Battle Report #15 Ulm-Austerlitz 1805

[AUSTERLITZ]

THE AUSTRIAN ARMY

"... the Austrian army ... carried most of the burden of the war on land.
Though repeatedly defeated, it always rose again...
Austria was the most implacable of Napoleon's continental enemies''.


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Austria possesed the third largest army in the world(after russia and france) and was throughout napoleon's most consistent enemy.The habsburg(the ruling dynasty) territories were immense and diverse and the army formed the unifying factor.The army was composed mainly of germans and hungarians and balkan contingents.Hungary was semi-autonomous with its own parliament.The main problem of the austrian army was its lack of homogeniety.This was attempted to be circumvented by arousing pride in one's regiment than nationality.

" The great confusion of nationalities is a serious evil [in the Austrian Army ] .
In the British army, every man can at least speak English, but with the Austrians,
even the NCOs of the non-German regiments can scarcely speak German."
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The germans were considered solid,disciplined and educated,but slow and methodical.Hungarians were fierce and great horsemen,but lesser disciplined.Romanians were hardy,brave but vengeful.Croats and serbians were great fighters but didn't like discipline,and were unpredictable.Poles and ukrainians came from recently conquered areas and had little loyalty or enthusiasm to fight for the austrian monarch and were seen as idlers and timeservers.

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THE EVOLUTION OF THE AUSTRIAN ARMY:

In the 1730s austria was at the peak of her prestige in europe,the seat of the holy roman empire it had weathered the storm of Louis XIV's france in the last century(1660-1715) and also the last ottoman surges,under their great commander Eugene of Savoy-french expansion had been contained(eugene and marlborough partnership) and huge swathes of territory formerly under ottoman control regained by Eugene's conquests.Then in the 1740s came the shock of defeat after defeat to the upstart house of brandenburg under Frederick of Prussia.The string of defeats to which the Prussians had subjected them had amply demonstrated that the army was in no fit state to contend with an adversary of this calibre. A process of reform was therefore begun which touched every aspect of military life.Austrian army improved to such degree that in the War of the Bavarian Succession it managed to neutralize the Prussians almost completely by taking up defensive positions so formidable that Frederick the Great dared not attack it. This was the state of affairs when the seven years war ended in the 1760s.After that the army had mostly been idle except keeping an eye on prussia and an expansionist russia under catherine and seeking an oppurtunity for expansion themselves in the balkans.Royalist France was an ally by marriage.

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THE WARS OF THE REVOLUTION:

Then came the shattering events of the french revolution,austria joined the conservative monarchies to snuff out the radical republicans of a reawakened france..only to see the emergence of a nation in arms.The austrian netherlands were overun by sheer weight of french numbers,but elsewhere in germany and italy the austrian whitecoats kept the french at bay.Until the ogre came.Italy was seized by the french under napoleon in 1796(war of the first coalition) and despite an attempt to regain it in allainace with russia,napoleon returned from egypt ,seized power and defeated the austrians again at marengo 1800(war of the second coalition).An exhausted austria was forced to cede much of her former possesions,but furious and waited for an oppurtunity to strike back.After these string of setbacks reforms were begun to deal with the new french enemy,these were underway when political developments led to austrian entry into the third coalition.

The revolutionary wars of the 1790s had shown the austrian army stuck with an obsolete set of military ideas against the mobile and hard hitting french.Austrian ideas of importance based on strongpoints and often methodical static defense had their roots in their relative success against frederick in the last years,but napoleon was not frederick,and his style was entirely different and had proved too much for the austrians in battle after battle.
"Many of the officers had grown old in the service, and the generals were mostly veterans of the Seven years War. ... and many of them proudly preserved attitudes that had been formed when war was touched with a certain chivalry. ... It took a long time for some Austrian officers to realise that noble behaviour indeed to be tempered with pragmatism, especially when your opponent was hell-bent on gaining every possible advantage from a situation.

The message had clearly still not got through to General Kienmayer when, in 1805, he informed Marshal Murat, Napoleon's cavalry commander, that his troops desperately needed a rest, and therefore requested him not to advance on Vienna too rapidly.
One example of this methodical,traditional,slow attitude of the austrian officer corps is given by the complaints of an austrian officer priosner to his captors in the 1796 campaign to napoleon's style of fighting -

'But there is no understanding it at all. We have to do with a young general who is in this moment before us, then again behind us, then again on our flanks - one does not know where to place oneself. This manner of making war is insufferable and violates all usage and custom'.

REFORMS IN THE AUSTRIAN ARMY:

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Despite these issues,the core rank and file remained solid and on numerous occasions had fought the french to a standstill.New ideas were needed to combat the french,reorganize the army and prepare for a new struggle.To this view in 1801 the emperor appointed his brother archduke charles(pic) ,possibly the best austrian general to this task.But owing to acute shortage of funds this process went forward slowly.Charles strongly opposed a new war with france as he believed austria unprepared,but during this period the austrian war party was steadily gaining influence in the court.It was headed by General Mack,a theorist more than a proven battlefield commander his enthusiasm encouraged the austrian monarch,bitter about the scathing losses of land and prestige to the french.Mack claimed to have found the secret or the essence of the french revolutionary fighting spirit and preached -''In war ,the objective is to defeat the enemy,not merely avoid being defeated''.Mack was appointed chief of staff and took over the reforms process.

Mack was faced with a daunting task,in just 1804 defence spending had been halved to recover from the massive finacial losses of the war years.Many of troops had been disbanded and a section wagon teams and artillery had been broken up.Only the aristocratic cavalry remained in proper state.Mack worked dilligently to solve these issues and made widespread reforms into the infantry.Unfortunately while in the long term these reforms may have been sensible,coming just months before the outbreak of war,the restructuring of the regiments created chaos and confusion and as a result the officers of the new regiments where often unfamiliar with their men .

(General Mack)​

Mack sought to imitate napoleon's reputation and the french system of living off the land.This backfired badly,unlike the mercurial french who had picked up these skills in the desperate days of the revolution out of need for bare survival where the government simply couldn't provide for them..the oppurtunistic austrian quartermasters promptly washed their hands off their supply obligations.As a result before the austrian army marched slowly with 9 days rations worth of wagons trailing it,now it marched slower on hungry stomachs often.
Another problem of the austrians was the outdated staff system,it provided huge amounts of unwieldy paperwork for the commands of each regiment,the result of not having any permanent unit over the regimental level.Unlike the french corps this created delays,confusion and chaos.Overall the army was good and battle hardened but offset by several issues in its organization,structuring and officerkorps.

When the war broke out,archduke charles was sent to take command in italy to face massena(austria expected napoleon to strike here like in 1796 and 1800) while mack with an army-in-transition led the march into bavaria( small french ally)for a tryst with fate and napoleon bonaparte .

NEXT: AUSTRIAN INFANTRY

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

AUSTRIAN INFANTRY



"The Austrian infantry had long had the reputation of being
solid and reliable, and had fought the French to a standstill
on a number of occasions since 1792."
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Austrian infantry regiments were raised on a territorial ethnic basis to prevent confusion and retain some homogeniety.While the regiments individually were good the whole body was often found to be less than the sum of its parts.Austrian infantry fo the period is described thus -
"The great confusion of nationalities is a serious evil. In the British army, every man can at least speak English, but with the Austrians, even the NCOs of the non-German regiments can scarcely speak German.
This creates, of course, a deal of confusion, difficulty, and interpreting, even between the officer and the soldier. It is partly remedied by the necessity in which frequent change of quarters places the officers of learning at least something of every language spoken in Austria. But yet, the inconvenience is not obviated...
The infantry, and in this respect it is similar to the English [infantry], is more distinguished by its action in masses [lines], than by its agility in light infantry service. We must, however, except the frontier troops (Grenzers) and the jagers. The first are; for the most part, very efficient in skirmishing, especially the Serbians, whose favorite warfare is one of ambuscades. The jagers are mainly Tyroleans, and first-rate marksmen. But the german and hungarians generally impose by their solidity, and ... have more than once received cavalry, in line, without deigning to form square, and wherever they have formed squares, the enemy's cavalry could seldom break them up .''

The basic austrian musket was an older design and considered inferior to the french charleville because it weighed too much.

LINE INFANTRY:

The 'German' regiments were the best trained
and disciplined part of the infantry. "German
sense of duty caused them to rally after lost
battle to fight again." - Ch Duffy ​

The 4rth and 1st line regiments formed from ethnic austrians largely from vienna were the 2 best line infantry regiments.In austria regiments were usually not numbered but named after their colonels.One big problem was the regiments were brought together in war time as ad-hoc forces to form temporary larger columns,but the huge amount of paperwork involving orders to each individual regiment overwhelmed the commanders and created chaos and delay.Even the russian allies,not masters of staffwork themselves were astonished by the confusion.

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The 'Hungarian' regiments were renowned for their fierce fighting spirit, and their grenadiers were best of them. "The Hungarians counted as one of the 'hot' nations of Europe, along with the emotional English and Italians ... The difficulty was not to get them to fight, but to enlist in the first place... they were convinced that they were unsuitable for dismounted service."

ORGANIZATION:

Austrians had 3 basic infantry formations - german infantry regiments,hungarian infantry regiments and grenadier battalion.These were supllemented by jaegers and grenzers.
Austria followed a unique composite infantry organization model.There were no seperate fusilier/musketeer and grenadier regiments,instead composite infantry regiments of grenadiers and fusiliers.
The basic organizational unit was the regiment while the basic tactical sub-unit was the battalion.In 1805 regiments had 2-4 battalions,but in june Mack's reforms sought to standardize them at a paper strength of 3800 men per regiment.Each regiment to have 1 battalion of grenadiers and 4 battalions of fusiliers(line infantry).The battalions were subdivided into companies and companies into half-companies or zugs for small -level tactical operations.The grenadiers battalion numbered 600 men and the fusiliers battalion 800 men.However when war began this reorganization was in transition and only part of the army had been changed to this model.

GRENADIERS:

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Unlike russia and france,austria possesed no imperial guard.Grenadiers formed austria's elite assault infantry and gave a good account of themselves throughout the war.Selected from the cream of the line infantry for valor,marksmanship,at least 1 campaign and 5 yrs service and a height requirement they were proficient with the bayonet.Grenadiers in 1805 were divided into 120 man companies ,a grenadiers battalion having 5 such companies.There were no individual grenadiers regiments.In battle grenadier battalions from the infantry regiments were held back as an assault reserve.Usually only the hungarians and germans served in the grenadier battalions.

