battle of Jena

Jena, battle of, was fought on the plateau immediately north-west of the town on 14 October 1806. The Prussian army under General Hohenlohe (Fürst F. L. zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen) was outmanœuvred and outfought by the numerically superior French forces under Napoleon, and finally dissolved into flight. Simultaneously a second Prussian army was routed a few miles to the north at Auerstedt. The consequence of the double defeat was the overrunning of Prussia by the French armies and its subjugation and dismemberment in the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 (see Napoleonic Wars). Of the two battles it is Jena which has become the proverbial symbol of Prussian defeat.