Six Days in October: The Collected Correspondence of Marshal Davout

[James Sterrett]

Umpire to Davout on resuming full command again:

Orders received from Murat were general, but comprehensible:

1.  III Corps firing East to Weimar along the Via Regia.  I've got you marching with Viallannes in the midst of the corps.
2.  Murat sweeping around Erfurt to the North and going over hill and dale as he makes his way East sans road.
3.  V Corps is stuck in one of the worst traffic jams in the era before the invention of internal combustion.

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- VIALLANNES to DAVOUT -- 1200, 16th October

SENT 1100, 16th October

My Lord Marshal,

Have arrived at Weimar.  None of our foes are in evidence.  I have interrogated a few locals and believe they have decamped in some haste and that recently.

I await your further orders.

Vive L'Empereur,

Viallannes


--------

General Vialannes -

Well done!

Secure the crossing and conduct cavalry reconnaissance eastwards.  If we can find the cowards, we can kill them.

- Davout

--------

TO:  The Emperor, Marshals Lannes, Murat, and Bernadotte, Generals Morand, Friant, Gudin
From: Davout, 1200 16 OCT

General Vialannes has secured Weimar and will reconnoiter eastwards.

- Marshal Davout

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- FROM CONTROL -- 1400, 16th October

My Lord Marshal,

Probing East from Weimar, you have encountered the men of Augereau's corps, division Desjardins.  The General indicates that the entire corps follows behind him on the road North from the area of Saalfeld.

He inquires if there is any message for his commander?

S!


From:  Davout
To: Marshals Augereau, Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte
1400 16 October

Marshal Augereau,

My patrols met yours east of Weimar sometime around midday.

We are moving into Weimar and were hoping to bring Brunswick to heel there, but he has eluded us.

We shall concentrate on Weimar tonight.

If your forces are moving north in the east then we shall move north tomorrow with the intention of then hooking eastwards to trap the beerswilling Prussian dogs.

Death and confusion to the enemy!

Davout


From:  Davout
To: Marshals Augereau, Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte
1400 16 October

A point of clarification suggested by an aide:

We need to know if we should move north, then east, by going east from Weimar and then north via Auerstadt; or to march back to Erfurt and north from there.

Marshal Augereau, it would be helpful to know where you intend to go next, and where you believe the enemy to be.  We believe we have smashed Ruchel's corps and were attempting to destroy Brunswick.

Davout

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- VIALLANNES to DAVOUT -- 1500, 16th October

SENT 1400, 16th October

My Lord Marshal,

Have gone as far East as the "T" intersection of the Northeastward running road that runs from Apolda to Naumburg.

No enemies are in sight.

I await your further orders.

S!


Davout:

General Vialannes -

Well done; please hold there for the rest of the day while the rest of the force closes on Weimar.

We have made further contact with friendly forces - Augereau's corps - and will attempt better coordination of our forces.

Please report any contacts with friendly or enemy forces.

Davout

[James Sterrett]

Davout to Western Corps, 1500 16 October

Jim - Direct CC'ed to Chris [Marshal Augereau] on the assumption that he can read it over my shoulder as I write it.

From: Marshal Davout (in Weimar)
To: Marshals Lannes, Murat, Bernadotte, Augereau
Time: 1500 16 October

Marshals!

Brunswick is a coward and has vacated Weimar; my cavalry has scouted as far the the next intersection east from Weimar (the one turning north to Apold) without contact.

I have met Marshal Augereau at Weimar; his force is apparently coming to Weimar from Saalfeld, and have begun direct discussions with him in an inn that - of a miracle - serves decent wine.

The question before us for tomorrow:

Punch towards Jena if there is hope of direct contact;

Punch towards Naumburg in order to outflank positions at Jena-Gera, if they exist;

March back to Erfurt and punch towards Halle in a deeper turning movement?

Hopefully Marshal Augereau knows more of the dispositions of our forces and thus we can maneuver in concert with them.

- Davout

[James Sterrett]

[The Weimar Conference begins.  If memory serves, this eventually involved Napoleon, Lannes, Augereau, Davout, and possibly Bernadotte all in the same inn.]

