Chapter Summaries

Joseph and the French generals planned a flanking offensive into central Germany while debating how to protect Baden from an Allied attack. After Massena’s victory near Basel, Joseph went to Karlsruhe to bolster Baden’s defenses, and the General Staff issued the eastern route’s orders.

• Berthier warned Joseph that the veteran forces available for the offensive were limited and that Allied troops could threaten Baden.
• Joseph, Moreau, and Victor proposed relying on the Sixth and Seventh Army Corps to defend Baden while redeploying other forces and using Lefebvre against the Brunswick Corps.
• Berthier reported that Massena had destroyed Picton’s Corps near Basel, killing 2,300 and capturing nearly 10,000; Massena was returning while Oudinot’s Corps continued to surround Glarus.
• Joseph ordered Massena to deal with Blücher’s Legion and return to Baden, then changed his itinerary and headed for Karlsruhe to reinforce the defense in person.
• The General Staff issued its operational plan, assigning Moreau’s 64,000-man eastern route to advance through Nördlingen and Nuremberg, seize Bayreuth, and pin down Archduke Karl’s Allied army.

French forces launched a rapid advance through Baden toward the north while the Allies debated where the main attack would fall. The chapter left Archduke Karl’s war council uncertain whether the French were targeting Württemberg or exploiting the Allies’ thin defenses elsewhere.

• Augereau led the Royal 4th Infantry Division north through Wurzburg and Coburg, while Surt’s western army advanced along the Rhine to rendezvous with the Lefebvre Legion.
• Gaizika learned that the Sixth Army Corps would defend Karlsruhe, then cheered as the Crown Prince reviewed the troops and urged them to fight for France.
• Chaumont’s company marched rapidly toward the Neckar River, where the soldiers rested and ate after covering forty-three kilometers in a day.
• The Moreau Legion crossed the Neckar River and passed between Allied-held Heilbronn and Stuttgart before the Austrian Army learned of its movement.
• Augereau and Surt led their forces out of Baden, prompting Werneck, Marquess Wellesley, and Scharnhorst to debate the French objective at Archduke Karl’s war council.

The Allied commanders planned responses to French advances across Germany, dispatching forces to Bavaria, Vienna, Hesse, and Berlin while expecting the Russians to break through Baden. As their orders went out, the French flanking columns kept advancing, and in Berlin William III questioned why the Allies were redeploying his Guards.

• Scharnhorst warned Archduke Karl that the French might advance toward Bavaria or repeat Moreau's invasion route through Passau.
• Archduke Karl ordered Würmser to lead three corps south to defend the Straubing-Passau line and told Archduke John to prepare Vienna's defenses.
• Marquess Wellesley and the Allied commanders debated the French threat to Hanover, Anhalt, and Berlin, then assigned the Guards and Magdeburg Corps to defend the Erfurt-Weimar line.
• Archduke Karl predicted the French would pay for their advance and expected Russian forces to break through the Baden Line and possibly capture Strasbourg.
• The Allied war council issued orders while the French flanking columns advanced more than twenty kilometers.
• In Berlin, William III asked Prince Heinrich why the Allies were redeploying his Guards despite their numerical advantage over France.

William III ordered Prussian forces to gather as French troops threatened Hesse, while Lefebvre marched south after learning enemy forces were near Winterberg. Blücher escaped Glarus but was repeatedly delayed by French attacks, and his army faced another burst of gunfire as it prepared to march toward Zurich.

• William III decided to join Marshal von Moltke and ordered Prussian forces to gather for the defense of the southern regions.
• Duke of Brunswick led his column toward Kassel while Lefebvre drove his recruits on a forced march through Meppen and Münster.
• Lefebvre received word that General Surt had entered Hesse and enemy troops were near Winterberg, so he ordered his army to turn south.
• Blücher, short of food and expecting no reinforcements, ordered his troops to break out of Glarus.
• Blücher’s vanguard pushed through French positions, and he led the army toward Zurich to seek reinforcements and supplies.
• French attacks delayed the Prussian march twice, and gunfire erupted ahead again as Blücher’s army prepared to set out the next day.

Blücher’s army was worn down by French harassment and hunger until it mutinied near Basel, while Russian and English commanders planned an attack on French recruits. At the Offenburg Line, Gaizika’s company came under artillery fire, and he froze in terror as soldiers were torn apart.

