Jena-Auerstaedt

Jena, Auerstaedt

The Triumph of the Eagle

The crushing defeat inflicted on the Prussian Army by Napoleon on the 14th October 1806, was actually the combined result of two simultaneous but quite different battles. Napoleon's Army which easily out-numbered its enemies, met the Prussian and Saxon combined force under Hohenlohe at Jena.

Strictly speaking, this victory was therefore brilliant but it came as no surprise

On the other hand, the battle of Auerstaedt, which took place several miles to the north at the same time, remains one of the greatest all-time military exploits. It was there that Davout and only his 3rd Corps, faced the King of Prussia's main Army, and realized the amazing feat of routing the elite of the army that thought itself the best in the world.

The Emperor's skills weren't any less remarkable in the development of the strategic phase, in the organisation of the French Army or in the placing of the reserves. Napoleon directed the progress of his Corps brilliantly while his opponents hesitated and got tied up in endless discussions. The Eagle thought quickly, acted quickly and could only win.

None of Napoleon's other victories was as effective or as total as the double blow inflicted on the 14th October 1806. At Jena and at Auerstaedt, the Prussian Army was routed and soon after annihilated. Lannes was the hero of Jena, Davout the victor of Auerstaedt.

Both of them were the artisans of the « Triumph of the Eagle ».

In 120 full-colour pages, illustrated with 100 documents and portraits of the period, 50 plates of uniforms drawn by computer artist André Jouineau and no less than 17 campaigns and battle maps, Dr F.-G. Hourtoulle enables us to relive these great moments in Napoleonic military history, hour by hour and in the smallest detail.