Susan,

No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is who was there to support Davout once Bernadotte 'departed'? And who was Davout supposed to inform once contact was made and he figured out he was facing an army more than twice the size of his own corps? French corps were designed to be able to fight on their own for about 24 hours. And Davout, based on previous correspondence with Napoleon, was probably under the impression that Napoleon was facing the main Prussian army.

Davout and Bernadotte were maneuvering to get into the rear of the Prussians, which was Napoleon's design operationally. Davout was doing what he was supposed to do, Bernadotte 'shagged-ass' to put it in the modern military vernacular and failed to support his comrade. And Davout had proposed to Bernadotte that they advance together. Bernadotte refused.

And I don't believe that Davout was trying to 'hog the glory' as it wasn't his way. He did more than his assigned duty on 14 October and Auerstadt was 'a model engagement.'

Sincerely,
K