Battle of Austerlitz: battle on the left flank of the allies and defeat of the allied armies
Antoine Charles Horace Vernet (1758-1836). "Napoleon Giving Orders Before the Battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805". Versailles
“... And with a cry, the formation falls down on the formation;
In an instant, an abusive meadow
Covered with hills of bloody bodies,
Alive, crushed, headless, "
A. Pushkin "Ruslan and Lyudmila"
In an instant, an abusive meadow
Covered with hills of bloody bodies,
Alive, crushed, headless, "
A. Pushkin "Ruslan and Lyudmila"
Greatest battles in stories. In the previous article, we talked about how dramatic the battle with the French went during the Battle of Austerlitz in the center and on the right flank of the Allied army. But almost even more dramatic events had that day on the left flank of the Allied army, where, in accordance with Weyrother's plan, the Russian and Austrian troops managed to fulfill its first part: to take the villages of Telnits and Sokolnits. But General Buxgewden, who commanded three columns, did not succeed in further developing this success. Rather, he did not succeed until the very moment when his own troops were attacked by the French in the flank and rear from the Prazen Heights.
The dragoons of the Russian imperial army go on the attack. Fig. J. Rava
Theoretically, there was nothing terrible in this. Because the French, attacking Buxgewden and the columns entrusted to him, in turn turned their backs on the reserves of the heir to Constantine and could well become victims of the terrible force of the blow: from the front - the units of Dokhturov and Langeron that turned to face them, and from the rear - the regiments of the Imperial Guard. But ... in reality, it did not work out that way. The forces of Bagration and Constantine on the right flank of the allied army, Napoleon managed to pin down, while on the left, as is very often the case in the troops attacked in the flank and rear, confusion and confusion arose, disastrous for any army participating in the battle. And today our story will go about such events ...
Map of the Battle of Austerlitz 2 December 1805
While the troops of Bagration were retreating, and VK. Prince Constantine was gathering his defeated battalions, on the left flank of the allied army events took on a truly dramatic character. All three columns of Buxgewden were trapped in the space between Sokolnitsa, Telnitsa, Aujezd and the lakes. Napoleon moved closer to the battlefield, to the southern end of the Pratzen plateau, and from there, being at the chapel of St. Anthony, gave orders, directly observing the battle. General Langeron at this very time, according to his recollections, told Buxgewden everything that he thought about his command, then in Russian speaking, "had a fight" with him. It seems that he was already very drunk, but ... how to verify this kind of statement? Then Kutuzov's order came to start a retreat, but it was impossible to execute it, since the French attacked from three sides at once and put very strong pressure on the allied forces.
French grenadiers at Austerlitz. Fig. J. Rava
Generals Oudinot and Thiebaud were wounded here, but Generals Przhibyshevsky, Selekhov and von Shtrik surrendered to the French.
In turn, Buxgewden, having received an order to retreat, deployed a battery of 24 cannons against the French - an impressive enough force, and under their cover began a withdrawal from Auyezd. Behind it was a bridge, which the general and two infantry battalions managed to cross safely, but which collapsed when the Austrian artillery passed through it. To some extent, the Allies were helped by the lack of artillery from the French. Napoleon saw this too and sent a horse battery of the guards to help those who fought for Aujezd.
Fight of the imperial cavalry guards with the French guards rangers. Fig. J. Rava
This immediately turned the tide of the battle. The allies began to retreat, with many running straight across Lake Zachan, while others, and above all the artillerymen with their cannons, moved through the dam, which was half under water and ice. It is clear that the ice could not bear the weight of the guns and horses, and they began to fall through. However, the depth in the lake and ponds was shallow, people were up to their chests, so they just managed to get out, but a lot of guns and horses fought in teams and lines were lost.
Guards Cossacks are attacking! Fig. J. Rava
The dramatic nature of the situation very soon gave rise to the myth that the Russian army, during the retreat, sank in the lake near Zachan and the Zachan fish ponds. And that the French specifically fired cannonballs on the ice, it broke, and people drowned in them by the thousands. However, Napoleon himself had a hand in spreading this myth. The fact is that in the morning of the next day, he issued an order, which said:
“Soldiers, I am pleased with you: on the day of Austerlitz, you accomplished everything that I expected from your courage. You have adorned your eagles with immortal glory. An army of 100 thousand men under the command of the Russian and Austrian emperors was cut up and scattered in less than four hours. Those who eluded your sword are sunk in the lakes ... "
The battalions of the Russian imperial army are going to their death. A still from the film "War and Peace" by S. Bondarchuk
And here is what the historian E.V. Tarle wrote about those dramatic events:
“They were especially amazed, for example, by the fact that the commander of the left wing of the Russian troops Buxgewden, having 29 battalions of infantry and 22 squadrons of cavalry, instead of helping the perishing Russian army, spent the whole time of the battle near the third-stage point of the battle, where he was held for hours by a paltry French detachment. And when Buxgewden finally guessed to start a retreat, he did it so late and so unskilfully that several thousand from his corps were thrown to the ponds and drowned here, since Napoleon, noticing this movement, ordered to hit the ice with cannonballs. "
That is, thousands drowned ... But then their corpses would have to float up in the spring, and the ponds would have to be cleaned, the dead would have to be buried, but no one reported this anywhere.
