War of the Third Coalition

War of the Third Coalition
Part of the Coalition Wars
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Result	Franco-Spanish victory

France

• Batavian Republic
• Kingdom of Italy
• Etruria

Napoleonic Wars

1000km
620miles

Waterloo

9

France

8

7

Russia

6

Austria

5

Spain

4

Portugal

3

Prussia

2

Germany

1

  

Key:

1

Third Coalition: Germany 1803:...Austerlitz...

2

Fourth Coalition: Prussia 1806:...Jena...

3

Peninsular War: Portugal 1807...Torres Vedras...

4

Peninsular War: Spain 1808...Vitoria...

5

Fifth Coalition: Austria 1809:...Wagram...

6

French invasion of Russia 1812:...Moscow...

7

Sixth Coalition: Germany 1813:...Leipzig...

8

Sixth Coalition: France 1814:...Paris...

9

Hundred Days 1815:...Waterloo...

The War of the Third Coalition

On 26 December 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg, which took Austria out of both the war and the Coalition, while it reinforced the earlier treaties of Campo Formio and of Lunéville between the two powers. The treaty confirmed the Austrian cession of lands in Italy to France and in Germany to Napoleon's German allies, imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on the defeated Habsburgs, and allowed the defeated Russian troops free passage, with their arms and equipment, through hostile territories and back to their home soil. Victory at Austerlitz also prompted Napoleon to create the Confederation of the Rhine, a collection of German client states that pledged themselves to raise an army of 63,000 men. As a direct consequence of those events, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when, in 1806, Francis II abdicated the Imperial throne, becoming Francis I, Emperor of Austria. Those achievements, however, did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose fleet protected Sicily from a French invasion, to cease fighting. Meanwhile, Prussian worries about the growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806.

Historians differ on when the War of the Third Coalition began and when it ended. From the British perspective, the war started when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803, but it was still on its own. It was not until December 1804 when Sweden entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom, not until 11 April 1805 when Russia joined the alliance, not until 16 July when Britain and Russia ratified their treaty of alliance, and only thereafter Austria (9 August) and Naples–Sicily (11 September) completed the fully-fledged coalition.^[1]

Meanwhile,

Likewise, no major battles occurred after the Battle of Austerlitz and the signing of the Peace of Pressburg on 26 December 1805, which forced Austria to leave the Third Coalition and cease hostilities against France. Some historians conclude that Austria's departure "shattered the fragile Third Coalition"^[1] and "ended the War of the Third Coalition".^[2]

This narrative leaves out the subsequent French invasion of Naples (February–July 1806), which the occupying Anglo-Russian troops hastily evacuated and the remaining Neapolitan forces relatively quickly surrendered. Other scholars argue the southern Italian campaign should be included into the War of the Second Coalition, and criticise ignoring the Mediterranean front by only focusing on land battles in Central Europe and the Trafalgar campaign.^[3]

Europe had been embroiled in the

In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to cease hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens. For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. However, many problems persisted between the two sides making the implementation of the treaty increasingly difficult. Napoleon was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta.^[5] The tension only worsened when Napoleon sent an expeditionary force to attempt to re-establish control over Haiti.^[6] Prolonged intransigence on these issues led Britain to declare war on France on 18 May 1803.

Napoleon's expeditionary army was destroyed by disease in Haiti and subsequently swayed the First Consul to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, the vast territory of Louisiana in North America had little value to him. Though Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France per the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, a war between France and Britain was imminent. Out of anger against Spain and having the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory to the United States for a sum total of 68 million francs ($15 million).^[7] The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on 30 April 1803.

Despite issuing orders that the over 60 million francs were to be spent on the construction of five new canals in France, Bonaparte spent the whole amount on his planned invasion of England.^[8]

The nascent Third Coalition came into being in December 1804 when, in exchange for payment, an Anglo-Swedish agreement was signed allowing the British to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base against France (explicitly, the nearby French-occupied Electorate of Hanover, the homeland of the British monarch). The Swedish government had broken diplomatic ties with France in early 1804 after the arrest and execution of Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, a royalist émigré who had been implicated (on dubious evidence) in an assassination plot against First Consul Bonaparte. The execution of Enghien shocked the aristocrats of Europe, who still remembered the bloodletting of the Revolution and thus lost whatever conditional respect they may have entertained for Napoleon.^[9]

Fanning the flames of the outcry resulting from d'Enghien's death and the growing fear over increasing French power, British Prime Minister William Pitt spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France. Pitt scored a significant coup by securing a burgeoning rival as an ally. The Baltic was dominated by Russia, something Britain had been uncomfortable with since the area provided valuable commodities like timber, tar, and hemp, crucial supplies to its Royal Navy.^[10]

Additionally, Britain had supported the Ottoman Empire in resisting Russian incursions towards the Mediterranean. Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians eased in the face of several French political mistakes, and on 11 April 1805 the two signed a treaty of alliance in Saint Petersburg.^[10] The stated goal of the Anglo-Russian alliance was to reduce France to its 1792 borders. Austria, Sweden, and Naples would eventually join this alliance, whilst Prussia again remained neutral.

