Frank:
Sorry about the confusion. By 'superiors' I meant anyone in a supervisory position who felt they had the right or responsibility to chide him officially for his failures. Berthier was one who did. Murat was another, as he was the one whom Bernadotte was supposed to support. On the list of marshals, Murat and Berthier were higher on the list and did outrank him. And Napoleon and his whole marshalet was built on 'making themselves look good', seeking glory and fame. Perception counted as much as reality. It's like sex appeal: 50% is what you have and 50% is what others think you have. However, you don't have an army as fine as Napoleon's with "assessments of his subordinates' behavior designed purely to make himself look good."

I would imagine that Hohenloe with about 40,000 Prussians and Saxons weren't in any better shape than Bernadotte's 25,000. [in round numbers] Traveling in the dark isn't easy, but the I Corps made less than a mile an hour for eight hours, most of that in daylight.

The original plan was for Bernadotte and Davout to be on the flank and behind the main Prussian army around Jena to cut off any retreat etc. So, on the 15th,, Bernadotte was in a good position to carry out the pursuit and cut the Prussian line of retreat, which was the idea behind Napoleon's original plan, regardless of how things actually turned out.

Bill

You're quite right, but the "assessments" I was referring to are proclamations, Orders of the Day, recollections in exile, etc. - not practical organizational paperwork.

Perhaps "rivals" would be a better descriptor than "superiors"? But that would take us back down a scenic (but some of those scenes are mirages only) and circuitous path to the post that first touched off this discussion.

More specifically, can Murat really be looked to for any military analysis more complex than "Charge!"? And Berthier ... isn't he the one who conveyed one Marshal's vital (according to some) role in NB's battle plan in the form of a "suggestion" contained in orders given to someone else?

PS -Perhaps Hohenlohe moved faster in part because he didn't have to slog along a road that 40,000 men had just marched on ?