JAEGERS:

" You should not tell a recruit : I will make you into a jager !​

You must instead take them from the forests."- Gen. deLigne ​

Austria had been the pioneer of light infantry in the 18th century and its skirmishers had caused frederick the great major problems,however this style of fighting was never adopted enmasse by the austrians and relegated to a niche role unlike the french.Jaegers or light infantry formed austria's answer to french voltigeurs and tirailleurs.Small in number they were excellent sharpshooters and well trained.Their weakness was however numbers.The jaeger battalion was a meagre 400 men and there were only 9 battalions of jaegers in the whole army of nearly 300,000.These made their impact insignificant in many cases.Jaegers fired in 3 ranks,the first 2 carried muskets and the third carried rifles.The rifle took ages to reload but was far more accurate and had longer range than the musket..it was a sharpshooters weapon.

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GRENZERS:

The Grenzers came from military frontier (called Military Borders) between Austria and Turkey settled by Christian refugees. These areas were subject to attack by the Turks and man living in these areas was expected to participate in their defence, so effectively that almost the entire adult male population was militarised. Their uniforms and fierce demeanor gave them a brigandlike air that seemed to portend great deeds on the battlefield. Nominally militia they were considered midway between light and line infantry.Austria experimented with turning them into standrad line infantry but results were not impressive,in the process many of these regiments lost their light infantry skills gained in border defence duty.Grenzers remained a solid addition to the austrian army and performed well at austerlitz.There were around 15 regiments of grenzers.

TACTICS:

"For charging, the line was considered 'the proper formation for infantry,
permitting the best use of its weapons, that is the musket musket for
fighting at long range and the bayonnet for close-in". - John Stallaert
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The tactical formations used by the Austrian infantry were lines, columns, and skirmishing chains. The Austrian army however "retained faith in 18th century constricted manoeuvre at the expense of the less formalised movements employed by the French. Baron Zach expressed the general reliance on old-fashioned, close and linear formations, an advance-

'courageously in closed formation, with bands playing, and keeping their formation' being, in his opinion, a guarantee of success. 'Unnecessary skirmishing can only be detrimental ... a determined charge delivered in close order ... will certainly result in victory with very few casualties'." (- John Stallaert)

(Austrian company in 3 ranks,austrians divided their companies into 4 Zugs or sections or 2 halfcompanies)​

The line was considered by the Austrians as the best formation for infantry. The tallest men stood in the first rank, the shortest in 2nd and the ablest in 3rd, each man's elbows touching his neighbours. The distance between ranks was one pace.The regulations introduced in 1805 (Abrichtungs Reglement für die K. und K.K. Infanterie 1806 ) abolished the practice of kneeling the 1st rank of infantry while firing. It confirmed that during musketry the 3rd rank stood with shouldered arms and only the 1st and 2nd fired. The 2nd rank stepped to the right so that the left shoulder of each soldier was behind the right shoulder of the man to their front.Temporary Zugs were often formed by taking men from the 3rd rank and employing them as a flanking force by extending the line.
Columns were prefered less unlike the french,this made austrian armies slower and less mobile on the battlefield though solid and steady.

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Austria uniquely employed 2 types of anti-cavalry formations -The traditional square and the masse.Above is the traditional square being formed from a column of half companies(2 zugs each in a half company)
The Masse came in 2 varieties,the divisionmasse and the battalionmasse.In 1805 only the battalionmasse was in large use.
It was basically a closed column formation of several companies or a solid square.Several battalionmasses closed up formed a divisionmasse.It combined some of the advantages of the line with those of a column.

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The smaller battalionmasse in front,the larger divisionmasse in the back.Masses with extended frontage on the sides.Masses had several advantages -they were far quicker to form than squares and also provided far more depth,unlike a square which could be broken up if cavalry got inside it..there was no getting inside a solid masse of bodies.It was invulnerable to cavalry more or less.However it used up much more men than in the square to repulse cavalry.The masse could move faster than a square like a phalanx.It could also adjust its frontage more readily ,however its greatest problem was its vulnerability to enemy fire.It was the most exposed formation to enemy artillery which completly shatter it,and in danger from massed skirmishing as well.Some measures were taken to protect against skirmishers.See the picture above,small zugs of infantrymen are detatched from the masses in and around it to keep enemy skirmishers at bay,if attacked by cavalry they would quickly flee back to the safety of the masse,but it remained a terribly vulnerable formation against artillery.The battalionmasse evolved from austria's struggles against the superb turkish cavalry.Turks lacked effective mobile field artillery,negating the formations main weakness.

Concerning the employment of light infantry,austria continued to lag behind the french.They were not incapable of skirmishing and better than the prussians or russians but traditional attitudes and lack of numbers often hindered their usage.Austrians employed advnace guards of light troops which often gave a good account of themselves,but the general infantry was not particualrly proficient at skirmishing whereas every french infantryman(save grenadiers) could potentially act as a skirmishers.
General Rosemberg wrote: "[Austrian troops] are not fully prepared and too incapable of helping themselves. they are too used to being in closed lines and to acting automatically on the word of command, but they must be capable of relyin on their own initiative."
General Radetzky wrote that "too much drill" was the cause of poorer combat effectiveness of Austrian skirmishers. He also added that Austrian generals "don't understand this kind of fighting."

NEXT: AUSTRIAN CAVALRY

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

AUSTRIAN CAVALRY

The Austrian cavalrymen "were as superior to us
as we were to the trained-bands in the city."
- General John Le Marchant, British cavalry



"... both cuirassiers and hussars are superb"-Wilson​

Austrian cavalry had always enjoyed great reputation in europe and was considered the best part of the army.Largely aristocratic it was superbly mounted,well trained..the men themselves being excellent horsemen and swordsmen.As individual swordsmen and horsemen the austrians,particularly the hungarians were considered among the best in europe.Its main problems lay in organization that prevented effective use in mass.Austrian cavalry forces consisted of Cuirassiers,Dragoons,Uhlans,Hussars and chevauxlegers.

ORGANIZATION:Regiments formed the main administrative unit,while squadrons formed the tactical sub-unit.The regiments were composed of 2 to 4 'divisions',each of 2 squadrons.The cuirassier and dragoon regiments had 6 squadrons,the uhlans and cheavuxlegers- 8 squadrons and the hussars from 6 to 10.The cuirassiers/dragoon squadrons had around 110 men per squadron ,while the others had around 150.A cuirassier or dragoon regiment numbered around a 1000 men,and the other around 1500.

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TACTICS:In battle the squadron was divided into 4 manuever elements or zugs.The 2 rank-deep knee to knee cavalry charge in line remained the standrad formation,the austrian cavalry rarely used the column unlike the french cavalry.The cavalry was well trained and great emphasis was placed upon proper pacing,and galloping only at 80 paces from the enemy so as to not blow the horses before the charge had reached him.However the 2 line formation lacked depth against a head on column attack by the french,though a good commander could extend his frontage and attempt to outflank the column.

The main disaster for the austrian cavalry was in the detail of its cavalry organization.The strength of organization depended upon the officer to trooper ratio and the placement of officers in a squadron.In both cases the austrians came out poorly.The austrian officer to men ratio was the lowest amongst all major powers in europe 1:8.(u can find the others in french and russian cavalry sections),its officer placement too was the worst in europe.It had ZERO officers leading a squadron and directing its manuever elements.Austria placed all its officers on the flanks of the squadron focusing solely on lateral control emphasizing keeping a squadron packed and regulating its pace.However in the lack of forward control it was very difficult to rally a squadron after a charge and massed charges were very difficult to execute.(for details of forward and lateral control see the other 2 armies cavalry sections).

"Austrian cavalry was well mounted and generally good
but seldom operated effectively in mass."
- John Elting​

Another disadvantage for austria was the lack of large scale multi-regiment exercises,so the austrians were usually unable to co-ordinate large scale attacks using massed cavalry.A bad habit was to distribute the cavalry amongst the infantry and it became a infantry support force rather than an independent assault force like the french cavalry.

"The enemy had charged us 3 or 4 times during this engagement. Some of them would break into our ranks, many passed right through and circled back to regain their lines, and after charge they ended in complete disorganization. The French, on the other hand, although they also lost formation after a charge, kept together far more and every time were quicker to regain order.
... although the Hungarians drove home their attacks with determination, they were harder to reform into some sort of order. The French, on the other hand, knew that their own horses lacked the Austrians' speed and endurance, and would launch their attacks from closer range and so retained formation right to the end of the charge, and regained it more quickly afterwards. ... ''-French Officer​

In battle,often single regiments and squadrons launched unco-ordinated and unsupported charges on full brigades of french cavalry.Despite being superb horsemen organizational defects placed the austrian cavalry at a disadvantage in such encounters.In total in 1805 austria's regular cavalry numbered 60,000.

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CUIRASSIERS:The heavy cuirassiers formed the elite of the austrian cavalry.Regiments numbered around a 1000 men at six squadrons.These tall picked whitejacketed men were equipped with straight swords,rifles or carbines and cuirasses.However the austrian cuirasses lacked the backplate unlike their french counterparts,putting them in a disadvanatge in a head on clash and when pursued.

DRAGOONS:The medium all-purpose cavalry dragoons were a common sight,in the austrian army they performed more the role of shock cavalry rather than mounted infantry.Dragoon regiments had same organization and whitecoats as cuirassires and carried a straight sword and carbines.They lacked body armor.

UHLANS:Austria had just 3 regiments of uhlans.These green jacketed lancers armed with sabres ,lances and pistols could be a nasty shock for a foe unfamiliar with facing the long reach of the weapon.They were recruited from the poles.

CHEVAUXLEGERS:

"... the most useful force of cavalry
is presented by the chavaulegers"
- General Daun​

Chevauxlegers were a unique component of the austrian mounted force.Literally light cavalry,these performed somewhat the role of dragoons in the austrian army.Capable of all light cavalry duties as well as being used as shock cavalry,they were more akin to hussars.Armed with carbines,curved sabres they were masters at skirmishing and small scale combat.