Meantime, the lull in participating in active military campaigning from 1801 to 1804 permitted Napoleon to consolidate his political power base in France. 1802 saw him proclaimed Consul for Life, his reward for having made peace with Britain, albeit briefly, as well as the establishment of a meritorious order, the

Prior to the formation of the Third Coalition, Napoleon had assembled the Army of England, an invasion force meant to strike at England, from around six camps at Boulogne in Northern France. Although they never set foot on British soil, Napoleon's troops received careful and invaluable training for any possible military operation. Boredom among the troops occasionally set in, but Napoleon paid many visits and conducted lavish parades in order to boost the morale of the soldiers.^[11]

The men at Boulogne formed the core for what Napoleon would later call

On top of these forces, Napoleon created a cavalry reserve of 22,000 organized into two cuirassier divisions, four mounted dragoon divisions, and two divisions of dismounted dragoons and light cavalry, all supported by 24 artillery pieces.^[12] By 1805, the Grande Armée had grown to a force of 350,000,^[13] was well equipped, adequately trained, and possessed a skilled officer class.

The Imperial Russian Army in 1805 had many characteristics of ancien régime military organization: there was no permanent formation above the regimental level, senior officers were largely recruited from aristocratic circles (including foreigners), and the Russian soldier, in line with 18th-century practice, was regularly beaten and punished to instill discipline. Furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained and had difficulty getting their men to perform the sometimes complex manoeuvres required in a battle. Nevertheless, the Russians did have a fine artillery arm manned by soldiers who regularly fought hard to prevent their pieces from falling into enemy hands.^[14]

Finally, a significant divergence between these two nominal allies is often cited as a cause for disastrous consequences. The Russians were still using the old style Julian calendar, while the Austrians had adopted the new style Gregorian calendar, and by 1805 a difference of 12 days existed between the two systems. Confusion is purported to have ensued from the differing timetables regarding when the Allied forces should combine, leading to an inevitable breakdown in mutual coordination.^[18] However, this tale is not supported in a contemporary account from a major-general of the Austrian army, who tells of a joint advance of the Russian and Austrian forces (in which he himself took part) five days before the Battle of Austerlitz,^[19] and it is explicitly rejected in Goetz's recent book-length study of the battle.^[20]

In August 1805, Napoleon, Emperor of the French since May of the previous year, turned his army's sights from the English Channel to the Rhine in order to deal with the new Austrian and Russian threats. The War of the Third Coalition began with the Ulm Campaign, a series of French and Bavarian military manoeuvres and battles designed to outflank an Austrian army under General Mack.

General Mack thought that Austrian security relied on sealing off the gaps through the mountainous Black Forest area in Southern Germany that had witnessed much fighting during the campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. Mack believed that there would be no action in Central Germany. Mack decided to make the city of Ulm the centrepiece of his defensive strategy, which called for containment of the French until the Russians under Mikhail Kutuzov could arrive and alter the odds against Napoleon. Ulm was protected by the heavily fortified Michelsberg heights, giving Mack the impression that the city was virtually impregnable from outside attack.^[21]

Fatally, the

In both the campaigns of 1796 and 1800, Napoleon had envisaged the Danube theatre as the central focus of French efforts, but in both instances, the Italian theatre became the most important. The Aulic Council thought Napoleon would strike in Italy again. Napoleon had other intentions: 210,000 French troops would be launched eastwards from the camps of Boulogne and would envelop General Mack's exposed Austrian army if it kept marching towards the Black Forest.^[23]

Meanwhile,

On 22 September, Mack decided to hold the

Realizing the danger of his position, Mack decided to go on the offensive. On 8 October, he commanded the army to concentrate around Günzburg and hoped to strike at Napoleon's lines of communication. Mack instructed Kienmayer to draw Napoleon further east towards Munich and Augsburg. Napoleon did not seriously consider the possibility that Mack would cross the Danube and move away from his central base, but he did realize that seizing the bridges at Günzburg would yield a large strategic advantage.^[29] To accomplish this objective, Napoleon sent Ney's Corps to Günzburg, completely unaware that the bulk of the Austrian army was heading to the same destination. On 8 October, however, the campaign witnessed its first serious battle at Wertingen between Auffenburg's troops and those of Murat and Lannes.

