the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

etween Liebemuhl and Deutsch Eylau. 32 Prince Peter stayed in “a beautiful and wellbuilt
house of a Prussian [peasant]. He lived in a large dining room with a bed covered
with hay; [Bagration] also had hay spread out on the floor.” 33 He was concerned by the
lack of intelligence about the French deployment and criticized the positions of the
Russian troops. So, on 30 January, Bagration turned Bennigsen’s attention to a possible
French attack in the Allenstein direction. However, the same day, Bennigsen ordered him
to move westward to Deutsch Eylau and strengthen communications with the Prussians at
Freystadt. 34
As he received intelligence of the Russian movements, Napoleon quickly began
preparing a counterattack. He anticipated that by proceeding further to the west,
Bennigsen would inevitably expose his left flank and rear to an attack by the French main
army. According to his new plan, the French troops would make a sweeping flanking
maneuver on the right from Thorn, driving Bennigsen into the angle between the Lower
Vistula and the Frisches-Haff. So, Napoleon kept Lefebvre’s 10 th Corps (16,000 men) at
Thorn, while moving Bernadotte with 20,000 men to Strasburg and Ney (16,000 men) to
Gilgenburg. Augereau’s 7 th Corps of 16,000 men was deployed at Neidenburg and
Janow, and Bessières with the Imperial Guard was at Chorzel. Marshal Davout with two
divisions of his 3 rd Corps was concentrated at Myszienec; Murat’s cavalry reserve and
Soult’s Corps (27,800 men) were arranged near Oertelsburg and Willemburg. Savary,
who temporarily commanded Lannes’s 5 th Corps (20,000 men), was at Brock on the Bug
River. So, Napoleon had approximately 115,000 men concentrated against the Russian
army. 35
32 Denis Denisov, “Meeting with Field Marshal Count Kamensky,” in Writings, 194; Dumas,
Précis des événemens militaires, XVII, 320-21; Landmann, Der Krieg von 1806 und 1807, 338.
33 Ibid., 194. It is noteworthy that late Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov did the same during
the 1799 Campaign.
34 Petre, Napoleon’s Campaign in Poland, 145; Dumas, Précis des événemens militaires,
XVII, 321.
35
Dispositions Générales de la Journée, Allenstein, 3 February 1807; 56 th Bulletin,
Arensdrof, 5February 1807, Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, No.11,780, XIV, 354-55; Höpfner,
Der Krieg von 1806 und 1807, III, 193-94; Grenier, Étude sur 1807, 51-53; Dumas, Précis des
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