HUNGARIAN HUSSARS:

I "... was of the opinion then, as I am still today, that the
Austrian light horse is the best trained in this kind of
warfare [skirmishing, scouting]. The Austrians are always
the most skilled at placing outposts to guard their army."
- Dezydery Chlapowski, Napoleon's Old Guard Lancers​

The best part of the austrian cavalry were the hungarian hussars.Along with the polish lancers they were considered the best light cavalry in europe.Hungarians in austrian service had originally popularized hussars as a form of cavalry in europe and enjoyed a superb reputation.The Austrian cavalrymen were excellent swordsman and horsemen, well-trained and well-mounted, and enjoyed great reputation in Europe. "... most Hungarians learned to ride in childhood and when out riding soon acquired a natural sense of direction, making them the ideal recruits for light cavalry duties."

In the seven years war the hungarian hussars had famously raided and captured berlin and the leader Hadik emptied his pipe on frederick's throne.Hussar service was voluntary but standards were high.Armed with sabres and pistols they were dashing and imitated all over europe in the 17th and 18th century.The hungarian hussars nearly captured napoleon in a famous incident in the 1796 campaign.In 1796 at Borghetto, Bonaparte was lunching with generals Massena and Murat when the Austrian light cavalry surprised them. Bonaparte fled by climbing over a wall and lost his boot in the process. Murat and Massena followed their chief.Austria had 12 hussar regiments-all from the balakans,8 of them hungarians,2 transylvanians and 2 slovakians.They acted as the eyes and ears of the army.

NEXT: AUSTRIAN ARTILLERY

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

AUSTRIAN ARTILLERY



''The Austrian gunners, recruited mostly from the German provinces,
has always stood high; not so much by early and judicious adoption
of improvements, as by the practical efficiency of the men. They
were volunteers, and not recruits as it was the case in majority of
European armies. ''
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Austria had introduced the world's first modern artillery system in europe in the 1750s.Under joseph lichtestein the famous lichtenstein system was held up as a model to all european militaries and austrian artillery maintained a formidable in the seven years war.

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Joseph Wenzel Liechtenstein was the father of Austrian artillery. He became Artillerie General-Director and by the outbreak of Seven Yaers War was able to furnish the army with a corps of thoroughly professional gunners, together with a train of excellent new pieces of artillery. All the work of elevating and depressing the massive barrels was now done by a simple screw device. Liechtenstein also did away with the slow, wasteful and dangerous bussiness of loading the loose powder down the muzzles from open-topped ladles. However the long years of peace had led to stagnation,gribeauval - a frenchman who had served under lichtenstein had introduced in france a better upgraded version of the lichtenstein system that came to be known as the gribeauval system and was one of the cornerstones of french artillery superiority.
In terms of accuracy tests show the austrian gunners to be superior to the prussians and british and about equal with the russians.In terms of ammunition supply for their heavy guns they were behind only the french and russians.

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The Austrian artillery had powder and ammunition of higher quality than the French and the Russian artillery. Their tactics and organization however were behind the French. Austrian army however was the only major force that lacked well-developed horse artillery. Kevin Kiley writes, "The Austrians' cavalry batteries were organized in the 1780s, their new light 6pdr gun and the 7-pounder howitzer being the usual armament of these mobile units. The cannoneers were not individually mounted, but first rode modified caissons, commonly called Wurst-Wagen, sitting astride them one behind the other, while others rode the gun carriage astride a specially made seat on the trail. The gunners of Austrian horse artillery sat on caission while the French were mounted on horses.

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It made the Austrian batteries slower in movement across fields and roads, but they were quicker in deploying and unlimbering the guns. The Austrians also needed less horses, were cheaper, required less space and therefore were a smaller target for enemy's guns.
The austrian gunners were professional,volunteers and reliable if conventional.The French gunners however were more dashing and imaginative and their guns had longer range and heavier calibres than Austrians'.Finally, the individual battery commanders, described by Charles as 'often old and frail, and having been slowly advanced up the ladder', still tended to regard the individual piece as a discreet fire element, while generals often lacked the feeling for the proper use of artillery. As a result the archduke's instructions that artillery should always act as part of a combined arms team as often were neglected."

ORGANIZATION:

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Austrian artillery was divided into battalion guns for infantry support and heavy guns for reserve ,plus cavalry guns.While for administrative purposes they were organized into regiments in battle they would be grouped in batteries.A battery consisted of 6-8 guns.Guns consisted of 4 types primarily - 12pdr heavy guns,3pdr light infantry support guns,,6pdr medium guns and howitzers.(6pdr guns being used as cavalry guns)

Batteries were of 3 types -Brigade Batteries (lighter guns) - attached to infantry brigades
Position Batteries (heavier guns) - they formed artillery reserves
Cavalry Batteries (lighter guns) - attached to cavalry

Around 60% of the artillery was 6pdrs,12% 12-pdrs,17% howitzers and 12% light battalion guns.One problem with austrian artillery was it was distributed piecemeal to the infantry in large quantities,not only the organic 3pdrs which ahd little killing power but also many of the 6pdrs.There was a lack of a central army artillery reserve like the french guard artillery which its elite heavy 12pdr horse batteries that could quickly turn a battle.Austrians didn't form grand batteries until the late years of the war.

AUSTRIAN COMMANDERS


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ARCHDUKE CHARLES: The brother of kaiser francis,and austria's finest commander the young archduke had a brillinat reputation winning several victories over the revolutionary french in the 1790s.He was however outmanuevered by napoleon in the closing stages of the 1796 campaign but emerged as the only senior austrian commander not disgraced after austria's defeat in the second coalition 1800.He was initially in charge of the post war reforms but heavily opposed to a new war,overtaken by the war party represented by general mack in 1805.When war broke out he was sent to italy to deal with the french forces there,but was unable to defeat massena.After the third coalition war he took charge of a radical reforms process and was supreme head of austrian forces in the war of the 4rth coalition in1809.Despite being eventually outmanuevred and defeated by napoleon,the austrian army performed exceptionally during this conflict and charles was the first commander to give napoleon his first setback at aspern essling during this campaign.He held no further commands.

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KARL MACK:Mack emerged as the face of the new war party in vienna and was appointed chief of staff and began a set of reforms when war broke out.He would take the austrian army into bavaria and wait for kutuzov to join him-events that would lead to the catastrophe at ulm.Mack's reputation was built on books written on military theory and not field record,after the war he was court martialled and imprisoned for the scale of the disaster.Though rehabilitated in 1815,he remains known to history as the 'unfortunate general mack'.

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ARCHDUKE FERDINAND: Brother of the emperor,he was supposed to be in only nominal command of the forces invading bavaria while mack retained operational control,a role he was not properly ready to follow.This lead to differences in opinion with mack on the conduct of the campaign and ferdinand abandoned the army and escaped the debacle of ulm with a part of the cavalry.

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PRINCE LICHTENSTEIN:The leader of the austrian cavalry,lichtenstein served with distinction in the revolutionary wars and the austro-turkish wars.A talented cavalry commander he held command over the allied cavalry at austerlitz and faced off against murat.He later acted as a diplomat but resigned from state service after the 1809 war.He is the founding father of the current royal house of lichtenstein.

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KARL SCHWARZENBERG:Originally a cavalry commander schwarzenberg served with valour throughout the revolutionary wars and was promoted rapidly.In 1805 he was in command of one of mack's divisions and experienced the debacle first hand but managed to escape with a band of cavalry.He continued his service in the 1809 war and in 1813 after kutuzov's death was appointed supreme allied commander.After a initial string of allied(russia-austria-prussia-sweden)defeats to napoleon even with his depleted army after the russian campaign,schwarzenberg and his chief of staff radetzky came up with the famous trachenberg plan which finally manged to defeat napoleon at leipzig.The plan advocated avoiding direct engagement with the main french army under Napoleon. This resulted from fear of the Emperor's now legendary prowess in battle. Consequently the Allies planned to engage and defeat the French marshals and Generals separately, and thus weaken his army while they built up an overwhelming force even he could not defeat.Though derided for being overcautious and timid, ,he was a realist and 1805 was to be a learning experience for schwarzenberg.

FRANZ WEYROTHER:Weyrother was to be the chief of staff of the allied army at auSterlitz and drew up the battleplan.Weyrother had served with distinction as a staff officer in the revolutionary wars until the austrian relief attempts of mantua under alvintzi in 1796 had resulted in heavy defeats to napoleon at arcola and rivoli.(weyrother was chief of staff to alvinzti).Weyrother made amends with signal service as suvorov's main staff officer during the russian expedition in italy 1799.In 1805 he was initially requested by kutuzov to serve as the head of the joint allied staffs.Before austerlitz he won over the czar and the russian nobility and most of the allied high command,though kutuzov remained unenthusiatic about his attack plan.Disgraced after the disaster at austerlitz he died heartbroken in 1806.

(Other austrian commanders who came into prominence in the later years will be posted in later campaigns)

NEXT: CAMPAIGN BEGINS.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

CAMPAIGN BEGINS: PLANS AND PREPARATIONS



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British prime minister William Pitt was the architect of the 3rd coalition and czar alexander the prime mover.Once the royal courts of europe had decided on war full scale preparations had begun.Of the four continental major powers russia and austria were ranged against napoleonic france,with prussia vacillitating but nonetheless tilting towards the allies slowly but surely.France would have the small german states of baden and wurtemmberg as allies,and had a secret alliance with bavaria.The coalition on the other hand included naples and sweden.

AUSTRIAN PREPARATIONS:
Austrian mobilized paper strength stood at 369 infantry battalions and 278 cavalry squadrons.They were allocated thus-
Army of Germany(Mack/Ferdinand) - 167 battalions,156 squadrons
Army of Italy (Archduke Charles) - 121 battalions,80 squadrons
Army of Tyrol (Archduke John) - 51 battalions,24 squadrons
Garrisons - 30 battalions,18 squadrons
RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS:
Russian regular mobilized paper strength stood at 343 infantry battalions and 297 cavalry squadrons.But geographical distances between several fronts meant several forces could not be used for a campaign in western europe,and also garrisoning the border with turkey required a number of troops.212 battalions and 207 squadrons were allocated for the war against the french.These were formed under several columns which would eventually be combined into 3 large bodies under generals kutuzov,bennigsen and buxhowden.