Marshal Augereau,

Welcome to sunny Weimar.

We - Lannes, Murat, and I - believe we have shattered Ruchel's corps and had hoped to bring Brunswick to battle at Weimar; we had contact yesterday with Scharnhorst's cavalry to the west of Weimar, but apparently the Prussians had no stomach for this fight, and we have found Weimar sadly deserted today.

My corps' cavalry just reported no contact as far as the intersection to the east.

We are closing on Weimar today.

What news do you have of the enemy and of friendly dispositions?

Our key question is between marching east to Jena, or east then turning north to Apold towards Auerstadt, or marching west Erfurt to go north in a much wider turning movement to Halle.

If marching east will cause traffic problems with the main French force moving north then we will turn west.

If the enemy is to the east, and we will not interfere with other's movements, then we will hope to drive east into the Prussians. 

- Davout/James


Augereau:

Davout,

It is great to be here with you enjoying the fine beer and sausage of Thurinigia.

I have had no contact of any kind except for the occasional small groups of Germanic street urchins begging for some Bavarian chocolate. My scouts have ranged far and wide to the west with nary a report of any contact. I recommend we go East and find the bastard and pile on.

Augs.


Davout:

What do you know of other French forces to your south or east?

In principle, they are marching north from the Gap....  I don't want to get needlessly entangled in them.

In principle, the western force is intended to sweep via the northeast, and I have, arguably, exceeded my brief by coming east.  If there are indeed Prussians to kill, bring it on! - but if they are simply running away then we need to ensure the net has been cast.


Augereau:

What little I know is days old and of no significant value anymore. The fact our two Corps are at full strength and un-engaged is either a great thing or potentially a disastrous thing for some of our brothers. Knowing the vacillating nature of the Prussians, I am inclined to believe it is a good thing. It provides our Emperor with many options.


Davout:

So, you have no clue whatsoever about where the rest of the French Army is, or what it is doing?  (Murat and Lannes are just west of me, closing on Wiemar.)


Augereau:

Other than the previous instructions, no. I was playing catch up in the tail of our formation. I met up with Nappy and he gave me instructions under which I am currently operating.


Davout:


OK, and those instructions are...?  :)

I have a good picture of what the three corps I've been with have been up to (Davout (me), Lannes, and Murat).  I thought Bernadotte was where you turned up.  Beyond that, I'm in the dark.

My current inclination is to have you go east from Wiemar, I will go northeast with some reinforcement form Murat, and the rest of Murat plus Lannes will double back to Erfurt and go north.

Does that synch in at all with what our Emperor intends with our other forces?


Augereau:

These are the last instructions I received from our Emperor:

"With evening approaching, we are unlikely to accomplish anything more than preparations for immediate action tomorrow morning, but let us do what we can to prepare now, even if that needs a little evening work and an early start tomorrow.

Bernadotte, since you are already camped on the T-fork (and relatively the most rested), let us have you take the right (eastern) side of our axis of advance. Your next mission will be to column march on the road toward Jena, scouting ahead of you as usual and also screening farther eastward if you can in case you detect anyone slipping around behind us through the gap in our lines. If it's a small force (a spoiler division, presumably with orders to probe toward our ultimate supply line at Bamberg) there isn't much we can do about it now except suffer for my failure to secure approaches to our LoC. If it's a larger force, fine we'd like to defeat the Prussians in detail if we can anyway. I presume once you get in scouting range of Jena you'll find at least some enemy nearby, in which case you should deploy in a line and advance to contact or near enough anyway to keep an eye on them. If you detect major weakness go ahead and assault, just keep me informed of what's going on. I recommend once you line out (assuming that happens -- you might arrive at Jena tomorrow evening or the following morning and find it empty!) you position your HQ westward on your line to be nearer to me. I also recommend you give orders to briefly decamp (if this is feasible [OOC; check with Cyrano about timing factors involved]) and move as far as possible up the road to Jena before evening or even a little after dark, to make room for Augereau to come up behind you to the T-fork for the night.

