Battle of Auxteclit, Napoleonic epic

 

One of Napoleon's greatest military victories was the Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors or the Battle of the Three Kings. On December 2, 1805, Emperor Napoleon defeated the Austrian and Russian armies led by Austrian Emperor Franz II and Tsar Alexander I of Russia (a total of nearly 90,000 men) near Austerlitz, which is now the Czech Republic's city of Slavkov u Brna.

The Scene Before the Battle

Although the United Kingdom and the French Empire signed the Treaty of Amiens on March 25, 1802, it did not end the war between France and the Second Coalition. In May 1803, Britain captured 1,200 merchant ships from France and the Netherlands in English ports. France retaliated a few days later, arresting all Britons on French land and then pursuing a protectionist trade policy, blocking the consumption market of British industry while also preventing necessary British imports, particularly agricultural products for which the UK is unable to be self-sufficient. When the British refused to evacuate the island of Malta and Napoleon dispatched troops to quell the Haitian revolution, war was unavoidable.

On May 23, 1803, the United Kingdom declared war on the French Empire. William Pitt, the British Prime Minister at the time, increased diplomatic efforts to form a Third Coalition. On April 11, 1805, the United Kingdom and Russia signed an alliance treaty. Britain provides 100,000 Russian troops with an annual grant of 1.25 million pounds. Britain also attempted to entice Austria, and Austria joined the Union on June 11, 1805. Sweden also joined the Union on August 9 and declared war on France on October 31, 1805.

Napoleon defeated the Austrians at Ulm in October and captured Vienna in November, but a portion of the Austrian army remained intact and moved north to join the Russians at Olomouc, Moravia. Napoleon desired a quick victory before the Prussians joined the anti-French coalition and threatened him.

Field Marshals Ney and Lanner took the high points around Unmour on October 15. Mac's situation deteriorated. Napoleon dispatched men to negotiate Mac's surrender, threatening to kill everyone if Napoleon was forced to fight. On October 20, 1805, Mac handed over Unmour's position to Napoleon, and his troops surrendered with all weapons and equipment, including artillery and flags. Napoleon released Mac, and the prisoners were sent to France for various purposes. Soon after that, Napoleon received word that Mura had intercepted and imprisoned over 8,000 of those who had escaped Ulm before surrendering.

After the terrible and humiliating defeat at Unmour, the war of the third military coalition was thus lost, but only a few people in the Austrian and Russian ministries understood it immediately. Not long after arriving at Unmour, Napoleon and his marshals headed straight for Vienna, along the right bank of the Danube. During the pursuit, the French also captured many more prisoners. The number of prisoners captured in the battles before the fall of Unmour amounted to 29,000 people. In addition to the 32,000 captured at Unmour, the number of military losses reached 61,000, not to mention the number of dead, seriously wounded, and missing that did not fall into enemy hands.

When Napoleon announced the first results of this operation to his troops, he said: "We have 200 cannons with all of their ammunition and technical equipment, 90 flags, and all of the enemy's generals. "The entire army was unable to escape 15,000 people."

The French army advanced very quickly to Vienna. But on November 11, Kutuzov's troops also raided Morchie's corps near Durenstay, on the left bank of the Danube, and struck Murchie Napoleon entered Vienna on November 13, led by Murat's cavalry and escorted by bodyguards, and chose the Sonbrun Palace as his headquarters. Before hurriedly fleeing the capital, the Austrian emperor Franz sent Napoleon a request for an armistice, but Napoleon did not accept it.

All hope for the alliance now rested solely on the Russian and Tsarist armies, but the Tsar himself hoped for the Prussian alliance's participation. All of these hopes will soon vanish like smoke.