Other allied contributions from britain,sweden and naples would bring in another 100 odd infantry battalions and several cavalry squadrons(British strength in colonies and homeland defence not counted) though the main effort rested upon the austrians and the russians.Particularly the neapolitan army was a rabble.

Apart from this Prussia had 168 battalions and 245 squadrons at her disposal which would likely join the effort against the french at some point .

​

FRENCH STRENGTH:
These forces were ranged against france which had the largest army in the world,but much of it was required to hold the colonies or garrison its conquests.The cream of the french army consisted of La Grande Armee stationed in Boulogne poised at england.The french forces were arrayed thus -(excluding colonial forces)

La Grande Armee (Napoleon)-190 infantry battalions,213 cavalry squadrons
Army of Italy (Massena) -71 infantry battalions,61 squadrons
Army of Reserve(Joseph Bonaparte) -67 battalions,12 squadrons
Garrisons/coastal defence -124 battalions,36 squadrons
Army of Naples(St Cyr) - 22 battalions,24 squadrons.

Of these the reserve army was raised as a emergency measure of conscripts midway after the campaign began .However the french frontline units like the grand armee had a 1000 men in battalions compared to 800 austrian.

THE ALLIED GRAND PLAN:

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Throughout early 1805 the allied staffs had busied themselves with planning the offensives that restore europe to pre revolution borders and put an end to napoleonic france.Gradually the grand scheme that evolved was ambitious and staggering in its scope.
>In North italy Archduke charles with 95,000 troops would attack the french satellite state the kingdom of italy.

>In germany the central theater,the main effort would take place General Mack(nominally ferdinand)would lead 72,000 austrian troops and invade bavaria.He would be joined by 2 russian armies under kutuzov(40,000) and buxhowden (40,000) and a third russian army under bennigsen(20,000) would finally follow.

>Archduke John in Tyrol and the alps would serve as a link between the armies of italy and germany with 23,000 men .

>In the north from swedish pomerania a joint swedish-russian attack would be launched on french held hannover which would also be supported by british troops.

>In the south russian and british troops would land in naples and supported by the neapolitan army clear italy of the french and join archduke charles in north italy.

After taking hannover in the north and italy in the south,with allied armies assembled on the rhine -the anglo-swedish-russian forces in hannover could attack france from the north,while the main allied army from germany would be in a position to penetrate central france and the combined armies of the archduke charles and the naples forces would invade provence in southern france.
The primary objective of the coalition was to push france back to her pre revolutionary borders .In the process put an end to the upstart bonaparte and (if possible) restore the bourbon monarchy on the throne.
The coalition thus aimed to hurl nearly half a million men at napoleon and france who could counter only with 250,000 regulars and over 100,000 hastily raised conscripts.The addition of prussia even belated,would bring another 150,000-200,000 men into the allied side.
In its scale the third coalition was to be the largest and greatest in european history till that time and the military men of Vienna,London and St.petersberg confidently talked of carrying the war to the gates of paris.

NAPOLEON'S COUNTER-PLAN:

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Allied preparations of this scale didn't go unnoticed and by mid july napoleon had decided to postpone the invasion of england and deal with his continental rivals.Senior french officers including murat carried out reconssaince in person of the roads leading into germany and the possible fronts,and french spies and ambassadors sent a stream of information.On examining the strategic problem bonaparte habitually largely ignored the peripheral fronts in naples and hannover in keeping with his maxim to focus solely on the enemy's main body.Archduke charles would pose a serious threat to french possesions in north italy but most of all should the austrian and russian armies unite in germany their strength would be overwhelming.​

Napoleon's plan was simple and daring.The bulk of the french forces camped at boulogne and hannover were designated into seven army corps and a heavy cavalry reserve,each usually under a marshal,these would be hurled at fullspeed at the advancing austrian army of mack and would converge on him in an attempt to encircle and destroy him before the russians could arrive.If succesful it would leave kutuzov's advancing forces outnumbered and in turn vulnerable to being destroyed.The obliteration of the main allied body would shatter the coalition plans and make the secondary theatres redundant.
Meanwhile as the main french strength was unleashed in germany,subsidiary forces would try to delay and pin down the allied forces in naples and italy(where the veteran massena was sent).30,000 troops would be left behind in boulogne as deception and as a defense against a british landing,the new conscripts would be formed into a ad-hoc 'army of the reserve' which would watch the entry points into northern france over the rhine.
The plan called for 210,000 men,30,000 cavalry and 400 guns to move over 200 miles from the french coast over the rhine to the danube in 2 weeks,an inconcievable feat for the allied forces.Indeed something like this had never been undertaken.The great french marshal turenne ruled that great manuevres were possible with an army of upto 50,000 men.In 1704 The duke of marlborough's march with 40,000 men from holland to the rhine was hailed as a miracle of manuever.Yet the french would succeed,what would make it possible would be the Corps system.Europe was to witness a fully evolved corps system in action for the first time in history.On 23rd august napoleon wrote to talleyrand his foreign minister -''I am marching on vienna'' as the grand armee began its preparations for the epic march.
NEXT:MARCH OF THE GRANDE ARMEE-BOULOGNE TO RHINE RIVER -THE MANUEVER OF ULM -STRATEGIC TRIUMPH

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

MARCH OF THE EAGLES - BOULOGNE TO THE RHINE


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Initial troop dispositions.Napoleon had 6 armeekorps[Lannes on the border,3 at boulogne,1 in holland(marmont) and 1 in hannover(bernadotte)] plus the cavalry reserve under murat not shown here.And the 7000 strong imperial guard.The VII armeekorps was in brest on the extreme western french coast not shown in map,under augereau this corps was also ordered to move.Among the austrians jellacic and hiller were originally part of charles command but in process of being transfered to the army of germany(in last post u will see battalions allocated to army of germany exceed charles's force-this is because though initially charles was allocated the larger body adjusted dispositions were transfer these troops to mack).

Napoleon wanted a quick pre-emptive strike on the austrian army,to march at once with the highest possible strength he ordered the first 2 battalions of each regiment to draw men from the 3rd and 4rth battalions to march overstrength or fullstrength.The depleted 3rd and 4rth battalions left behind would then be added to newly raised conscripts to form a emergency army of the reserve for defense on the northern border and could serve as a body for reinforcements.Same was adopted for the 4rth squadrons of cavalry.

(The 'tor rents' of the grande armee-the seven armee korps)​

Bonaparte meticulously worked out the marching route details and berthier worked out the logistical inticracies,Each corps was routed along an independent line of march to ease supply problems yet within supporting distance of each other.Each had 2-4 infantry divisions,its own artillery and a light cavalry division for screening and reconssaince.The remainder of the cavalry 22,000 strong under murat was tasked to screen the whole army and distract the austrians from the main point of attack when it made contact.The infantry marched on the sides of the road forming column between 4 and 6 in the morning and marching all day till noon,they foraged the evening and rested the night.French forces averaged 30 kms and advnaced with almost mechanical precision,regardless of bad weather .The infantry marched in files on the sides leaving the centre free for movement of carriages,cavalry and artillery.Each division was alloted a foraging space of 20 square kms.
Napoleon initially hoped to cross the rhine on 17th september,but a financial crisis in paris kept him busy.He took command of the army in person on the 26th of september,the previous day the first french troops had crossed the rhine and seven army korps were now moving into position to strike into the austrian heartland.

AUSTRIAN INVASION OF BAVARIA:

(Showing austrian advance into bavaria and bavarian retreat)​

Austrian planners didn't expect napoleon to wholly abandon the invasion of england,nor did they anticipate the speed of the blow..and even if it came it was thought it would come in italy like in 1796 and 1800.Mack delayed mobilization until the last moment to preserve surprise but this had no effect since the main french army on the coast facing england was already mobilized.Instead the hastily mobilized austrian forces left many battalions understrength.On 6th august mack recieved news kutuzov's force would be delayed,he calculated that it would take kutuzov 64 days to join him in bavaria and it was impossible for the french to reach bavaria before 68 days,and went ahead with the early invasion of bavaria-whom he expected to capitulate and join austria.
On 5th september the austrian army moved into bavaria,the elector fled and the bavarians army retreated without a fight north to join the french..as mack consolidated his position and sorted out supply issues(arisen from sudden adoption of french foraging system)he had not the slightest inclination that unknown to him the french had marched a week before him and seven french corps were homing in on him.

​

Troop levels 26th september.Six french armycorps and the cavalry reserve assembled on the rhine while mack still consolidates the detachments of the austrian army in bavaria.The natural barriers of the black forest and the rhine hid the scale of french concentration along with superb cavalry screening my murat's cavalry and the speed of french intelligence.
FROM RHINE TO THE DANUBE:

While mack was now aware of the appearance of the french he had little idea about the strength and location of theire forces and the austrian forces generally intended to concentrate around ulm and await the russians,waiting for the french to cross the rhine and come through the black forest before him,an attack from the north was blocked he believed by the prussian enclave of ansbach,to pass the french would need to violate prussian neutrality which would surely bring prussia into the allied side.Napoleon would have no such scruples-for the interest of speed and surprise bernadotte's I corps would indifferently pass through ansbach (napoleon calaculated it would take prussia 3 months to fully mobilize and march here armies to make their presence felt in the combat area,by which time he expected to decide the campaign).

(French corps begin their wheeling movement-september 27)​

Napoleon's plan at this juncture was his classic strategy of superiority-La manuever sur les Derrieres.
Leaving one corps and murat's cavalry reserve to make movements in front of mack to attract mack's attention frontally in the black forest,the other corps would swing around a large strategic turning movement and descend upon mack 's right and rear by concentrating between ulm and ingolstadt,to thus reach the danube from the rhine by forced marches the french forces would position themselves between mack and the advancing russians seperating the 2,thus combining at once the indirect approach attack with the tactic of the central position.Once mack was isolated,his communications severed and encircled he would be squeezed out.This large turning movement was to be screened by the french cavalry.

​

28 SEPTEMBER-French corps continue their movement.Murat's cavalry corps feints through the black forest to attract austrian attention and screens the movement preventing austrian patrols from gathering information.Mack has 2 lines of communications-one through munich into austria proper and the secondary LOC through memmingen into atyrol in the south towards italy.

​

29 SEPTEMBER-Murat leaves behind a screen of light cavalry (not shown) and joins the turning movement with the rest of the cavalry reserve.

