CHAP, xxiv.] CAVALKY UNDER NAPOLEON. 



373 



a 



y, 



liad thrown his army into the theatre of operations, so 

 as to strike the Prussians unex})eetedly in flank and 

 rear before they were (concentrated or ready to receive 

 him. The decisive action took place at Jena on tiie 

 14th October, 1806. This battle was opened by Ney, 

 whose fiery energy led him to begin the attack before 

 his troops were properly supported. His cuirassiers at 

 the outset, by one bold charge, carried a battery of 

 thirteen guns posted upon an eminence. The Prussian 

 horsemen also charged bravely upon the infantry under 

 Ney, who, forming in square, held their own until 

 Napoleon despatched some cavalry to extricate them. 



After a closely-contested struggle along the whole 

 line, in which the superior numbers of the French 

 enabled them to press back their foe at every point, the 

 villages which the Prussians had held were all taken, 

 and their dispirited soldiers were retiring slowly and 

 sullenly, but in good order. Napoleon saw that the 

 moment li.id arrived to send in the cavalry to complete 

 the victory. Murat, at the head of 12,000 horse, fresh 

 and in high spirits, moved on in perfect order, and 

 charged with loud cheers upon the retreating foe. The 

 effect was instantaneous. Nothing could withstand the 

 overwhelming torrent of horsemen that flooded over the 

 plain and swept all before it. In vain the wearied and 

 dispirited Piiissian cavalry endeavoured to check their 

 advance and cover the retreat of their infantry and 

 artillery. The superior numbers and solid weight of 

 the heavy squadrons of French cuirassiers broke through 

 all opposition, the Prussian cavalry being driven oflF, tlie 

 guns captured, and the foot-soldiers sabred. Prince 

 Hohenlohe, who commanded the Prussian army, in an 

 order sent at this moment to General Euchel, who was 

 coming up with the reserves, gives a graphic picture of 

 the effect of this charge of Murat and his ponderous 

 horsemen. 



After telling him to make openings to let the fugitives 

 through his lines, he says : " Be ready to receive the 

 charg3 of the enemy's cavalry, which in the most furious 

 manner rides on, presses and sabres the fugitives, and 



