Napoleon's "Sun of
Austerlitz"
David Eshel
Prologue
The
Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one
of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed
the Third Coalition.
Europe
had been embroiled in the French revolutionary wars since 1792. After five
years of war, the French republic subdued the First coalition in 1797. A second Coalition was formed in
1798, but this too was defeated by 1801, leaving Britain the only opponent to
France. In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to end hostilities under the
Treaty of Amiens . For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace.
However, many problems persisted between the two sides, making implementation
of the treaty increasingly difficult. The tense situation only worsened and
prolonged intransigence on these issues led Britain to declare war on France on
18 May 1803. On his part, Bonaparte had already revived plans for an invasion
of England in March, 1803. The result was the creation of the Third Coalition,
in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition
against France, including Austria, Great Britain, Russia and Sweden. In April 1805, the time looked
perfect for the members of the Third Coalition to strike back at France. The
French fleet could not gain control of the English Channel and the mass of the
Grande Armee was camped near Boulogne awaiting orders to invade Britain. It was
decided that a concerted invasion would put the upstart Napoleon Bonaparte in
his place and so plans were made to attack Napoleon's gains in Italy and
Bavaria. But their gigantic plan, as we
shall see, failed miserably, because the Corsican upstart turned out a different kind of warrior.
Napoleon
Bonaparte did not rise to greatness overnight.
Born in 1796 to an aristocratic family in Corsica, as a young
lieutenant visiting Toulon, besieged by the Royalists and taking command of the bewildered gunners, he managed to
chase the bandits, forcing the British navy out of the harbor. The news created
quite a flurry in Paris and Bonaparte became a name among leading elements, who
immediately promoted him to command the demoralized army in Italy, where he
arrived like whirlwind, and after reorganizing , led them against the Austrians
in Piedmont. He then rose from victory to victory until rewarded as a national
hero, became first consul of France, and in December 1804 Emperor of the
French.
Napoleon's
career largely resulted from the military innovations he inherited from the
French Revolution, such as mass conscription which made possible the use of
block tactics in order to attack in column and eliminated the need for supply
lines, thus making French armies much more mobile. The Revolution also provided
him with young officers who had largely developed these new tactics and were
willing and able to successfully implement them on the battlefield. Therefore,
the two characteristics of Napoleonic warfare, massed firepower and mobility
were already present when he started his outstanding career.
After
having made himself emperor of France in December 1804, the rest of royalist
Europe saw Napoleon's imperial crown as part of a plan to rule all of Europe.
This triggered the war of the Third Coalition of Austria, Britain, and Russia
against France, culmination on 2ns December 1805 with Napoleon's most brilliant
victory on the icy hills near Austerlitz.
On
August 26, 1805, a yellow colored horse-drawn Postal carriage, rolled eastward along
the German roads towards the Rhine. In its sat a tall man, whose passport identified
him as Colonel de Beaumont. Moving rapidly, the carriage traveled to Frankfurt,
then turned southeast toward Offenbach and Wurzburg. It proceeded to the town
of Bamberg on the Regnitz River. Carefully skirting the border of the Austrian
empire, it followed the course of the Regnitz southward to Nuremberg. Turning
east again, it rolled to the Danube, tracing that river's course to Regensburg.
There, it clattered across the Danube on the great stone bridge and continued
to Passau. From there, the carriage turned west toward Munich, drove on to Ulm
and through the Schwarzwald. Crossing the Rhine over the bridge at Strasbourg
into France, the carriage stopped and the colonel reverted to his true
identity: Joachim Murat, marshal of France, grand admiral of the empire,
senator of France, governor of Paris, grand master of the cavalry and
brother-in-law of Emperor Napoleon I. At the nearby military post, Murat send a
succession of coded messages to Napoleon in Paris, which caused an immediate
flurry of reaction. The content of Murat's messages were astounding: The
"colonel" well trained eye had gathered important near real time
intelligence over the concentration of the enemy gathering all over the area he
had just travelled.
