Editing Battle of Eylau (section)

==Battle==

===First day===
{{See also|Eylau order of battle}}

[[File:Battle of Preussisch Eylau Map1.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Battle of Eylau in the early stages. French shown in red, Russians in green and Prussians in blue.]]
[[File:Battle of Eylau 1807 - attack of the cemetery, by Jean-Antoine-Siméon.jpg|thumb|Attack of the cemetery, painted by [[Jean-Antoine-Siméon Fort]]]]

Marshal [[Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult|Soult]]'s IV Corps and Marshal [[Joachim Murat|Murat]]'s cavalry were the first French formations to reach the plateau before Eylau at about 14:00 on the 7th. The Russian rearguard under [[Pyotr Bagration|Bagration]] occupied positions on the plateau about a mile in front of Eylau. The French promptly assaulted the positions and were repulsed. Bagration's orders were to offer stiff resistance to gain time for Bennigsen's heavy artillery to pass through Eylau and to join the Russian army in its position beyond Eylau. During the afternoon, the French were reinforced by Marshal [[Pierre François Charles Augereau, duc de Castiglione|Augereau]]'s corps and the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Imperial Guard]], giving him a force of about 45,000 soldiers in all. Under pressure of greatly superior forces, Bagration conducted an orderly retreat to join the main army. It was covered by another rearguard detachment in Eylau that was led by [[Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly|Barclay de Tolly]].

The rearguard action continued when French forces advanced to assault Barclay's forces in the town of Eylau. Historians differ on the reasons. Napoleon later claimed that was on his orders and that the advance had the dual aims of pinning the Russian force to prevent it from retreating yet again and of providing his soldiers with at least some shelter against the terrible cold. Other surviving evidence, however, strongly suggests that the advance was unplanned and occurred as the result of an undisciplined skirmish, which Marshals Soult and Murat should have acted to quell but failed to do so. Whether or not Napoleon and his generals had considered securing the town to provide the soldiers with shelter for the freezing night, the soldiers may have taken action on their own initiative to secure such a shelter. According to [[Marcellin Marbot|Captain Marbot]], the Emperor had told Marshal Augereau that he disliked night fighting, that he wanted to wait until the morning so that he could count on Davout's Corps to come up on the right wing and Ney's on the left and that the high ground before Eylau was a good easily defensible position on which to wait for reinforcements.

[[Image:Bennigsen.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|alt=Portrait of Bennigsen|Levin August Bennigsen]]

Whatever the cause of the fight for the town, it rapidly escalated into a large and bitterly fought engagement, continuing well after night had fallen and resulting in about 4,000 casualties to each side, including Barclay, who was shot in the arm and forced to leave the battlefield.  Among other officers, French Brig. Gen. [[Pierre-Charles Lochet]] was shot and killed. At 22:00 Bennigsen ordered the Russians to retreat a short distance, leaving the town to the French. He later claimed he abandoned the town to lure the French into attacking his center the next day. Despite their possession of the town, most of the French spent the night in the open, as did all of the Russians. Both sides did without food—the Russians because of their habitual disorganization, the French because of problems with the roads, the weather and the crush of troops hurrying towards the battle.

During the night, Bennigsen withdrew some of his troops from the front line to strengthen his reserve. That resulted in the shortening of his right wing.

===Second day===
[[Image:Battle of Preussisch Eylau Map2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Battle of Eylau early on the second day. French shown in red, Russians in green, Prussians in blue.]]

{{Multiple image
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 | header            = Alternative detailed Maps
 | image1 = Map of the Battle of Eylau - Situation early 8 February 1807.jpg
 | alt1 =
 | caption1          =  Situation early 8 February 1807
 | image2 = Map of the Battle of Eylau - Situation about 1600, 8 February 1807.jpg
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 | caption2          =  Situation about 1600, 8 February 1807
 | footer =(by ''West Point Military Academy'')
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Bennigsen had 67,000 Russian troops and 400 guns already assembled, but the French had only 49,000 troops and 300 guns. The Russians could expect to be reinforced by [[Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq|Von L'Estocq]]'s detachment of 9,000 Prussians, the French by Marshal [[Louis Nicolas Davout|Davout]]'s depleted III Corps (proud victors of [[Battle of Auerstedt|Auerstedt]] but now only 15,000 strong) and Marshal [[Michel Ney|Ney]]'s 14,000-strong VI Corps (for a total of 74,000 men), which was shadowing the Prussians. Bernadotte's I Corps was too far distant to take part.