In the days of October 1805, while Mac was besieged in the city of Ulm, about to surrender, and finally had to surrender, Alexander I was in Berlin. and urged Frederick Vinhem III, king of Prussia, to declare war on Napoleon. Frederick was in the same state of panic and hesitation as the princes of southern Germany. He was afraid of both Alexander and Napoleon. In distant threats, Alexander also went to the point of revealing that the Russian army would be able to pass through Prussia by force, but when the king of Prussia resisted it with a resolute and uncompromising attitude. suspicious and prepared to fight back, Alexander fought back. Besides, at that time there was news that very well suited Alexander's intentions that Napoleon had ordered Field Marshal Bernadod, on his way to Austria, to cross the border town of Anspak, a Prussian colony in the south, thus blatantly violating Prussia's neutrality; Frederick, on the one hand, was offended by Napoleon's dictatorial actions, on the other hand, did not expect the victory of Napoleon's great army (at this time, Unmour father was defeated. ) should begin to want to go to war with the third coalition. According to a final secret agreement signed between Frederick and Alexander, Prussia promised to send an ultimatum to Napoleon. Around this, a very ridiculous drama took place: Frederick Vinhem, Queen Louis, and Alexander went to the tomb of Frederick II to swear their love together.

In England and in Austria, people were happy. If the entire Prussian army crossed the mountains and entered the war, Napoleon would have to lose. The press all said so after excitedly reporting the oath of Russian-Prussian friendship in front of the coffin of Frederick the Great.

Either way, Napoleon was forced to end the matter before Prussia jumped into the coalition. Immediately after defeating Vien, the French without losing a single bullet captured the large bridge connecting Vienna with the left bank of the Danube, the only bridge that the Austrians did not destroy. The capture of this bridge has spawned many anecdotes, including one (not very precise and embellished) that any Russian who has read the second part of war and peace knows well. In fact, it happened like this: after cleverly ambushing a battalion of guardsmen in the bushes, Murat, Lanner, Bertran, and engineer colonel Dodo Cong Of course, going to the bridgehead there was a barricade and a defensive Austria, but Austria received an order that when the enemy appeared, they had to break the bridge; the French generals immediately announced that the armistice had just been signed; and so, after crossing the bridge without difficulty, they called for the major general and uncle Auestspe to come and repeat the lie that had just been made, and before Auestspe had had enough time. In response time, according to a predetermined signal, the French suddenly burst out from the bushes, rushing at the Austrian soldiers and the cannons already arranged on the bridge. In the blink of an eye, the bridge was taken. Although the army tried to resist, they were immediately crushed.

After capturing the bridge, Murat joyfully reported this strange incident to Napoleon. Napoleon immediately ordered his troops to cross the bridge and rush into the Russian army. The Russian army at this time had to go through many hardships. Napoleon crossed the Danube in Vienna with the bulk of his army with the intention of blocking the retreat of the Russian army, which was rushing to the north. Cutushov, the commander-in-chief of the allied armies, clearly saw that in order to escape death, there was only one way to withdraw from Crem to the Onsang position south of Onmud; At first, Kutuzov had 45,000 men and Napoleon had nearly 100,000. For the Russian army, the story of taking the Vienna Bridge was a complex story to understand and it was plainly stated that it was a betrayal; It is thought that the Austrian army secretly colluded with Napoleon because the loss of that bridge was absurd and unbelievable. And this enabled Napoleon to immediately control the left bank of the Danube without any loss; bringing the entire Russian army to the inevitable defeat.

After the defenders' bloody battles, which Kutuzov had to send and was certain would be sacrificed to support the main force, he had enough time to withdraw. With an army of nearly 45,000 men, Kutuzov avoided a humiliating surrender and was eventually destroyed by Napoleon's close pursuit. The army marched back to Ulm, where Alexander and Phranza were already present.

The Determination of the Parties

Kutuzov had been afraid of fighting since Napoleon's sudden Danube raft, believing that it was necessary to continue the retreat, retreating further east and prolonging the war, for the Prussians to decide decisively to join the war against the French. But Kutuzov ran into a major stumbling block: Emperor Alexander I wanted to launch an immediate offensive.

