The allied Army of the North, under the command of Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden (formerly French Marshal Bernadotte), followed them cautiously but made no serious effort to cross the river.

Major von Rühle was tasked with finding a crossing point where the bridgehead could, if necessary, be defended by an army of 50,000 men against an enemy three times their size.

[7] The dike was a perfect breastwork behind which the French could deploy their infantry, and the lack of cover made it an ideal killing ground.

This advance was met with a murderous fire from the defenders, sending the remains of the brigade falling back to the bridges in confusion.

Passing through an orchard, and crossing a stream and two dikes, they fell upon Fontanelli's men, who had been called forward to reinforce Morand.

[3] According to F. N. Maude, the "extraordinary tenacity of purpose" shown by the Prussian troops in this battle showed "how infinitely more important is the spirit with which men fight than the forms in which they have been trained, or the strategic relations of their fronts to one another.