Dawn brought little warmth and no great improvement in visibility since the heavy snowstorms continued throughout the day. The opposing forces occupied two parallel ridges. The French were active early on probing the Russian position, particularly on the Russian right. Bennigsen, fearing that the French would discover that he had shortened his right, opened the battle by ordering his artillery to fire on the French. They replied and the ensuing artillery duel lasted for some time, with the French having the best of it because of their more dispersed locations.

The start of the artillery duel galvanised Napoleon. Until then, he had expected the Russians to continue their retreat, but he now knew that he had a fight on his hands. Messengers hurriedly were dispatched to Ney to order him to march on Eylau and to join the French left wing.

Meanwhile, the French had occupied in force some [[fulling mill]] buildings within musket range of the Russian right wing. Russian jagers ejected them. Both sides escalated the fight, with the Russians assaulting the French left on Windmill Knoll to the left of Eylau. Napoleon interpreted the Russian efforts on his left as a prelude to an attack on Eylau from that quarter. By then, Davout's III Corps had begun to arrive on the Russian left.

To forestall the perceived Russian attack on Eylau and to pin the Russian army so that Davout's flank attack would be more successful, Napoleon launched an attack against the Russian centre and left, with Augereau's VII Corps on the left and [[Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire|Saint-Hilaire]]'s Division of Soult's IV Corps on the right.

[[File:Equestrian portrait of Joachim Murat.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Portrait of Joachim Murat by Antoine-Jean Gros]]

Augereau was very ill and had to be helped onto his horse. Fate intervened to turn the attack into a disaster. As soon as the French marched off a blizzard descended, causing all direction to be lost. Augereau's corps followed the slope of the land and veered off to the left, away from Saint-Hilaire. Augereau's advance struck the Russian line at the junction of its right and centre, coming under the fire of the blinded French artillery and then point-blank fire of the massive 70-gun Russian centre battery. Meanwhile, Saint-Hilaire's division, advancing alone in the proper direction, was unable to have much effect against the Russian left.

Augereau's corps was thrown into great confusion with heavy losses,{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=178}} gives Augereau's official tally{{who|date=July 2021}} of 929 killed and 4,271 wounded. One regiment, the 14th Ligne, was unable to retreat and fought to the last man, refusing to surrender; its eagle was carried off by [[Marcellin Marbot|Captain Marbot]]. Its position would be marked by a square of corpses.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=197}} Bennigsen took full advantage by falling on Saint-Hilaire's division with more cavalry and bringing up his reserve infantry to attack the devastated French centre. Augereau and 3,000 to.4,000 survivors fell back on Eylau, where they were attacked by about 5,000 Russian infantry. At one point, Napoleon himself, using the church tower as a command post, was nearly captured, but members of his personal staff held the Russians off for just long enough to allow some battalions of the Guard to come up. Counterattacked by the Guard's bayonet charge and [[Jean Pierre Joseph Bruguière|Bruyère]]'s cavalry in its rear, the attacking Russian column was nearly destroyed.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=180}} For four hours, the French centre was in great disorder, virtually defenceless and in imminent danger.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=202}}

With his centre almost broken, Napoleon resorted to ordering a massive charge by Murat's 11,000-strong cavalry reserve. Aside from the Guard, that was the last major unbloodied body of troops remaining to the French.

[[Image:Battle of Eylau 1807 by Jean-Antoine-Siméon.jpg|thumb|Cavalry charge painted by [[Jean-Antoine-Siméon Fort]].]]

===Cavalry charge at Eylau===
[[Image:Battle of Preussisch Eylau Map3.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Battle of Eylau after Davout's attack late in the day. French shown in red, Russians in green and Prussians in blue.]]

[[File:Maréchal_Ney_à_Eylau.jpg|thumb|The [[Grenadiers à Cheval de la Garde Impériale]] charge at Eylau.]]