• Blücher’s forces struggled through French ambushes and delays, then abandoned their route to Zurich and marched west toward Basel.
• Oudinot’s troops harassed Blücher’s retreat, and the starving Prussian soldiers began to mutiny after reaching Basel.
• Kossakov and Graham discussed attacking the French camp, with Graham assigning the English Army to assault from the front and the Russian Legion to wait at the side and rear.
• Gaizika spotted enemy troops approaching the Offenburg Line, and his company commander ordered the soldiers to form ranks.
• French artillery struck Gaizika’s company, killing and wounding soldiers while Gaizika crouched in fear.

Gaizika fought in his first battle as the French recruits faced a British attack, and he was shaken by Nacelli’s death. When the battered French battalions refused to retreat and fired a desperate volley, they broke the advancing British line, leaving Sir Gray to remark on the recruits’ performance.

• Gaizika overcame his fear and fired at the approaching British soldiers, but his shot missed as he struggled to reload.
• The British soldiers shot Nacelli, and Gaizika froze with grief and blamed himself for his death.
• Lieutenant Colonel Dimas ordered the 17th Battalion and 18th Battalion to withdraw after the French recruits suffered heavy casualties.
• Marini urged the remaining French soldiers to stand their ground, and Gaizika joined them in firing a desperate volley.
• The British line faltered under the close-range fire and began to flee, prompting cheers from the French position.
• Sir Gray noted the French recruits’ performance, and Kossakov teased him for ordering a retreat in time.

The French bombarded the English camps through the night while their soldiers mourned Nacelli and drew strength from a camp performance and news of Allied setbacks. The next morning, Gaizika stood firm as the English attacked again, while the French 31st Brigade at Orakel Village found that the Russians had not renewed their assault.

• Sir Gray and Kossakov discussed the Yefremov Corps preparing to maneuver before dawn as wounded English soldiers returned from battle.
• French artillerymen led by Vincent fired Twelve-Pound Cannons through the night, and shells struck the English 22nd Battalion's camp, killing two men.
• Gaizika collected stew for his company and listened to Berenice sing before learning that Colonel Oudinot had captured nearly forty thousand Prussian soldiers and the Allied Forces had withdrawn from Switzerland.
• Gaizika asked Sergeant Paupard whether Nacelli could go to heaven, and Paupard reassured him that Nacelli was a hero of France.
• The English attacked Gaizika's position the next morning, and Gaizika stood firm and raised his gun as the French prepared to fire.
• The French Army's 31st Brigade at Orakel Village discovered that the Russians had not attacked again.

Saidu rushed the 31st Brigade south to reinforce Schnatt Town as Russian forces concentrated against its defenses. With the French reinforcements arriving in a broken formation and the Russians launching a bayonet charge, the French troops rallied and fixed their bayonets as the attack closed in.

• Saidu learned that Russian forces were moving south, left a battalion to defend Orakel Village, and marched the rest of the 31st Brigade toward Schnatt Town.
• A liaison officer warned Saidu that more than twenty thousand enemy troops were attacking Schnatt Town, so Saidu hurriedly organized his scattered soldiers and ordered a counterattack.
• Gaizika prepared to face the approaching Russians, but the Russian line turned north as an English line advanced behind it, and French reinforcements appeared.
• Dimas saw that the 31st Brigade was badly dispersed and outnumbered by the Russians, but kept his reserve force ready because his own line was also threatened.
• Yefremov ordered his troops to fix bayonets and charge, while the French rallied with cries for France and advanced with bayonets fixed.

French soldiers routed the Russian army at Schnatt Town with a bayonet charge, then broke through the English flank as the enemy retreated. Gaizika was wounded and later woke in a carriage to learn that the French had won a great victory.

• French soldiers charged the Russian line, routed the Russians, and forced General Yefremov to order his troops to withdraw behind the English.
• The French 31st Brigade attacked the English flank, and the English line collapsed under the charge.
• Gaizika joined his company in charging the English and fought until his left wrist was pierced.
• Gaizika woke in a carriage and learned that the French had killed thousands, captured more than five thousand, and driven the enemy twenty kilometers away.

Surt kept his force near Kassel to preserve the appearance that it was the main French attack, while Moreau planned to draw the Allied army toward Bayreuth. Moreau’s troops began slipping through gaps in the Austrian line beside the Kray Corps, leaving their next move unresolved.

• Surt told Lannes to keep fishing and explained that the force had to appear to threaten the Allies while Augereau’s Corps broke through near Coburg.
• Moreau rejected Ney and Victor’s proposed routes and chose to march directly to Bayreuth, where he planned to break through the gap beside the Kray Corps.
• Moreau explained that Würmser would least expect an attack on the Kray Corps because it lay between two Austrian formations.
• Prince Heeringen learned that French troops were moving east and sent two regiments toward East Weiden to delay them.
• Two divisions of Moreau’s Legion silently passed through the narrow gaps beside the Kray Corps, coming within about two kilometers of Austrian troops.