Alexander I, not knowing anything about the war but greedy for fame and still believing that victory would be certain, believing that Prussia would enter the war immediately "after the famous oath before Frederick's coffin," only dreamed of the general emperor. Before Napoleon, the tsar thought it was a shameful and futile decision to send here elite troops such as the bodyguard and then send those powerful forces to avoid the enemy's attacks in this goddamn mountainous land for months at a time. Prince Peter Dongorukov, a courtier of the tsar, was a young adjutant who was loved by the king simply because the prince and most of the officers of the guard agreed with him. King. Kutuzov knew that the tsar, Donggorukov, and all of their clique were completely ignorant of the military, even though some of them had some understanding in other respects. But Kutuzov was convinced that the Russian army was headed for a disaster and saw that Napoleon's attacks had to be quickly evaded, and he had to stay out of Napoleon's attack range, by avoiding a single blow. decisive battle. Knowing that, Kutuzov also had no way of resolutely resisting the destructive impatience of the tsar because he was the absolute leader.

Kutuzov was the only worthy military man in the Austro-Russian ranks, the only tactician general (among those whose voices were somewhat trusted), so one heard Kutuzov a little. But here, Kutuzov encountered a force that Kutuzov could not resist, although he himself had guessed Napoleon's intentions.

In pursuit of the Russians, Napoleon stopped at once when he saw that the Russians were no longer retreating and were stationed at Burun, not far from Olmut. The only thing that really scared Bonaparte at the time was seeing the Russians evade and prolong the war. Because he was far from France and knew that Hauvid was on his way to deliver an ultimatum from Prussia, Napoleon desired to launch a general offensive as soon as possible because he was convinced that that the victory of the all-out offensive might bring the war to an immediate end. Napoleon's diplomacy and acting skills then appeared again in a very bright way: he had already guessed all the developments in the Russian garrison and acted in accordance with his intentions. Alexander was resisting Cutushov's last feeble attempts to save the Russian army by a hasty retreat. Napoleon actively pretended to be a man who was afraid, weak, and especially afraid of fighting. Napoleon felt it necessary to remind the enemy that this was a unique opportunity to easily defeat the French, in order to provoke the Russian army to attack immediately. To carry out this plan, Napoleon first ordered the advance units to begin retreating, and then sent Savari, his close servant, to meet Alexander. proposed armistice and peace, and finally Napoleon even instructed Savari on behalf of Napoleon to ask Alexander for a private meeting; In case of refusal, Savari must ask Alexander to send a trusted person to Napoleon to open negotiations. On the Russian side, people rejoiced and were overjoyed: Bonaparte was frightened! Bonaparte was exhausted, defeated! First of all, don't let Bonapac escape.

All those tricks Napoleon pulled were not at all like his temperament; they were so alien and humiliating to him that people thought that the proud emperor, the world's greatest general, would never think or do so unless forced to by very urgent and difficult circumstances. Cutushov and his concerns were discredited and completely rejected. Alexander refused to have an audience with Napoleon and sent Prince Dongorukov to meet him. Later, Napoleon even joked about the story of the young general of that court, whom he called "the cow lung", Donggo -rukov spoke to the French emperor in a tough, condescending tone "as if he were talking to a boy who is going to be exiled to Siberia", whenever the meeting was mentioned. Then, Napoleon spoke in a sarcastic tone. While reveling in that comedy, Napoleon still plays a confused, scared man, but at the same time, he knows that the role should not be overstated. And there is a limit to everything in this world, even the foolishness of Prince Dongoruk. Napoleon ended the meeting by declaring that he could not accept the conditions set forth by Donggorukov (Dongoruk asked Napoleon to renounce Italy and other conquered countries). However, Napoleon's denial was expressed in such a way that it did not diminish but rather reinforced the impression that he was hesitant and fearful. 

The coalition no longer hesitated or faltered after the encouraging report from Dongorukov's subjective assessment; the people made up their minds to attack Napoleon, who was now retreating, weak, and confused, and had to settle with him.

