War of the Third Coalition. On the way to Austerlitz
Napoleon and General Mac. Illustration for the book of William Milligan Sloan Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1896
Today we will talk about the so-called War of the Third Coalition, which culminated in the famous Battle of Austerlitz. In two short articles, of course, it is impossible to give a complete and detailed analysis of the series of circumstances that led to the defeat of the allied Russian-Austrian troops by Bonaparte's army. Nevertheless, I hope that they will be interesting and will make it possible to more clearly present the course of events preceding the battle and the reasons for the defeat of the coalition army.
Third anti-French coalition
In fact, in 1805, Napoleon was not at all going to fight in Central Europe - the state of affairs there suited him quite well. He had always regarded England as his main adversary, and now he intended to put an end to this ancient enemy of France once and for all.
The initiative for a new war came from the British: it was Britain on May 22, 1803 that declared war on France. English ships began to seize French and Dutch merchant ships. Napoleon, in response, ordered the arrest of all British subjects who were in the territories subject to France. Hanover, the German possession of the English kings, was occupied. But especially unpleasant for the British were serious preparations for the invasion of the British Isles. A huge camp was built in Boulogne-sur-Mer, in which the French expeditionary forces gathered, and by August 1805 there were already about 130 thousand soldiers and officers here.
Boulogne military camp, 1804 year. Engraving by an unknown author.
It was possible to collect about 2 landing ships, which were supposed to transport this army across the strait.
Bonaparte said:
“I only need three days of foggy weather - and I will be the lord of London, parliament, the Bank of England.”
Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier. Napoleon and his headquarters
In these circumstances, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger made desperate efforts to create a new anti-French coalition, which was supposed to distract Bonaparte from his plans to conquer England.
William Pitt the Younger in a portrait by Gainsborough Dupont
According to him, the continental powers - Russia, Austria, Sweden, Portugal and the Kingdom of Naples - should have fought with France. Prussia, Denmark and the small German principalities could not be drawn into the coalition at that time. London also took over the financing of this campaign, that is, the British actually bought foreign soldiers who were supposed to fight, albeit under their own flags, but for British interests.
Russian Emperor Alexander I, Emperor Franz II of Austria and King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia on a German woodcut of the first quarter of the XNUMXth century
According to the agreement concluded on March 30, 1805, the British undertook to pay Alexander I 12,5 million rubles for 100 thousand soldiers and a quarter of this amount on top for mobilization. Thus, the cost of one Russian soldier was determined at 156 rubles 25 kopecks. Meanwhile, "revision souls" in Russia at that time cost from 70 to 120 rubles. In general, the English Prime Minister did not skimp.
It must be said that the Austrians were not too eager to enter into a new war with France: they still well remembered the defeats that the armies of Bonaparte and Moreau inflicted on them. However, young Alexander I, who dreamed of the laurels of a great commander, was simply eager to fight. He probably would have entered the war with Bonaparte and in splendid isolation, but here's the trouble: Russia and France did not have common borders. Therefore, the Austrian emperor Franz II had to be persuaded to take part in this adventure, which he very soon regretted bitterly.
But it was not only the ambition of Alexander I. He had to take into account the opinion of Russian aristocrats who wanted to lead a European way of life, but the necessary funds to ensure it could only be obtained from trade with England. That is why they killed Paul I, who decided to make an alliance with Napoleon (and as an excuse they declared their victim a crazy tyrant). Eugene Tarle wrote about this in his book "Napoleon":
“The young tsar, at the same time, knew to what extent the nobility, selling agricultural raw materials and grain to England, was interested in friendship with England.”
Alexander also had personal motives, since Napoleon inadvertently allowed himself to offend him with a hint of complicity in the murder of his father. In response to an official note condemning the execution of the Duke of Enghien, the Russian Emperor received a letter containing the following lines:
“If Emperor Alexander had known that the murderers of his late father were in foreign territory, and nevertheless arrested them, then Napoleon would not have protested against such a violation of international law.”
The murderers of Paul I were well known to Alexander, and they were all located on the territory of the Russian Empire. And therefore, personally, Alexander could not object to his opponent in any way. To answer the French emperor had to send Russian soldiers and officers.
Allied plans
Alexander I and Franz II had no intention of waging a defensive war on the territory of Austria. The plans included an offensive on four fronts at once: in northern Germany, in Bavaria, in northern and southern Italy. M. I. Kutuzov was appointed to command the Russian troops - an experienced and experienced general who served under the command of Suvorov, a participant in the assault on the Izmail fortress.
One of the lifetime portraits of M. I. Kutuzov. Colorized engraving by S. Cardelli, 1810s.
However, Alexander I assigned the main role in the upcoming campaign to himself. Kutuzov had to solve purely "technical" issues of organizing the movement of the army, its supply on the way, and so on. Emperor Kutuzov "nobly freed" from solving strategic problems.
The campaign, in which the Russian Podolsk army of Kutuzov (about 58 thousand people) set out on August 13, 1805, was called "Caesar". On the way to these troops were to join the Volhynian army of Buxgevden (48 thousand soldiers) and the guards of the Lithuanian army of Essen the First. The composition and condition of the Russian troops inspired optimism.