Augereau, once Bern is out of the way, move up to the T-fork -- make camp nearby as you expediently can for the night -- and then tomorrow morning advance up the road northward to Weimar, scouting ahead and, if possible, screen-scouting to your west to detect any movement our way from that direction (or maybe someone trying to relieve pressure on Erfurt by attempting a surging loop southwest from Weimar's area, hoping to avoid notice by heading for Arnstadt cross-country, and thence behind our allies on the West Wing).

If you haven't detected anyone once halfway there, go ahead and line out left and right of the road, but mostly rightward (eastward), and continue a probing advance northward toward Weimar seeking contact. I very, very seriously doubt we'll find a weakness to immediately exploit, but you certainly have permission if you detect it. I expect instead you'll be finding and fixing the main body of the enemy force. Ideally you'll be waiting for Bernadotte to make contact at Jena, but if you want to try some probing attacks and see if the enemy will collapse backward, that's fine. You've both been very patient and must be itching to get into action. Just please avoid a major assault commitment unless we find Weimar basically empty. In theory we'd like Bern to launch the first main attack from the east side of Weimar and then we'll surge forward with your Corps. But if the enemy has dispositioned back toward Jena, the order of attack could well be reversed, with you going first. We just don't know enough yet to plan that far ahead. That's why we need to advance and find out.

I recommend once you line out, you keep your HQ rightward (eastward) in order to be as close to me for communication as possible.

I'll be taking my cavalry division cross-country up the middle between your advances, so that I can stay in relatively close communication with you both, and can commit my expertise [OOC: i.e. game bonuses] to one or another side of the thrust. If the enemy detects me and tries to push against me, my cav can pretty safely withdraw them into a pocket for each of you to pincer at your discretion.

Since Bernadotte has a farther path to travel tomorrow, and has probably rested more than Augereau, I recommend you start a couple of hours early tomorrow morning, Bern. But we may make some minor adjustments depending on where we get before camping tonight.

I don't intend to send couriers changing East Wing's mission yet, nor anytime tomorrow, but we'll see what things look like by tomorrow evening. I do intend to send them a courier tonight concerning our overall plan tomorrow and any news we get from West Wing this evening.

Napoleon"

Davout:

That set you in motion this morning (game time), yes?

That's *very* helpful - thank you!


Augereau:

I believe game time yesterday morning or the day before...most likely yesterday.

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- BERNADOTTE to DAVOUT -- 1900, 16th October

SENT 1500, 16th October

Dispatch to Napoleon, Augereau, Davout and Ney. The 1st Corps is marching from the Jena-Weimar road north to Naunbourg via Apolda. No contact has been made with the enemy between Jena and Weimar.

Marshal Bernadotte


Davout:

Sent 1800, 16 October
From Davout
To Murat, Lannes, and Augereau

See below a note from Bernadotte --

To my mind this confirms the need to countermarch westward tomorrow, though there's room for more information to trickle in yet.

Davout

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- MURAT to DAVOUT -- 1930, 16th October

SENT 1800, 16 October

From: Marshal Murat (north of Weimar)

To. Marshal Davout

My dear comrade, I am in receipt of your dispatch sent at 1500 this afternoon, indicating you have occupied Weimar unopposed. In this same period my only contact with the enemy was a scouting report from General Grouchy indicating that his scouts had sighted the remnants of Ruchel's division retreating far off to the northeast. Since that Prussian formation posed no immediate threat, I ignored the distraction and continued to maneuver so as to envelop Weimar from the north and have since lost contact with those enemy troops.

My sense is that if you have received no report of enemy forces, or direction from the Emperor as to how we should proceed, that we should march on Naumburg and thence to Merseburg. I see little point in retracing our steps Erfurt and then heading north to Eisleben via Weissensee. If the enemy have chosen that course they will have isolated themselves from the key urban centers (Leipzig and Magdebourg) and will have lost the campaign from inaction, or will already be so far ahead of us that we have little hope of catching up to them.

I feel that marching on Naumberg puts us in better position to support the Emperor by advancing along a closer parallel route (assuming he is moving on Leipzig via Altenbourg), as well as putting us in closer proximity to him and thus minimizing communications delays in coordinating our actions.

However, regardless, I will maneuver as you deem best suits your plan -- I merely offer the above as a suggestion of my thoughts on the matter. I await your orders.

