Battle
Prince Louis Ferdinand was one of the principal advocates of resuming war against the French.
The French did not have the means to force battle, and the Prussians could have joined their larger forces in nearby Jena, but Prince Louis, apparently ignorant that Lannes's division on the field was but part of his forces (the rest were coming up) and that alone outnumbered him, chose to take a stand on the field. Prince Louis positioned his men on low ground outside the town, with their back to the river, and against the French who were attacking down hill.
Lannes and General Suchet had noticed the Prussians had their back to the river, and estimated the Prussian forces to only be about half the size of V Corps. Lannes battered them with cannon for a bit and when they showed signs of disorganization he ordered a charge by his infantry whilst sending a unit against the flank. Pinned and outnumbered by the French, the Prussian infantry soon began to break under the flank attack and were driven in disorganization under the walls of Saalfeld.
Belatedly seeing his mistake, trying to relieve the pressure Prince Louis put himself at the head of his cavalry and charged the advancing French on the flank. The charge was repulsed and the Prince found himself in close combat with Guindet, quartermaster of the French 10th Hussars, who offered the Prince quarter. Refusing to surrender, the Prince merely replied with a slash to the man's face causing a severe wound, but was run through and killed by the counter blow of the Quartermaster, dying immediately.
The Prussians lost 400 killed and wounded and 20 guns. Over 1,000 were captured including General Bevilaqua, commander of the Saxon forces.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Saalfeld
Famous quotes containing the word battle:
“In the domain of Political Economy, free scientific inquiry meets not merely the same enemies as in all other domains. The peculiar nature of the material it deals with, summons as foes into the field of battle the most violent, mean and malignant passions of the human breast, the Furies of private interest.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“Above the bayonets, mixed and crossed,
Men saw a gray, gigantic ghost
Receding through the battle cloud,
And heard across the tempest loud
The death cry of a nation lost!”
—Will Henry Thompson (1848–1918)
“In a battle all you need to make you fight is a little hot blood and the knowledge that it’s more dangerous to lose than to win.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)