Among the commanders were very talented, experienced and authoritative people, including participants in the last military campaigns of the great Suvorov (the Italian campaign and crossing the Alps). Let's name some of them. The first to come to mind, of course, are the names of M. A. Miloradovich and P. I. Bagration, who in the Swiss campaign commanded the vanguard units of the right and left columns of the Suvorov troops, respectively.
M. A. Miloradovich, lifetime portrait by an unknown artist. 1810s, Borodino Field Museum
P. I. Bagration, lifetime portrait of 1805 (engraving by Saunders from the portrait of S. Tonchi), Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
Less well known is Nikolai Mikhailovich Kamensky, the son of a field marshal of Catherine the Great, who received the nickname "Devil's General" from Suvorov. It was not an insult, but an agnomen (a nickname like "Zadunaisky" or "Tauride"), which Alexander Vasilyevich appropriated to him for his decisive role in capturing the famous Devil's Bridge (Kamensky's regiment appeared behind French lines on the left bank of the Reis River, bypassing their positions through the village of Betzberg).
N. M. Kamensky on the portrait of F. Veitch
It was Nikolai Kamensky then everyone considered Suvorov's favorite student. The pinnacle of his career was the position of commander of the Danube army. He won a number of victories over the Ottomans, but fell ill and died on May 4, 1811, at the age of 35. He was replaced as commander by Kutuzov, who concluded the Bucharest peace with the Turks less than a month before the start of the war with Bonaparte.
Another participant in the last campaigns of Suvorov, Karl Fedorovich Tol, in 1812 will act as the quartermaster general of the Russian army, and in the future he will become the chief manager of communications and public buildings.
Karl Fedorovich Tol, portrait by J. Doe
Ferdinand Fedorovich von Wintzingerode in 1812 entered the history, as the commander of the first partisan detachment (the future chief of the III Directorate A. Benkendorf was among his subordinates then). In 1813 he led the cavalry at the Battle of Lützen.
George Doe. Portrait of Ferdinand Winzingerode, Hermitage
Pyotr Ivanovich Ozerov will become a member of the State Council and the commission for the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
P. I. Ozerov on the portrait of A. Molinari
In general, Alexander I had every reason to hope for success. The Russian troops went to join the Austrians in six "echelons", which moved at a distance of a day's march from one another.
The first clashes between the Austrian and French armies
All the plans of the allies were violated by Napoleon, who did the almost impossible. In just 20 days, he led his army from the English Channel to the Danube and went to this river when the Russian troops were still on the way. But the Austrian army, which was nominally commanded by Archduke Ferdinand, but in fact by Quartermaster General Karl Mack, had already advanced to Bavaria to the Iller River. Napoleon, who met with Mack in Paris, spoke of him this way:
“Mack is the most mediocre person I have ever met. Full of conceit and pride, he considers himself capable of everything. Now he is without any meaning; but it would be advisable to be sent against one of our good generals; then I would have to look at interesting things. ”
In this portrait we see Charles Schulmeister, about whom the Minister of Police, Jean René Savary, said to Bonaparte:
“Here is a man who is made entirely of the brain, but without a heart.”
Charles Louis Schulmeister in a portrait by an unknown artist
It was he who in March 1804 kidnapped the mistress of Louis Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Enghien, using her as bait. The duke who appeared was seized, taken to Paris and shot by the verdict of a military court. Now Schulmeister has gained Mack's confidence, posing as a Hungarian aristocrat expelled from France and well aware of the situation in that country. Believing Schulmeister, Mack expected an imminent royalist uprising in Paris, because of which Napoleon would not be up to the war. And so he did not withdraw the army from Ulm in time.
The first to come here were the corps of Ney and Lann, supported by Murat's cavalry. After the French captured the dominant heights surrounding Ulm on October 15, 1805, the position of the Austrians became almost hopeless. On October 20, Mack's army laid down weapon. The fortress of Ulm was also surrendered. 32 thousand people were taken prisoner, the French got 200 artillery pieces and 90 banners. Outside the fortress, Murat's cavalrymen captured another 8 soldiers. Many of the Austrian prisoners were sent to work in France.
Charles Thevenin. Surrender in Ulm, October 20 1805 of the year Napoleon I accepts the surrender of General Mac
A little later, Napoleon said that near Ulm, one Schulmeister replaced him with a 40-strong army corps.
Some detachments from Mack's army were still able to move away from Ulm. The corps of General Jelachich went to Tyrol, where he was then surrounded by Augereau's troops and also capitulated. Archduke Ferdinand took about 5 thousand soldiers to Bohemia. General Kinmeier, at the head of 10 soldiers, broke through to the Inn River, where he joined Kutuzov's army. Napoleon's troops followed him, and Kutuzov led his army towards Vienna, hoping to meet new units from Russia and Austrian formations that were supposed to come from Italy and Tyrol (but came too late).
