Napoleon Smashes Prussia: Jena 1806

an epic history TV history March collaboration supported by our sponsor the great courses Plus in December 1805 at the battle of Austerlitz napoleon bonaparte emperor of the french won a crushing victory against the joint forces of austria and russia Napoleon now dominated Europe able to hand out spoils as he saw fit in February 1806 he sent an army led by marshal Messina to overthrow the King of Naples who were dared to side with his enemies and gave his throne to his own brother Joseph instead another brother Louie who was made king of Holland his German allies Bavaria and vertibird were elevated to the status of kingdoms while Napoleon made himself protector of the Confederation of the Rhine a new alliance of German states that would contribute sixty thousand troops to his army in recognition of the new reality Emperor Francis of Austria formally dissolved the Holy Roman Empire founded by Charlemagne a thousand years before but now without influence or purpose Austria had been humiliated France remained at war with Britain Sweden and Russia but in the summer of 1806 all eyes were on Prussia [Music] the Prussian King Frederick William the third regarded Napoleon with deep mistrust and had been about to join the coalition against him when news arrived of its disastrous defeat at Austerlitz he was heavily influenced by his wife the celebrated and popular Queen Louise who detested France and Napoleon she led the influential war party at the Prussian court matters came to a head over Hanover a German state which had belonged to British King George the third been occupied by the French and given by Napoleon to Prussia as compensation for other territorial changes now the Prussians learned that Napoleon had secretly offered to give Hanover back to Britain in exchange for peace Frederick's advisors now persuaded him that war was the only honorable course but Prussia then made a basic strategic blunder sending an ultimatum to Napoleon without consulting its new allies in the fourth coalition their forces were too far away to help Prussia who would now face Napoleon's Grande armée with just the small state of Saxony for support [Music] in 1806 the prussian army had a fearsome reputation that dated back fifty years to the reign of Frederick the great Napoleon a student of history regarded it with respect but Russia's army had been allowed to rest on its laurels its generals were hold its staff work hindered by bureaucracy and personal rivalries its movements ponderous and predictable Prussian soldiers however could be relied on to fight with pride and determination while Prussian cavalry was regarded as amongst the best in Europe in October 1806 Napoleon invaded Saxony with an army of a hundred and sixty-six thousand men and 256 guns advancing in three columns the French crossed the mountain forests of the Turing de velde along roads carefully Rekha noted by scouts and spies Napoleon intended to threaten leipzig and force a decisive battle with the Prussian army which he believed was nyet gira the Prussians were in fact further west concentrating near Airport on the west bank of the river Salah its commander the Duke of Brunswick had hoped to threaten the flank of Napoleon's advance but wrong-footed by the speed of the French he now ordered a retreat north to find a new defensive line on the 10th of October at South felled Marshall lands five core clashed with a Prussian advanced guard commanded by Prince Louie Frederick the Kings cousin the Prussian force was routed and Prince Louie himself killed in combats with a quartermaster of the French tenth who's ours three days later LAN made contact with a large Prussian force near Yaya and sent news to Napoleon the French Emperor believing he'd found the main Prussian army rapidly issued orders for his Corps to concentrate for battle that unit bernadotte's one core and Davos three core were to cross the Sala and fall on the Prussian flank from the north but Napoleon was wrong LAN faced a 35,000 strong prussian rear guard commanded by General Howe handler the main Prussian army 52,000 men under the Duke of Brunswick was further north moving straight into the path of Davos three Corps the Battle of llena began at 6:30 a.m. on the 14th of October in thick fog Marshall lands v corps already had a toehold on the plateau west of the town and river his first task was to drive back the Prussians and win rootin for the rest of the French army arriving by the hour to deploy his infantry led the way and fierce fighting broke out for the villages of cos beta cluesive it's a loot Sirona meanwhile Roger rose seven core advanced through a ravine emerging onto the plateau on lands left flank while salts for corn Plains deep tracks to form on his right napoleon joined lan in the center of the battlefield organizing a 25 gun battery to support the attack on verts and Halligan the village was one but then lost to a determined Prussian counter-attack on the right around 10 a.m. salts infantry secured close of its but was counter-attacked on its right flank near rhadigan a decisive charge by salts light cavalry drove off the Prussians routing their infantry and capturing two