For reasons not entirely clear, Mack ordered Auffenburg on 7 October to take his division of 5,000 infantry and 400 cavalry from Günzburg to Wertingen in preparation for the main Austrian advance out of Ulm.^[30] Uncertain of what to do and having little hope for reinforcements, Auffenburg was in a dangerous position. The first French forces to arrive were Murat's cavalry divisions – Klein's 1st Dragoons, Beaumont 3rd Dragoons, and Nansouty's cuirassiers. They began to assault the Austrian positions and were soon joined by Oudinot's grenadiers, who were hoping to outflank the Austrians from the north and west. Auffenburg attempted a retreat to the southwest, but he was not quick enough: the Austrians were decimated, losing nearly their entire force, 1,000 to 2,000 of which were prisoners.^[31] The Battle of Wertingen had been an easy French victory.

The actions at Wertingen convinced Mack to operate on the left bank of the Danube instead of making a direct eastwards retreat on the right bank. This would require the Austrian army to cross at Günzburg. On 8 October, Ney was operating under Marshal

The Austrians noticed these developments and reinforced their positions around Günzburg with three infantry battalions and 20 cannons.[32] Malher's division conducted several heroic attacks against the Austrian positions, but all failed. Mack then sent in Ignác Gyulay with seven infantry battalions and fourteen cavalry squadrons to repair the destroyed bridges, but this force was charged and swept away by the delayed French 59th Infantry Regiment.^[33]

Fierce fighting ensued and the French finally managed to establish a foothold on the right bank of the Danube. While the Battle of Günzburg was being fought, Ney sent General Loison's 2nd Division to capture the Danube bridges at Elchingen, which were lightly defended by the Austrians. Having lost most of the Danube bridges, Mack marched his army back to Ulm. By 10 October, Ney's corps had made significant progress: Malher's division had crossed to the right bank, Loison's division held Elchingen, and Dupont's division was heading towards Ulm.

The demoralized Austrian army arrived at Ulm in the early hours of 10 October. Mack was deliberating about a course of action to pursue and the Austrian army remained inactive at Ulm until the 11th. Meanwhile, Napoleon was operating under flawed assumptions: he believed the Austrians were moving to the east or southeast and that Ulm was lightly guarded. Ney sensed this misapprehension and wrote to Berthier that Ulm was, in fact, more heavily defended than the French originally thought.

The 32nd Infantry Regiment in Dupont's division marched from Haslach towards Ulm and ran into four Austrian regiments holding Bolfingen. The 32nd carried out several ferocious attacks, but the Austrians held firm and repulsed every single one of them. The Austrians flooded the battle with more cavalry and infantry regiments to Jungingen hoping to score a knockout blow against Ney's corps by enveloping Dupont's force. Dupont sensed what was happening and preempted the Austrians by launching a surprise attack on Jungingen that captured at least 1,000 prisoners.^[36] Renewed Austrian attacks drove these forces back to Haslach, which the French managed to hold. Dupont was eventually forced to fall back on Albeck, where he joined d'Hilliers's troops. The effects of the Battle of Haslach-Jungingen on Napoleon's plans are not fully clear, but the Emperor may have finally ascertained that the majority of the Austrian army was concentrated at Ulm.^[37] Accordingly, Napoleon sent the corps of Soult and Marmont towards the Iller, meaning he now had four infantry and one cavalry corps to deal with Mack; Davout, Bernadotte, and the Bavarians were still guarding the region around Munich.^[37] Napoleon did not intend to fight a battle across rivers and ordered his marshals to capture the important bridges around Ulm. He also began shifting his forces to the north of Ulm because he expected a battle in that region rather than an encirclement of the city itself.^[38] These dispositions and actions would lead to a confrontation at Elchingen on the 14th as Ney's forces advanced on Albeck.

At this point in the campaign, the Austrian command staff was in full confusion. Ferdinand began to openly oppose Mack's command style and decisions, charging that the latter spent his days writing contradictory orders that left the Austrian army marching back and forth.^[39] On 13 October, Mack sent two columns out of Ulm in preparation for a breakout to the north: one under General Johann Sigismund Riesch headed towards Elchingen to secure the bridge there and the other under Franz von Werneck went north with most of the heavy artillery.^[40] Ney hurried his corps forward to reestablish contact with Dupont. Ney led his troops to the south of Elchingen on the right bank of the Danube and began the attack. The field to the side was a partially wooded flood plain, rising steeply to the hill town of Elchingen, which had a wide field of view.^[41] The French cleared the Austrian pickets and a regiment boldly attacked and captured the abbey at the top of the hill at bayonet point. The Austrian cavalry was also defeated and Riesch's infantry fled; Ney was given the title "Duke of Elchingen" for his impressive victory.^[42]

