Six Days in October - The Consolidated Dispatches of Marshal Lannes

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Note that the dispatch above suffered from Cyrano's Whiskey Delay, and was delivered out of sequence.  ;D

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DISPATCH -- LASALLE to LANNES, 0930, 14th October

SENT 0700, 14th October

My Lord Marshal,

Have reached a position some 10 kilometers from Erfurt on the Gotha to Erfurt Road.

Foucher marches immediately to my rear.

We are probing towards Erfurt to determine the disposition of the enemy.

I embrace you!

LaSalle

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DISPATCH -- From Control -- 1000, 14th October

The sound of battle can clearly be heard from the direction of Erfurt.

S!

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DISPATCH -- MURAT to LANNES, 1100, 14th October

SENT 0700, 14th October

"General Davout and Lannes. I am at present some 10km north of Erfurt, astride the Erfurt-Weissensee road. My scouts report a division of Prussian infantry are currently marching north out of Erfurt! I am preparing to engage them. I must urge you both to rush with your corps to Erfurt and support me. Hopefully we can encircle and destroy these Prussians before they get away! Speed is of the essence -- you must proceed with all possible haste.
- Murat "

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Dispatch - Lannes to V Corps and Attachments 1100 14 October

To: V Corps, LaSalle, d'Hautpol, Morand
Copies to Davout, Murat, and Bernadotte

Generals!

M. Murat has engaged the enemy north of Erfurt. Generals LaSalle and Foucher are probing toward Erfurt now to locate the enemy, and we can all hear the guns.

We must march to the sound of the guns! Make all haste to Erfurt. Murat's Corp will fix the enemy for our hammer blow from the west. Advance to Erfurt and engage the foe with all dispatch!

Lannes

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DISPATCH -- FOUCHER to LANNES, 1600, 14th October

SENT, 1400, 14th October

My Lord Marshal,

Have arrived at a point only a few kilometers North and West of Erfurt.  Per your orders, I am preparing to join the affray evident North of the City.

Commend me to the Emperor!

GdB L. Foucher de Careil

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DISPATCH -- DAVOUT to LANNES -- 2130, 14th October

TIME: 1930 14 October
TO: Marshals Murat, Ney, and Bernadotte

Where I am: Somewhere under a disgusting "rainbow" in the hinterlands of Germany

My fellow marshals!

I have heard the cannon fire of your presumed victory over Ruchel, but
the difficult terrain has prevented me from joining you so far. The
Germans should learn to improve their roads so we can invade them more
easily.

Vialannes' cavalry reconnoitered eastwards towards Weimar, following
Arnim's division eastwards but then being driven off by Scharnhorst's
cavalry, somewhere southeast of Weimar.   This suggests that Brunswick
is in the Weimar area.

I am attempting to assemble my forces on the road east of Erfurt.

Unless you hear otherwise, we will, as planned, punch westwards
towards Erfurt in order to link up with you tomorrow.

- Davout

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DISPATCH -- FOUCHER to LANNES, 2130, 14th October


SENT 2000, 14th October


My Lord Marshal,


Grand news!  The men of General Ruchel's advance guard have surrendered to us en masse!!  We have taken nearly 6,000 men prisoner.


Vive L'Empereur!!

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DISPATCH -- DAVOUT to LANNES, 2200, 14th October

SENT 2000, 14th October

From: Marshal Davout
To: Marshals Lannes, Murat, and Bernadotte

My column is arriving at Erfurt.  As planned, I will head westwards to
meet you tomorrow.

It is entirely possible that our meeting will outpace this dispatch!

As noted in the previous message, evidence suggests that Brunswick's
corps is in the vicinity of Weimar.

- Marshal Davout

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DISPATCH -- MURAT to DAVOUT, 2230, 14th October

SENT 2000, 14th October

To Marshalls Davout and Lannes
(Davout believed to be south/southeast of Erfurt)
(Lannes believed to be on the road between Gotha and Erfurt)
From Marshal Murat (approx 10km north of Erfurt)

My dear comrades -

Today has been a very good day for French arms! If you have not already heard, I have the pleasure to report that this evening I accepted the surrender of some 5000 Prussian soldiers, the survivors of Weimar's division of Ruchel's corps, and have also seen the shattered remnants of his Advance Guard division fleeing to the northeast in full rout. Sadly, General Weimar himself has managed to evade capture, and Saxe's division remains on the field near Erfurt in relatively intact condition.

