A Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz

by Karl von Stutterheim

It was on the 23d of November, the army arrived in this position, and was posted in rear of the village of Ollschan. Its left rested on the river March; its right extended to the heights in rear of Tobolau. In this manner it lay upon its arms, in three lines; while the Austrian corps, under Prince John de Liechtenstein, formed the reserve of the army, on the heights in rear of Schnabelin, and was principally intended to secure, in case of a check, the passage across the March. With this view, several bridges were constructed across that river, between Nimlau and Olmutz, to facilitate the operation. The ground occupied by the army in this position, offered great advantages. It was so commanding, throughout its whole extent, from the heights near Nimlau, to the right of the position, as to discover nearly a league in its front, all the enemy's movements in case of attack; while the slope of the hills in its immediate front was so gentle, as to resemble a glacis. In its rear, spacious ravines, only of sufficient depth to conceal large columns of troops from the enemy, which might unexpectedly be brought into action, facilitated the means, in this defensive position, of manœuvring offensively, under cover of the heights. Along their summit, there were commanding points, which mutually defended each other; and on which, the numerous artillery, with which this army was provided, might be employed with great success. A morass covered the right, and a part of the centre; the Blata ran at the foot of these heights, on which heavy batteries might have been constructed: this little stream, although insignificant in itself, became an additional obstacle, under the fire of grape. To sum up all, the ground offered the means of delaying the enemy, in his attempt to overcome these obstacles, and to open out. The General Bagration, with his advanced guard, was at Prosnitz. General Kienmayer, with his, upon the left, at Kralitz, pushed on detachments upon Klenowitz. The out-posts were at Predlitz. An Austrian partisan was sent along the March, on Tobitschau, Kogetein, and Kremsir, to observe that country. The French army had also sent a partisan, from Goeding on Hradisch, and Kremsir; but the latter was repulsed, and the Austrian detachments remained masters of the March. It will not escape the observation of intelligent military men, that this was an advantage which gave the allies the means of manœuvring by their left, while their right (which would then have rested on the March) was secured; and would have masked this movement, so as to give them, at least two days march in advance. The good understanding, at that time subsisting with Prussia, appears to have been such, as to have made it expedient for the allied army, to think of establishing a communication with the Archduke Charles. But, in determining on offensive movements, nothing appears to have been thought of, but going straight forward.

M. de Koutousoff had also sent some Austrian partisans, on his right flank, who marched upon Tribau and Zwittau, whither the Archduke Ferdinand, who was at Czaslau, had sent some parties of light troops, to keep up the chain of communication.

Prince Murat arrived, on the 18th of November, at Brunn. His advanced guard, under general Sebastiani, pushed forward in the first instance, to Rausnitz, and afterwards entered Wischau, after Prince Bagration had evacuated it. The Emperor Napoleon, established himself, on the 20th November, at Brunn, and placed his army in concentrated cantonments, in the following manner:

The corps of guards, the grenadiers of the reserve, and the troops under Marshal Lannes, in Brunn and its vicinity. The cavalry under Prince Murat, on the right and left of the great road, between Brunn and Posorsitz. Marshal Soult, at Austerlitz; and the three divisions, of which his army was composed, were divided, between that place, Butschowitz, Neuwieslitz, Stanitz, and the road to Hungary. At Gaja, was a strong detachment, which kept open the communication with that which observed the river March, in order to secure the right of the army.[2]

The 25th November, the Grand Duke Constantine arrived at Olmutz, with the corps of guards, of which he had the command. After a long and forced march from St. Petersburgh, this fine body of men was in the best order.

This corps was composed of ten battalions, and eighteen squadrons, the whole amounting to 10,000 men; of whom, however, there were only 8,500 under arms. At this moment, the army, under M. de Koutousoff may be computed to have amounted, in all, to above 80,000 men, as will be seen hereafter, in detail.