Forces of the Parties

French Army

The commander-in-chief was Emperor Napoleon, commander of Marshal Berthier's Guards.
1st Corps: Field Marshal Bernadot, 12,300 men with 24 guns, and two infantry divisions commanded by Rivaud and Drouet'd Erlon.
Field Marshal Davu, 6300th, 9 artillery, 1 infantry division under Friant command, and 1 dragon cavalry division under Bourcier command comprise the 3rd Corps.
4th Army Corps: Field Marshal Soult, 24,000 soldiers, 35 artillery pieces, including three infantry divisions (Saint Hilaire, Vandamme, and Legrand) Margaron cavalry
5th Corps: Field Marshal Lanner, 13,000 soldiers, 40 artillery pieces, including two infantry divisions (Caffarelli and Suchet).
Reserve Cavalry Corps (Murat Corps): Marshal Murat, 7900 horsemen, and 9 pieces of artillery, including 2 armored divisions (Nansouty and D'Hautpoul), 1 dragon horse division (Walther), and 1 light division. Kellerman (Kellerman)
Reserve force: the Royal Guards, commanded by Field Marshal Berthier, with 5500 men and 23 artillery pieces; the Guards Division, commanded by Oudinot and Duroc, with 5,500 men and 10 cannons; and the Dragon Cavalry Division, led by Beaumont command.
The French have 75,000 troops in total. 

The Coalition

Commander-in-Chief Kuturop, Chief of Staff Von Weyrother
Vanguard, Austrian Corps Kienmayer, commanded by General Kienmayer, with 6,800 men, 12 artillery (5 Austrian infantry battalions), 23 cavalry detachments, and 1000 Cossack cavalry
1st Army Corps (Russia): commander General Dokhturov, a number of nearly 14,200 men and 60 pieces of artillery (22 Russian battalions, and 200 Cossack cavalry)
2nd Army Corps (Russia): commanded by General Langeron, a force of 12,000 soldiers and 30 cannons (17 Russian infantry battalions, 2 squadrons of dragons, and 200 Cossacks)
3rd Army Corps (Russia): General Przybyszewski, with 9500 soldiers and 30 artillery pieces (18 Russian infantry battalions).
General Buxhowden was the joint commander of the three corps.
With 16,000 soldiers and 75 artillery pieces (15 Austrian infantry battalions, 12 Russian infantry battalions, and 2 Austrian dragon cavalry squadrons (Austria + Russia) dragoons), the 4th Army Corps (Austria + Russia) was commanded by Austrian General Kolowrat and Russian General Miloradovich.
5th Cavalry Corps (Austria + Russia), with 7000 horsemen, 24 artillery pieces (17 squads of Austrian heavy cavalry, 30 squads of Russian dragon and light cavalry, and 1200 cavalry), commanded by Austrian General Liechtenstein and Russian General Uvarov.Cossack soldiers)
Allied Shock Army (Bagration Army): commanded by Prince Bagration, with 14,000 men and 42 artillery pieces (15 Russian infantry battalions, 33 cavalry squadrons, and 1500 Cossack cavalry)
Defensive force: Guards of the Tsar: commanded by Grand Duke K. Pavlovich, with 10,000 men and 40 artillery pieces (10 battalions of guard infantry and 17 squadrons of guard cavalry).
The total number of French troops was about 75,000 men. On the Union side were 90,000 men, of whom 16,000 were Austrians.

Napoleon finished his preparations on December 1, 1805. First, he boosted the soldiers' morale. Napoleon, as usual, issued a proclamation, instilling pride in his soldiers and outlining the main features of the upcoming battle. When a warrior knows what awaits him, he fights more effectively. When a marshal says such things to him, he feels respected. The emperor then went to inspect the army one last time. He went everywhere, all over the units, making sure everything was in order. At 4 p.m., Napoleon stood atop Mount Zuran, peering through binoculars at the enemy's movements. The Russians moved their troops just as Napoleon had planned. "Tomorrow that army will be under my heels," the emperor said to himself.

On December 2, 1805, one year after Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, on the Pratden plateau west of the village of Austerlitz, 120 kilometers north of Vienna, a bloody battle took place, one of the greatest in history for its importance and one of the most extraordinary of the Napoleonic epics.

Napoleon personally commanded from beginning to end: most of Napoleon's field marshals were present. The defeat of the Russians and the Austrians was decided in the early hours of the morning, but if the Russian generals had not fallen into Napoleon's trap, the Russian army would not have encountered a disaster. As terrifying as it was to expect the Russians and Austrians to find a way to block the way to Vienna and the Danube and then encircle or drive Napoleon north, into the mountains, Napoleon pretended to be open but did not maintain this face and purposefully concealed his left flank. When the Russians approached from that side, Napoleon crushed the enemy with his large, concentrated forces, having already occupied the Pratden plateau, and cornered the enemy on a stretch of Freeze Lake. 

