Time Astra

Schematic plan · The Napoleonic Wars

Jena

All battlesBattle of Jena-Auerstedt: engagement 1 of 2The event in the chronicleWikipedia
A schematic plan, generated from the statistics of the CAA Database of Battles: the armies' size and width, the hours of fighting, the plan of attack and the outcome are as recorded; the ground and the positions are not.
Rolling, Mixed groundCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveCentreLeft wingRight wingReserveHorseHorseHorseHorseGunsGuns02 km4 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 1 in date order). France (Fr Army, 96,000 men under Napoleon I) attacked Prussia (Pr Army, 53,000 men under Hohenlohe) in Prussia. The CAA Database of Battles records 9.3 hours of fighting on a front of 9 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that France won. Losses: France 4,000 (4%), Prussia 30,000 (57%).

This plan is generated from those figures. It shows the shape of the battle the database describes: the size and width of the armies, the plan of attack and the outcome. It does not show where the units actually stood.

The armies

France

Napoleon I

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry19,630
France centreInfantry26,173
France right wingInfantry19,630
France reserveInfantry16,358
France cavalry of the leftCavalry6,250
France cavalry of the rightCavalry6,250
France artillery (114 guns)Artillery1,710
Napoleon ICommander—
In this plan96,001

Prussia

Hohenlohe

UnitArmMen
Prussia left wingInfantry9,617
Prussia centreInfantry12,822
Prussia right wingInfantry9,617
Prussia reserveInfantry8,014
Prussia cavalry of the leftCavalry5,565
Prussia cavalry of the rightCavalry5,565
Prussia artillery (120 guns)Artillery1,800
HohenloheCommander—
In this plan53,000

What the sources report

FrancePrussia
Strength, this plan96,00053,000
Losses, this plan4,00030,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 118, “Jena”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
9.3 hours
Winner
the attacker
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
9 km (attacker), 9 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Franceattacker96,0004,00012,500114Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Breakthrough; Pursued
Prussiadefender53,00030,00011,130120Defensive/offensive plan; Frontal attack; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses

Attacker’s advantages leadership +2 · training +1 · initiative +1 · combat effectiveness +1

CDB90 (US Army Concepts Analysis Agency, 1990), tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold; data under ODC-BY 1.0.

Notes

On this reconstruction

Generated automatically from the statistics in CDB90. Frontages, depths, distances, the order of events and the terrain are schematic: they follow the recorded strengths, front widths, hours of fighting, tactical plan and outcome, not maps or accounts of the battle. The sources give no hours; the timing is conjectural.

Sources

Facts gathered from Wikidata (CC0), Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and Wikimedia Commons (licence per file); the plan and its text are timeastra’s own.