It
read: " There exists at Wels a corps of about 60,000 men; at Braunau on
the Inn, one of from 10 to 12,000, and a camp has been set up there for
30,000;…already some Austrian soldiers have arrived at Salzburg; it is
generally believed that they are going to occupy Bavaris. Prince Charles is to
be the commander in Italy, and the Emperor on the Rhine. Their principal
objective is to act in Italy, which appears probable given the extraordinary
preparations taking place in the Tyrol. On Lake Constance there are about
15,000 men. A great number of Russians are on the frontiers of Galacia, the
number is said to be 80,000 men. General Weyrother is, it is said, to be going
to guide them. Finally, everything in Austria has a warlike attitude….".
In Paris, at the Palace of Saint Cloud, Murat's observations were added to
those from other sources. As Napoleon studied his situation map, the red and
black pins that marked the positions of French forces and their rivals revealed
that an overwhelming force was gathering against France. Immediate action was
called for and the Emperor reacted fast. A flurry of marching orders followed
and his staff was called to readiness for immediate travelling.
The
Allied Plan: Marching to Austerlitz
The
Allied Third Coalition's objective was to force France back inside its
territorial boundaries of 1789, before the French Revolution. To achieve that,
the coalition planned to put more than 400,000 men into the field, far more
than Napoleon could muster. A magnificent master plan was created, much too
complicated to implicate, with the still primitive communications available,
controlling such large scale coalition forces.
Austria's
best general, Field Marshal Archduke Charles of Hapsburg-Lorraine, would attack
in northern Italy with 94,000 men, recapture Austria's former possessions
there, then advance into southern France. Meanwhile, Austrian Archduke
Ferdinand D'Este, with Quartermaster-General Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich
as his chief of staff and mentor, would advance with 72,000 men along the
Danube to discourage the elector of Bavaria from joining Napoleon and to cover
the approach of Austria's Russian allies. By October 20, the first Russian
army, 50,000 men under Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, would arrive, followed by
another 50,000 men under Field Marshal Count Friedrich Wilhelm Büxhowden. The
Russian armies would join Archduke Ferdinand and Mack for a combined invasion
of northern France. To cover the two main offensives, an additional Bennigsen would protect the northern flank of
the Danube offensive, while an additional Austrian force of 22,000 men under
Archduke John would operate in the Tyrol. To distract French attention from the
coalition's main offensives, a force of 40,000 Russians, Swedes and British
would advance through northern Germany into Holland, while 30,000 Russians and
British would land in Naples, coming from Malta to join with 36,000 Neapolitan
monarchists and advance together up the Italian Peninsula into northern Italy.
This immense plan, moving such masses of troops, mostly marching on foot over
the planned distances was never before attempted and based on contemporary
experience would have little chance to succeed. Still, the members of the Third
Coalition having placed all their national effort on its success, ignored
Napoleon's military genius and headed straight for an inevitable disaster.
Napoleon
makes his plan
In
the face of this multinational threat, Napoleon realized that his long awaited
and delayed project — a cross-Channel invasion of England — was now
becoming impossible. the military intelligence gathered by Murat
and others, however, he had complete knowledge of the coalition's plan. Based
on In the face of these multinational threats, Napoleon realized that his
immediate project — a cross-Channel invasion of England — was now impossible.
However, based on the incredible intelligence gathered by Marshal Murat,
Napoleon had complete knowledge of the coalition's plan. His response would be
a preemptive strike into central Europe. He would try to destroy the army under
Ferdinand and Mack before the Russians could arrive, then crush the Russians in
turn. Meanwhile, Marshal André Masséna, with 50,000 men, would tie down
Archduke Charles' army in Italy. Marshal Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune, with
30,000 men, would forestall the coalition advance into Holland, and Général
de Division Laurent Gouvion St. Cyr, with 18,000, would march on Naples to
prevent any coalition advance there.
The
instrument for Napoleon's offensive against Ferdinand and Mack stood at Boulogne
on the English Channel. His Grande Armée, 180,000-strong, a highly
trained, well armed and mobile force that was more than ready for action. Let
us take a closer look at this magnificent military formation, as it starts on
its forced march to the Rhine.
Napoleon's
Grande Armee
One
of the most important factors in the Grande Armée's success was its superior
and highly flexible organization. It was divided into seven corps, each
commanded by a marshal of France. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte commanded the I
Corps; Auguste-Fredéric-Louis Marmont, the II Corps; Louis-Nicholas Davout, the
III Corps; Jean-Baptiste de Dieu Soult, the IV Corps; Jean Lannes, the V Corps;
Michel Ney, the VI Corps; and Pierre Franois Charles Augereau, the VII Corps.
