The Battle of Austerlitz, December 2nd, 1805:
Prelude:
After Napoleon’s crushing victory over the Austrian General Mack at Ulm, he turned his attention towards the Russian threat under the command of General Kutusov. Realising the scale of the disaster at Ulm, Kutusov conducted a retreat north across the Danube and abandoned the Austrian capital, Vienna. This retreat meant that he was able to meet with a second Russian army under the senior, but incompetent General Buxhowden.
The famous St Hilaire’s Division forms up ready to advance on the field of Austerlitz
Despite Kutusov’s insistence that a continued retreat was the best course of action, the desire for a victory prevailed and the Tsar, accompanying Buxhowden’s army in person, commanded that a stand be made.
This played right into Napoleon’s hands, as he also needed a victory for a number of reasons; his intelligence suggested that Prussia was preparing to enter the war on the allied side, and the naval catastrophe of Trafalgar had left Paris in a state of turmoil, with a coup against the Emperor seeming more and more likely.
By the 1st of December 1805, the Emperor’s trap was waiting for its prey.
Deployment:
The Emperor had withdrawn from the strategically sound position atop the Pratzen heights, and deliberately weakened his right flank in order to tempt the allies into coming down off the heights to attack the towns of Telnitz and Sokolnitz, opposite their left flank.
The main allied deployment was in the form of four large columns, each with its own objective. The columns were to be brought up behind the Pratzen and unleashed in turn. The Allied reserve was formed of the Tsar’s Imperial Guard, commanded by his brother, Grand Duke Constantine, and which remained behind the four main columns.
The allied deployment was however seriously flawed in that many parts of the Order of March overlapped one another. One notable case of this error was the forced halt of Count Langeron’s infantry (part of the Allied second column), in order to allow General Liechtenstein’s cavalry to pass.
‘I will place my corps at your service Sire,
and it will perform as double its number’
Marshall Nicolas-Jean de Dieu Soult
1st December 1805
The Battle:
Just as Napoleon had predicted, the Allies came on against the towns of Telnitz and Sokolnitz, with the First, Third, and part of the Second allied columns pouring men and cannon-shot into the towns. The towns on the French right had served their purpose, and seeing the strength of his enemy committed to an attack in the South, Napoleon ordered his main thrust into the allied centre, intending to take the Pratzen heights and split the allied army in two.
Marshall Soult’s IV Corps, including St Hilaire’s Division, widely accepted as the finest line division in the Grand Armee, advanced up the hill just as the sun broke through the mist covering the low ground. The as yet uncommitted Fourth column was diverted to throw back St Hilaire’s Division, but arriving on the heights in a marching column led to the Russian infantry being committed one or two battalions at a time. Some of the fiercest fighting of the Napoleonic Wars occurred on that ridge, and within the hour, the 24,000 men of the Allied Fourth column had been killed or routed.
Just as the situation appeared lost, the delayed portion of the Allied Second column arrived and attacked the exhausted French. With their ammunition running low, the French fixed bayonet’s and charged at the inexperienced Austrian troops facing them. Once more the French troops cast their enemies down off the heights, and the Allied centre was broken.
Seeing his centre crumble, the Tsar committed his Imperial Guard, and they in turn were forced into a retreat by the French troops atop the Pratzen. Committing the heavy Guard cavalry, the Grand Duke was able to force the French off the ridge. Napoleon countered this with his own formidable guard cavalry, and a stalemate ensued between two of the finest cavalry forces of the time. The impasse was broken when General Drouet’s second division, of Marshall Bernadotte’s I Corps arrived and set up an echelon of squares behind the cavalry engagement. This allowed the French cavalry to fall back amongst their infantry squares, with the Russian’s unable to follow.
The battle was finally won with the breaking of the Russian Imperial Guard, achieved using the French Guard’s horse artillery, which poured canister into the massed ranks of cavalry and sent them fleeing back down off the heights for the last time. The French cavalry pursued for a quarter of a mile before the exhaustion of their mounts forced them to halt.
The end of the battle consisted of mopping up the remnants of the allied army, including the now isolated Russian troops in the town of Sokolnitz, and the remnants of a cavalry engagement which took place between Prince Liechtenstein and General Kellerman at the same time as the Russian Guard had advanced on the Pratzen.
‘We are babes in the hands of a giant’
Tsar Alexander I, spoken of Emperor Napoleon I
2nd December 1805
Aftermath:
The allies lost 25,000 men and 182 guns. The French had lost less than 9,000 men.
Two days after the battle, the Austrians signed an armistice, and three weeks later, ended the third coalition by exiting the war by the Treaty of Pressburg. The remnants of the Russian army retreated along their supply lines and were disbanded for the winter months.
Napoleon returned to Paris a conquering hero, leaving his army in cantonments across Bavaria. All thoughts of a coup at home were forgotten in the wake of such a momentous victory, but the Emperor could not afford to disband his army whilst the ardent Francophobe Louisa of Mecklenburg still held the Prussian crown.
‘Austerlitz’ by Gerard, shows the prisoners taken from the Russian
Guard being presented to Napoleon by Marshall Ney
Tradition and Legend:
The night before the battle of Austerlitz, Marshall Lannes challenged Marshall Soult to a duel, after he had cajoled Lannes into suggesting to the Emperor that a retreat would be prudent and then denied that he made such a suggestion.
The advance of St Hilaire’s Division up the Pratzen Heights coincided with the rising of the sun and a rapid disintegration of the mist which had hung over the area for almost two weeks. This advance led to the expression, the ‘Sun of Austerlitz’, a saying which was to become synonymous with hope and victory for the French troops.
As the Allied left retreated, General Kienmayer, commander of the avant-garde of the Second column left behind his finest cavalry regiment to hold off the French pursuit. The O’Reilly chevaulegers charged through five of the six dragoon regiments sent against them before finally being halted when the sixth peeled away to reveal a line of light artillery, which poured canister fire into the remains of the chevaulegers and sent them fleeing with the rest of the Allied army.
The Map:
Created by [HWK]Stu, the Austerlitz map is a fantastic
representation of one of Napoleon’s most influential battles, and a Hawks
favorite. All the key troops are included; the massive Allied columns, the
French and Russian Imperial Guards, and the indomitable line of Marshall
Soult’s IV Corps, among the many other formations which made up each army.
The crucial features of the field are represented, including the vital Pratzen Heights, which loom over the right hand side of the map, challenging the French to take the ridge and hold it to achieve victory.The map begins with the troops deployed as they were just prior to the commencement of the Allied attack on the French right.
Rules:
The French are obliged to attack and take the Pratzen Heights, and hold it against any allied counterattack.
As mentioned the map depicts the point at which the allies are marching to engage the French right flank. The Allied army is NOT obliged to continue through with this attack, but it should be considered that on the right of the map the Allied commander has a significant superiority in numbers, and any decision to not make use of this initial advantage may prove to be in error later on.
Whoever holds the key ground atop the Pratzen Heights is considered to be the victor and players despairing of holding or taking it are obligated to Surrender.
Large Map, Screen Shot
On the map below the important features of the field are highlighted and identified on the following key:
Green: Pratzen Heights
Blue line: French Front Line
Bright Green: Allied Front Line
Red: Allied Columns
Pink: Russian Imperial Guard
Blue circle: French Imperial Guard
Yellow Circle: French Heavy Cavalry Reserve