Other actions took place on the 14th. Murat's forces joined Dupont at Albeck just in time to drive off an Austrian attack from Werneck; together Murat and Dupont beat the Austrians to the north in the direction of Heidenheim. By night on the 14th, two French corps were stationed in the vicinity of the Austrian encampments at Michelsberg, right outside of Ulm.^[43] 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 from Memmingen to prevent the Austrians escaping south to the Tyrol.^[43] 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.^[44] Murat's pursuit was so effective, however, that only eleven squadrons joined Werneck at Heidenheim.^[44] Murat continued his harassment of Werneck and forced him to surrender with 8,000 men at Trochtelfingten on 19 October; Murat also took an entire Austrian field park of 500 vehicles, then swept on towards Neustadt and captured 12,000 Austrians.^[44]

Events at Ulm were now reaching a conclusion. On 15 October, 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 17 October, Napoleon's emissary, Ségur, signed a convention with Mack in which the Austrians agreed to surrender on 25 October if no aid came by that date.^[44] Gradually, however, Mack heard of the capitulations at Heidenheim and Neresheim and agreed to surrender five days before schedule on 20 October. 10,000 troops from the Austrian garrison managed to escape, but the vast majority of the Austrian force marched out on the 21st and laid down their arms without incident, all with the Grande Armée drawn up in a vast semicircle observing the capitulation.^[44]

This section is an excerpt from Battle of Trafalgar.[edit]

The

British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815).^[45]

As part of

Lord Nelson, recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar

.

Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British

ships of the line to 33 Franco-Spanish ships, including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santísima Trinidad. To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic, but for various reasons, failed to prepare for it. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split the Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure

. The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none.

The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached the Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's own HMS Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure. He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico Gravina, escaped with the surviving third of the Franco-Spanish fleet; he died six months later of wounds sustained during the battle.

The victory confirmed British naval supremacy, and was achieved in part through Nelson's departure from

prevailing naval tactical orthodoxy.^[46]

The following day, Marshal

Mortier ordered General Gazan to attack what they believed to be a Russian rear guard, at the village of Stein. This was a trap on the part of Kutuzov, laid for the sole purpose of convincing Mortier that he had retreated further toward Vienna, when he had actually crossed the Danube in force, and lay concealed behind the ridges above the village. In the ensuing Battle of Dürenstein, three Russian columns circled around the First Division of the Corps Mortier, and attacked Gazan from both the front and the rear. Not until Dupont's division arrived, after dark, was Gazan able to start to evacuate his soldiers to the other side of the Danube. Gazan lost close to 40 percent of his division. In addition, 47 officers and 895 men were captured, and he lost five guns, as well as the eagles of the 4th Infantry Regiment, and the eagle and guidon of the 4th Dragoons. The Russians also lost around 4,000, about 16 percent of their force, and two regimental colors.^[48] The Austrian Lt. Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Schmitt was killed as the battle concluded, probably by Russian musketry in the confused melee.^[49]

At the Battle of Schöngrabern (also known as the Battle of Hollabrunn) occurred a week after the battle at Dürenstein. On 16 November 1805. near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria. The Russian army of Kutuzov was retiring north of the Danube before the French army of Napoleon.

On 13 November 1805 Marshals

Brünn with reinforcements led by Buxhowden. He ordered his rearguard under Major-General Prince Pyotr Bagration

to delay the French.

After Hollabrun, the armies gathered on the plains to the east of Brünn. Napoleon could muster some 75,000 men and 157 guns for the impending battle, but about 7,000 troops under Davout were still far to the south in the direction of Vienna.^[50] The Allies had about 73,000 soldiers, seventy percent of them Russian, and 318 guns.^[50] On 1 December, both sides occupied their main positions.

Battlefield

The northern part of the battlefield was dominated by the 700-foot (210-metre) Santon hill and the 850-foot (260-metre) Zuran hill, both overlooking the vital Olmutz-Brno road that ran across a west–east axis. To the west of these two hills was the village of Bellowitz, and between them the Bosenitz Stream went south to link up with the Goldbach Stream, the latter flowing astride the villages of Kobelnitz, Sokolnitz, and Telnitz. The centerpiece of the entire area were the Pratzen Heights, a gently sloped hill about 35 to 40 feet (11 to 12 m) in height. An aide noted that the Emperor repeatedly told his Marshals, "Gentlemen, examine this ground carefully, it is going to be a battlefield; you will have a part to play upon it".^[51]

Allied plans and dispositions

An Allied council met on 1 December to discuss proposals for the battle. Most of the Allied strategists had two fundamental ideas in mind: making contact with the enemy and securing the southern flank that led to Vienna. Although the Tsar and his immediate entourage pushed hard for a battle, Emperor Francis of Austria was in a more cautious mood, and he was seconded by Kutuzov, the main Russian commander.^[52] The pressure to fight from the Russian nobles and the Austrian commanders, however, was too strong, and the Allies adopted Austrian Chief of Staff Franz von Weyrother's plan.^[52] This called for a main drive against the French right flank, which the Allies noticed was lightly guarded, and diversionary attacks against the French left. The Allies deployed most of their troops into four columns that would attack the French right. The Russian Imperial Guard was held in reserve while Russian troops under Bagration guarded the Allied right.