Moreau used a feigned attack to draw Würmser’s attention away, then moved his army to intercept Austrian reinforcements heading toward Bayreuth. He launched a surprise attack on Baron Dennefeld’s force, which began to collapse under the assault.

• Moreau confirmed that both flanking divisions had reached the rear of Würmser’s Corps undetected and ordered an attack.
• Würmser sent Baron Joseph von Ouchy with thirty thousand soldiers to reinforce Kronach, then faced Moreau’s feigned attack on Prince Heeringen.
• Moreau withdrew, marched west through Bavarian territory, and used a Hot Air Balloon to locate an Austrian reinforcement force of about twenty-six thousand men.
• Moreau sent three Vaulter Battalions to block Baron Dennefeld’s advancing force while his main army moved to attack it.
• French cannons struck Dennefeld’s rear guard, and Ney and Soult led assault columns that sent the Austrian Army into collapse.

Moreau’s forces crushed an Austrian rear guard, then moved toward Pegnitz to support Victor while the Allied command prepared an encirclement in Bavaria. Augereau’s corps raced toward Weimar after learning that Prussian troops had arrived there, as William III insisted on remaining with his army.

• Moreau’s army captured nearly ten thousand Austrians, released the ordinary soldiers after taking their weapons, and marched southeast with more than three hundred officers as prisoners.
• Moreau rejected Ney’s suggestion to head for Sulzbach and planned to rest at Pegnitz before returning to Bayreuth to support Victor.
• Archduke Karl ordered Allied forces to Nuremberg, Coburg, and Forchheim to encircle the French troops in Bavaria, while Wellesley urged action on the Baden front.
• Mura reported Prussian troops at Weimar to Augereau, who ordered his corps to hurry there and prepare to attack before the enemy formed a solid defense.
• A cavalryman told William III that French troops had passed near Soul, but the King refused Moltke’s advice to return to Naumburg and vowed to watch the battle from the front.

Augereau’s French forces attacked the Prussian defenses at Weimar, but the Prussian Guards and artillery resisted fiercely. After a balloon spotted William III’s banners in the city, Augereau reorganized his troops and launched a renewed assault on the Prussian left flank.

• Augereau’s skirmishers advanced under accurate rifle fire, inflicting heavy losses on the Prussian line despite facing return volleys and artillery.
• Mura led the Hussars east toward the Prussian artillery positions while a hot air balloon rose to scout the battlefield.
• The reconnaissance report revealed Black Eagle Banners and Bearskin Guards south of Weimar, leading Augereau to conclude that William III was likely present.
• Augereau ordered Mason to pin down the Prussian front while the 11th Skirmisher Regiment and 15th Regiment assembled for a charge on the eastern flank.
• After forty minutes, Mason signaled that he had pinned down the enemy, and Augereau led nearly three thousand soldiers in a column assault on the Prussian left flank.

Augereau led an elite French force in a fierce assault that broke through the Prussian left flank and opened a path for Mura's cavalry. Marshal von Moltke realized the French cavalry was charging toward William III, but had no reserves available to stop them.

• Augereau led French columns through Prussian volleys, then ordered them into Horizontal Formation and blasted a breach in the enemy line with close-range fire.
• Augereau kept his troops advancing under artillery fire and sent an Orderly Officer to tell Mura to move.
• Mura brought nearly a thousand cavalry through the widening breach as Augereau's infantry split aside and provided covering fire.
• French Cuirassiers and Hussars drove back the Prussian soldiers near the breach, and Mura led the cavalry toward the Southern Suburbs of Weimar.
• Marshal von Moltke saw the French cavalry charge past his position and realized they were heading for William III.

After the Prussian defensive line collapsed, William III fled toward Naumburg while French forces pursued him. Mura failed to capture the King, and the Duke of Brunswick learned that his vanguard had been attacked by the French.

• Moltke discovered that William III had left for Naumburg and ordered Hussars to delay the French cavalry.
• News of the King's flight spread through the Prussian Army, breaking its morale as Augereau's forces pursued the retreating soldiers.
• Mura traced William III's route to Naumburg and led more than two hundred Hussars in pursuit.
• Mura fired at William III but stopped when Naumburg's garrison confronted his Hussars, leaving the King uncaptured.
• The Duke of Brunswick learned that the French had attacked his vanguard while he searched for their army.

Surt’s Second Army Corps ambushed Duke of Brunswick’s Prussian force and drove it into retreat, while Boen’s hussars failed to break the French squares. In Baden, a breach in the defensive line forced Crown Prince to commit the Guard Grenadier Battalion as Grand Duke of Baden Karl Friedrich watched anxiously from headquarters.

