Vierzehnheiligen

                                                  Vierzehnheiligen!

The name might sound familiar, to those going to Jena it is the village where the bivouac site is centred and the official site of the battle event. When I consulted the big map in the Osprey book of Jena I was a bit disappointed that the village was right on the edge of the map and assumed not much really happened there.. but I was quite wrong about that!

At the start of the battle, around 6 am, Vierzehnheiligen was behind the Prussian lines which ran through Lutzeroda to the south-east although on the same vital road.

Lannes corps attacked Lutzeroda and after some hard fighting in the dispersing mist they broke through and took the village and swept on to Vierzehnheiligen and part of the Dornberg hill next to it, however for the first time that day it was recaptured by the Prussians, mainly with cavalry, who even retook Lutzeroda into the bargain. I was also learning that the Prussians were not such a walk over as my vague knowledge of Jena had lead me to believe.

In the meantime Michel Ney had arrived with his VI corp just in time to be ordered up to support the right of Lannes attack. Seeing Lannes in trouble but only having two light cavalry squadrons and two infantry battalions ready to fight Ney decided to attack anyway, just west of Vierzehnheiligen, which was now on fire.

       

 The Dornburg in the centre was an important hill, to the left you can see Vierzehnheiligen with it's medieval Church.

He captured some Prussian guns and pushed the enemy back and retook the burning village and then some. Then it all went wrong for his impetuous little force as the salient he had hacked into shape got surrounded and counter attacked, his cavalry was swept away and his infantry formed battalion squares in the tide of Prussian (and politically reluctant Saxon) forces.

Napoleon ordered Lannes to attack again and rescue the cut off force, this really put Napoleon's plans out of kilter. He was not a happy bunny.

Gazan's second division of V corp were first to take poor Vierzehnheiligen again and the Prussians were ordered to attack but instead halted on the outskirts, pouring fire into the village. Lannes other troops were pushing around the edges but ground to a halt. The Prussians were forming up for another organised advance.

French light troops in the potato fields around the village, supported by artillery, began picking apart the ranks of the Prussians as they formed up, after the battle this assembly point was found to be one of the most bloody parts of the field as massed troops stood and suffered cannon fire.

The moment of decision seemed to be here. Lannes advanced again but was pushed back by Saxon cavalry into the battered village.

Prince Hohenlohe did not follow up this local success, he felt he was being outflanked and more French reinforcements were arriving whilst his own had yet to appear.

Around 12.30 the entire French army advanced and the wavering Prussians were finished.

      The village today is hardly much bigger than it was in 1806, like Ligny and most battlefield villages only a few features from the time remain, the Church being one of them.

The name of the village roughly translates as four-ten-to-sanctify. I thought this was odd until I saw other places with the same name.. such as the basilica of Vierzehnheiligen in Bavaria. The name comes from the 'fourteen holy helpers' who are saints each dedicated to healing and usually of a specific illness or  disease so that pilgrims would visit Churches associated with them in search of healing, presumably the church in the village was one such place. 

It is five miles from the village into Jena, an hour and a half walk according to Googlemaps. There does not appear to be any shops in the village but historically food sellers and stalls appear to feed hungry soldiers, and surely a quality beer tent, for major supplies one of the closest is an Aldi in North Jena at Altenburger Str 1. 07743 Jena.
The weather is currently similar to here, sunny days with cloud and a bit chilly at night but above freezing, so weather should be better than 1806.

Jena, one of Napoleon's greatest victories! (Don't mention Auerstadt, shhhh!) with the veterans of Austerlitz destroying the Prussian field army, many believe this was the high point of the Grande armee, and we shall be a part of it soon!