Most respectfully,
- Murat

[James Sterrett]

DISPATCH -- 2130, 16th October

SENT 2000, 16th October

To Davout and Augereau,

I have only just now, at 2000 hours 18th October, received the courier Aug sent on 16th October, 1730 hours. At that time, neither of you had had contact with the enemy yet around Weimar. My impression from the local town rumor network is that you have in fact met with the Prussians in a decisive battle since then, and coming out on top.

Some hours ago (as of this writing), I reached my cross-country goal of a point on the Weimar-Jena road about halfway between either city, along with my Imperial cavalry guard. A few hours ago, we received the advance scouts of two probing French Cavalry divisions on the road, working east and west toward each other. I gave orders that their probing operation should cease for now, so as not to entangle each other (and my Guards!) on the road.

Having received your message at last, I am promptly packing up my HQ staff and riding this evening to Weimar along the secured road. I am sending this courier ahead in case he can arrive a little quicker, or in case something happens and I must reverse course, so that you will know my intentions at this time.

Jena has been secured, the last I heard. Our East Wing corps have pinned down the errant corps or half-corps that was scouting along the road network in that direction, and last I heard were converging upon it together for its elimination in detail (although it got in a good blow against one of our corps; I shall have to check my notes for better details.) The main Prussian force does not seem to be in that direction right now, and my loose impression from the rumors is that they withdrew to our mutual north -- which would make sense, to guard the road to Berlin, which they should probably have been doing from the beginning! I could be wrong about this, or outdated on some points, however, as I have not caught up on news yet tonight.

I should be in Weimar before dawn, in time for an early breakfast.

Napoleon I

[James Sterrett]

The Weimar Conference continues

Message from Davout 1800 18 October

From: Marshal Davout
To: Marshals Murat, Lannes, Augereau, Bernadotte; and our most esteemed Emperor
Time Sent: 1800 16 October

Greetings!

** Situation:

The close of this day finds me in Wiemar with Marshal Augereau.

The Western Wing moved to Wiemar today in hopes of bringing Brunswicks' Corps to battle and destroying it; we had a fleeting contact with Scharnhorst's cavalry between Erfurt and Wiemar on the 15th.  We have, however, failed to make contact with Brunswick; the Prussian dog has slunk into some cave.  My compliments to Marshal Murat, who did not believe this move eastwards wise; his judgement has unfortunately proven correct, and my decision has put us two days behind in our march northwards without a result worthy of the delay.

After some discussion with Marshal Augereau, I believe that Marshal Augereau's corps is at Wiemar, and Marshal Bernadotte's corps is at Jena, with the emperor himself sweeping the ground in between.

Marshals Bernadotte and Augereau do not have orders beyond the Wiemar-Jena line. to the best of Marshal Augereau's knowledge.

** Proposed concept of operations for 17 October and following -- I welcome your thoughts:
--------------
     Our overall mission is to assist in the annihilation of the Prussian Army.  In the absence of direct contact, the West Wing is to outflank the Prussian Army and cut off its communications with Berlin, assisting the Center and East wings in bringing the Prussians to battle.

     The West Wing will retrace its steps to Erfurt and march northwards to Halle.  Overall order of march:  Murat, Lannes, Davout.

     Marshal Murat may also send divisions on a more northerly or even easterly course (Magdeburg, Brunswick, Gottingen) if he feels this will be of benefit, as long as he retains sufficient striking power to provide us with strong cavalry support in the event of an engagement with the Prussians.
---------------

** Assumptions:
   a) The Center Wing will continue to push in the direction of Naumburg/Leipzig, and does not need our reinforcement in the process.

   b) Even though delayed, our march northwards still holds value in the overall maneuvers of the Army.

Potential problems:
   a) Putting our entire wing on one road will make it difficult to concentrate combat power against the Prussians and may allow them to escape.  The road net simply is not dense in this area, particularly through the hills northeast of Erfurt.

   b) What little we do know about the Prussian Army points to it being somewhere to the east or northeast.  By marching away, we may be denying the Center Wing the combat power it needs to prevail.  However, Brunswick has not seemed terribly eager for battle so far.


