5 July 1813 – Central Germany

French cavalry recce confirm that the river Saale is undefended

Davout orders 2nd and 6th corps to attack

He moves to join them, but will arrive too late to take part in the battle

Both corps are down to one days supplies

If the cannot resupply next day they will start to suffer attrition casualties

But this is too good an opportunity to miss.

The main road to Rudolstadt is held by a single Russian brigade

They are escorting supplies from the depot at Erfurt

The two Russian corps holding this section of the river are also low on supplies

The French plan of attack is that 6^th corps will cross the undefended northern bridge and swing south to attack the Russian north flank.  2^nd corps will pin the Russians until the attack begins.

6^th French corps approach the bridge in a long column stretching back through Erfurt.   Their cavalry cross the bridge to cover the crossing.   1^st Russian corps send their Cossack brigade to counter the French cavalry.   The Cossacks charge and win the melee.  The French chasseurs rout back over the bridge and through their own artillery and leading infantry brigade.  The whole 6^th corps is disordered.

This melee allows 1^st Russian corps to redeploy to hold the northern bridge, and the opportunity for an unopposed river crossing is lost to the French.   Both French corps commanders withdraw to await further orders.