​

OCTOBER 1 - Four french corps advancing along parallel routes all within mutually supporting distance of each other with murat's cavalry reserve behind.Bernadotte and marmont coming from the north in flanking position.A battalion carre strategic march formation.Kienmayer's force on the extreme right formed as a observation force against the bavarians and possibly bernadotte.

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OCTOBER 3 - The french advancing with clockwork precision,Bernadotte's I corps casually moves through the prussian enclave of ansbach.Napoleon writes to soult -''My intention is to envelop the foe from all sides''.By this time he had met the electors of baden and wurtemmberg and been promised their support.Austrian forces are still unaware of the true position of the french and are divided between the ulm area and further west still expecting the french to emerge in force from the black forest.(murat's light cavalry left behind still making movements here-not shown).Meanwhile kienmayer is unable to find any sign of the bavarians and pulls back to the south bank of the danube.The conflicting reports coming from north germany confuse the austrians,in contrast to the normal practice of the main army advancing through one route french corps unknown to the austrians are travelling by seperate but close routes-every road leading into germany apparently has napoleon's troops on it.Where they actually are,or where they are going..austrian intelligence has no idea.

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OCTOBER 5 - Whole of the french army now about to concentrate on the danube,by now mack has been informed of the french advance through ansbach and kienmayer's force has been sent forward to the north bank of the danube to probe for signs of bernadotte.On the night of the 5th napoleon orders his forward corps's to seize the bridges over the danube.Meanwhile mack while still unawareof the exact position of the french now understands that the main french body is not coming through the black forest but rather from more north eastern direction.He abandons the forward positions on the rhine and begins redeployment of the troops along the danube riverline with the centre of operations at ulm.

NEXT: CONTINUED.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

​

OCTOBER 6:Mack plans a counterstroke,he concentrates his army at ulm for an attack across the danube through halsach in the direction of stuttgart hoping to attack what he believes are napoleon's line of communications.Kienmayer is asked to support the attack by renewing his advance on the north bank.On the night of the 6th of october Vandamme's division storms and siezes the danauworth bridge which was lightly defended by a battalion of kienmayer's force.With the french in front of him(davout and bernadotte ) and now his flank exposed by the fall of Danauworth kienmayer quickly retreats.French have secured a crossing across the danube and mack's plan comes to a standstill even before preparations were complete for its undertaking.

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OCTOBER 7:The french stream through Donauworth as soult,lannes and murat are across the danube,meanwhile ney and davout secure crossings on the flanks.Mack finally understands the gravity of the situation and also recieves confirmed news of bernadotte's crossing of ansbach.He postpones his projected counterattack and attempts to shift his forces to face this new threat.He wrote to the Emperor Francis: “Since my courier of yesterday evening, our position has become alarming. We have confirmed the unfortunate news that Bernadotte has forced Ansbach, whereby he gained many marches whereby he has arrived sooner on the Danube. We will do everything possible in order to defeat him or to find our junction with the Russians without fighting, but everything has become much more difficult because of this unfortunate event which no one thought possible.“​

Meanwhile the whole grande armee is more or less assembled on the danube.It had been an epic march..in just thirteen days 200,000 men with artillery and equipment had marched over 200 miles from the rhine to the danube and were now in a position to interpose themselves between mack and kutuzov.Napoleon understandably elated declared in his bulletin of the 7th october to his troops-​

''The enemy advanced into the passes of the black forest where he planned to position himself and hold up our penetration,he hastily fortified the iller(tributary riverlinebetween rhine and danube),ulm and memmingen.However our patrols which are scouring the countryside have assured me he has abandoned these movements and appears gravely concerned by our movements which are as novel as they are unexpected.This great and vast movement has carried us in a few days into bavaria,avoiding the mountains of the black forest,the line of parallel rivers running into the danube and the inconvinience of a system of operations always threatened from the flank by the passes of tyrol.Furthermore it has placed us several days march into the rear of the enemy who has no time to lose if he is to avoid a complete disaster.''​

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

THE MANUEVRE OF ULM


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OCTOBER 8 :French forces continue to pour over the danube,soult pursues Kienmayer.Lannes and murat assemble on his right and marmont,davout and bernadotte on his left.Meanwhile mack hears reports of the french crossing at donauworth and sends Auffenberg's force with 9 infantry battalions(including 6 grenadier battalions) and 4 cavalry squadrons as a reconssaince in force to investigate.Auffenberg force marches his grenadiers all night but doesn't encounter the french,he settles into the town of wertingen to rest his troops.At about this time the austrian patrols begin to encounter large incoming bands of french cavalry.The stage is set for the combat at wertingen.

BATTLE OF WERTINGEN:

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The french cavalry advance in 3 bodies upon wertingen from 3 routes.In total they have 6 hussar squadrons and 18 dragoon squadrons.On the right Fauconnet's six hussar squadrons (from Lannes V corps light cavalry division) form a screen and distract the austrians frontally.Meanwhile on the right bank of the stream Beaumont's Cavalry division(from murat's cavalry reserve) with 18 dragoon squadrons is split in two.

Beaumont takes six dragoon squadrons and the horse artillery of both his and fauconnet's division and prepares to attack wertingen from the right flank.Meanwhile Exelmans,murat's chief of staff takes command of the rest of the 12 dragoon squadrons and assaults the village on the extreme right where the austrians had set up a outpost with a band of tyrolean jaeger skirmishers and 2 cheavuxleger cavalry squadrons.Lacking infantry ,exelmans dismounts his dragoons and storms the village..after savage fighting he overwhelms the outnumbered austrians..though the austrian cavalry escapes most of the austrian jaegers are cut down or captured.
Meanwhile Beaumont's guns begin bombarding wertingen.Auffenberg realizes his predicament and retreats his force to a nearby elevated sloping hillock for a better defensive posture.

​

Exelmans reorganizes his dragoons and masses all his cavalry at the foot of the hill.Meanwhile beaumont repositions all his guns at a flanking position to engage a bombardment of the austrian grenadiers formed up in squares and lays down an effective bombardment,the austrian infantry battalion guns(not shown here)are unable to silence this fire as the french guns are excellently positioned on the crest of the slope.
Now exlemans unleashes his 12 dragoon squadrons in wave after wave of attacks on the austrian line(note 2 chevauxleger cavalry squadrons having rallied and at the back) but to no effect.The french cavalry charging uphill against grenadiers in square are unable to make a dent and are shot down by volleys from the mutually supporting squares or impaled upon the hedge of bayonets.Auffenberg has chosen an excellent defensive position..an elevated hill protected on one side by the stream and the other by woods preventing movement of cavalry to encircle him.After several hours of this,it looks as if auffenberg may escape with slight damage as nightfall is not too long away.

​

At around 4.00 PM Murat and Lannes finally arrive.Murat has with him 18 dragoon squadrons(6 regiments with 3 squadrons each) of Klein's division and the corps artillery of the cavalry reserve.Lannes has with him the first division of his corps-10 fresh battalions of oudinot's grenadiers.The marshals confer on a joint attack as they observe exelmans's futile heroics.
Exelmans withdraws his tired and blown out 12 squadrons and is replaced by 18 squadrons of Klein's fresh dragoons on the french left.On the right beaumont's remaining fresh 6 squadrons are also ready.Murat's 8 pounders join the bombardment of the austrian squares and now the volume of fire gets too uncomfortable for auffenberg's men packed into cl;ose squares as whole files are blown away.Auffenberg sees fresh french cavalry massing on the foot of the hillock and this new artillery bombarment taking effect and knowing his tired men fighting and marching non stop for 24 hours gives the order to retreat... he hopes to slip away with less than 2 hours of daylight remaining.He instructs his 4 cavalry squadrons to delay the french cavalry.Unknown to him lannes 10 battalions have taken a secondary route,covered by the woods and the cavalry screen of fauconnet's hussars they are directly marching to cut off auffenberg's escape route to the rear.

French launch an all out attack from all directions.Klein's dragoons and beaumont's dragoons from the front with artillery support.Fauconnet's hussars from the right flank,the austrians try to retreat keeping their squares intact but as lannes grenadiers join the assault from the woods and cut them off ..austrian resistance collapses and degenerates into total rout.Nearly the whole force is captured or killed.The french suffered a mere 175 killed while the austrians suffered 400 killed and 2900 captured.Auffenberg's force had ceased to exist.
Mack in a fit of rage unfairly court martialled Auffenberg.

​

9 TH OCTOBER:Bonaparte expected mack now with his lines of communication with vienna in dire peril to come in a desperate retreat east where he intended to catch and crush mack.To this effect Soult,Lannes,murat and the guard were massed around Augsberg which he made his temporary centre of operations...while davout chased kienmayer and bernadotte and marmont would be within supporting distance.To napoleon this seemed the most likely situation.

However there were 2 other possibilities that might arise.Mack might instead of retreating East towards vienna retreat south through his secondary lines of communication at memmingen through the tyrolean passes into italy.However napoleon considered this a remote possibility,such a course of action would leave vienna-the austrian capital defenceless and remove all possibility of link up with kutuzov.Also without the austrian army, kutuzov's outnumbered forces coming west would find themselves faced with the full might of the grand armee and be overwhelmed destroying the whole allied plan.Nonetheless napoleon was already planning to send soult to take memmingen and cut off this escape route.

The final course of action left to mack would be a bold attack across the danube on to the north bank to threaten napoleon's own LOC.Napoleon however though this unlikely as this would take the austrians far away from the security of their last remaining secure LOC-the depots at memingen to tyrol.Nonetheless napoleon took steps for this eventuality.He rerouted his Line of communications further north to Nordlingen and assigned its protection to his new baden and wurtemmberger allies.2 Cavalry divisions and 1 infantry division was also detatched to support the german allies.Meanwhile napoleon ordered Ney's VI corps(23,000) to seize the crossings on the Danube to prevent any attempt at an austrian crossing.Ney ordered each of his 3 divisions to seize a crossing -General Malher at Gunzburg,General Dupont at Halsach and General Loison's division at Elchingen.

Meanwhile Mack planned just such a move,instead of retreating towards vienna,he hoped to stand fast at Ulm and wait for kutuzov.To this effect he ordered a concentration around Ulm and to threaten napoleon's own LOC with france commanded his forces to seize the crossings across the Danube at Gunzburg and Elchingen.

