‘I can point out a number of instances during the Jena campaign where the French were 'in contact' with the enemy, including heavy skirmishes, some leading to Saalfeld and other early engagements. However, I don't see that 'abandonment' issue ever coming up as different corps carried out their orders in the face of the enemy.’
Please do.

Kevin:

Both on the 12th and 13th, Lannes was being followed by Augereau. FIrst at Saalfeld and then during the heavy skirmishing on the 13th, Augereau 'failed' to support Lannes, though both were definitely 'changes in situation.' The latter after Augereau agreed to support Lannes because he hadn't received orders himself.

Bernadotte failed to fight on 14 October. Anyone else do that? Ney busted a gut to get to Jena as did other commanders. Bernadotte failed to do that.

Yes, and no one has questioned that. He failed to get into the fight. The question is how this might have 'profited' Bernadotte or constitute abandoning Davout.

‘

It is like Vachee saying that the vague orders 'profited' Bernadotte. He gives a 'why' without every explaining the When, How, Who, Where and What that would substantiate what the heck that mean, other than unsubstantiate Innuendo?’ Then why did you mention Vachee in one of your posts?

Because, beyound that one innuendo, all Vachee states is his failure, the slow march and late arrival at Dornburg..

Let's get away of conclusion statements like 'abandonment' when the When, How, Where, When and Who have not been established from what I can see.’
Why? If that is the conclusion, why get away from it.

Because you are long on conclusions and really short on evidence.

‘Who says Bernadotte abandon Davout?--the commanders on the ground Where would he have been if he hadn't 'abandoned' Davout vis-a-vis the enemy and the road to Dornburg his troops were already marching on? When did Davout know what the contact meant? What was his conclusions about his need for support, as he had the largest corps in the army? Who made the decision? Did Davout suggest anything else. I find it interesting how prominent that statement is about Davout asking Bernadotte 'regarding' his decision. How was Bernadotte to interpret his orders, orders he had on the 12th to Support Murat, who he knew was in Dornburg, and now had Davout's order that said he was expected there by the Emperor.‘ This is the third time in the posting that you brought this up and its getting repetitive.
Again, read Napoleon’s letter to Bernadotte after the battles were over. He most certainly told him he made a ‘false march’ and did not support Davout.

Please look at Napoleon's comments. A 'false march' was a poor one, but that doesn't equal the expectation he 'should have' supported Davout. That conclusion also contradicts his other statements clearly stating his expectation that Bernadotte was supposed to be in Dornburg.

Davout did not have the largest corps in the army. Soult’s was larger.

The III Corps was around 28,930 men at Auerstadt. Soult had 28,960 men at Jena. Of course, Davout didn't have Sahuc, which was part of his corps.

Bernadotte was definitely ordered to march with Davout and a conscientious commander would have stayed in the area of Naumberg to support his comrade as enemy contact had been made on the 13th.

No he wasn't. It said he 'could' or 'can' march with him, but was expected to be in Dornburg. Your reading of the orders makes a possibility and choice into a direct order that it clearly wasn't. If it WAS a direct order, then there would have been absolutely no reason for Davout to ask him what he was going to do.

Davout figured out quite early what contact with the Prussians on his outpost line meant. It is described very well on the Esposito/Elting Atlas. Davout undoubtedly figured out what the contact meant when he found he was facing a larger force than he had at his disposal and Bernadotte had already 'left the building' and would not support him.

Uh-huh. Evidence and not another historian's comment in an atlas.. Dornburg was in the opposite direction from Davout's line of march, which the atlas also shows, so any marching with Davout would have been short indeed. Following Davout would have taken him away from what Napoleon was convinced was the main army. Support Davout in a sideshow or attempt to make it to the main event? Maude found no fault in that reasoning.

Where did anyone say that Davout ‘had Prussians behind him’? I must have missed it. I don’t believe that is an issue. Davout found Prussians driving in his outposts on the afternoon of the 13th and believed that it was the precursor of a major Prussian force coming in his direction (which would be traveling to the northeast by the Prussians). Davout moved to meet the Prussians because he had to cross key terrain in order to face the Prussians (ie, the Kosen defile). There was not a pursuit late on the 13th or early on the 14th. Auerstadt was a meeting engagement. To be blunt, Davout was hunting the enemy pursuant to Napoleon’s plan and the orders he had been given.

You said it in a previous post. And he had the Prussians moving Northeast. And yes, Auerstadt was a meeting engagement. Davout was expecting a pursuit. Davout was hunting the enemy, while Bernadotte was 'supposed' to be support Murat in Dornburg.

Bernadotte’s orders to move to Dornburg were given earlier than the 13th, and he was expected to be there on the 13th. However, he believed his troops to be fatigued and stopped to rest at 1400 on the 13th when he should have kept going to Dornburg if he was going to obey his orders.Halting early on the 13th and not pushing on to Dornburg was a violation of his orders.

The way it reads in all the accounts I have read is that his corps was on the road to Dornburg AND marching during the night until the orders to Davout arrived, at which point he halted the march [3am]. He continued the march once he made his decision.

And Davout had marched farther than Bernadotte had and was outposting his front while Bernadotte sat on his hands and after the receipt of the new order at 0400 on the 14th which directed him to move with Davout, he decided on his own to obey the orders that were now out of date. And the fact that Davout was in contact with the Prussians should have alerted Bernadotte that action was imminent.

It didn't *direct him to do anything* It told Davout what Bernadotte 'could' do and what was expected of him: Be in Dornburg. Any other reading of that missive strikes me as really off. If it had directed Bernadotte to follow Davout,

then Davout had no business asking Bernadotte what he was going to do.

His continued march to Dornburg effectively isolated Davout on his own and can be interpreted as abandoning Davout.

Uh-huh. Again, a conclusion statement and not based on what those men knew at the time or said afterwards from all I have seen, including your evidence..

Bill