French plans and dispositions

Days before any actual fighting, Napoleon had given an impression to the Allies that his army was in a weak state and that he desired a negotiated peace.

Bernadotte's I Corps were held in reserve while the V Corps under Lannes

guarded the northern sector of the battle.

Battle is joined

The battle began around 8 a.m. with the first allied column attacking the village of Telnitz, which was defended by the 3rd Line Regiment. This sector of the battlefield witnessed heavy action in the following moments as several ferocious Allied charges evicted the French from the town and forced them on the other side of the Goldbach. The first men of Davout's corps arrived at this time and threw the Allies out of Telnitz before they too were attacked by hussars and re-abandoned the town. Additional Allied attacks out of Telnitz were checked by French artillery.^[56]

Allied columns started pouring against the French right, but not at the desired speed, so the French were mostly successful in curbing the attacks. In reality, the Allied deployments were mistaken and poorly timed: cavalry detachments under

Liechtenstein on the Allied left flank had to be placed in the right flank and in the process they ran into and slowed down part of the second column of infantry that was advancing towards the French right.^[55] At the time, the planners thought this was a disaster, but later on it helped the Allies. Meanwhile, the lead elements of the second column were attacking the village of Sokolnitz, which was defended by the 26th Light Regiment and the Tirailleurs, French skirmishers. Initial Allied assaults proved unsuccessful and General Langeron ordered the bombardment of the village. This deadly barrage forced the French out, and around the same time, the third column attacked the castle of Sokolnitz. The French, however, counterattacked and regained the village, only to be thrown out again. Conflict in this area ended momentarily when Friant's division (part of III Corps) retook the village. Sokolnitz was perhaps the most fought over area in the battlefield and would change hands several times as the day progressed.^[57]

"One sharp blow and the war is over"

St. Hilaire and Vandamme

split the Allied army in two and left the French in a golden strategic position to win the battle.

Around 8:45 a.m., finally satisfied at the weakness in the enemy centre, Napoleon asked Soult how long it would take for his men to reach the Pratzen Heights, to which the Marshal replied, "Less than twenty minutes, sire." About 15 minutes later, Napoleon ordered the attack, adding, "One sharp blow and the war is over."[58]

A dense fog helped to cloud the advance of St. Hilaire's division, but as they went up the slope the legendary 'Sun of Austerlitz' ripped the mist apart and encouraged them forward.^[57] Russian soldiers and commanders on top of the heights were stunned to see so many French troops coming towards them.^[59] Allied commanders were now able to feed some of the delayed detachments of the fourth column into this bitter struggle. Over an hour of horrendous fighting left much of this unit decimated beyond recognition. The other men from the second column, mostly inexperienced Austrians, also participated in the struggle and swung the numbers game against one of the best fighting forces in the French army, finally forcing them to withdraw down the slopes. However, gripped by desperation, St. Hilaire's men struck hard once more and bayoneted the Allies out of the heights. To the north, General Vandamme's division attacked an area called Staré Vinohrady and through talented skirmishing and deadly volleys broke several Allied battalions.^[60]

The battle had firmly turned to France's favor, but there was still much fighting ahead. Napoleon ordered Bernadotte's I Corps to support Vandamme's left and moved his own command centre from Zuran Hill to St. Anthony's Chapel on the Pratzen Heights. The difficult position of the Allies was confirmed by the decision to send in the

Constantine, Tsar Alexander's brother, commanded the Guard and counterattacked in Vandamme's section of the field, forcing a bloody effort and the loss of the only French standard in the battle (the unfortunate victim was a battalion of the 4th Line Regiment). Sensing trouble, Napoleon ordered his own heavy Guard cavalry forward. These men pulverized their Russian counterparts, but with both sides pouring in large masses of cavalry no victor was clear yet. The Russians had a numerical advantage here but fairly soon the tide swung as d'Erlon's Division, the 2nd of Bernadotte's I Corps, deployed on the flank of the action and allowed French cavalry to seek refuge behind their lines. The horse artillery of the Guard also unlimbered a deadly toll on the Russian cavalry and fusiliers. The Russians broke and many died as they were pursued by the reinvigorated French cavalry for about a quarter of a mile.^[61]

Endgame

Meanwhile, the northernmost part of the battlefield was also witnessing heavy fighting. Prince