BATTLE OF GUNZBURG:

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Ney's first division(of VI corps) under General Malher arrived in the morning of the 9th in chilly weather with snow and rain to find the austrians in charge of the town under D'aspre,a fiery anti -revolutionary austrian general.Above picture( Malher)

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By the time the french arrived the austrians had succeeded in partially demolishing 2 of the 3 possible bridge crossings over the danube.But the work on the central bridge was underway.Malher after conducting an initial reconssaince decided on an immediate 3 pronged attack simultaneously on all points hoping to break through on at least 1 point and then secure a beachhead.Malher had 9 infantry battalions and his divisional artillery with him.He took the elite company(grenadiers) of each battalion to form a 9 company ad-hoc assault force under Lefol and send it to seize the crossing at Leipheim.
On his left flank he assigned Labasee with 2 battalions and all the divisional artillery-7 guns to force a crossing on the left bridge.He employed the bulk of his forces under marcognet to seize the intact central bridge with six battalions.One battalion was left in reserve to reinforce any success.In total malher had 7200 men and 7 guns.

Facing him was D'Aspre with 7500 men and 20 guns.Auersperg defended the leipheim bridge with 3 battalions and 2 cuirassier squadrons and gyulai the right bridge with 4 battalions and 4 cavalry squadrons.The artillery was massed defnding the centre bridge in a perfect crossfire along with 3 infantry battalions.
In order to buy time for his engineers to demolish the bridge D'aspre leads a heroic charge with just 200 tyrolean jaegers on the centre island to stall the french.They are met and swamped by the onrushing 2 lead battalions of marcognet's assault force on the centre island.The whole force is killed or captured including D'Aspre ,but they buy enough time to enable the austrians to demolish the bridge.(see explosion sign on bridge).The french try to repair the bridge but come under devastating enfilade fire from the austrian artillery and are forced to retreat.

​

On the french right Lefol's grenadiers had got stuck in the muddy marsh and the projected attack had come to naught.Nonetheless their presence excited the attention of austrian forces at leipheim.
On the french centre marcognet had pulled out his forces to the far side of the island away from austrian canister range.
Overall the austrians had blunted the french storm and things had settled into a stalemate.

At this point Mack arrived in person and having deduced the impetus of the french to have been blown he ordered the reconstruction of the far right bridge as a first step towards an austrian attack across the danube.Just as the bridge is completed repairing however...the 2 battalions of Labasee's force who had lost their way in the woods appear.The veteran french infantry do not wait to assess the situation and taking the austrians completely by surprise storm the bridge at bayonet point even as the artillery sets up for fire support.Gyulai's 4 infantry battalions are still in line when they are struck in massed column attack by the french.

Unfortunately here the austrians had 2 problem.First gyulai ,a cavalryman had deployed his infantry without space between them like a packed body of cavalry.Second these 4 battalions were largely newly recruited.So when the 2 french battalion columns struck the first of these raw battalions and broke it without space the fleeing troops collided with their rear battalions sending the whole closely stacked force into disorder and disarray,ultimately causing a chain rout of 4 austrian battalions at the hands of 2 french.Austrian mishaps had now caused a recipe for disaster.

​

1.Gyulai charges his 4 cavalry squadrons at the 2 french battalions but are easily repulsed by the french formed up in squares.After taking heavy losses from interlocking fire from squares they retreat.
2.Meanwhile malher seizes the oppurtunity and redirects as his reserve battalions from the centre to support the beachhead on the left flank.
3.The four routed austrian battalions flee in disorder with attempts to rally them continuing.
4.After repulsing the austrian cavalry,Labasee is reinforced by malher and with artillery support launches his assault upon gunzberg.Meanwhile in the centre marcognet also joins in.
5.Facing a 2-pronged assault mack gives the order to retreat even though austrian reinforcements were nearby.The austrians fall back to Ulm.The french have seized gunzberg crossing.

The austrians lost 1650 men including d'aspre captured,plus six guns.French lost only 520 men.

NEXT: Bonaparte closes the trap.Battles of Halsach and Elchingen.

 

[Koovie]

Superb work @AUSTERLITZ !

Keep it up!
Since Attila Total War has been announced, will you make a Battle Report about him? Maybe about the Battle of Chalons?

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Superb work @AUSTERLITZ !

Keep it up!
Since Attila Total War has been announced, will you make a Battle Report about him? Maybe about the Battle of Chalons?

I could i guess,though chalons was tactically uninspiring..it was an important historical battle nonetheless.Thanks for the encouragement.Going has been slow,but i'm hoping to speed up now.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

I could i guess,though chalons was tactically uninspiring..it was an important historical battle nonetheless.Thanks for the encouragement.Going has been slow,but i'm hoping to speed up now.

I agree with @Koovie . Outstanding explanations, @AUSTERLITZ . From a more abstract perspective, what do you suppose enabled the French commanders to devise and employ such innovative tactics? I wonder what happened to degrade French military prowess in the following century.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

I agree with @Koovie . Outstanding explanations, @AUSTERLITZ . From a more abstract perspective, what do you suppose enabled the French commanders to devise and employ such innovative tactics? I wonder what happened to degrade French military prowess in the following century.

The spirit of the french revolution which produced a meritocracy,soldiers and commanders with over a decade of practical battlefield experience behind them and also the result of half a century of military introspection after france's poor performance in the seven years war against frederick's prussia.
In the following century in the first world war french fought heroically,but became completely complacent after their victory.The introspection was gone because they had won.their commanders went to ww2 to fight the LAST war,while the germans introspected and adopted new technologies.Overall i think the decline of cavalry-an arm particularly suited to the french also affected french performance.Also by 20 th century france was both outperformed by a unified germany in both manpower and industrial strength,no longer the grand nation of europe.And they also didn't have napoleon to lead them.

 

[Sam_Bajwa]

Very well written brother please try to sum up all the events at the end as this entire article is very lengthy for a quick reading.

I really appreciate the details Thank you for sharing this excellent work.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

MANUEVER OF ULM -PART II


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10 OCTOBER: Napoleon ordered ney to take ulm which he believed mostly abandoned while he positioned his forces to meet a mack in retreat,and his other corps to block a russian approach.Murat was given temporary command over the right wing of the french army(authority over ney and lannes)-a decision that would have unforeseen consequences.Meanwhile after gunzburg all austrian forces had retreated around ulm.

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11 OCTOBER:Napoleon orders soult to move towards landsberg as a first step towards attacking memmingen,the last remaining austrian secure depot.On the night of 10 october murat with his temporary authority showed his amateur skills as a strategist and unable to fully understand napoleon's orders ,commanded ney to move 2 out his 3 divisions to the south bank of the danube.This left his third division under Dupont isolated on the north bank.Ney violently protested this and the two almost came to blows before being stopped by lannes.Murat remained defiant ,declaring -''I only make plans in sight of the enemy',a furious ney accepted his orders grudgingly.This however left Dupont and his 5000 men alone on the north bank of the danube.
Meanwhile mack had been persuaded by his officers and ferdinand to make a breakout attempt through the north bank of the danube.He was further emboldened by the news that the french had crossed over to the south bank last night.This was to take place through Haslach -Jungingen.(see map,just N-W of ulm),exactly where dupont was marching.

BATTLE OF HASLACH JUNGINGEN:

Dupont saw this massive austrian force before him and saw his only chance at survival being to bluff.He would act aggressively as if he was the advance guard of ney's whole corps and not just a isolated detatchment.If he retreated the austrians would follow with full force and with 3200 cavalry would overtake his small force and destroy it.Dupont's intention was to decieve the austrians as to the size of his force and his actual situation and delay until nightfall.

​

Dupont saw the village of Jungingen as a key strongpoint,if the austrians seized it they would be clear to launch a two prong frontal and flank attack at halsach.Dupont had just 6 battalions of infantry,8 guns and 9 squadrons of cavalry.He detatched all the elite companies of each battalions and formed a ad-hoc force of 500 grenadiers under Officer Decouchy and sent them to fortify jungingen-on a sloped position.Grenadiers established the church as their main strongpoint.
To support this force dupont sent his 2 regiments( 4 battalions) -the 9th light and 96th line and placed them in column on the reverse slope behind the village to act as a counterattack force.
His remaining regiment the 32nd line regiment with its 2 battalions and 6 guns he placed on the forward slope overlooking halsach.Behind him stood 3 squadrons of hussars and 2 guns as a counterattack force on the right of halsach and 6 squadrons of dragoons under sahuc as a general reserve.

Mack's main problem was he couldn't see the full strength of the french forces-Ney's whole corps could be behind the slopes of halsach.He decided to proceed cautiously as most austrian generals of the era did.He massed 12 battalions of infantry and 28 squadrons of cavalry to take jungingen which he correctly identified as a key strongpoint.Howver these battalions lacked their battalion guns due to shortage of horses.

Meanwhile on the right Reisch and Werneck were still forming up their huge force of 26 infantry battalions(with guns),unsure about the the strength of the enemy in front of them.

1. Meanwhile Ferdinand accompanying mack relased the first wave of austrian infantry to assault jungingen.However no attempt was made to co-ordinate the infantry with cavalry or artillery though both were available in plenty nearby.6 battalions in columns stormed jungingen unsupported by either artillery or cavalry,initially they pushed back the screen of french skirmishers but got disordered in the streets and ran to massed musketry fire from the elite french grenadiers in the church.(lacking artillery support they couldn't blow out the gates of the church)As this battle was heating up ,the 2 battalions of the crack veteran 9th light(9' Legere)-awarded the title 'Incomparable' by napoleon due to their superb battlefield performance in the italian campaigns and one of the most famous regiments in the grande armee came headlong bayonets shining and crashed into the disordered and scattered austrians from both flanks.The result was a total rout with 2000 austrian prisoners captured and the rest fled.