Please let me know of other thoughts you may have concerning the operations of our Wing.


   
Finally, I include a missive sent by the Emperor to Marshal Augereau on the evening of the 14th:

=========
"With evening approaching, we are unlikely to accomplish anything more than preparations for immediate action tomorrow morning, but let us do what we can to prepare now, even if that needs a little evening work and an early start tomorrow.

Bernadotte, since you are already camped on the T-fork (and relatively the most rested), let us have you take the right (eastern) side of our axis of advance. Your next mission will be to column march on the road toward Jena, scouting ahead of you as usual and also screening farther eastward if you can in case you detect anyone slipping around behind us through the gap in our lines. If it's a small force (a spoiler division, presumably with orders to probe toward our ultimate supply line at Bamberg) there isn't much we can do about it now except suffer for my failure to secure approaches to our LoC. If it's a larger force, fine we'd like to defeat the Prussians in detail if we can anyway. I presume once you get in scouting range of Jena you'll find at least some enemy nearby, in which case you should deploy in a line and advance to contact or near enough anyway to keep an eye on them. If you detect major weakness go ahead and assault, just keep me informed of what's going on. I recommend once you line out (assuming that happens -- you might arrive at Jena tomorrow evening or the following morning and find it empty!) you position your HQ westward on your line to be nearer to me. I also recommend you give orders to briefly decamp (if this is feasible [OOC; check with Cyrano about timing factors involved]) and move as far as possible up the road to Jena before evening or even a little after dark, to make room for Augereau to come up behind you to the T-fork for the night.

Augereau, once Bern is out of the way, move up to the T-fork -- make camp nearby as you expediently can for the night -- and then tomorrow morning advance up the road northward to Weimar, scouting ahead and, if possible, screen-scouting to your west to detect any movement our way from that direction (or maybe someone trying to relieve pressure on Erfurt by attempting a surging loop southwest from Weimar's area, hoping to avoid notice by heading for Arnstadt cross-country, and thence behind our allies on the West Wing).

If you haven't detected anyone once halfway there, go ahead and line out left and right of the road, but mostly rightward (eastward), and continue a probing advance northward toward Weimar seeking contact. I very, very seriously doubt we'll find a weakness to immediately exploit, but you certainly have permission if you detect it. I expect instead you'll be finding and fixing the main body of the enemy force. Ideally you'll be waiting for Bernadotte to make contact at Jena, but if you want to try some probing attacks and see if the enemy will collapse backward, that's fine. You've both been very patient and must be itching to get into action. Just please avoid a major assault commitment unless we find Weimar basically empty. In theory we'd like Bern to launch the first main attack from the east side of Weimar and then we'll surge forward with your Corps. But if the enemy has dispositioned back toward Jena, the order of attack could well be reversed, with you going first. We just don't know enough yet to plan that far ahead. That's why we need to advance and find out.

I recommend once you line out, you keep your HQ rightward (eastward) in order to be as close to me for communication as possible.

I'll be taking my cavalry division cross-country up the middle between your advances, so that I can stay in relatively close communication with you both, and can commit my expertise [OOC: i.e. game bonuses] to one or another side of the thrust. If the enemy detects me and tries to push against me, my cav can pretty safely withdraw them into a pocket for each of you to pincer at your discretion.

Since Bernadotte has a farther path to travel tomorrow, and has probably rested more than Augereau, I recommend you start a couple of hours early tomorrowmorning, Bern. But we may make some minor adjustments depending on where we get before camping tonight.

I don't intend to send couriers changing East Wing's mission yet, nor anytime tomorrow, but we'll see what things look like by tomorrow evening. I do intend to send them a courier tonight concerning our overall plan tomorrow and any news we get from West Wing this evening.

Napoleon"
=========

- Davout


Augereau:

Davout,

As we sit in our current locale planning for our next moves, a courier arrives with a message to me from Napoleon.

I read it, raise my eyebrows a bit and hand it to you to read for you to read as well. I remark, "The fog of war is very thick tonight."

Do you recall a decisive battle in which either of us participated ? Did we partake of too much wine last night?