A reinforcement of 10,000 men was still expected, under General Essen; which, accordingly, arrived near Olmutz, at the moment when the allied army commenced its offensive operations. The corps of Essen was at Kremsir, the day of the battle of Austerlitz, and was of no kind of use. The army under M. de Koutousoff, was certainly stronger than the one opposed to it; but while the latter was concentrated towards a single point, and formed into masses, the former diffused its force as it advanced. It is not in numbers that the only, and, indeed, the principal strength of an army consists; but there are emergencies, and occasions, in which it is absolutely necessary to profit by that advantage; and the present was an instance of the kind. The allied army was under the necessity of advancing, for the reasons hereafter to be detailed. Had it commenced its movement from the day when the Grand Duke Constantine arrived with his reinforcement, forming the reserve of the centre. If, at this epoch, it had manœuvred with rapidity, and calculation; if the reserve, under the Grand Duke, had been augmented by the corps under General Essen; if less importance had been attached to the resting an army, which, after some days inactivity, could no longer be fatigued; there might, perhaps, have been found means, without risking a battle, to oblige the French to abandon their position, by turning one of its flanks; which, by giving this army some uneasiness, as to its communications, would have induced it to move upon Vienna, or Bohemia. The former step would have been attended with danger. The corps of Bernadotte, which came from Iglau to reinforce the army in front of Brunn, the evening before the battle of Austerlitz, would not then have had time to make this movement, which was followed by such fatal consequences to the allies.[3] It was only by means such as these, had the allies acted with prudence and vigour, that they could have hoped to make the French fall into their combinations: combinations which should have been calmly conceived, and vigorously executed. But the Quarter-master general, it has before been mentioned, though an officer of great personal courage, had not that confidence in himself which could enable him to give advice at the head-quarters, where the greatest degree of wisdom was requisite. Without regarding the difficulties thrown in his way, this officer, too easily, abandoned his own opinions, to adopt those of other people.

The astonishing rapidity with which the unfortunate events, of this disastrous war, succeeded each other; the excessive folly of Mack, which was only to be surpassed by his disgrace; and in which originated that succession of guilty errors, which astonished Europe, and calumniated a brave army; that folly of never anticipating a check, and of not establishing magazines in the rear, as a consequence of that presumption. To these circumstances it was owing, that the army, while in the position of Olmutz, was almost destitute of provisions. It had only been there one day, before it was obliged to have recourse to forced requisitions; a violent expedient, which, by the disorderly manner in which it was executed, had much influence on the discipline of the army, into which a spirit of licentiousness began to insinuate itself from that day forwards. In the then state of politics, the gaining time was, at that moment, nearly of equal importance with the gaining a battle: and, the instant it was decided, not to manœuvre, it became of the highest importance to be enabled to subsist in the position of Olmutz, for the purpose of maintaining it. There still remained countries, from whence it would have been possible to draw provisions; but they were at a distance, and the convoys were obliged to make a long circuit. To this it was necessary to apply a speedy remedy. The officers of the commissariat received orders, incessantly repeated, but never sufficiently urgent, to establish convoys of provisions, with all possible dispatch, upon the different roads; but some of this department wanted both activity and inclination; their systematic conception of things not allowing them to feel the extent of the emergency; while others experienced great embarrassment, from the detention, by the Russians, of a great part of the horses belonging to the country, which were employed in the transport of provisions, and were, in consequence, at a loss for the means of conveyance. The bread was plundered on the road, both by the detachments appointed for its escort, and by a number of marauders who followed the army. The strict discipline, that ought to have existed, was not vigourously maintained, under the pretext, that the army was starving. Relaxation of discipline is always succeeded by excesses; and the licentiousness, attendant upon it, gives full latitude to the disaffected, and to all those who have not courage to support the numerous privations attendant upon modern warfare. It was thought impossible to subsist the army in the position in front of Olmutz, and it was resolved to abandon it, for the purpose of attacking the enemy.

Offensive Movements of the Allied Army.

We have already seen the uncertainty in which M. de Koutousoff found himself, as to the movements and force of the enemy, at the moment when it was decided to resume the offensive. The accounts derived from the people of the country were contradictory; and the out-posts gave no information whatever. The first disposition made for the advance, was not then founded upon an exact knowledge both of the position of the enemy and the numbers to be contended with, but was solely adapted to the nature of the ground, between Olmutz and Wischau. This disposition was given to the generals, the 24th November. The 25th was the day on which it was fixed to march; but it was necessary to take two days provisions; and these provisions could not arrive till the day after. When that day came, some of the generals had not sufficiently studied their dispositions; and thus, another day was lost. The enemy profited by this time. The evening before the battle, as has been already mentioned, Marshal Bernadotte, as well as part of the corps of Marshal Davoust, reinforced the Emperor Napoleon. It was necessary to recall the attention to these facts, on which we shall yet have occasion still further to remark.