Schleiz

In the first clash of the Fourth Coalition, Bernadotte, at the head of Napoleon’s center column, moved against Tauentzien’s Prussian/Saxon division near the village of Schleiz. Tauentzien, realizing that the French were advancing in strength, sent Bila’s troops forward to …

1806-10-09

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In the first clash of the Fourth Coalition, Bernadotte, at the head of Napoleon’s center column, moved against Tauentzien’s Prussian/Saxon division near the village of Schleiz. Tauentzien, realizing that the French were advancing in strength, sent Bila’s troops forward to slow the French advance, while he waited for reinforcements or orders to retreat. Bernadotte did not wait, but swiftly issued orders of his own. Soon Werle’s advance guard moved against the Oschitz Woods, while Drouet attacked Schleiz. Murat’s cavalry reserve was to support the advance, although the countryside was not really suited for mounted troop action. By early afternoon the French could not be stopped and Tauentzien decided to fall back to Auma in an attempt to maintain a link with his outlying commands. The retreat came too late to save one Prussian battalion. Isolated by the French advance, most of the battalion was captured.

Schleiz, Germany

The Battle of Schleiz took place on October 9, 1806 in Schleiz, Germany between a Prussian-Saxon division under Bogislav Friedrich Emanuel von Tauentzien and a part of Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's I Corps under the command of Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon. It was the first clash of the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. As Emperor Napoleon I of France's Grande Armée advanced north through the Frankenwald it struck the left wing of the armies belonging to the Kingdom of Prussia and the Electorate of Saxony, which were deployed on a long front. Schleiz is located 30 kilometers north of Hof and 145 kilometers southwest of Dresden at the intersection of Routes 2 and 94.

Wikipedia: Battle of Schleiz

French

Prussians

Fourth Coalition