The MagazineLessons of WarWhat the Prussians learned at the hands of Napoleon.Feb 8, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 20
• By THOMAS RID
 The Cognitive Prussia 1806
It must have been an eerie Monday afternoon, on October 13, 1806. Napoleon rode through Jena, where French troops had already started looting. Hegel, in his study, was working on the last pages of his Phenomenology of Spirit. From a window the philosopher was able to spot “the Emperor” ride out of town: “Truly it is a remarkable sensation to see such an individual on horseback, raising his arm over the world and ruling it,” he later wrote to a friend. Europe was on the eve of one of the most momentous battles of its bloody history. Before sunrise on the next day, the fields still covered by mist, Bonaparte ordered an attack. The previous Friday in Saalfeld, an advance guard under the command of Prince Louis Ferdinand, nephew of Frederick the Great, became encircled by lead units under the command of Jean Lannes, one of France’s most capable generals. The prince, bravely leading a cavalry attack to break through the French lines, lost his life and 1,700 men. Morale in Prussia’s army and its Saxon contingent began slipping. The Duke of Brunswick, who faced up to Napoleon, assembled the bulk of his 161,000 troops 140 miles south of Berlin, by Weimar, Goethe’s hometown, and Jena. To read more, you must be a Weekly Standard Subscriber We're Sorry,
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