Napoleon is watching the battle. A still from the film "War and Peace" by S. Bondarchuk
But the French, eyewitnesses of the battle at the lakes, later wrote that only two killed Russian soldiers were found in the lake near Zachan, but the corpses of 140 horses and 18 cannons. In the local fish pond, three dead bodies were found, hit by bullets, and 250 horse corpses. There was even an official report to the Austrian government - about the burial of bodies in ponds, and it indicated that the remains of two soldiers and 180 horses were found with 18 guns! The adjutant of Marshal Augereau Marbo, arriving at Napoleon's headquarters with a report and being in front of him, took part in the rescue of one Russian soldier who was floating on an ice floe, whom he and others were dragged ashore. Marbeau himself was quickly warmed, so that he did not even catch a cold, but the Russian saved by him asked to serve in the French army. And then he met him already in the regiment of the Polish lancers who belonged to the emperor's guard, and he was still grateful to his savior. And Napoleon should have seen all this, but he also preferred to talk about the thousands of Russian soldiers drowned in the lakes ...
After Buxgevden left, General Dokhturov, who defended at Telnitsa, took command of the surrounded allied forces. But he had to retreat along a narrow dam (only two people could pass through it at the same time!), And even covered with ice, so the evacuation of the troops proceeded very slowly.
Langeron later wrote that the soldiers threw their guns and did not obey both the officers and even the generals, however, the latter also fled like the lower ranks. And after the collapse of the bridge at Auyezd, Lanzheron himself had to leave his horse and go further to save himself on foot.
The French considered the prisoners in thousands, in particular, more than 1200 people were taken from the lakes alone, and 4000 more from Auyezd!
Prince Andrew under the sky of Austerlitz. A still from the film "War and Peace" by S. Bondarchuk
The retreat, he said, lasted all night. The soldiers of the regiments mixed among themselves walked continuously, without even a crumb of food, which they took away from the local residents and ... the wounded, who did not have the strength to defend themselves from violence. The fugitives covered 60 kilometers in forty hours, and
“Many officers, generals and soldiers ate nothing! <...> If the enemy decided to overtake us - and I do not understand why he did not do this - he would have interrupted or captured another 20 people. "
On December 3, the retreating and scattered parts of the Russian army reached the location of the allies in Chaycha. Tsar Alexander had to spend the night in a shack on straw, which the Bible says leads to humility. Meanwhile, the Austrian emperor sent Liechtenstein to Napoleon with a proposal for an armistice. And the French emperor agreed to it. And it was signed already on December 4 in a place called "Burnt Mill". Moreover, there, too, there was no room for the high negotiating parties, and both emperors negotiated in the fresh frosty air, periodically warming themselves around the bonfires laid out by Napoleon's guards. In a conversation with Napoleon, Franz called the British “dealers in human flesh"And for some reason strongly scolded the Cossacks. Somehow they did not please him very much. The main thing, however, is that he accepted all the conditions of Napoleon, and nothing more was required of him. At the same time, he pledged to immediately expel all Russian troops from his territory.
Anthony-Jean Gros (1771-1835) "Meeting of Emperors Napoleon and Franz II after the Battle of Austerlitz". Painting 1812 Versailles
Napoleon himself was so intoxicated with his victory - after all, everything turned out as he had foreseen, as planned, and this greatly raises a sense of his own importance - that he thought about pursuing the defeated enemy only on the morning of December 3. Moreover, on the road to Olmuts, only a lot of abandoned carts were found. So the order of pursuit came to the generals of the Great Army rather late, and Marshal Davout was the fastest to carry it out. He had enough strength for the final defeat of the Allied forces: Friant's division, dragoons Klein and Lassal, and then also Guden's division, but ... having caught up with the rearguard of General Murfeld, who was covering the withdrawal of troops, he was a day late. The truce had already been concluded, of which Murfeld immediately notified Davout! He did not believe it and was ready to fight, but then Napoleon Savary's adjutant general arrived and confirmed the truce negotiated at the "Burnt Mill". So Napoleon did not hesitate quite a bit, and the victory would have been much more significant in all respects. However, one can only rejoice at this, since this oversight of his saved the lives of many more Russian soldiers and officers. On the other hand, if he made a mistake as a commander, then, without a doubt, he was at the height of his position as a statesman.
Alexander Stankievich (1824-1892) "Napoleon and Franz II meet after the Battle of Austerlitz." Painting from 1841 at the National Museum in Warsaw
Under the terms of the peace treaty signed on December 26 in Prespourg, Austria paid Napoleon an indemnity of 40 million florins, abandoned Dalmatia and Venice, which joined Italy, and new states arose on its territory, completely dependent on France. Russian troops were to immediately leave its borders. Moreover, the "road map" for their outcome was signed by Napoleon himself. It is interesting that the representatives of Russia did not participate in the negotiations on December 26, as did the representatives of England. They simply "forgot" to invite!
Addressing his soldiers in his next proclamation, Napoleon wrote the following:
“Soldiers of the Great Army, I promised you a great battle. However, thanks to the bad actions of the enemy, I was able to achieve the same successes without any risk ... In fifteen days we completed the campaign. "
(Bulletin of the Great Army, October 21, 1805.)
(Bulletin of the Great Army, October 21, 1805.)
According to the most common data, the losses of the French amounted to 12 thousand killed and wounded, 573 were captured, and 1 banner was lost. The allied army lost 16 thousand killed and wounded, 20 thousand prisoners, lost 186 guns and 46 banners, although the story about captured and lost banners will follow. However, one more person who did not directly participate in the battle itself should be recorded among the victims of Austerlitz.
When the first newspapers arrived in England with reports of the defeat of the Allies at Austerlitz, British parliamentarians immediately began to loudly accuse Prime Minister Pitt of the shame he had brought to England, and even about the millions of pounds thrown into the wind shouted at all corners. And the poor fellow's nerves could not stand it. Pitt fell ill, went to bed and died on January 23, 1806. So Austerlitz killed this, the most stubborn, consistent and talented opponent of Napoleon. After him, Fox became the head of the British cabinet, who immediately offered Napoleon to make peace.
To be continued ...
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