The Battle of Austerlitz in 1805: details. Who commanded the Russian troops in the Battle of Austerlitz?

The small Bavarian village of Austerlitz was destined to enter the world history, since next to it on December 2, 1805, there was a battle, rightly considered a soma grandiose battle of the Napoleonic wars. In it, the 73,000-strong French army inflicted a crushing defeat on the overwhelming anti-Napoleonic coalition. The Battle of Austerlitz is considered a triumph of the diplomatic and military genius of Napoleon.

The dispute between the three emperors

Sometimes it is called "the battle of three emperors under Austerlitz". And this is quite true, because besides Napoleon on this fateful day on the battlefield there were two more august people: the Russian Emperor Alexander I and the Austrian Franz II. To understand the reasons that plunged their powers into the bloodbath, it was necessary to return two years earlier, when France concluded the so-called Amiens' peace with England.

Plans for the conquest of England

Signed on paper, he really only gave the ambitious French emperor time to prepare for the invasion of the British Isles and the subsequent capture of London. The British understood this perfectly and with good reason saw their salvation only in the creation on the continent of the next, third, on the count, international coalition against Napoleon. It was created and existed until the day when the fatal battle for Austerlitz broke out for her.

This year was marked by an abundance of the most ambitious plans of the French emperor, and he was quite seriously obsessed with the intention to capture London. For this purpose, in Boulogne, not far from Paris, the troops were in full combat readiness, the task of which was, having crossed the English Channel, to move to the English capital. The French admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve was interfering with the fulfillment of the plan, through the fault of which Napoleon never waited for a squadron intended for transferring troops across the strait.

Creating a Coalition

Soon the coalition was created from states interested in suppressing Napoleon's aggressive plans. Its participants were Russia, Austria and England itself. However, their roles were, to put it mildly, uneven. England did not take part in hostilities at all, but took on only the financing of military expenditures. Austria fought, but in the decisive battle brought to the battlefield 25 thousand military, while the Russians there were 60 thousand. Thus, the battle of Austerlitz with all its weight fell on the shoulders of Russian soldiers, which, however, in history was repeated many times.

Initial plans of the coalition countries

We must pay tribute to the European strategists. They developed a very ambitious plan to curb Napoleon, and the Battle of Austerlitz occurred as a result of the fact that he remained only on paper. According to their developments, much greater manpower reserves were to be involved in military operations than it turned out in practice. So, for example, in the northern part of Europe against the Napoleonic ally - Denmark - it was supposed to expose almost 100-thousand Russian-English corps.

Another ally of France-Bavaria-was to attack by the forces of the 85,000-strong Austrian corps under the command of the then-famous General K. Mack. He was helped by the army of Mikhail Kutuzov from Russia. To top it all, the Austrian archduke was entrusted, knocking out the French from Northern Italy, to start a victorious march through French territory. If it were possible to realize at least half of what was planned, then in the ill-fated 1805 the battle of Austerlitz simply would not have taken place. But fate was to be disposed of in its own way.

Ambitions of the Russian Emperor

In many respects the cause of the defeat was the excessive presumption of the then young and thirsting for the early military laurels of Alexander I. Commander-in-Chief MI Kutuzov was categorically against the battle. The battle of Austerlitz, in his opinion, was not only untimely, but also disastrous for the Allies. He proposed a deliberate retreat, as a result of which the enemy forces could be stretched as far as possible and, using the arrival of reinforcements, dealt them devastating blows from the flanks.

This plan, reasonable, but not promising a quick and brilliant victory, was rejected by the emperor. Historians who subsequently covered these events are unanimous in the opinion that, in spite of the fact that in the Battle of Austerlitz the Russian troops were commanded by Kutuzov, in fact the decisions were made by Alexander. The Austrian allies also insisted on an early battle, since Vienna was at that time captured by the French, and they exerted every effort to its early release.

Napoleon's tactical plans

If for the Allied forces the Battle of Austerlitz of 1805 was premature, unprepared and therefore disastrous, then for Napoleon it was the only true tactical solution in the situation at that time. Appreciating the situation, he set as his goal to prevent the enemy from retreating and thus delaying military operations. The French emperor was aware that the Allies were waiting for the approach of considerable reinforcement from Prussia, ready to join the anti-Napoleonic coalition.