This is what you read:

"SENT 2000, 16th October

To Davout and Augereau,

I have only just now, at 2000 hours 18th October, received the courier Aug sent on 16th October, 1730 hours. At that time, neither of you had had contact with the enemy yet around Weimar. My impression from the local town rumor network is that you have in fact met with the Prussians in a decisive battle since then, and coming out on top.

Some hours ago (as of this writing), I reached my cross-country goal of a point on the Weimar-Jena road about halfway between either city, along with my Imperial cavalry guard. A few hours ago, we received the advance scouts of two probing French Cavalry divisions on the road, working east and west toward each other. I gave orders that their probing operation should cease for now, so as not to entangle each other (and my Guards!) on the road.

Having received your message at last, I am promptly packing up my HQ staff and riding this evening to Weimar along the secured road. I am sending this courier ahead in case he can arrive a little quicker, or in case something happens and I must reverse course, so that you will know my intentions at this time.

Jena has been secured, the last I heard. Our East Wing corps have pinned down the errant corps or half-corps that was scouting along the road network in that direction, and last I heard were converging upon it together for its elimination in detail (although it got in a good blow against one of our corps; I shall have to check my notes for better details.) The main Prussian force does not seem to be in that direction right now, and my loose impression from the rumors is that they withdrew to our mutual north -- which would make sense, to guard the road to Berlin, which they should probably have been doing from the beginning! I could be wrong about this, or outdated on some points, however, as I have not caught up on news yet tonight.

I should be in Weimar before dawn, in time for an early breakfast.

Napoleon I"


Davout:

The fog is indeed thick!

However, the picture that seems to emerge is:

* The West Wing has either defeated or dispersed Ruchel's corps.  This isn't entirely clear - a day or two ago (in the game) I tried to establish who, exactly, had actually done the deed, and no corps commander was sure.  None of my division commanders copped to it either.  However, Ruchel has certainly disappeared and there were recent reports of scattered forces retreating north-ish.

* Brunswick was, at one point, in the Wiemar-Jena area.  My cavalry had contact with Scharnhorst (and Scharnhorst won) west of Wiemar yesterday.  Where is Brunswick now?  I have no clue.

* The East Wing is apparently beating up the third Prussian corps.

That leaves Brunswick as the unknown.

[James Sterrett]

Dispatch from Davout, 2000 16 October

From: Davout
To: Our Glorious Emperor; Marshals Murat, Lannes, Davout, Bernadotte
Time: 2000, 16 October

Our glorious emperor has sent a message, reported in full below; I have also heard from Marshal Murat, and I am in an inn in Wiemar with Marshal Augereau.

The situation as I understand it -- please correct me where you believe I am mistaken --

French Forces:

The corps of  Augereau, Murat, Lannes, and Davout are in or closing on Wiemar.

Bernadotte's corps is marching north towards Nuambourg via Apold.

The Guard is moving north to the Weimar-Jena road.

The East Wing... is somewhere east of us.

Enemy:

In the west, Ruchel's corps is believed to be smashed.  Murat had minor contacts with his retreating forces.  However, note that when I tried to discern who had inflicted the killing blow, none of us knew we had managed it; nor did any of my division commanders recall the fight, which took places to the west of Erfurt.  It is possible that Ruchel is engaged in a precipitous withdrawal; we should keep an eye out for signs his force is in fact intact.

In the center, the West Wing had fleeting contact with Brunswick's corps in the form of Scharnhorst's cavalry between Erfurt and Wiemar.  I took the liberty of driving west to try to destroy Brunswick's corps in presumed collaboration with our center, but Brunswick has disappeared.  Bernadotte reported no contact en route to Apold and came by way of Jena.

In the east, our East Wing is in combat with an enemy corps (Hohelohe, perhaps?) and after an initial setback is expecting to crush it.


Revising the plan - overview of options -

Option A: The West Wing countermarches and move north from Erfurt, leaving the center to Bernadotte, Augereau, and the Guard.
   * Loses two days on the march north.
   * Less congestion on the road to Naumbourg.
   * Less support to the Center.