Kellerman's lighter cavalry forces after finally arriving at the correct position in the field. The fighting originally went well for the French, but Kellerman's forces took cover behind General Caffarelli's infantry division once it became clear Russian numbers were too great. Caffarelli's men halted the Russian assaults and permitted Murat to send two cuirassier divisions into the fray to finish off the Russian cavalry for good. The ensuing melee was bitter and long, but the French ultimately prevailed. Lannes then led his V Corps against Bagration's men and after hard fighting managed to drive the skilled Russian commander off the field. He wanted to pursue, but Murat, who was in control of this sector in the battlefield, was against the idea.^[62]

Napoleon's focus now shifted towards the southern end of the battlefield where the French and the Allies were still fighting over Sokolnitz and Telnitz. In an effective double-pronged assault, St. Hilaire's division and part of Davout's III Corps smashed through the enemy at Sokolnitz and persuaded the commanders of the first two columns, generals Kienmayer and Langeron, to flee as fast as they could. Buxhowden, the commander of the Allied left and the man responsible for leading the attack, was completely drunk and fled as well. Kienmayer covered his withdrawal with the O'Reilly light cavalry, who gallantly managed to defeat five of six French cavalry regiments before they too had to retreat.^[62]

General panic now seized the Allied army and it abandoned the field in any and all possible directions. Russian forces that had been defeated by the French right withdrew south towards Vienna via the Satschan frozen ponds. According to popular myth, the French artillery pounded towards the men, but Napoleon redirected his gunners to fire at the ice. The men drowned in the viciously cold ponds, dozens of artillery pieces going down along with them. Estimates on how many guns were captured differ; there may have been as few as 38 or as many as over 100. Sources also differ on casualties, with figures ranging from as few as 200 to as many as 2,000 dead. Because Napoleon exaggerated this incident in his report of the battle, the low numbers may be more accurate, although doubt remains as to whether they are fully correct. Many regard this incident as one of Napoleon's cruelest acts in war.^[63] However, only a few bodies are reported to have been found in the spring of 1806, and it is most likely the incident is a myth.^[64]

Italian Campaigns

Venetian front or Italian campaign of 1805

Meanwhile, in Italy, the Austrian Armee von Italien under Archduke Charles fought against the French Armée d'italie under Marshal Masséna. The French managed to gain a bridgehead over the Adige river at Verona on 18 October, and finally, between 29 and 31 October, the outnumbered French defeated the superior Austrian army in the Battle of Caldiero. In November the Austrians retreated, engaging the French vanguard of d'Espagne in several rear-guard actions. Venice was blockaded by French and Italian troops under St.Cyr. Charles' army finally crossed the Isonzo on 14 November, preventing the French from crossing it.^[65]

One 4,400-strong Habsburg army that lingered behind, was roundly defeated and captured by Jean Reynier and St. Cyr at the Battle of Castelfranco Veneto on 24 November 1805.

Anglo-Russian occupation of Naples

Main article: Anglo-Russian occupation of Naples

The French force under St. Cyr then manoeuvred on the frontier of the Kingdom of Naples. The French were being carefully watched by an Anglo-Russian force entrusted with defence of the kingdom. After the Battle of Austerlitz, the Russians withdrew from Italy and the British, unwilling to defend Naples alone, evacuated the mainland altogether and retreated back to Sicily. Meanwhile, the French force, now stationed in Bologna, was reorganised into the Army of Naples and placed under the nominal command of Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte. However, the de facto commander was André Masséna, who commanded the I Corps and was entrusted with the invasion by Joseph.

French invasion of Naples

Main article: Invasion of Naples (1806)

On 9 February 1806, Masséna invaded the Kingdom of Naples and two days later, the Bourbon King of Naples, Ferdinand IV also fled to Sicily, protected by the British fleet. Naples soon fell into French hands and by the end of February, only two places in the kingdom still held out. One was the fortress city of Gaeta, north of Naples, and the other was Calabria in the very south of Italy, which was where the remainder of the Royal Neapolitan Army was stationed.

Ferdinand had hoped for a repeat of the events of 1799, when a popular uprising in Calabria eventually caused the downfall of the

Parthenopaean Republic, a French client state created after the Neapolitans were defeated the first time during the War of the Second Coalition. However, no such rebellion initially occurred and on 3 March, General Jean Reynier, who commanded the 10,000 strong II Corps of the Army of Naples invaded Calabria. Only a few Calabrians resisted the invading French force and the Royal Neapolitan Army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Campo Tenese on 10 March 1806. Ferdinand now had no choice but to concede the Neapolitan throne to the French. A day after Campo Tenese, Joseph was installed as the new King of Naples. By now, the last regular troops of the Neapolitan army had fled to Sicily and the French controlled the entire Italian mainland except for the fortress of Gaeta, which had been under siege since 26 February.^[66]

Gaeta surrendered on 18 July, concluding the invasion with a decisive French victory.

