By ten o’clock the fog lifted, and the warm rays of the autumn sun showed the dense masses of the French advancing towards the middle of the plateau.  Hohenlohe now saw the full extent of his error and despatched an urgent message to Ruechel for aid.  It was too late.  The French centre, led by Lannes, began to push back the Prussian lines on the village named Vierzehn Heiligen.  It was in vain that Hohenlohe’s choice squadrons flung themselves on the serried masses in front:  the artillery and musketry fire disordered them, while French dragoons were ready to profit by their confusion.  The village was lost, then retaken by a rally of the Prussians, then lost again when Ney was reinforced; and when the full vigour of the French attack was developed by the advance of Soult and Augereau on either wing, Napoleon launched his reserves, his Guard, and Murat’s squadrons on the disordered lines.  The impact was irresistible, and Hohenlohe’s force was swept away.  Then it was that Ruechel’s force drew near, and strove to stem the rout.  Advancing steadily, as if on parade, his troops for a brief space held up the French onset; but neither the dash of the Prussian horse nor the bravery of the foot-soldiers could dam that mighty tide, which laid low the gallant leader and swept his lines away into the general wreck.[107]

In the headlong flight before Murat’s horsemen, the fugitives fell in with another beaten array, that of Brunswick.  At Jena the Prussians, if defeated, were not disgraced:  before the first shot was fired their defeat was a mathematical certainty.  At the crisis of the battle they had but 47,400 men at hand, while Napoleon then disposed of 83,600 combatants.[108] But at Auerstaedt they were driven back and disgraced.  There they had a decided superiority in numbers, having more than 35,000 of their choicest troops, while opposite to them stood only the 27,000 men of Davoust’s corps.

Hitherto Davoust had been remarkable rather for his dog-like devotion to Napoleon than for any martial genius; and the brilliant Marmont had openly scoffed at his receiving the title of Marshal.  But, under his quiet exterior and plodding habits, there lay concealed a variety of gifts which only needed a great occasion to shine forth and astonish the world.[109] The time was now at hand.  Frederick William and Brunswick were marching from Auerstaedt to make good their retreat on the Elbe, when their foremost horsemen, led by the gallant Bluecher, saw a solid wall of French infantry loom through the morning fog.  It was part of Davoust’s corps, strongly posted in and around the village of Hassenhausen.