Option B: The West Wing marches north to Naumbourg via Apold (suggested by Murat), and turns north from Naumbourg; while the Guard and Augereau move into the center via Jena.
    * Center well supported
    * Saves time moving north if there is no contact
    * A lot of traffic on the road via Apold.
    * Who supports Augereau and the goard?

Option C: The West Wing becomes the center, moving via Jena; the Guard and Augereau move to Naumbourg via Apold and then north.
    * Less traffic to Apold, but a traffic jam on the Wiemar-Jena road.
    * Keeps the Wings as coherent forces

[James Sterrett]

[Napoleon arrives at the Weimar Conference]

DISPATCH -- FROM CONTROL -- 0000, 17th October

Emperor Napoleon I as well as Marshals Augereau and Davout:

The timing may be a smidge off, but, close enough for government work, you have each arrived to the environs of Weimar and are now in sufficient proximity to speak directly to one another.

To spare his Majesty the trouble, the below message would have arrived not terribly long before the Emperor himself:

Most famed and excellent Marshals of the Ascendant Central Empire!

Please allow me, as I approach, to precede my arrival with this report from Ney, handed to me just now as I am entering the eastern edges of Weimar.

I am assuming that Bernadotte has already been given a copy, although I shall check with the dispatch rider, and if not shall send a courier back in his direction with a copy. [OOC: will Control let me know whether Bern to our east in and around Jena has gotten this news already? He was marching to help support the East Wing. If not, or if you can't say, then cc this back to him just to be safe.]

Soon I shall have to sit back, at an early breakfast pre-dawn perhaps, and sift through the recent messages to compile an overall situation report; but I expect to be able to speak with the Marshals in Weimar directly -- perhaps more soon.

Glory meanwhile in the glory of Ney and Soult, as they secure our East Wing! -- a story I hear present in Ney's own words.

Napoleon I

PS: whoever is currently forwarding news out from Weimar to the remaining corps guarding our West Wing, should of course pass this on. I do not wish to overburden our courier system by adding more riders unnecessarily.

[James Sterrett]

To: Marshalls Lannes and Murat

From: Davout
To: Marshalls Lannes and Murat
Time: 0200 17 OCT

Gentlemen, our Emperor requests the honor of your presence in our inn post-haste.

Davout

[James Sterrett]

[Breakfast Midnight Snack Conference at Weimar]


From NAPOLEON -- 0000, 17th October (or whatever the gameclock is at)

I have sent word around [OOC: to Control] for news about the fatigue of our elements nearby, as this might easily have a significant bearing on our plans for today.

Meanwhile regarding the significant losses suffered by Soult (mostly) in our East Wing, should we consider these as a factor in our plans?

Also, I would like Davout to report in some detail about actions and results against the Prussians on the West Wing, now that we can hear about it at firsthand. We should of course consider Davout's options of activity previously mentioned in one of his recent communiques.

Among other things this morning, I should want to send some cav scouts north to check if the Prussians have left an opportunity division hidden in the hills between the roads, north of the river (around the large S on our common map).

I haven't received any farther news since arriving here, other than (at about the same time) what you-all have also heard concerning Bernadotte probing north through Abolda (or whatever it's called, the printing on our map there is difficult) to Altenbourg. Under the circumstances I wish he had looped counter-clockwise from Jena to Zeib instead, and thence to... uh, whatever that unnamed town is at the crossing of the four roads, northwest of Altenbourgh; but at the time he was hoping to support us by a western probe in case we had caught the enemy in and around Weimar.

If the enemy has any sense, they will be trying to form a short defensive line behind the Elbe, north of Dessau, to protect the road to Berlin; in which case we would be best served by establishing a blocking presence south of the river, and flanking them on a different road through Magdebourg (which if it doesn't have a road directly to Berlin, although it should, at least must have a road going that way eventually.)

It seems likely (AS FAR AS I'VE UNDERSTOOD MISSIVES FROM WEST WING, which is another reason I want to hear a direct report of enemy activity there) that we need not worry about Prussians coming back at us from the direction of Mubthausen. And if they have been pulling back north for a while, I don't think we would gain anything by trying to send Murat back around clockwise on that route as per the original West Wing plan. (Unless he has long since gone off that way, in which case he's acting semi-independently at this point, per the original plan. Another reason to get a real-time report from Davout.)