Calabrian insurrection

However, all was not going to plan for the French. Supply problems meant that Reynier's II Corps in Calabria was forced to live off the land. For over a month, the peasants of the region had supported the Neapolitan army and were close to starvation. Joseph seemed unaware of the problems and the potential dangers of revolt. Consequently, no extra provisions were sent to the south of Italy. Reynier took the initiative and seized supplies from the local populace, leading predictably to a revolt by the end of March. What started as small bands of partisans eventually expanded into entire villages rising up against the French. With the fortress of Gaeta still holding out, Joseph was unable to send more troops to Calabria, forcing Reynier to reinforce his army with native troops recruited from the larger towns and cities.[66]

By July, Masséna had still failed to take Gaeta due to poor logistical management of the French artillery, slight reinforcements from the British by sea and a series of successful sorties by the Neapolitan garrison against the French sappers. With only Reynier's small force in Calabria still struggling against the revolt, the British organised an expeditionary force under Sir John Stuart to prevent any potential invasion of Sicily and perhaps to trigger a full-scale rebellion against the French across Italy. Although there were early successes for the British, in particular at Maida, the British failed to either reinforce Stuart's expedition or attempt to relieve the Siege of Gaeta. With the French artillery finally able to bombard the walls with their full potential, the Neapolitans eventually surrendered on 18 July, freeing Masséna's I Corps.^[67]

Following the surrender, Masséna was ordered south by Joseph to support Reynier's II Corps against the British and the Calabrian insurrection. Now severely outnumbered in mainland Italy, the British retreated back to Sicily. However, the revolt was not suppressed until 1807, by which time Masséna had already requested permission to relinquish command. For the first time in the Napoleonic Wars, the French experienced a brutal guerrilla war carried on by a rebellious population. The French gleaned that the only effective way to deal with such an uprising was to implement terror tactics employed by Reynier. This foreshadowed the same problems the French, and in particular Joseph Bonaparte, would face in Spain during the Peninsular War.

Results

Austerlitz and the preceding campaign profoundly altered the nature of European politics. In three months, the French had occupied Vienna, decimated two armies, and humbled the Austrian Empire. These events sharply contrast with the rigid power structures of the 18th century, when no major European capital was ever held by an enemy army. Austerlitz set the stage for a near-decade of French domination on the European continent, but one of its more immediate impacts was to goad Prussia into war in 1806.

France and Austria signed a truce on 4 December and the

Treaty of Pressburg 22 days later took the latter out of the war. Austria agreed to recognize French territory captured by the treaties of Campo Formio (1797) and Lunéville (1801), cede land to Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden, which were Napoleon's German allies, and pay 40 million francs in war indemnities. Venetia was also given to the Kingdom of Italy

. It was a harsh end for Austria, but certainly not a catastrophic peace. The Russian army was allowed to withdraw to home territory and the French encamped themselves in Southern Germany.

In July 1806, Napoleon created the Confederation of the Rhine, a string of German client states which on becoming allies of France pledged themselves to raise an army of 63,000 men. With Napoleon as their "Protector", the confederate states were compelled to leave the Holy Roman Empire, which was dissolved shortly afterward.^[68] Prussia saw these and other moves as an affront to its status as the main power of Central Europe and it went to war with France in 1806.

In Italy, the political situation would remain unchanged until 1815, with the British and Sicilian troops guarding the Bourbon King Ferdinand in Sicily and the Napoleonic King of Naples controlling the mainland. In 1808, Joachim Murat became the King of Naples, after Joseph Bonaparte became King of Spain. Murat made various attempts to cross the Strait of Messina, which all ended in failure, despite once managing to secure a foothold in Sicily.

Casualties and losses

The French lost 12,000 killed, 22,200 wounded and 5,000 captured in 1805, including 5,300 killed and 22,200 wounded in the Austrian Campaign against the Habsburgs and Russians, 2,100 killed and 5,300 wounded in the Italian Campaign, 4,300 killed and 3,700 wounded in the naval war, 200 killed and 400 wounded in the colonies and 100 killed and 400 wounded in coastal defense duties.^[69][70] The 1806 Naples Campaign cost the French 1,500 killed and 5,000 wounded.^[70] The Spanish suffered 1,200 killed and 1,600 wounded in the naval war, Bavaria sustained 300 killed and 1,200 wounded in the Austrian Campaign and the Kingdom of Italy lost 100 killed and 400 wounded in the Italian Campaign and 250 killed and 1,500 wounded in the Naples Campaign.^[70]

The Austrians lost 20,000 killed and wounded and 70,000 as prisoners.^[69] Russian casualties were 25,000 killed and wounded and 25,000 captured.^[69] The Neapolitan army of 22,000 was wiped out by the French in 1806, with only 2,000 evacuated to Sicily.

