About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

29 Army Hist. 1 (1994)

handle is hein.milandgov/aryhsy0029 and id is 1 raw text is: ARMY HISTORY TH E PR(WESSIONAL BULLETIN OF ARMY HISTORY P-20-94-2 (No. 29) Washington, DC. Winter 1994 Staff Ride to Jena/Auerstadt Battlefield Stephen L. Bowman In 1806 one of Napo eon Bonaparte's greatest campaigns resulted in the complete destruction of the Prusian Army. Frederick the Great's creation, so !uccssful for fighting in the age of limited, linear wrfare, was crushed by the emotional, patriotic mass .rmy of the French Revolution, led by proven tactical conmmanders under the command and control of rhat briliant rising star. Napoleon The opening of the ratEn states as a result of German unification makes the twin battefields of lena An A zrtat(Auerstedt on newer mapseasily acces sible. The U.S. Army Berlin Brigade chose to use these saI' for a staff ride for its con mmandTers and field g rade off ers. While assigned to the Berlin Brigade, the author had conducted a reconnasance of the battlefield for a iurme staff ride. In April 1992 t` Be rin Brigade scheduled a staff rde to Jena/AurtadtL and invited the atho to lead it The orgarzers Issued a read-ahead packet. enabling all participats to have an undersrand mng of the battle. Both L SO,OOO topographical maps 'n op es of tactical map o ilustrations. showing relative positons during various stages of the battle, were 1icluded. In addition. specific topics were as- s1g11ed to groups of ol icers, requiring them to read and I search in more depth so that they could make presen iaon t ithe fieldoncrainaspe'tso the bane, uhe command hisorian the project ofticer, and the stall ode leader then conducted a detaied recon- n mneof the specifi pins h staf rnd would iit To assist in this eottrn, a local Geran histonan g ed to accompany the group ior both the reconnas- sanc and the staff nde 1tself, adding the advantage of Ii jersonal knowledge of the baulelield, the area as a whole. and such amenties as good eating spots. In final preparation for the staf f ride, all partici tants camne together for a cla that set forth the dafkrnccs between the Frec and Prussian armies,. c's.s tactics, logase ete h 1s adreed ihi mp anfrom the strategi rn prana levels, with tactical discussions left to be completed on the battlefield. The group moved by bus to Tena, arrivg in late evening to ensure a fresh, early start the ilext day. Since unification, Jiea has already begun to grow and modemize, so a com fotable hotel was available to th group. Day one of the staff ride followed the approach march of the French army. Marshal Jean Lannes V Corps moved through lena and sci ed the heights of the Landgrafenberg to allow space for the French army to deby for battle, although Napoleon did not plan to fight for another two days. The terrain clearly reveals the significance of the Prussian decision not to de fend the Landgrafenberg, thus allowing the French to gain the difficult high ground uncontested. Napoleon's oprati nal concept for concentrating has corps rroved to make e Cxcellent sense when seen in terms of the atual errain Stf rnde parmcipans were able t.o 'bsrve tie significance of the intial fghtng for the towns oF Cospeda, Lutaroda, n 'wi/ t llowed h French to mass significant combat power and edused the Prusstancommande, the Prince von lohenlohe, to decide to stand and fight, although his mission wits to screen the withdrawal of the main Prussian army. lI the vicinity of the town of Vierlrehnheihlgen. the armies locked into combat- before Napoleon desred. thanks to the impetuosity of Marshal Machel Ney It w as here that the wel-driled Prussan troops executed hr hinear fonnations with great prison and disc ple. alignig themselves per fectl, then halting out idae the village to del ver the volley fire that FredenAk the Great's armies had so ofen used toblast holes mn the lines of their foes. But the French did not play by those rules. Employing large numbers of skirmishers and a massed arillery battery (Napolcon's first use of what would become astandu 'a v h 'Fr'nch onfire mssive casualties on the Prussian lines, which cortann ued to close ranks as soon a a man fe Napoleon had positoned himself on a hil to the

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most