enemy colors as six Corps began to arrive on the plateau its fearless but impetuous commander marshal ney ignored orders and dived into the fighting around threats and Halligan becoming briefly cut off by a Prussian counter-attack and having to be rescued by Guard cavalry general her handler was expecting the arrival of 15,000 more troops under general rochelle at any moment until then he remained largely inactive shoring up his line and ordering limited counter-attacks but he had run out of time Napoleon had begun the day with just 25 thousand men by 12:30 a steady stream of reinforcements brought his strength up to 96 thousand as the Emperor rode past the Imperial Guard one young soldier eager to be sent into action called out for word Napoleon stopped and demanded to know who had spoken then rebuked the soldier as a beardless youth who ought not to offer a vice until he too had commanded in 30 battles but the moment had arrived although the guard to its frustration main did reserve the other frenchcore were ordered forward in a general attack the prussian army began to give ground at first it kept its discipline but then disintegrated into a general rout harrah's cavalry were launched in pursuit riding down and savoring hundreds of fleeing Prussians general Rachelle's two divisions finally arrived at the worst possible moment they briefly held up five cause advance but were soon outflanked broken up by cannon fire and charged out by French curiosity Aires [Music] meanwhile 12 miles to the north near our state marshal devil was marching Southwest expecting to fall on the Prussian left wing at yenna instead he encountered the Duke of Brunswick Maine Prussian army heading north to take up new positions Davos three Corps 27,000 men and 48 guns was about to face odds of two to one while bernadotte's one Corps which had orders to support Devon was nowhere to be seen dafu nicknamed the iron marshal showed no signs of alarm he formed his first division into a defensive line centered on the village of Hasan housen his infantry forming squares to repel a series of cavalry charges by general Blucas advance guard his other two infantry division's arrived to strengthen the light standing firm in the face of repeated Prussian attacks but prussian movements were slow and poorly coordinated nor did they use their numerical advantage to try and outflank devil at a crucial moment the Duke of Brunswick was shot through the eyes but wounded that proved fatal King Frederick William himself took command several Russian units remained uncommitted but the King convinced he faced the main French army under Napoleon dithered around 12:15 marshal de veau counter-attack Prussian army turned and fled Dabu had won a stunning victory against the odds but as a heavy price his core suffered 25% casualties one man in four killed or wounded while inflicting twice as many losses on the Prussians [Music] when news reached Napoleon that marshal davu had engaged and defeated the main Prussian army he reacted first with disbelief then heaps preys upon the iron marshal later awarding him the title Duke of our stat marshal Bernadotte in contrast was nearly court-martialed for failing to support davu Napoleon's army began a masterful pursuit of the beat impressions giving them no time to regather their strength two weeks after the twin battles of llena our stat Napoleon's troops led by Davos heroic three Corps entered Berlin the next day General Howe had loja surrendered at Prince 'la at Lubeck General Blucher and 20,000 Prussians were driven out of the city in heavy fighting and forced to surrender while 25,000 Prussians besieged at Magdeburg surrendered to marshal ney brushes army had been devastated by a Napoleonic blitzkrieg in just 33 days Prussia had lost 20,000 dead 140,000 prisoners 800 guns and 250 standards it was a humiliation that proud Prussians like general blue care would neither forget nor forgive unlike Saxony King Frederick William refused to make peace with Napoleon he continued to hold out in East Prussia trusting in the approaching Russian armies to rescue his kingdom despite another glorious victory for Napoleon and the Grande armée the war was not won yet Napoleon Bonaparte was one of the greatest military commanders of all time but who were some of the worst find out with the great courses plus lecture series history's great military blunders and the lessons they teach a litany of poor leadership misconceived strategy and overconfidence even Napoleon himself makes an appearance you can watch the entire course as part of a free trial with the great courses plus an on-demand video subscription service featuring more than 70 history courses taught by top academics watch on your TV laptop or phone wherever you are at a time to 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Channel: Epic History TV

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Keywords: epic history, epic history tv, napoleon, napoleonic wars, military history, history, jena, auerstadt, prussia, prussian history, bonaparte, european history, 1806, cannon, battles

Id: odPUHTJO8to

Length: 16min 15sec (975 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 26 2018