In detail studying the actions of Napoleon, aimed at achieving this goal, it remains to be amazed at how cunning he was setting up his networks. With deep thoughtful actions, he managed to convince the Allied Command in his weakness, indecision and intention to retreat. Moreover, he even provoked them to take the positions that were profitable to him at the beginning of the battle.

Peaceful town of Slovakia

The territory on which the Battle of Austerlitz took place in 1805, now belongs to the Czech Republic, and where there was once a Bavarian village, which gave the name of one of the greatest battles in history, today lives a peaceful life of a small town of Slovaks. Tourist, who got there, it is difficult to imagine that 210 years ago, on these green fields and hills, the three strongest armies of Europe came together.

Without going into the details of the Battle of Austerlitz of 1805, which are of interest only to military specialists, we note only the main stages of the battle. They are easy to recover from the numerous witnesses and participants in these events. Especially since the battle for many years has been the subject of numerous articles and scientific research.

Battle of Austerlitz: briefly about its key points

So, on December 2, 1805. The famous battle began at Austerlitz with a blow inflicted by the Allies on the right flank of the enemy, where Marshal Davout commanded the troops. Following a plan drawn up personally by Napoleon, he after a short resistance began to retreat, provoking parts of the Allies to pursue and pulling them into a marshy lowland. As a result, the French managed to significantly weaken the center of the Allied forces.

As it was said earlier, in the battle of Austerlitz the Russian troops commanded Kutuzov, but by the intervention of Alexander I he was completely deprived of initiative. An experienced commander understood that the enemy is preparing a trap, but, obeying the emperor, was forced to give the order to counterattack the retreating marshal. As a result of such actions, the central positions of the Allied forces proved to be an easy prey for the enemy.

Surrounding parts of the left flank of the Allies

Napoleon did not hesitate to attack the weakened area with the shock forces of another of his famous commander - Marshal Soult. It happened that in the world history of battles very often precedes the defeat of the armies. Allied troops were cut in two, and each of the units, as a result of the lightning-fast maneuvers of the enemy, was surrounded and cut off from the possible approach of reinforcements.

But the most dramatic events developed at that time on the left flank of the Allies. Continuing the offensive on the position of troops under the command of Marshal Davout, they fell into a real sack and died under the heavy fire of the French. From the complete destruction they were rescued by the cavalrymen, who arrived in time, under the command of General NI Depreradovich. They took on enemy fire and at the cost of many victims gave the opportunity to escape from the fire to surrounded parts.

Retreat that saved the army

Avoiding the disastrous in such cases, panic largely succeeded thanks to the coolness and endurance of one of the most experienced Russian generals, DS Dokhturov. He managed to remove from the encirclement of the already narrowed ranks of soldiers and organize a retreat, which preserved the army in a combat-ready state. Nevertheless, the losses of the Allies were enormous. According to historians, on this day on the battlefield were left to lie 27 thousand people, and 21 thousand of them were Russian.

However, when studying the details of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, historians agree that even greater losses were avoided thanks to the correctly chosen direction of the retreat. On the left wing of the Allied forces was a whole network of ponds, called Sychanskiye. They were shallow, and it was through them that the retreating troops were sent by General Dohturov. When the Allies finished the crossing, they were out of reach of the French riflemen who did not dare to pursue the enemy through a water barrier.

End of the third coalition

The French at Austerlitz cost 12,000 lives, but the military success in this battle was on their side, and they emerged victorious from it. The devastating defeat of the Allies in many ways changed the balance of political forces in Europe. From now on, Napoleon Bonaparte dictated his will to the rulers of the leading powers. Unable to recover from defeat, Austria withdrew from the war by signing an extremely unprofitable peace treaty. The third anti-Napoleonic coalition disgracedly disintegrated.

When the news of the defeat reached Russia, it shocked the entire advanced public. For 100 years, after the tragic events near Narva, where Peter I knew the bitterness of defeat, the Russian army was considered invincible. The glorious victories of the times of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II confirmed the Russians in their belief in the invincibility of their army. However, as contemporaries note, the tragic news did not shake the patriotic spirit either in the army or among the people.

Summarizing this military campaign, historians are trying to answer the question: what ultimately won and what Napoleon lost in 1805? The Battle of Austerlitz, undoubtedly recognized as the triumph of his military genius, nevertheless did not allow him to achieve the main goal - the complete destruction of armies entering into a hostile coalition. For a certain period Napoleon became a European dictator, but nevertheless every day he inevitably brought him nearer to Waterloo, where in 1815 he was destined forever to roll the star of this brilliant Corsican.