to Frankfort - on - the - Main , Eisenach , Gotha , and Erfurt . He abandoned the more circuitous route through Würzburg and Forchheim . After the surrender , Murat advanced to Langensalza with his three divisions but Saxe - Weimar was able to break contact . General of Division Louis Klein ' s 1st Dragoon Division , General of Division Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc ' s 4th Dragoon Division , and General of Brigade Antoine Lasalle ' s light cavalry pursued the Prussians farther to the east , near Weißensee and Buttelstedt . The Battle of Halle occurred on 17 October between Bernadotte ' s corps and Duke Eugene of Württemberg ' s Reserve . In the action , the French inflicted 5 , 000 casualties on the Reserve . Historian Francis Loraine Petre remarked that Erfurt was the first of a series of " pusillanimous capitulations " by Prussian fortress commanders . He wrote that Napoleon ' s plans might have been delayed if the city had held out for just a few days . Instead , the French emperor was able to immediately launch the entire army after his fleeing enemies .