2. Neither mack nor ferdinand made any attempt to learn from their mistake and simply hurled in the second wave of six battalions at the village.The result was exactly the same- again the attack went in without any cavalry or artillery support,again the 9th light ambushed the austrians from both flanks and again 2000 austrians were captured.It had been an incredible debacle.​

​

At this point mack finally unleashed his cavalry -3200 horsemen under schwarzenberg thundered towards jungingen in 28 squadrons.A first wave of 15 cheavuxlegers ,followed by 13 more of cuirassiers.Here they found the lone battalion of 96th line still in line waiting as a reinforcement force for the village.(9th light was in the village with the combined elite companies force).Seeing easy prey the chevauxlegers surrounded the hapless outnumbered force which had formed square to annihilate it from all directions by spreading out..aand got ambushed.Sahuc and his six dragoon squadrons had been watching the 96th line's 1st battalion in dire peril and the french dragoons charged the austrian cavalry scattered and out of formation from the flank and rear causing a rout.Sahuc's 600 dragoons had saved the 96th.
​

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1. But soon sahuc's outnumbered horsemen encountered the second line of cuirassiers coming up,forced back by this new attack the dragoons covered the withdrawal of the 96th.Decouchy and all french forces seeing the village compromised evacuated the village and retreated.At this point the austrians had an excellent chance to harry the retreating french into their open flank.If they got to halsach they would in any case discover the true strength of the french.

2.However the austrian cavalry discovered the nearby french baggage train,and suffering from bad supplies for a while,lost control and went off on a mass looting spree as they sabred the cooks and gorged on whatever foodstuffs and goodies they could find.-in the process taking themselves out of the fight.This indiscipline probably saved dupont.

3.Meanwhile after the austrians had taken jungingen by 5:00 PM,reisch finally got moving deeming the other flank secure.His initial six columns atatcked uphill into the waiting 32ndLine and ran into a withering fire from muskets and the french artillery while being simultaneously hit from the right flank by the hussars.The whole force fell back in disarray.
Now reisch came back for a second attempt..this attempt supported by artillery and with greater numbers began to push dupont's force back.Realizing he had done as much as he could dupont began a orderly fighting withdrawal-french retreated in perfect order with all 4000 prisoners.Nightfall prevented any pursuit and the austrians were wary of further ambushes.


The battle overall had been a complete disaster for the austrians.The austrians lost 400 killed,1100 wounded and a 4000 prisoners.They had not only blown their best chance at breaking out on the north bank of the danube by taking advanatge of murat's blunder,but failed to destroy dupon'ts isolated force and lost a huge number of casualities with little to show for it.Mack was so dejected after the battle he cancelled his breakout attempt for a day to reorganize his force.He would never have another chance.French for their part had escaped with about a 1000 killed and wounded including camp followers.Dupont's generalship as well as the initiative of the local commanders decouchy and sahuc had been first rate.

Napoleon was not pleased by the battle at halsach and rebuked both ney and murat for leaving dupont unsupported.But now he knew mack was still in force around Ulm.Lannes ,murat, and marmont were to surround mack from the east,ney from the north and soult would swing from the south-seize memmingen cutting off his last remaining escape route and close the trap.His orders to his marshals was simple -​

''Not one is to escape''​

​

​

13 OCTOBER:By 13 october napoleon was in the vicinity of Ulm .On the same day soult's corps attacked and captured memmingen taking 4600 austrians prisoner and sealing off this last escape route.Meanwhile bernadotte ,davout and the bavarians were firmly entrenched on the danube defense line around munich ready to repulse any russian advance,but napoleon was assured the russians were still 180 miles away.(ignore auffenberg in above diagram,its an error-his command was destroyed at wertingen)
On the other side ,Mack was planning another breakout this time through elchingen-initially planning to send the army in four columns force the crossing,brush aside dupont and move towards bohemia to unite with the russians.
.Repeated defeats to the french had caused autrian morale to hit rock bottom.Even as he was planning this,here mack recieved news from a french double agent that the british had landed in boulogne and a coup had taken place in paris.Living in his own world of delusions,he concluded napoleon was thus in full retreat that is why the french were streaming west.Based on this piece of gossip,mack living in his own paradise ordered Reisch,Werneck and Jellacic to form 3 flying columns initially planned for the breakout to 'pursue the french' both north and south.Reisch went towards elchingen to 'block the french retreat'.
Meanwhile on the night of the 13th ney got the orders he had been waiting for.He was to recross the danube at elchingen ,rejoin Dupont and seal of any austrian escape attempt through the north bank.This set Reisch and Ney on collision course at Elchingen.

​

​

NEXT: Battle of Elchingen- Capitulation of Ulm - Analysis of the whole Maneuver​

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

ENCIRCLEMENT OF ULM-FINAL PHASE


​

BATTLE OF ELCHINGEN:

Reisch's column was one of the supposed pursuit forces that was to harry the french on the north bank of the danube according to mack's delusions.Meanwhile ney had orders from napoleon to rejoin dupont's isolated division on the north bank of the danube and seal off any austrian escape through the crossings over the danube.On the night of the 13th reisch reached elchingen and garrisoned the town ,resting his men.His force had 15,000 men.Reisch deployed the bulk of his army on the reverse slopes between the twin villages that formed elchingen and had a small scouting advance guard covering the bridge across the danube.

On the morning of the 14th Ney's 6th corps made a series of assaults across the bridge and with heavy artillery support forced the austrian advance guard to retreat towards the main body.The impetous french infantry vanguard recklessly pursued them before ascending a crest and coming in view of the whole austrian army deployed on the reverse slope.Beating a hasty fighting withdrawal they rejoined the main body of ney's corps.Ney now knew what he was up against and began feeding his whole corps across the bridge deploying on the plains before elchingen for a showdown with the austrians.

​

Reisch had deployed his whole force with its two flanks anchored by the two sections of elchingen(ober-elchingen on the left from our view and unter elchingen on the right).His force numbered around 15,000 infantry and cavalry but just 14 guns.Lack of horses had not allowed more to be carried forward.However 12 of his 14 guns were light 6 pounders and the other 2 howitzers and he lacked any heavy 12 pdrs that ney's corps artillery reserve possesed.He had 29 infantry battalions and 13 squadrons of cavalry.
Reisch garrisoned ober-elchingen with 4 infantry battalions with 2 grenadier battalions further backwards on the reverse slope as reinforcement and 2 hussar squadrons nearby.This force was supported by 6 6-pounder guns.
He stationed 20 infantry battalions on the reverse slope between the two villages(almost like wellington at waterloo),8 cuirassier squadrons and 1 uhlan squadron as support and his remaining guns .He didn't garrison unter-elchingen on his left flank but put forward a flanking detatchment of 3 battalions and 2 cuirassier squadrons to harass any french attack on his position from the right flank.

Ney had with him his 2nd infantry division of Loison -9 fullstrength infantry battalions(french battalions 1000 men to austrian 800 usually),Colbert's famous light cavalry 'Infernal brigade" with 6 squadrons of light cavalry(3 chasseurs,3 hussars) plus Laplanche's cavalry division from the cavalry reserve(9 dragoon squadrons)-whole force being supported by 28 guns several of them being 12 pounders.His 3rd division under malher(have met them at battle of gunzburg earlier) was fast approaching.

(Marshal Ney)​

1.Ney's plan was to first dislodge the austrians from their secure flanks and then roll them up with an all out assault from all directions.Loison's divisional artillery was combined with ney's corps artillery to form an assault battery under seroux directly aimed at ober elchingen.Here the redheaded ney ,sabre in hand led 2 battalions of the 6th Line in person into the village of ober elchingen.The french infantry were supported by 2 guns and were able to slowly engage the scattered austrian infantry piecemeal.

2.Austrian defenses in the village as well as the hussar squadrons are devastated from long range french artillery fire from seroux's 12 pounders.Aided by this heavy volume of firepower and ney leading by example the french stormed ober elchingen and took the village in heavy close quarter fighting.Surviving austrians fled the village.The nearby 2 grenadier battalions never joined the battle as reinforcements for unknown reasons even though they were within supporting distance.Ney had now unhinged the austrian right flank without interference.

3 and 4.Ney ordered Laplanche to deal with the austrian left flank forces.Laplanche's 9 dragoons squadrons supported by horse artillery formed up in 3 waves of 3 squadrons each.The first wave charged the austrian lead battalion directly.The supporting austrian cuirassier squadrons took the bait and moved to take the french dragoons from both wings.Now laplanche's second and third waves flanked and swarmed the cuirassiers from both directions sending them in headlong flight.With mescery's cavalry support gone,the french dragoons surrounded the 3 austrian infantry battalions from all sides.The asutrian battalions attempted to form battalionmasse formation,but the close fire support provided by the accompanying french horse artillery broke up the austrian defenses resulting in a total rout of teh austrian dragoons.Laplanche;s pursuing cavalry took large numbers of prisoners.Now the austrian left flank too had been torn open.An interesting thing to note here as reisch's passivity..he let ney roll up both of his secure flanks without any attempt to reinforce them in a shabby show of generalship.

​

1.At about midday with his flanks secure ney began his main attack.His main attack on the austrian centre was led by 5 battalions of loison's infantry with 2 more in reserve.The french attacked uphill in columns preceeded by skirmishers.As they neared the asutrians they switched to line formation,the french skirmishers had already begun engaging the austrians.The austrians fired at the coming french at about 150-200 yards-at this extreme range their musket volleys were were largely ineffective and most of the bullets flew high harmlessly.The french in contrast kept coming,held their fire to the last moment before discharging a devastating volley at 50-75 yards that shattered the austrian front ranks.

2.Meanwhile Laplanche has reorganized his dragoons and is formed ready to engage the battalions on the extreme of the austrian left flank.Note the french infantry attack concenetrated entirely on the right centre ignoring these battalions.

3.At this point the austrian centre was already struggling under accurate french musketry,Colbert with his 'hell's brigade' sensed blood and screaming with their sabres waiving launched a reckless cavalry assault on the austrian infantry of the austrian centre.The charging french light cavalry took very heavy losses but were irreppressible and kept coming.Once they got among the austrians in line all hell broke loose and they began sabring the austrians.The austrian infantry in this sector under dual attack from the french infantry and cavalry began to surrender in droves.A last ditch attempt was made by the uhlan squadron which charged the french skirmishers of the rightmost french infantry battalion.But the french had judciously kept this battalion in column and they quickly formed square to repulse the uhlans.At this point the hussars and chasseurs of colbert joined the fray forcing the uhlans into retreat.

4.The austrian right flank battalions were the first to collapse.They took flanking fire from the 6L garrisoned in the village while being pressed by the french from the front.The battalions on this flank belonging to 24 auersperg regiment had already suffered a beating few days ago at halsach jungingen and had enough.They broke and fled as the austrian right flank began to give way.

