Historical Note
At Schleiz the first blood was drawn in the 1806 campaign. It was a small affair between Tauentzien's Division and part of Bernadotte's Corps under the command of Drouet. Murat was present on the field and became the French senior commander. Although under orders to withdraw Tauentzien held his command at Schleiz during the day of October 9, 1806.
By 2:00pm Tauentzien was aware that the French were advancing in force and decided to continue his withdrawal. His flanking force was cut off and some 400 men were killed. It was a bad way for the Prussians to start a war.
Generalmajor Bogislav-Friedrich von Tauentzien :
Today is Oct. 9, 1806, it is 8:00am. You are the flank guard of Hohenlohe's 2nd Army. Presently you
are retreating towards Auma where the army plans to concentrate for a counter attack. Yesterday a
small detachment of yours was pushed out of Saalburg by French cavalry. You have advised Hohenlohe
of this and you have decided to hold the area around Schleiz pending new orders. To guard your
flanks you have placed one battalion in the Oschitz Woods and sent one battalion and one squadron
to Crispendorf.
For a detailed Prussian and Saxon Order of Battle click HERE.
Maréchal Joachim Murat and
Maréchal Jean Baptiste Bernadotte :
Today is October 9, 1806, it is 8:00am. Yesterday Tilly's cavalry pushed a small battalion of
Prussians out of Saalburg. Upon learning of this the Emperor ordered Bernadotte (not present at the battle)
to attack whatever is in front of him.
Général de Division Jean Baptiste Drouet : You are ordered to attack Schleiz. You will follow Werle from Saalburg but stay on the road to Schleiz. Werle will protect your right flank by clearing the Oschitz Woods.
Général de Brigade Francois Werle : You are the advance guard of your division. You are ordered to take one battalion and advance from Saalburg into the Oschitz woods. You will protect the right flank of your division by clearing the Oschitz woods before they arrive to attack Schleiz. Drouet will assume command of your brigade. Your designated battalion will enter the woods at 8:00am.
Général de Division Jacques Louis Francois Delastre Tilly : You are ordered to follow Drouet and support him in his attacks (following Werle/Drouet).
For a detailed French Order of Battle click HERE.
Schleiz Map :
After Action Report
On October 9, 1806 Tauentzien should have obeyed his orders and continued his withdrawal to Auma where Hohenlohe was concentrating his army for a counterattack. He thought that once Hohenlohe received his message about the French pushing his troops out of Saalburg on October 8 that he would receive new orders.
Pending these new orders he positioned the Rechten Regiment in line west of Industriestrasse supported by the Winkel Regiment and Kotsch's battery. General Major von Zweiffel was ordered to hold Heinrichsruth and the light troops were placed in the Oschitz woods east of the Zollgrun road. The Bila Hussars were in the open ground between Schleiz and Oberbohmsdorf. Prince Clement's light cavalry was west of Schleiz. The 1st Battalion of the Prince Maximilian Regt. was holding Schleiz and the 2nd Battalion and one squadron of the Prince Clement Regiment was sent to Crispendorf to act as flanking guards.
When Napoleon heard about Saalburg he ordered Bernadotte to attack whatever was in front of him. Drouet was then ordered to proceed from Saalburg and attack Schleiz. An advance guard of one battalion under the direct command of Werle was ordered to secure this attack by first clearing the Oschitz Woods.
At 8:00am Werle entered the Oschitz Woods and proceeded directly towards Heinrichsruh. By 9:30am his troops were on the edge of the woods outside Heinrichsruth where they stopped until they were given an order by Drouet at 3:30pm to attack it. Clearly Werle had not only failed to clear the woods but did absolutely nothing for six hours.
At 1:45pm Tauentzien was informed that a strong column of French infantry and cavalry was approaching from Saalburg.
At 3:00pm Drouet and Murat arrived and deployed to attack the Saxon line in front of them. After a brief resistance the Saxons were pushed back with heavy losses of 600 men and Kotsch's battery was overrun.
At 3:45pm Tauentzien ordered his light troops to withdraw from the woods. For the next two hours the cavalry entered into a number of minor skirmishes with the Prussians slowly giving up ground.
By 6:15pm Tauentzien realized he could no longer hold back the French and ordered a withdrawal.
Werle failed in his mission and Murat showed a conservative side which brought success but it took a long time.
Tauentzien's disposition seemed a little strung out and only really held the French at Heinrichsruh. He did not respond in any way to news of the strong French advance and never recalled his flank guard from Crispendorf until 6:15pm. They would never get back before the French would cut them off. If we consider these men lost the Prussian losses would exceed 1200 men, triple the historical losses. In view of this outcome the victory goes to Murat and Drouet.