• Duke of Brunswick learned that French forces were approaching from both sides and ordered Rechten to hold off one force while his army fought Surt’s attack.
• Surt’s troops battered the hastily formed Prussian lines, forcing Duke of Brunswick to order a retreat toward Eisenherna and send Boen’s hussars to attack the French flank.
• Boen’s hussars charged the French Hollow Square Formations but suffered heavy casualties, giving Duke of Brunswick time to withdraw before Grouchy’s cuirassiers arrived.
• The Lefebvre Legion and former Walloon Police waited ahead of the retreating Prussians.
• After the Graham Legion opened a wide breach in the Baden Line, Crown Prince committed the Guard Grenadier Battalion to battle.
• Grand Duke of Baden Karl Friedrich watched from headquarters and reaffirmed his confidence in the Child of Divine Grace.

As the French forces held the Karlsruhe line against the Russians, Joseph learned that Augereau had broken through the Prussian defenses and was advancing toward Berlin, prompting plans for a counteroffensive. A week later, Count Montyon struggled to reach Berlin as its residents fled ahead of the French advance.

• Prévédiche and Gaizika endured the Russian assault as French and Baden troops defended the Karlsruhe East Line.
• Joseph received news that Augereau had defeated Prussian forces at Weimar and was advancing toward Berlin, then ordered the victory announced and sent Count Montyon to Berlin.
• Joseph learned that William III had been wounded near Naumburg, while the Baden defenders cheered at the news of Augereau's breakthrough.
• At a staff conference, Joseph ordered Massena Legion to Karlsruhe and called on Theodor to reinforce Moreau Legion before launching a counteroffensive.
• On February 14, 1799, Montyon traveled toward Berlin through fleeing crowds after Augereau's Corps occupied Pozztan.

Count Montyon pressured Prussian leaders to accept surrender by emphasizing Prussia’s depleted forces and France’s military and logistical advantages. He offered the return of two captured corps if Prussia agreed to the surrender terms, leaving the leaders tempted by the chance to preserve their army.

• Charles arrived with Count Montyon at the City Palace and said he was prepared.
• Baron Stein argued that Prussia could continue the war, but Count Montyon pointed out that Prussia had too few troops to resist Austria or rely on its allies.
• Count Montyon claimed France had 380,000 soldiers, fast train-based supply lines, and rifled guns throughout its army, alarming Prince Heinrich and the other Prussian ministers.
• Count Montyon offered to consider returning the captured corps of the Duke of Brunswick and Blücher if Prussia accepted the surrender terms.

As Prussia negotiated surrender terms with France, Charles revealed himself as a French prince and proposed cooperation instead of simply enforcing the harsh armistice. The Prussian ministers considered his offers of trade, sugar-beet support, and loans, while the question of an alliance remained open.

• Baron Stein and the Prussian ministers agreed that they needed an armistice, then met Count Montyon to negotiate its terms.
• Count Montyon insisted on ten million Thalers in reparations, a French garrison in Magdeburg, and a fifty-thousand-man limit on the Prussian Army.
• Prince Heinrich and the ministers feared that accepting the terms would ruin Prussia, while Count Montyon warned that General Augereau was waiting in Pozztan.
• Charles interrupted the discussion and proposed that France and Prussia cooperate, promising not to seek land east of the Rhine River.
• Charles identified himself as Louis Charles Dieudonné de France, Duke of Normandy, and offered sugar-beet seeds, fertilizer, cultivation knowledge, market access, and loans in hopes of forming an alliance.

Prussian ministers considered France’s lucrative sugar-beet and trade proposals, while Joseph’s broader plan aimed to make Prussia dependent on France and prevent German unification. At William III’s sickbed, Queen Louise weighed the French terms, including reparations, market concessions, and the loss of several exclaves.

• Prussian ministers discussed siding with France for sugar profits, markets, and support against Austria and Britain.
• Joseph’s plan envisioned making Prussia dependent on French supplies and sugar markets while using cultural influence and regional divisions to obstruct German unity.
• Prince Heinrich reported France’s investment, technology, and sugar-cultivation proposals to William III and Queen Louise.
• Queen Louise initially rejected the eight-million-thaler reparations demand, but Prince Heinrich argued that sugar-beet profits could repay it in thirteen years.
• Prince Heinrich and Baron Stein outlined further French demands, including open markets, Paris Futures Market sales, mutual patent recognition, and the surrender of Ansbach, Bielefeld, and Emden.