Perhaps then it would be best if Augereau set out tomorrow to follow Bern along the northwest road (between here and Jena, picking up my Guards cav division for his corps along the way); and if we sent word to our esteemed infantry contingents in Erfurt (led by Murat if he hasn't already started his longer leg around) to start working their way north along their road (aiming ultimately for Eisleben); and then at first Davout and I should tromp north cross-country toward the hills for scouting between, in case of Prussian cleverness, and then decide in a day or two whether to take the left or right road based on any reports we receive.

But before I make any decision, I want more information if possible (especially on fatigue reports).

Napoleon

Davout:

Davout (that's me) would tell you how events unfolded here in the west...  if he really knew.

What I do know:  We moved north through the two passes to Gotha.  There was some kind of contact south of Gotha, and Ruchel seemed to be running from Lannes.  I elected to cross the river at Ohrdruf and sent my cavalry north to take the bridge NW of Arnstadt while the rest of my force went to Arnstadt; the idea being that they could either march up the road given contact, or go north overland to Erfurt; in either case intending to cut off Ruchel from the center.

The forces sent north had some kind of contact with Ruchel and apparently beat him up, possibly in conjunction with Lannes' corps.  I elected to move the forces at Arnstadt north on the next day, and found Erfurt cleared and Ruchel apparently defeated.  My two divisions returned to me.  The West Wing took a day to rest, during which my cavalry scouted eastwards, and was beaten up by Scharnhorst's cavalry.  Taking this as an indicator that Brunswick was to our immediate east, I decided we should all come east to try to destroy him.  That brings us here, to Weimar, with Brunswick having disappeared.

I am not certain of Murat's dispositions.  As far as I know he has some forces covering to the north and east, but is largely concentrated now at Weimar.  Lannes is likewise near Weimar as far as I know.

I do not know the fatigue state of my units.  [I'm not certain we're allowed to know it.]

The enemy appears to be trying to fall back; but we are somewhat faster and better on the battlefield.  Strike hard and fast, and if we bypass some elements that have taken to the hills, we can mop them up later while we subsist on rations from their captured depots.


[Napoleon]

Wait, are you saying Murat is here at Weimar? I didn't mean to exclude him!

If he and Lannes are near Weimar, they should get here pronto (as my brother the king of Spain would say).

Re fatigue: We're not allowed to know specific numbers, but we're allowed to ask for impressions. Per Control:

"Nearest to you are the divisions of Friant, Gudin, Suchet, and D'Hautpol.  None have suffered significant fatigue.

"Lannes has not moved far in recent days, neither has Davout, or Bernadotte."

This doesn't square with reports of Bernadotte...?? -- but the rest seems reliable.

I'll have more news soon, a report from Soult, unless Control has broadly dispatched it already.

Davout:

I've asked them to come!

What is weird about the fight with Ruchel is that all signs are that there was a serious fight, and that he got blown away.  Yet, when I have asked, nobody will cop to having been involved.

The Western Wing has been on the march for one day since a day of rest (though otherwise marching for the duration.)

[James Sterrett]

[Weimar Conference Continues]

From NAPOLEON -- 0200, 17th October to Weimar Group

In regard to the mystery of Bernadotte's cavalry division, which I assume you've now also received his courier about, I think I can solve for its whereabouts.

It was intended to probe west toward Weimar from Jena until it hit the road T-forking northward between the two cities; and then probe north that way.

However, my cav division is parked there, and when Bern's cav arrived at about the same time as the cav probe from Weimar, I gave orders for them both to halt so as not to create more of a godawful traffic jam between here and Jena.

I thought I had given orders for a courier not only to tell the division to stop, but also to go on to Bern and let him know the situation on the road around dark. He may not have received that notice at the time he launched the update courier my/our way.

At any rate I'll be sending a courier eventually to him to update on our plans here (when we decide how to proceed).

Napoleon

Davout:

We seem in general agreement that the next move is northeast in hopes of catching Brunswick.  In discussion earlier today [game day] that was also Murat's suggestion.

I believe the primary choice is which corps will use which roads...  we await your instruction.  :)