5.At this point resich's situation was looking bad,but he still had several battalions of the second line unengaged.Resich however could see thousands of french reinforcements under malher's division now crossing the danube and massing on the plains below and gave the order to retreat with whatever force he could salvage.Battle of elchingen was over.

Battle cost the austrians heavily.4000 killed and wounded and 3000 prisoners in the battle itself.Several thousand more went missing/deserted or captured in the retreat.When reisch reached ulm the next day he had 2500 men from 15,000 left with him.His force had ceased to exist as a battleworthy formation.Elchingen plummeted remaining austrian morale to rock bottom after a string of 4 back to back defeats.It was now also clear that not only were the french not in retreat but the austrian hopes of breaking out via the north bank of the danube were gone.Poor performance of the austrians in the battle can be attributed to lack of artillery support and low morale and passive generalship.Napoleon on the other had was delighted with the battle and granted ney the title of '.Duke of Elchingen'.French had lost 1600 men.

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By 15th october french forces had surrounded ulm from all sides.Ney,lannes,marmont and soult.Meanwhile the 2 other pursuit columns of jellacic and werneck had continued unsupported unaware of the reality,one was about to face soult's corps coming from the south and the other was pursued by murat(ignore auffenberg in map as stated earlier-murat had beaten off an attack by werneck on dupont with austrians losing 2500 men).Meanwhile napoleon arrived at ulm in person and ordered that the Michelsberg, a hill that dominated Ulm from the northwest, be seized. Having now totally surrounded Ulm, Napoleon sent an emissary to Mack demanding the Austrian army's surrender.French seizure of michelsburg would allow french artillery to bombard ulm with impunity

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Mack was now in a dangerous situation: there was no longer any hope of escaping along the north bank, Marmont and the Imperial guard were hovering at the outskirts of Ulm to the south of the river, and Soult was moving north from Memmingen to prevent the Austrians escaping south to the Tyrol. Troubles continued with the Austrian command as Ferdinand overrode the objections of Mack and ordered the evacuation of all cavalry from Ulm, a total of 6,000 troopers on the 16th and escaped from ulm abandoning mack.Events at Ulm were now reaching a conclusion. On October 15, Ney's troops successfully charged the Michelsberg encampments and on the 16th the French began to bombard Ulm itself. Austrian morale was at a low point and Mack began to realize that there was little hope of rescue. On October 17, Napoleon's emissary, segur signed a convention with Mack in which the Austrians agreed to surrender on October 25 if no aid came by that date.
However murat's pursuit of the austrians was ferocious.only six squadrons of 6000 of ferdinand's men could escape.On 19th october with no supplies,low on ammunition and morale rockbottom,continously harried by murat's cavalry werneck surrendered with 8,000 men followed by another12,000 stragglers.Soult scooped up further austrian detatchments as murat also captured the entire austrian field park of 500 vehicles,the debacle for austria was complete.Mack heard of the capitulations and dejected, agreed to surrender five days before schedule on October 20. He now understood there was no hope of kutuzov reaching him anytime soon and in any case his path would be blocked by 3 french corps. Fifteen hundred troops from the Austrian garrison managed to escape, but the vast majority of the Austrian force marched out on October 21 and laid down their arms without incident, all with the Grande Armée drawn up in a vast semicircle observing the capitulation.

Mack surrenders ulm with 30,000 austrians.Mack introduced himself to napoleon as 'the unfortunate general mack'.
​

AFTERMATH:The news of Ulm was met with disbelief and accusations of treason and cowardice in London and vienna.Mack was courtmartialled and sentenced to death.(not carried out).A shocked kutuzov came to know of the disaster when a tired dishevelled austrian officer came into his headquarters and gave him the news in person,introducing himself as general mack -minus his army.

As shockwaves hit the courts of europe,the french were jubiliant.An elated bonaparte declared in his bulletins-
''“Thirty thousand men, among them 2,000 cavalry, together with 60 guns and 40 standards have fallen into the hands of the victors…. Since the beginning of the war, the total number of prisoners taken can be evaluated at 60,000, the number of standards at 80 without listing the artillery or baggage trains…. Never have victories been so complete and less costly''

It was not an empty boast.The ulm campaign remains one of the great strategic masterpieces of military history and one of the great examples of manuever warfare,the whole austrian field army of germany was destroyed almost without any heavy fighting.The campaign cost the austrians 60,000 of their frontline troops in total(mostly surrendered-30,000 at ulm other in lesser actions).In contrast french had lost around 3000.An incredible feat.The astounded french soldiers boasted-

''The emperor has found a new way of making war,he makes us use our legs instead of our bayonets''.​

ANALYSIS OF THE ULM CAMPAIGN:

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The ulm campaign is considered THE classic example of the indirect approach strategic manuever or La manuever sur les Derrieres and a grand masterpiece in military history.'This maneuver involves distracting the enemy with secondary forces while using the main force to strategically envelop the enemy in rear and flank. This maneuver seeks to force the enemy to react and give battle on unfavourable terms for fear of being cut off from supplies or communications. This maneuver is usually attempted if an aggressive mobile force is available or if enemy supply and communication lines are vulnerable. Advantages of this maneuver include the total victory if the enemy loses a battle while cut off from his base and the prospect of alternative objectives once in the enemy’s rear and flank. The disadvantages of this maneuver are few because the maneuver has so much diversity although mobility and timing are vital to its success.'

[A template of Manuever sur les Derrieres]
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Napoleon's favourite move and startegy of superiority/equity.This strategy entailed for a secondary force [1-2 corps] to pin the enemy down in a feint attack,while napoleon force marched his main force through the nearest flanking route hidden by a cavalry screen and natural obstacle to arrive on the enemy's rear or flank and sever his line of communications.On the extreme left is the french secondary force that diverts enemy attention, any garrisons in nearby areas[optional and conditional] may also serve as diversions.Meanwhile aided by a natural obstacle and covered by a cavalry screen the main army force marches to attack the enemies lines of communication.[Note in this case its the danube river and murat's cavalry screen].This movement required excellent mobility and very bold leadership and nerve.Once arrived on his enemies flank or rear napoleon whenever possible attempted to set up a 'strategic curtain' based on a natural barrier.All river crossings would be blocked[blocking bridges required very few troop],thus isolating his victim from reinforcements ,supply and retreat.If there was possibility of reinforcement a corps of observation could be set up to pin down any approaching reinforcements[This was what we saw here as davout and bernadotte were dispatched to hold up the approaching russians on the danube line].After establishing the strategic curtain he then relentlessly advanced on the main enemy army from its rear or flank.Now the enemy had 2 choices fight on unfamiliar ground or even worse be caught from the rear while engaged with secondary force[if he failed to detect the turning movement] or surrender/flee with whatever forces could be salvaged out of the trap.

Advantages of the strategy are high.Enemy would be surprised and his equillibrium shaken at the sudden threat to his rear.An enemy general could attempt 3 things at this juncture.

1.If he was confident enough he could continue to advance against the french secondary force.
However Napoleon was always careful to see to it that the pinning force was strong enough to resist for a certain amount of time,and also that it was covered by a river line or nearby fortress.[See the image,secondary force based on easily defensible riverline with fortress nearby for refuge in case of emergency].However the kicker is that even if the enemy was successful in forcing his way through and advanced against the secondary force-he would still be only more and more entangling himself into the trap.Going deeper and deeper into hostile territory,cut off from provisions and a rampaging napoleon about to descend upon him from the rear.

2.He could attempt to attack Napoleon's main force's overextended Lines of communication[LoC] in turn,trying to cut off the army that is attempting to sever his LoC.However to do such a thing the enemy would have to split his army up piecemeal.One to engage the secondary pinning force in front.One to watch napoleon in the rear and finally the rest to conduct the actual operation.This dispersal would be fatal to the enemy,as napoleon's main army would not oblige to being 'watched' and would descend upon the outnumbered forces with utmost speed and ruthlessness and next on the one engaging the original french secondary force in all probability annihilating both seperately.If napoleon thus linked up with his original secondary force his new lines of communication along the straight route though the secondary force would make the allied attack on his previous LoC irrelevant.
In any case the french were accustomed to living of the countryside and thus far less vulnerable to temporary disruption in supply than he european armies of the period.Napoleon during a campaign kept his line short and constantly readjusted them,focusing them on a few Centre of operations directly to the armies rear.[shown on diagram- petit palace and centre of operations denote french mobile supply depots changing places].Napoleon was thus prepared to accept a temporary break in his supply columns if it meant placing the enemy army in a scattered and vulnerable position.This is what mack tried to do here but failed at gunzburg,halsach and elchingen.In any case napoleon had already shifted his LOC further northward through nordlingen as stated earlier.

3.Finally,the opposing commander could turn back in a hurry and march to offer battle to napoleon's main force.[the course of action depicted in the diagram]And this is playing Napoleon's game.Battle would be fought on ground chosen by napoleon,and the enemy morale would be shaken and his formations scattered and disorganized by the sudden withdrawal.And he would still require to leave behind a force to contain the original french secondary force or risk being taken in the rear mid-battle.Note that if the enemy army was defeated in such a position in the resulting battle,it would likely be destroyed as its retreat was cut off and french cavalry could conduct a total strategic pursuit.This was what napoleon initially believed mack would do and was concentrating his forces for.

[Napoleon's Ulm campaign in detail]
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Now compare the above with the basic template of a manuever sur les derrires operation.Here the Alps to the south forms the safe flank.The danube river forms the natural barrier for the turning movement.Murat's cavalry reserve and Lannes V corps(first phase)/Ney's VI corps(second phase) forms secondary force and screen.Here bernadotte,Davout and the bavarians form the strategic curtain or the observation force that blocks any russian reinforcements.The battle depicted in the template would have happened if mack had retreated in a hurry facing napoleon unprepared and on ground chosen by bonaparte,he didn't and instead attacked napoleon's LOC but failed to break through leading to total encirclement and annihilation of his force without much heavy fighting in a devastating show of the power of this manuever.

The ulm manuever was unprecedented in european history since caesar at illerda over a thousand years earlier.No trained european field army had been defeated and surrendered without almost fighting by just manuever alone.This feat has been achieved in history by very few generals(tamerlane,caesar,napoleon,moltke,germans in ww2).The german general staff attempted to replicate the ulm manuever in their famous schliffen plan of world war I.

NEXT: ENTER KUTUZOV.