Thus began one of the greatest cavalry charges in history. Somewhat obscured by the weather, Murat's squadrons charged through the Russian infantry around Eylau and then divided into two groups. The group on the right, Grouchy's dragoons, charged into the flank of the Russian cavalry attacking Saint-Hilaire's division and scattered them completely. Now led by Murat himself, the dragoons wheeled left against the Russian cavalry in the centre, and, joined by [[Jean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul|d'Hautpoult]]'s cuirassier division, drove the Russian cavalry back on their infantry. Fresh Russian cavalry forced Murat and the dragoons to retire, but d'Hautpoult's cuirassiers burst through everything, and the broken Russians were cut to pieces by fresh regiments of cuirassiers.

D'Hautpoult then rode through the Russian guns, chased off or sabered the gunners, and broke through the first line of Russian infantry. He meanwhile trampled a battalion that had attempted to stand. The cuirassiers forced their way through the second line of Russians, and it was only after 2,500 yards that the charge finally expended its force in front of the Russian reserves. A second wave of cavalry consisting of the Guards, and Grouchy's dragoons now charged the Russians as they attempted to reform and rode through both lines of infantry. Another group charged into the Russian infantry in the area in which Augereau's corps had made its stand. Not content with the heavy blows, the cavalry reformed, wheeled and charged back again. It finally retired under the protection of the Guard cavalry. Murat had lost 1,000–1,500 well-trained troopers{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=183}} but relieved the pressure on Augereau, Saint-Hilaire and Soult, paralyzing the Russians long enough to allow Davout to deploy in strength. Rarely had French cavalry played such a pivotal part in a battle. That was in part because for the first time, Murat's men were now mounted on the best cavalry horses in Europe, which had been freshly requisitioned in the aftermath of the conquest of Prussia.

Davout's corps, about 15,000 strong, was now in position and began to drive in the Russian left. Despite the disarray of the Russian centre, Napoleon declined to follow up Murat's charge by advancing with the Guard. Such a move might have decisively won the battle, but Napoleon, well aware that 9,000 Prussians under L'Estocq and his chief of staff, [[Gerhard von Scharnhorst]] were still unaccounted for, judged it wise to retain the Guard in reserve. Through the afternoon Soult, Augereau and Murat managed to hold their ground while Davout, assisted by Saint-Hilaire, gradually bent the Russian left back further and further, pushing it to a right angle with the Russian centre. By 15:30, it seemed that the Russians' cohesion would soon break, as their left was in full retreat.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=188}}

For several crucial hours, Bennigsen could not be found. He had personally ridden to L'Estocq to urge that general to hasten the march of his Prussian corps to the battlefield. His mission was successful since L'Estocq's 9,000-man Prussian force, having lost a third of its strength to Ney's pursuit, approached the battlefield via the Russian right and passed completely behind the Russian position to its left wing. It gathered strength in doing so by collecting Russian stragglers and adding them to the 6,000 remaining Prussian troops. At 16:00, L'Estocq counterattacked by falling on Davout's exposed right flank, and the heartened Russians soon launched a fresh attack against Davout. The Russian situation was also improved by the accurate fire of 36 guns under [[Aleksey Yermolov (general)|Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov]]. Over the next three hours, Davout was halted and forced back to a line running from the village of Kutschitten to near the village of Anklappen towards Saint-Hilaire's right by Eylau.{{sfn|Petre|1976|p=194}} Davout, alert to the danger, formed a battery of his guns on the heights of Klein Sausgarten and personally rallied his troops while his guns drove the Prussians back into the woods. With nightfall, exhaustion set in and fighting on the Russian left petered out.

By then, the roar of cannons on the Russian right had announced Ney's arrival. Napoleon had not recalled Ney until 08:00 of the 8th, when he realised that the Russians intended to fight. Although Ney was within marching distance of the battle, the heavy snow had muffled the sound of cannon fire, and he was completely unaware of the events until a messenger reached him around 10:30. Somewhat delayed by L'Estocq's rear guard, the leading division of Ney's corps did not reach the battlefield until around 19:00 and immediately swept forward into the Russian right and rear. Bennigsen counterattacked, and bitter fighting continued until 22:00, when both sides drew off a little. After a contentious council of war in which several of his generals forcefully argued for continuing the fight for a third day, Bennigsen at 23:00 decided to withdraw, and covered by the Cossacks, the Russians silently began to leave. The exhausted French did not even notice until 03:00 and were in no condition to pursue.