Napoleon crushed Prussia on 14 October 1806 in the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt. Napoleon shattered a Prussian wing at Jena while his marshal Davout, badly outnumbered, beat the main Prussian army at Auerstedt1; together they brought down the state built on the legend of Frederick the Great in a single afternoon.
On 14 October 1806, on the same day and a few miles apart2, two battles destroyed the army of Prussia. At JenaNapoleon crushed a Prussian wing, while at Auerstedt his marshal Davout, badly outnumbered, beat the main Prussian army. Together they brought down the state built on the legend of Frederick the Great in a single afternoon.
A war begun too late
Prussia had stayed out of the war that ended at Austerlitz, then declared war in 1806 with an army still living on its old reputation. Napoleon moved first, marching his corps rapidly through the forests of Thuringia2 to fall on the Prussians before they were ready.
The situation at midnight on 13 October 1806, with the French corps closing on the Prussian armies around Jena and Auerstedt, from the US Military Academy atlas. Public domain
Two fields, one day
At Jena, Napoleon attacked what he believed was the main Prussian army3 and drove it from the field. In truth the larger force lay to the north, where Davout's single corps met it at Auerstedt. Outnumbered more than two to one, Davout held, counterattacked4, and won one of the great victories of the era.
Two battles, one day. The army of Frederick the Great ceased to exist.
The pursuit
What followed was as decisive as the battles. French cavalry rode the broken Prussians into the ground, and fortress after fortress surrendered with barely a fight. Within weeks Napoleon entered Berlin.3
Napoleon rides into Berlin through the Brandenburg Gate on 27 October 1806, less than two weeks after Jena, in a painting by Charles Meynier from 1810. Public domain
What the day decided
Prussia was knocked out of the war and forced into a humiliating peace2. From Berlin, Napoleon proclaimed the Continental System against British trade.3 The shock also drove Prussia to reform its army from the ground up, changes that would help bring Napoleon down less than a decade later.
The reforms born from defeat
Jena-Auerstedt did more than lose a battle; it shattered the myth of the army Frederick the Great had built. The speed of the collapse convinced a generation of Prussian officers that drill and rigid line tactics were no match for Napoleon's flexible corps. In the years that followed, reformers led by Gerhard von Scharnhorst and August von Gneisenau5 rebuilt the army from the ground up: they opened the officer corps to talent rather than birth, created a professional general staff5, and laid the basis for a trained reserve. The humiliation of 1806 was the seed of the Prussian army that would help bring Napoleon down at Leipzig in 1813 and Waterloo in 1815.
Gerhard von Scharnhorst, the leading Prussian military reformer after 1806, in an engraved portrait from the years after his death in 1813. Public domain
Frequently asked questions
What made Jena-Auerstedt in 1806 so remarkable?
Jena-Auerstedt in 1806 destroyed the Prussian army in two battles fought on the same day a few miles apart. At Jena Napoleon crushed a Prussian wing, while at Auerstedt Marshal Davout, outnumbered more than two to one, held and beat the main Prussian army.
When and where was the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt fought, and between whom?
The twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt were fought on 14 October 1806 in Thuringia between Napoleon's France and Prussia, and together they brought down the Prussian state in a single afternoon.
Did Napoleon defeat the main Prussian army himself at Jena in 1806?
No. At Jena in 1806 Napoleon attacked what he believed was the main Prussian army but was in fact a wing, while the larger Prussian force lay to the north at Auerstedt, where Marshal Davout's single corps defeated it despite being outnumbered more than two to one.
Why did Prussia collapse so quickly in 1806?
In 1806 Prussia went to war with an army still living on the old reputation of Frederick the Great, and Napoleon moved first, marching rapidly through Thuringia to strike before the Prussians were ready. After Jena-Auerstedt French cavalry rode down the broken army, fortresses surrendered with barely a fight, and within weeks Napoleon entered Berlin.
What were the consequences of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806?
Jena-Auerstedt in 1806 knocked Prussia out of the war and forced a humiliating peace, and from Berlin Napoleon proclaimed the Continental System against British trade. The shock also drove Prussia to reform its army from the ground up, changes that helped bring Napoleon down less than a decade later.
Who won the Battle of Jena?
The Battle of Jena in 1806, fought on the same day as Auerstedt, was a decisive French victory under Napoleon over Prussia, and together the twin battles destroyed the Prussian army in a single afternoon.
Sources and notes
Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.
Jena is one of 40 battles in Echoes of Battle, told scene by scene, with a real-time tactical mode in the works, and pinned to the ground where Prussia fell in a day.