At dawn on December 2, 1805, a thick fog helped the French escape the enemy's view. All the marshals and generals gathered around Napoleon at the top of Mount Zuran, receiving final instructions before returning to their units. To the north, Lanner and Murat held back Bagration's army. Their mission was to ensure that Davu could deliver powerful blows to the Russians. In the middle, Soult is eager to be in the battle and score. But Napoleon ordered him to wait a while before he could deliver powerful blows to the Pratzen plateau. The tactical task that Napoleon gave Soult was to capture the Pratzen Plateau as the Russians moved south and leave the position vacant.

At 9 a.m., when the sun shines pink on the Pratzen plateau, the fog has cleared. The epic Napoleon also shines. Napoleon instructed Soult to begin the offensive and "End this war with a thunderbolt", Vandame and Saint-Hilaire's two divisions were ordered to capture two of Pratzen's high points. The barracks doors opened, and a wave of green uniforms swept toward the Pratzen plateau. However, the French attack was not as easy as the French historians have written. Though taken by surprise by Soult's attack, the Allies quickly organized their defense, and the French soon found themselves facing increasingly fierce resistance. When French battalions appeared near Pratzen, the Allied commanders were taken aback, but their reaction was not one of panic. The 4th Army had just moved towards Zlaty, when the French appeared on their flanks. General Kutuzov immediately ordered them to rearrange their formation and return to face this unexpected threat, capturing the village, the Pratzen plateau. Soon, reinforcements from the 2nd Army also arrived. The vanguard of this corps encountered the French near Solkonice. When General Langeron heard gunfire behind him, he was a little surprised and quickly looked around to see what was wrong. When he saw that the enemy was behind him, he quickly sent a brigade to the direction of the Pratzen plateau and ordered General Kamenshi to capture and defend the top of the mountain. A fierce battle raged here for several hours.

Both sides' troops engaged in close combat with bayonets, and both suffered heavy losses. When the Russian soldiers were taken prisoner, they charged at the French soldiers, who escorted them with their bare hands and took their weapons. This enraged the French, who did not take the Russian soldiers prisoner but instead executed them all. When the French were able to capture Pratzen around noon, at eleven o'clock, Napoleon immediately moved his headquarters from Zuran to near the village of Oldvinegard, examined the situation, and gave new orders to the adjutant to move to the battle's hot spots. Soult was sent south to intercept Bukhoven in support of Davu. Pratzen will be kept in place of Soult by Bernadot's army.

Following their capture of Pratzen, the French immediately flanked the Russian army as it moved towards Telnitz, where Davu was struggling. Davu's army was under attack from the main coalition army at the time. After bloody head-to-head battles, Telnitz and Sokolnitz changed hands several times. Despite the fact that the enemy army was three times larger, Davu bravely completed the task. Napoleon sent four battalions of Oudinot to reinforce Davu. The coalition's main force was engulfed in the battle near Zlaty, now under fire from two directions, first from Davu, then from two divisions of Soult who had just descended from Praten Peak.

Bagration launched a fierce attack on Lanner and Murat to the north. However, the French cavalry performed a miracle and drove the Russians back, forcing them to make a chaotic retreat near the Holbitz Gorge.

But the fight is far from over. At noon, the Russians launched a counterattack. Grand Duke Konstantin led a charge with ten regiments of infantry guards and six squadrons of guard cavalry to retake Pratzen. They annihilated Vandamme's division. Guardsmen on tall steeds of the legendary Russian Guard regiments Preobraenski and Semnovski fell from the sky like ferocious gods, destroying all obstacles in their path and crushing the French infantry formation. The French army became terrified. A regimental commander was taken prisoner as the line was about to break.

