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In the Capitulation of Erfurt on 16 October 1806 a large body of troops from the Kingdom of Prussia under Lieutenant General the Prince of Orange surrendered to Marshal Joachim Murat at the city of Erfurt. The Prussian soldiers were demoralized by their shattering defeat at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14 October and unwilling to put up much resistance. The event occurred during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Erfurt is located on the Gera River about 40 kilometers west of Jena. Only eight days before, Emperor Napoleon I of France invaded the Electorate of Saxony with a large army and quickly inflicted two minor setbacks on his enemies. This was followed by the catastrophe of 14 October. In the aftermath of the battle, the organization of the Prussian army disintegrated. Large numbers of Prussian fugitives from the battle entered Erfurt and could not be induced to leave. When Murat's French cavalry arrived before the city, it was surrendered without any fighting. ==Background== At the beginning of October, three Prussian armies assembled in the Electorate of Saxony under Feldmarschall Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, General of Infantry Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, and General of Infantry Ernst von Rüchel. Hohenlohe's army included 20,000 Saxons.〔Chandler, David. ''The Campaigns of Napoleon.'' New York: Macmillan, 1966. 456〕 In the center, Brunswick concentrated at Erfurt, Hohenlohe defended Rudolstadt in the east, and Rüchel held Gotha and Eisenach in the west. General Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach's division of Rüchel's right wing felt south toward the French line of communications. General Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württemberg's Reserve lay far to the north at Magdeburg.〔Chandler ''Campaigns'', 459〕 On 8 October, Napoleon's 180,000 troops began crossing the Saxon border through the Franconian Forest. His troops formed in a ''batallion carré'' (battalion square) made up of three columns of two army corps each, plus the Cavalry Reserve, Imperial Guard, and some Bavarian allies.〔Chandler ''Campaigns'', 467-468〕 On 9 October, the French won the minor Battle of Schleiz.〔Petre, F. Loraine. ''Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia 1806''. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd., 1993 (1907). ISBN 1-85367-145-2. 84-85〕 The next day, Marshal Jean Lannes' V Corps crushed the division of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia at the Battle of Saalfeld, killing the young prince.〔Chandler ''Campaigns'', 470-471〕 On 12 October, Napoleon ordered his army to make a left wheel to the west. The Prussian generals decided to retreat, using the Saale River to protect their flank. Brunswick marched the main army north from Weimar, while Hohenlohe stood on the defensive near Jena as a flank guard.〔Chandler ''Campaigns'', 472-473〕 Rüchel's orders were to stay at Weimar until Saxe-Weimar returned with his division.〔Petre, 139〕 The double Battle of Jena-Auerstedt occurred on 14 October as Napoleon attacked Hohenlohe while Brunswick ran into Marshal Louis Davout's III Corps. The troops of Brunswick, Hohenlohe, and Rüchel were driven in rout from the two battlefields. Brunswick's army lost 13,000 men and its commander was mortally wounded. Hohenlohe and Rüchel suffered as many as 25,000 casualties.〔Chandler, David. ''Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.'' New York: Macmillan, 1979. ISBN 0-02-523670-9. 214-216〕 At 5:00 AM on 15 October, Napoleon began issuing orders to exploit his tremendous victory at Jena. He heard about Marshal Louis Davout's triumph at Auerstedt four hours later. Murat's Cavalry Reserve was split, with half directed to advance west to Erfurt and half northwest to Buttelstedt. Napoleon sent Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps toward Erfurt to back up Murat's horsemen, and ordered Marshal Nicolas Soult's IV Corps to Buttelstedt. The emperor instructed Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte's untouched I Corps to march to Bad Bibra north of Auerstedt so that he could prevent the fleeing Prussians from escaping east across the Elbe River. In consideration for the troops that had done the hardest fighting on the 14th, he allowed Marshal Jean Lannes' V Corps and Marshal Pierre Augereau's VII Corps to remain near Weimar and Davout's III Corps to march a short distance to Naumburg.〔Petre, F. Loraine. ''Napoleon's Conquest of Prussia 1806''. London: Lionel Leventhal Ltd., 1993 (1907). ISBN 1-85367-145-2. 192-193〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Capitulation of Erfurt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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