It was part of Davoust's corps, strongly posted in and around the village of Hassenhausen.
At once Bluecher charged, only to be driven back with severe loss.
Again he came on, this time supported by infantry and cannon: again he was repulsed; for Davoust, aided by the fog, had seized the neighbouring heights which commanded the high road, and held them with firm grip.

Determined to brush aside or crush this stubborn foe, the Duke of Brunswick now led heavy masses along the narrow defile; but the steady fire of the French laid him low, with most of the officers; and as the Prussians fell back, Davoust swung forward his men to threaten their flanks.

The King was dismayed at these repeated checks, and though the Prussian reserves under Kalckreuth could have been called up to overwhelm the hard-pressed French by the weight of numbers, yet he judged it better to draw off his men and fall back on Hohenlohe for support.
But what a support! Instead of an army, it was a terrified mob flying before Murat's sabres, that met them halfway between Auerstaedt and Weimar.

Threatened also by Bernadotte's corps on their left flank, the two Prussian armies now melted away in one indistinguishable torrent, that was stemmed only by the sheltering walls of Erfurt, Magdeburg, and of fortresses yet more remote.
Of the twin battles of Jena and Auerstaedt, the latter was unquestionably the more glorious for the French arms.

That Napoleon should have beaten an army of little more than half his numbers is in no way remarkable.