Apart from its immense effect on the spirits of his troops, his vigilance reaped a rich reward.

Jena was won by a rapid concentration of troops, and the prompt seizure of a commanding position almost under the eyes of an unenterprising enemy.

The corps of Soult and Ney spent most of the night and early morning in marching towards Jena and taking up their positions on the right or north wing, while Lannes and the Guard held the central height, and Augereau's corps in the Muehl-thal threatened the Saxons and Prussians guarding the Schnecke.[106] A dense fog screened the moves of the assailants early on the morrow, and, after some confused but obstinate fighting, the French secured their hold on the plateau not only above the town of Jena, where their onset took the Prussians by surprise, but also above the Muehl-thal, where the enemy were in force.
By ten o'clock the fog lifted, and the warm rays of the autumn sun showed the dense masses of the French advancing towards the middle of the plateau.

Hohenlohe now saw the full extent of his error and despatched an urgent message to Ruechel for aid.

It was too late.