Ney attacks the Russian left

Napoleon sees that the Russian left is cramped in a narrow tongue of land between the Alle and the Posthenen millstream, with the town and its bridges behind it. He places Ney’s corps between Posthenen and the Sortlack Wood, Lannes to its left in the centre and Mortier at Heinrichsdorf on the left, with Victor’s I Corps and the Imperial Guard in reserve behind Posthenen. The afternoon passes in forming up the arriving troops under cover of the guns.

1807, Friedland: cuirassiers salute Napoleon, painting by Ernest Meissonier, about 1861 to 1875Wikimedia Commons, Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Public domain (1807, Friedland.jpg)

At 5 p.m., after a heavy bombardment, Ney carries the Sortlack Wood and pushes on towards the river. Marchand’s division on his right drives part of the Russian left into the Alle at Sortlack while Bisson’s division advances on his left. A Russian cavalry charge into the gap between them is beaten off by Latour-Maubourg’s dragoons, but Bennigsen’s reserve cavalry then drives Ney’s infantry back in disorder.

Sources

David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon (1966).
Christopher Summerville, Napoleon’s Polish Gamble: Eylau and Friedland 1807 (2005).

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