See also

• War of the Fourth Coalition
• List of battles of the War of the Third Coalition
• List of Napoleonic battles

Notes

1. ^ This armed conflict has received various names:
   • In Russian historiography, it is known as the Russian-Austro-French War (Russian: Русско-австро-французская война)
   • it is known as the Austrian campaign of 1805 (French: Campagne d'Autriche de 1805) or the German campaign of 1805 (French: Campagne d'Allemagne de 1805)

References

Citations

1. ^
   ISBN 978-1-4766-6812-3
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2. ^ Encarta Encyclopaedia Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Pressburg, Vrede van". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.
3. S2CID 154229720
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4. ^ For the diplomatic history see Paul W. Schroeder, The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848 (1996). pp. 210–286
5. ^ Chandler p. 304.
6. ^ Chandler p. 320.
7. ^ Herring, p. 101.
8. ISBN 978-0-471-26738-6
   . Retrieved 19 December 2011.
9. Meurthe in the Corps législatif, or Napoleon's chief of police, Joseph Fouché (John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)), said about his execution "C'est pire qu'un crime, c'est une faute", a statement often rendered in English as "It was worse than a crime; it was a blunder." The statement is also sometimes attributed to French diplomat Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
   . Sometimes the quote is given as, "It was worse than a crime; it was a mistake."
10. ^ ^{a b} Chandler p. 328.
11. ^ Chandler p. 323.
12. ^ ^{a b} Chandler p. 332.
13. ^ Chandler p. 333.
14. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 33.
15. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 31.
16. ^ Uffindell p. 155.
17. ^ ^{a b} Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 32.
18. ISBN 0-02-523660-1
    .
19. ^ Stutterheim, Karl; Pine-Coffin, John (trans.) (1807). A Detailed Account of The Battle of Austerlitz. London: Goddard. p. 44.
20. ^ Robert Goetz, 1805: Austerlitz: Napoleon and the Destruction of the Third Coalition (Greenhill Books, 2005)
21. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 36.
22. ^ ^{a b} Chandler p. 382.
23. ^ Chandler p. 384.
24. ^ ^{a b c d} Chandler p. 385.
25. ^ Kagan p. 389.
26. ^ Kagan p. 393.
27. ^ ^{a b} Kagan p. 395.
28. ^ Kagan p. 397.
29. ^ Kagan p. 400.
30. ^ Kagan p. 402.
31. ^ Kagan p. 404.
32. ^ ^{a b} Kagan p. 408.
33. ^ Kagan p. 409.
34. ^ Kagan p. 412.
35. ^ Kagan p. 414.
36. ^ Kagan p. 415.
37. ^ ^{a b} Kagan p. 417.
38. ^ Kagan p. 420.
39. ^ Kagan p. 421.
40. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes pp. 39–40.
41. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 40.
42. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 41.
43. ^ ^{a b} Chandler p. 399.
44. ^ ^{a b c d e} Chandler p. 400.
45. ^ "Napoleonic Wars". Westpoint.edu. U.S. Army. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
46. ^ Bennet, Geoffrey (2004). The Battle of Trafalgar. England: Pen & Sword Books Limited, CPI UK, South Yorkshire.
47. ^ (in German) Rainer Egger. Das Gefecht bei Dürnstein-Loiben 1805. Wien: Bundesverlag, 1986.
48. ^ Smith. Databook. p. 213.
49. ^ (in German) Jens-Florian Ebert. "Heinrich von Schmitt". Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815. Napoleon Online: Portal zu Epoch Archived 8 April 2000 at the Wayback Machine. Markus Stein, editor. Mannheim, Germany. 14 February 2010 version. Accessed 5 February 2010: (in German) Egger, p. 29.
50. ^ ^{a b} Uffindell p. 19.
51. ^ Chandler pp. 412–413.
52. ^ ^{a b} Chandler p. 416.
53. ^ McLynn p. 342.
54. ^ Brooks, ed. p. 109.
55. ^ ^{a b} Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 48.
56. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes pp. 48–49.
57. ^ ^{a b} Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 49.
58. ^ Uffindell p. 21.
59. ^ Chandler p. 425.
60. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes pp. 49–50.
61. ^ Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 51.
62. ^ ^{a b} Fisher & Fremont-Barnes p. 52.
63. ^ Chandler p. 432.
64. ^ Spring, Laurence, Russian Grenadiers and Infantry, 1799–1815, Osprey Publishing 2002^{[ISBN missing][page needed]}
65. ISBN 0-275-96875-8
    .
66. ^
    JSTOR 1987151
    .
67. ^ Masséna & Koch, pp. 194–251.
68. ^ Eric Dorne Brose, German History, 1789–1871. From the Holy Roman Empire to the Bismarckian Reich, Berghahn Books, 2008 (paperback edition), p. 51.
69. ^ ^{a b c} Bodart 1916, p. 43.
70. ^ ^{a b c} