The Battle of Elchingen
14 October, 1805
Map by [HWK]Stu
Introduction
For the third time Field Marshal Graf von Riesch attempted to count the camp fires on the far side of the Danube. He had been ordered by Marshal Mack to secure a route between the main Austrian army and the rapidly approaching forces of Russia. He had occupied the two villages of Elchingen without problem and in the morning intended to capture the bridge from what he had initially believed to be a few regiments of French Infantry. Now however, from the amount of campfires he could see in the distance he new he must be facing an entire French corps. If his fears were correct then Field Marshal Mack and the Austrian armies were dangerously surrounded. It would soon be daybreak, von Riesch turned from the window in the bell tower of the Elchingen abbey and motioned to his commanders, he would form a defensive line in front of the two villages and wait for the French to attack. He would force them to march into his guns and then let his elite troops, the Austrian Grenadiers, smash them. The bridge, and Marshal Mack’s escape route could then be secured.
The Map
