marched towards Schleitz, while Lannes and
Augereau, with 46,000, moved by a road further to the left towards
Saalfeld.

The progress of these dense columns near together and through a hilly
country presented great difficulties, which only the experience of the
officers, the energy and patience of the men, and the genius of their
great leader could overcome. Meanwhile Napoleon had quietly left Paris
on September 25th. Travelling at his usual rapid rate, he reached
Mainz on the 28th: he was at Wuerzburg on October 2nd; there he
directed the operations, confident that the impact of his immense
force would speedily break the Prussians, drive them down the valley
of the Saale and thus detach the Elector of Saxony from an alliance
that already was irksome.

The French, therefore, had a vast mass of seasoned fighters, a good
base of operations, and a clear plan of attack. The Prussians, on the
contrary, could muster barely 128,000 men, including the Saxons, for
service in the field; and of these 27,000 with Ruechel were on the
frontier of Hesse-Cassel seeking to assure the alliance of the
Elector. The commander-in-chief was the septuagenarian Duke of
Brunswick, well known for his failure at Valmy in 1792 and his recent
support to the policy of complaisance to France. His appointment
aroused anger and consternation; and General Kalckreuth expressed to
Gentz the general opinion when he said that the Duke was quite
incompetent for such a command: "His character is not strong enough,
his mediocrity, irresolution, and untrustworthiness would ruin the
best undertaking." The Duke himself was aware of his incompetence. Why
then, we ask, did he accept the command? The answer is startling; but
it rests on the evidence of General von Mueffling:

"The Duke of Brunswick had accepted the command _in order to avert
war_. I can affirm this with perfect certainty, since I have heard
it from his own lips more than once. He was fully aware of the
weaknesses of the Prussian army and the incompetence of its
officers."[102]

Thus there was seen the strange sight of a diffident, peace-loving
King accompanying the army and sharing in all the deliberations; while
these were nominally presided over by a despondent old man who still
intrigued to preserve peace, and shifted on to the King the
responsibility of every important act. And yet there were able
generals who could have acted with effect, even if they fell short of
the