Kutuzov's army enters the battle
On October 28, Russian troops crossed the Danube at Mautern, after which they destroyed the only bridge. On the left bank in front of them was only Mortier's corps, which was supposed to interfere with the crossing of the Russian army, but was late.
Edouard Adolf Casimir Joseph Mortier
On October 30, in the battle at Krems (it is also called the Dürrenstein battle), Mortier's units, although they suffered heavy losses, managed to avoid complete defeat and cross to the right bank. Russian and French troops were now separated by a wide and full-flowing Danube.
Kutuzov had three options for action. He could stop his troops for a rest, he could lead them east to link up with Buxhoeveden's army, or he could go down the Danube to Vienna. Kutuzov chose the first option, which ended up being the worst.
However, it must be admitted that it was difficult not only to predict, but even to believe in the possibility of what then happened. In L. N. Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace", Kutuzov's adjutant Bilibin describes these events as follows:
“Yesterday, gentlemen marshals: Murat, Lannes and Belliard, sit on horseback and set off for the bridge. (Note that all three are Gascons.)
“Gentlemen,” one says, “you know that the Tabor bridge is mined and counter-contaminated, and that in front of it is the formidable tête de pont and fifteen thousand troops who are ordered to blow up the bridge and not let us in.” But our sovereign Emperor Napoleon will be pleased if we take this bridge. Three of us go and take this bridge.
- Come on, others say;
and they set off, and take the bridge, cross it, and now with the whole army on this side of the Danube are heading towards us. ”
“Gentlemen,” one says, “you know that the Tabor bridge is mined and counter-contaminated, and that in front of it is the formidable tête de pont and fifteen thousand troops who are ordered to blow up the bridge and not let us in.” But our sovereign Emperor Napoleon will be pleased if we take this bridge. Three of us go and take this bridge.
- Come on, others say;
and they set off, and take the bridge, cross it, and now with the whole army on this side of the Danube are heading towards us. ”
In fact, the Tabor Bridge was captured by the generals Bertrand, Belliard and Moissel, and only the first two were Gascons. But everything else is true.
"The Miracle of the Vienna Bridge"
Murat at the head of the cavalry units, Lannes and Soult with their corps and Oudinot with the grenadier division moved towards Vienna. They could go to the rear of Kutuzov's army, but for this they had to capture the strategically important bridges across the Danube: Taborsky, about 100 meters long, and Shpitsky, whose length was 430 meters.
Everyone perfectly understood the significance of these bridges. For their protection, 13 thousand Austrian soldiers were allocated with artillery batteries attached to them. Moreover, the bridges were mined in advance, and the Austrian cover units were ordered to destroy them immediately at the first appearance of the enemy. In general, the capture of bridges by the French seemed impossible.
However, both the Austrians and the Russians did not take into account the human factor, namely, the hot blood of young and rootless Napoleonic generals and the impenetrable stupidity of Prince Karl Auersperg von Mautern. The Austrian aristocrat used to be the commander of the "toy soldiers" of the court guard, and now it was he who was entrusted with guarding these bridges.
Karl Auersperg von Mautern
On October 31, 1805, two French generals approached the Tabor bridge. These were Murat's subordinates - his adjutant Henri-Gracien Bertrand and the commander of the artillery units Moissel. A little later, Augustin-Daniel de Belliard, Murat's chief of staff, also joined them. Behind them secretly followed two hussars and two dragoon regiments, a grenadier division and a battery of three guns.
The “parliamenters” spoke in a friendly manner with the Austrian lieutenant on duty, and the approaching French soldiers began to break the locks on the lowered bridge lattice. Ordinary Austrian soldiers were already ready to open fire, but, unfortunately, Colonel Goeringer was nearby, to whom Bertrand announced the cessation of hostilities. He presented himself and two other generals as commissioners who must guarantee the inviolability of the Tabor and Shpitsky bridges - without this, the peace agreement would not be signed.
Henri Gracien Bertrand
Terrified of responsibility, Göringer allowed them to switch sides to negotiate with Auersperg. The combat general Kinmayer, the one who managed to lead 10 thousand soldiers away from Ulm, begged the prince not to enter into negotiations and give the order to destroy the bridge. However, Auersperg went to meet the French.
Here, the last attempt to save Vienna was made by an unknown corporal, who, spitting on subordination, began to shout to the commander that the French were deceiving him - and was arrested by order of the prince. And just a few minutes later, the first French platoon crossed the bridge, followed by other units.
Eugene Louis Charpentier. The capture of the bridge over the Danube by the French
A military tribunal sentenced Aeursperg to death, but he was pardoned by the emperor.
Meanwhile, on November 1 (13), 1805, French troops entered Vienna. Here, their trophies were about two thousand artillery pieces and a huge amount of ammunition, equipment, food.
The entry of French troops into Vienna. Engraving from the album "Military campaigns of France during the Consulate and Empire." Paris, 1834
In the next article, we will finish our story and talk about the battle of the Russian rearguard with Murat's corps at Schöngraben and the battle of Austerlitz.
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