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Schematic plan · The Napoleonic Wars

Auerstadt

All battlesBattle of Jena-Auerstedt: engagement 2 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 wingReserveGunsGuns02 km4 kmN

One of the 2 engagements of the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt recorded in the CAA Database of Battles (number 2 in date order). Prussia (Pr Army, 63,500 men under Brunswick) attacked France (Fr III Corps, 27,000 men under Davout) in Prussia. The CAA Database of Battles records 8 hours of fighting on a front of 6 km, a frontal attack, single envelopment, right flank against hasty defense, and that France held. Losses: Prussia 20,000 (31%), France 4,000 (15%).

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

Prussia

Brunswick

UnitArmMen
Prussia left wingInfantry14,412
Prussia centreInfantry19,216
Prussia right wingInfantry14,412
Prussia reserveInfantry12,010
Prussia artillery (230 guns)Artillery3,450
BrunswickCommander—
In this plan63,500

France

Davout

UnitArmMen
France left wingInfantry6,336
France centreInfantry8,448
France right wingInfantry6,336
France reserveInfantry5,280
France artillery (40 guns)Artillery600
DavoutCommander—
In this plan27,000

What the sources report

PrussiaFrance
Strength, this plan63,50027,000
Losses, this plan20,0004,000

In the CAA Database of Battles

CDB90 no. 119, “Auerstadt”, compiled for the US Army to study what decides battles. These are the figures a what-if engine can be calibrated against.

Fighting
8 hours
Winner
the defender
Terrain
Rolling, Mixed
Weather
Dry, Sunny, Temperate, Autumn, Temperate
Defender’s posture
Hasty defense
Front width
6 km (attacker), 6 km (defender)
ForceStrengthLossesHorseGunsPlan and outcome
Prussiaattacker63,50020,000—230Frontal attack; Single envelopment; Right flank; Repulse; Withdrew with heavy losses
Francedefender27,0004,000—40Defensive/offensive plan; Single envelopment; Right flank; Breakthrough; Pursued

Attacker’s advantages none recorded

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.