I hope this does not offend, but I have issued orders to General Friant of Davout's corps' 2nd division to break off his pursuit of the Prussians. The formation he is pursuing (the Advance Guard) is the smallest of Ruchel's divisions and has already been severely mauled. Even if this unit manages to escape, it will be days before it is in any condition to pose a threat to our operations -- meanwhile, we have no idea where either Brunswick or Hohenlohe are, and theirs are the largest and most dangerous of the forces arrayed against us. I believed it was essential that Friant be recalled to support Marshall Davout's further advance on the city of Weimar as this is the most likely direction in which the main Prussian armies lie (rather than to the northeast, which is the direction in which Ruchel is headed).

My proposal for tomorrow is that Marshall Davout advance as expeditiously as possible on Weimar. I believe this to be critical to maintain pressure on the Prussians so that they will be unable to concentrate against the Emperor as he and the rest of our army advance north from the Hof gap. Meanwhile I believe that Marshall Lannes should concentrate on crushing Saxe's division before it can escape from the Erfurt area. I will attempt to support Lannes as practical, but my cavalry have been heavily engaged for the past two days and fatigue and disorganization is becoming a significant factor.

In accordance with the Emperor's wishes, once we have occupied Erfurt I will be relinquishing command of the western wing of our army to Marshall Davout. Once that occurs and unless otherwise directed by Marshall Davout, my intent is to then continue with his majesty's previous orders and proceed with my cavalry to circle north and east to Halle (via Weissensee and Eisleben).

My request to both of you would be that you provide me with updates on your current locations, your recent activities (so that I may accurately inform the Emperor of what has transpired today), and your intentions for tomorrow. I eagerly await your responses.

- Marshall Murat

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DISPATCH -- LANNES to FOUCHER 2300 14 October

General Foucher,

Grand news indeed! Please provide me with your current position and the status of your division. I will be moving my headquarters to join you soon.

Lannes

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DISPATCH - LANNES to MURAT 2300 14 October

From: Marshal Lannes
To: Marshals Murat, Davout, and Bernadotte
Location: Encamped approximately 8KM west of Erfurt. Or thereabouts. Who can tell? This is Germany.

Marshals,

I greet the news of our victory with great joy. It is unfortunate that due to the brilliant orders of our genius Emperor that I have so far been unable to join you in battle. My corps continues on an extended walking tour of picturesque Thuringia. It may be that we will be able to participate in the next German war, when we've finally reached a destination of some military importance.

I will continue along the road toward Erfurt as quickly as possible in the morning in hopes of engaging and pinning Saxe's division and destroying it tomorrow. Once done, I will occupy Erfurt and move to support Marshal Davout pending further orders.

Lannes

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Dispatch - Lannes to V Corps and Attachments 2300 14 October


To: V Corps, LaSalle, d'Hautpol, Morand
Copies to Davout, Murat, and Bernadotte


Generals,


M. Murat and elements of Davout's Corps along with V Corps cavalry under General Foucher won a great victory today north of Erfurt. Ruchel's corps is shattered. It is now our job to finish the fight by destroying Saxe's division in the vicinity of Erfurt.


Your orders for the day are as follows. Beginning at 6AM, all V Corps infantry is to continue west toward Erfurt, concentrating 2KM west of the town to await orders.


General Foucher is to send out patrols to the north, west, and south of Erfurt to discover the location of Saxe's division and to make contact with Davout's corps, reported in the vicinity of Erfurt. On discovering the location of Saxe's division, report this to me and, along with generals d'Hautpol and LaSalle, move to intercept Saxe and prevent him from fleeing. You are directed to engage him to the extent necessary to delay him until the infantry can join you and attack.


General Morand, you are to accompany V Corps infantry toward Erfurt. Once we have made contact with III Corps, you are to rejoin M. Davout in his attack toward Wiemar.


I will move my headquarters this evening to join General Foucher, to be closer to tomorrow's likely action.


Lannes

[Cyrano]

This is so great.

Did we write this much??!!

[panzerde]

This is so great.

Did we write this much??!!

This is only some of the dispatches from a third of the French army (I obviously don't have anything Lance and James didn't send to me or copy me on), adding in the rest of the French army AND the Prussians, the volume of writing is really quite impressive!