Joachim Murat commanded the Cavalry Reserve. The seven corps, Cavalry Reserve
and Imperial Guard under Napoleon's own hand totaled 145,000 infantry and
38,000 cavalry; These Corps d'Armée were self-contained, smaller armies
of combined arms consisting of elements
from all the forces and support services. While capable of fully independent
operations and of defending themselves until reinforced, the Corps usually
worked in close concert together and kept within a day's marching distance of
one another. Napoleon placed great trust in his Corps commanders and usually
allowed them a wide freedom of action, provided they acted within the outlines
of his strategic objectives and worked together to accomplish them. The main
tactical units of the Corps were the divisions, usually consisting of 4,000 to
10,000 infantry or 2,000 to 4,000 cavalrymen. These in turn were made up of two
or three brigades of two regiments, supported by an artillery brigade of three
or four batteries, each with six field cannon and two howitzers, in all some 24
to 32 in all. The Imperial Guard was a small, elite
army, directly under Napoleon’s control. Like the corps, it had infantry,
cavalry and artillery. It was comprised of the best veteran soldiers from every
theater of war – specially selected highly trained and fiercely loyal Egyptian
Mamluks, Italians, Poles, Germans, Swiss, and others, as well as French. In
battle they were the most feared soldiers in Napoleon's army. Much more than personal bodyguards, they served as Napoleon's
weapon of last resort, when committed in battle.
Weapons
and Tactics used at the battle of Austerlitz
With
few exceptions, most armies in history have been built around a core of
infantry. During the Napoleonic Wars, the infantry was armed with muskets,
rifles, bayonets and short sabers. The primary weapon of Napoleonic infantryman
was smoothbore musket.
The
muskets fired a spherical lead ball and could inflict a fearful wounds at close
range when the ball flattened slightly on impact, smashing bones, ripping huge
holes in muscles, causing massive bleeding and shock. Cartridges, already made
up with powder and ball wrapped in greased paper, were carried in a flapped
leather pouch with a slotted wooden interior, each slot containing a cartridge.
The most popular musket of Napoleonic Wars was the French 'Charleville'
smoothbore musket model 1777 (AN IX), with overall length 151.5 cm, (barrel
length 114 cm), triangular bayonet 45.6 cm and a short saber. The ratio of
musket fire was 1-6 shots per minute, depending on quality of weapon, training
and time taken for aiming. by modern standard By today's standards, muskets
were not very accurate. Depending on the
type and calibre, it could hit a man's torso at up to 200-300 paces, though it was
only reliably accurate to about 50-100 paces. Effectiveness of muskets was low
due to several factors:
- on windless day, the gun smoke caused by burning black powder used was so dense that the infantrymen could hardly distinguish friend from foe.
- on windless day, the gun smoke caused by burning black powder used was so dense that the infantrymen could hardly distinguish friend from foe.
-
line infantry was not taught to aim, but simply to point their muskets in the
general direction of the target. Concentrated firepower was essential because
of the poor accuracy of the smoothbore muskets used during Napoleonic Wars.
During firing in three ranks, "elbow-to-elbow", the infantrymen were
struggling for space to load, aim and fire their muskets. Napoleonic infantry
was formed on 3 ranks. A 600-men strong battalion had 200 men in the first, 200
in second and 200 men in the third rank. The first two ranks loaded and fired,
while - theoretically - the 3rd rank had to load their muskets and then give
them to those in 2nd rank. In reality it was very difficult to keep them doing
this under fire. They would become excited once the battle commenced and would
blaze away through the first two ranks.
Napoleon's
Race for the Danube
On
August 27, the Grande Armée broke camp and marched east. Bernadotte's I
Corps, stationed at Hanover, headed for Wurzburg to collect the Bavarians,
while the other six corps converged on the Rhine. Napoleon believed that 'The
force of an army…is the sum of its mass multiplied by its speed.' The distance
from Boulogne to the Rhine is 450 miles, and each soldier covered it on foot,
carrying his knapsack and musket, a total of 65 to 75 pounds. The price was
high. Jean Roch Coignet, a private in the Foot Grenadiers of the Imperial
Guard, recalled: 'Never was there such a terrible march. We had not a moment
for sleep, marching by platoon all day and all night, and at last holding onto
each other to prevent falling. Those who fell could not be awakened. Some fell
into the ditches. Blows with the flat of the sabre had no effect upon them. The
music played, the drums beat a charge; nothing got the better of sleep….'
On
September 26, the 'torrents' of the Grande Armée crossed the Rhine. The
march continued into Germany until after wheeling to the south on October 6,
the army found itself in line along the Danube from Ulm to Ingolstadt.
The
enciclement of Ulm
Here
according to the Allied plan, Austrian General Karl Mack von Leiberich, who had
distiguished himself during campaigns in the French revolutionary wars commanded
an Austrian army of some 72,000 men had
reached Ulm. General Mack decided to make the city of Ulm the centerpiece of
his defensive strategy, which called for a containment of the French until the
50,000 Russians under Field Marshal Michail Kutuzov could arrive and alter the
odds against Napoleon. Ulm was protected by the heavily fortified Michelsberg
heights, giving Mack the impression that the city was virtually impregnable
from outside attack. But where were the Russians? Unbelievable, in a staggering
display of administrative ineptitude, the Allied staffs had failed to recognize
that while the Austrians followed the Gregorian calendar, the Russians still employed
the older Julian calendar. In 1805 the difference was 12 days. So while the
Austrians expected the Russian army to arrive on October 20, the Russians did
not expect to join the Austrians until November 1. So Mack waited in vain and
was soon facing disaster, as Napoleon's Grande Armee approached. On October 5,
Napoleon ordered three of his corps, commanded by Ney, Lannes and Murat to make
a concentrated crossing of the Danube at Donauwörth. Convinced through his
agents probing along the river, Napoeleon decided to concentrate his main
effort to encircle Ulm and eliminate the Austrians there. His three infantry
and cavalry corps were headed to Donauwörth to seal off Mack's escape route.
Following several minor battles, the French managed to capture some vantage
points, including the Michelsberg and General Mack found himself in great
trouble, with no help in sight and encircled decided to surrender. The Ulm
Campaign had been Napoleon's first
spectacular victory in the forthcoming battle culminating later at
Austerlitz and had witnessed the elimination of an entire Austrian army at very
little cost for the French. Napoleon's astounding victory at Ulm, was of
strategic importance. In the Ulm Campaign, Murat's cavalry served as the
pinning force that fooled the Austrians into thinking the main French attack
would come from the Black Forest. As Murat lulled the Austrians towards Ulm,
the main French forces crashed through Central Germany and separated Mack's
army from the other theaters of the war. It is also considered to be one of the
greatest historical examples of a strategic turning maneuver. Some Historians
try to place the turning of Ulm as an example for the famous 1914 Schliefen
Plan and later Manstein's version of the Ardennes campaign starting WW2. The
decisive victory at Ulm is also believed to be a product of the long training
and preparation the Grande Armée received at the camps of Boulogne and
Napoleon's logistical decision to send his army across Germany, carrying light
baggage to travel much faster than the Austrian had anticipated. Napoleon's
forces needed about one eighth the transport used by contemporary armies at the
time, giving them a level of mobility and flexibility unseen at that time and
the the Grande Armée invaded in 1805 on a front that was 100 miles (161 km)
wide, an action that took the Austrians by complete surprise.
The
Allied Strategic Plan starts to falter
The
shocking news of Mack's dramatic surrender at Ulm reached Marshal Kutuzov as he
arrived with his army ar Braunau on the Austrian-German border and forced him
to consider his options quickly. The long and exhausting march from his
homeland had already lost him a seizable part of his army. Seeing little point
to continue and advance as planned
further into Germany, he would be risking his depleted force, numbering
now nearly half the men out of the original fifty thousand soldiers, against a
victorious French army. His viable choice was to stop and withdraw, while
trying to join larger forces led by
Marshal Büxhowden now assembling at Olmütz in the east and there reorganize his
demoralized units, reshaping them into fighting condition. Napoleon had now to
consider his next move very carefully. by pushing further along the Danube
towards Vienna, he extended his lines of communications at a time when it
appeared that the Prussians, sofar not being part of the Coalition, was
responding to Marshal Bernadotte's violation of their territory by passing into
Ansbach. Therefore Napoleon decided to take bold action and push on rapidly to
crush Kutusov, before the latter could link up with his reinforcements,
Kutusov, realizing that Napoleon was on his heels already, handled a brilliant
rearguard action as he retreated in good order along the Danube. Worried over
the fate of his capital, the Austrian Emperor, requested Kutusov to make a
stand at St Pölten and defend Vienna. However, the latter had no intention to
risk his army in a lost case and instead crossed to the north bank of the river
at Krems and burned the bridge, the last over the Danube before Vienna behind
him. Now safe from immediate pursuit, Kutusov attacked a French force advancing along the northern bank,
isolated from Napoleon's main force.
Meanwhile
Marshal Murat's cavalry had reached the outskirts of Vienna and by an
extraordinary display of bluff and maneuver, managed to capture the main bridge
over the Danube, which forced Kutusov to break his action and restart his
retreat.
Napoleon's
Pursuit and a Mile too Far?
With
Vienna under his control, Napoleon now ordered a a rapid pursuit, hoping to cut
off Kutusov's retreat before he could link up with Büxhowden. But with this
move, the Grande Armee was drawing deeper and deeper, extending its logistical
support line, which was now getting dangerous. Not only was his dependence on
local provisions problematic, but in order to maintain his long communications
safe, massive troops were required, reducing his frontline contingent
considerably, until reinforcements, awaited from Italy could arrive over the
alpine passes, before winter weather set in.
On
November 20, he arrived at Brünn, a small town 80 miles north of Vienna. To the
west of the town, he found the vanguard of Kutuzov, who was about to be joined
by Büxhowden. An Austrian force under Field Marshal Jean-Joseph, Prince of
Liechtenstein was also coming in. Napoleon, with only some 60,000 men at hand
now faced Kutuzov with 73,000 troops. Moreover, Kutuzov expected another
Russian force under Lt. Gen. Magnus Gustav Essen to arrive from Poland shortly,
and Archduke Ferdinand, having gathered up 10,000 Austrian troops in Bohemia,
was ready to push eastward to support Kutuzov. What was worse for the French,
on October 30, Archduke Charles had attacked French Marshal Andre Masséna at
Caldiero, then skillfully extricated his powerful army from Italy and
disappeared into the Alps. There, he had combined his army with Archduke
John's, and the two brothers and all were now moving north, target Olmützm
where all Allied forces were now, concentrating for the grand battle with Napoleon.
Napoleon
himself was in trouble, and he knew it. The Grande Armée was deep in
enemy territory, his immediate force was heavily outnumbered and huge coalition
reinforcements were on the way. Moreover, Prussia, impressed by the Third
Coalition power concentration, was finally showing great interest in joining it. To win the war,
all Kutuzov had to do was avoid battle.
Napoleon
Prepares for the final Battle of Austerlitz
Napoleon
calculated, however, that even if Prussia decided to join the coalition against
him, it would not be able to put an army into the field for at least a month.
The same was true for Archduke Charles' army, whose progress from Italy would
be slowed by the inset of winter weather and his troops sent to block the
alpine passes. All Napoleon had to do was to crush Kutuzov's army before those
coalition reinforcements arrived. And if Kutuzov was unwilling to engage him,
he would have to trick Kutuzov into attacking him. Napoleon's plan would be
aided considerably by the arrival at Kutuzov's headquarters of Austrian Emperor
Francis II and the young Russian Tsar Alexander I. The inexperienced tsar was
accompanied by a retinue of young officers eager to show their contempt for the
French army. While Kutuzov counseled waiting until overwhelming reinforcements
arrived, the tsar and his Austrian compatriots decided against him and
Napoleon's trap was starting to enfold. The battle of Austerlitz, his greatest
triumph was setting its stage at the Allied Olmütz headquarters.
Napoleon
was confident that the Allies, with their numerical superiority, would be
tempted to attack him. To encourage their belief in the weakness of the Grande
Armée, on November 21, he ordered Marshals Soult and Lannes to occupy the
Pratzen heights, the centerpiece of the entire, a gently sloping, but
dominating hill, facing the village of
Austerlitz, which was temptingly close to the Allied positions. This action was
to be followed by a movements in feigned confusion, to simulate the beginning
of a general retreat. He followed this up with diplomatic action. On November
28 and again on the 29th, he sent a message to the tsar to ask for an armistice
and a personal interview. Alexander ignored napoleon's request, sending only
his chief aide-de-camp, General-Adjutant Prince Piotr Dolgorukov. The meeting
failed to produce any solution, but Napoleon used the visit to his headquarters
to let the prince see what he intended to, convice him of the seeming turmoil,
as if troops were involved in preparations for retreat. This was precisely what
prince Dolgorukov reported on his return to Olmütz. Napoleon's strategic trap
was now set-the Allies were about to move into it by mounting their attack
exactly where the French Emperor intended- the rather insignificant Pratzen
heights, which were soon to become the famous centerpiece during the battle of
Austerlitz and remain so even to this day, as an example of brilliant
generalship.
The
Austro-Russian battle plan
In
essence the Allied plan was designed to turn the French left flank at Brünn,
threaten their communications with Vienna and drive them back through difficult
country towards Krems on the Danube. However, administrative delays caused
meant that nearly a month passed until their troops could move. This gave
Napoleon sufficient time to learn about the Allied plan and observe their
preparations and make his own. On 29 November, according to Napoleon's orders,
two of his corps, abandoned their positions east of Austerlitz, in full view of
the Allied scouts and withdrew westwards to the positions he had selected
behind the low ground behind the Goldbach stream, thus abandoning the
dominating area of the Pratzen heights. Further forces, which had arrived,
including his elite Imperial guard also took up positions behind the Goldbach valley.
Napoleon's
Pratzen Hill battle Plan shapes up on a ground reconnaissance
While
the French were moving to their new positions, withdrawing from the strategic
Pratzen heights, the Allied, surprised and convinced now that Prince
Dolgorukov's report was genuine, were redeploying their forces, currently
concentrated against former French positions and strike over the abandoned
Pratzen heights to attack the French positions towards the south. It was
precisely what Napoleon wanted them to do. On that same day, the Emperor led
his Corps commanders across his intended battlefield. Starting with the
northern extreme, the left of the French line, they examined the Stanton hill
by the Brünn Olmütz road, then rode up to the Pratzen plateau, from which the
generals could clearly watch the Austro-Hungarian maneuvering into their
jump-off positions. On the Pratzen, Napoleon explained in his battle plan in detail: By intentionally
ceding the dominant Pratzen heights to the enemy, it would draw the enemy to
attack, what they apparently imagined, weak French right flank and expose the
allied center to a massive counter attack by Napoleon's grande Armee, most of
their forces were deployed out of sight below the Goldbach valley, ready to
move on command and smash into the enemy, fully engaged further south. At the
same time strong cavalry forces would assemble west of the Stanton hill to
block any enemy advance along the road to Brünn. It was a masterpiece battle
plan, designed by a genius master of warfare and although costly, could and did
not fail.
There
was of course a very risky part of napoleon's battle plan involved. The French
right flank, which would bear the heaviest part of the Allied attack, was
relatively weak, although protected by a complicated system of streams and
frozen lakes. Therefore, Napoleon ordered his most loyal Marshal Davout to
march his strong corps from Vienna, which he achieved in a remarkable forced
march covering the hundred kilometer distance in less than 48 hours. His
arrival in time on the battlefield became crucial as we shall see.
Napoleon's
"Sun of Austerlitz" wins the campaign and more
The
battle began on the morning pf December
2nd with the first allied column attacking the village of Telnitz, which was
defended by the 3rd Line Regiment. This sector of the battlefield witnessed
heavy action in the following moments as several ferocious Allied charges
evicted the French from the town and forced them onto the other side of the
Goldbach. Just then the vanguard of Davout's corps arrived and threw the Allies
out of Telnitz, which counter attacked with the hussars and recovered the
village. Additional Allied attacks out
of Telnitz were checked by French artillery. While the allied troops attacked
the French's right flank, Kutuzov's IV Corps stopped at Pratzen height and
stayed still. Just like Napoleon, Kutuzov realized the importance of Pratzen
and decided to protect this important position. But the young Tsar did not
agree and as commander in chief, expelled the IV Corp from Pratzen height and
ordered it to join the attack in the south. This irresponsible act quickly
pushed the Allied army into her grave.
Meanwhile,
in the fog-filled valley below the Pratzen plateau, Napoleon stood quietly,
gazing intently toward the plateau. Concealed by the low heights behind him
stood the mass of his cavalry, Oudinot's Grenadier Division and the Imperial
Guard. With them, too, stood the soldiers of Bernadotte's I Corps,
11,000-strong, who had force-marched from Iglau during the night. Napoleon now
had 75,000 men and 157 guns to face the Allies' 73,000 men and 318 guns.
Napoleon asked Marshal Soult, 'How much time do you require to crown that
summit?' 'Ten minutes,' answered the marshal. At 9 a.m. two divisions of
Soult's IV Corps marched forward. The decisive attacks on the Allied center
were to split the Allied army in two and left the French in a golden strategic
position to win the battle. Supported on their left by Bernadotte's I Corps,
the French columns climbed the slopes of the plateau and emerged from the fog.
The astonished Russians fought to hold back the French attack. Kutuzov tried to
call back the rear of Miloradovich's column, but few units could be turned
around in time. The French pushed over the Pratzen, and the coalition troops fell
back in confusion toward Austerlitz. At 10:30 Kutuzov counterattacked the
Pratzen. Soult stopped his line from collapsing by skillful deployment of his
corps artillery. At 1 p.m. a new Russian attack swept in as its Imperial Guard
Cavalry under Grand Duke Constantin Pavlovich stormed up from Austerlitz. Soult
was in the middle of the fire. One of his officers was wounded; a ball struck
the horse of his aide-de-camp. Napoleon ordered Général de Brigade Jean
Rapp to lead the French Imperial Guard cavalry against the Russian attack.
'[I]t was not until I came within gun-shot of the scene of action,' recorded
Rapp, 'that I discovered the disaster. The enemy's cavalry was in the midst of
our square, and was sabering our troops. A little further back we discerned
masses of infantry and cavalry forming the reserve. The enemy relinquished the
attack, and turned to meet me….We rushed on the artillery, which was taken. The
cavalry, who awaited us, was repulsed by the same shock; they fled in disorder,
and we, as well as the enemy, trampled over the bodies of our troops, whose
squares had been penetrated…all was confusion; we fought man to man.
Meanwhile,
on the French left, Marshal Lannes' V Corps attacked Russian prince Bagration
to prevent the Russian from joining the struggle in the center. Lannes' advance
was stubbornly contested by Bagration and Liechtenstein, but Murat led his
heavy cavalry in a charge that overwhelmed the Russian force. Bagration began a
measured withdrawal from the battlefield.
The
terrible Finale end with carnage over frozen lakes
Calling
the remainder of the Imperial Guard to the Pratzen plateau, Napoleon ordered it
and Soult's survivors to swing south along the heights to envelop the
Austro-Russian left. 'We charged like lightning,' wrote Thomas-Robert Bugeaud,
a Velite Grenadier in the French Imperial Guard, 'and the carnage was horrible.
The balls whistled. The air groaned with the noise of cannon and power
threatening voices, closely followed by death. Very soon the enemy's phalanx was
shaken and thrown into disorder; at last we overthrew them entirely.'
By
3:30 p.m., French guns and infantry were firing from the Pratzen into the
massed enemy below. The only possible Austro-Russian escape route lay over the
frozen ponds at their backs. The coalition soldiers tried to flee over the ice,
but it broke under the French bombardment, and the retreat became a rout.
Sometime after 4 p.m. the guns fell silent; the Battle of Austerlitz was over.
Napoleon had won an astounding victory over a superior enemy force, by
mastering fire and maneuver over carefully chosen ground.
The
coalition forces had lost a staggering 29,000 men dead, wounded or captured,
along with most of their guns and equipment. The Grande Armée had
suffered fewer than 8,300 dead or wounded and some 600 prisoners.
The
Political aftermath: Napoleon sets the stage for postwar Europe
Austerlitz
and the preceding campaign profoundly altered the nature of European politics.
In three months, the French had occupied Vienna, destroyed two armies, and
humbled the Austrian Empire. Three days after the battle, Emperor Francis II,
disgusted with Tsar Alexander and his Russians, signed an armistice with
France. Alexander, disgusted with Francis II and his Austrians, limped away to
the east. The Third Coalition collapsed. On December 26, 1805, France signed
the Peace of Pressburg with Austria.