Napoleon immediately sent his Imperial Guard, his reserve force, into battle. He ordered Rapp and Bessier to organize a counterattack. The confrontation between the two royal guards promises to be an equal battle. Morland's light infantry and bodyguards under Ordener led a massive raid, but the attack was broken, the French were repelled, and Morland was killed. Dahlman, who took command in place of Morland, organized the remaining troops into three squadrons. At the same time, Rapp also led two more squads: the Mameluke squad and the royal guard squad. "We will make the sisters of Sain Peterburs weep and cry," they chanted as they rushed to the Russian army. This time, the assault was successful, and the Mameluke Riders scored. After recapturing Pratzen, Rapp gathered his warriors and launched another raid, dealing with what was left and killing the Russians, forcing them to flee. The Grande Armee was able to project its tip into the enemy's flank, pinning them down. 

At 1 p.m., Napoleon moved his headquarters to the church of Saint Anthony south of Pratzen. At that time, a senior prisoner, Baron de Wimffen, a Frenchman serving in the Russian army, was also brought in with a pitiful face. At this point, Soult no longer had to worry, and sent his army to Telnitz, with Davu, to close the siege of Buxhowden's army. The Russians tried to retreat across the frozen Sachen Lake, but the shells broke through the ice. The Russian army drowned, the class froze, and the class surrendered. The surface of the water also submerged countless pieces of Russian ammunition and artillery.

At 4 p.m., the battle ended, and the remnants of the Russo-Austrian army fled to the east. However, the arrival of night allowed the allied troops to flee the French pursuit.

That brief winter day has passed. The bright morning sun had already set, and Alexander and Franz had escaped unnoticed thanks to the darkness of the sunset. Alexander completely lost control, shaking and crying as if he was about to get a fever. They had to flee again a few days later, which was even more humiliating and miserable. Kutuzov was wounded and had to work extremely hard to avoid the enemy's grasp. The two emperors, Phranza and Alexander, fled the battlefield before the disaster ended. The followers also dispersed and abandoned the two kings, who were soon separated on horseback, each on their own.

Afternoon and winners

By nightfall, it was all over. All the officers of the retinue, the marshals, the generals of the guard, the officers who surrounded Napoleon, and the soldiers from all sides rushed towards the emperor, cheering. Welcome, Napoleon on his horse across the vast field, where the horse's hooves collide with so many corpses and things scattered throughout. About 15,000 Austrian and Russian troops were killed, 20,000 were taken prisoner, most of the enemy's artillery was stripped, and especially the Russo-Austrian army was really annihilated. The remnants of the army fled in all directions, abandoning lots of treasures, all the weapons, and lots of food. Those are the big strokes of the outcome of that victory. The French army lost nearly 9,000 men compared to 80,000 allied parties.

Many regiments drowned or were destroyed by French cannon fire, and others surrendered. The Russian guard cavalry was almost annihilated at the very moment the battle was at its critical stage, after a fierce battle with Napoleon's cavalry. Admiring the bravery of the Russian soldiers, Napoleon's generals could not help but marvel at the extreme stupidity of the marches, at the complete ignorance on war matters, and at the impatience and incompetence of the Russian generals, except for Cutusov. In particular, they were surprised that Buksovsen, commander of the left flank of the Russian army, with 29 battalions and 22 squadrons in hand, instead of running to the rescue of the struggling main force, spent Most of the time the battle spent attacking an unimportant stronghold where the French needed only a small, insignificant force to hold their defense for hours. And finally, when he saw that he had to fight and retreat at the same time, Buzovèden proceeded without haste and without art, so that thousands of soldiers of his corps were driven to the lake. only to be drowned there because, after learning of that maneuver at Buchöveden, Napoleon ordered the cannon to be fired into the frozen water. The survivors were all taken prisoner.

The next day, in all the legions, Napoleon's daily orders were read: "Soldiers! I am very pleased with you because you have demonstrated your innocence. You have bestowed eternal glory on your flag! Four hours later, an army led by the Russian and Austrian emperors was destroyed or scattered. "Those who avoided your bullets perished at the bottom of the lake..."

Emperor Francis declared to Alexander I that only madness would continue to fight. Alexander and I immediately agreed. The Emperor of Austria requested an audience with Napoleon, who welcomed him at his home in the vicinity of Austerlitz. Napoleon graciously welcomed Franza, but first, he demanded that the remnants of the Russian army leave Austria immediately, determining the routes himself, and declaring that he would only negotiate peace with Austria. Francis agrees with everything.

The third military alliance ended.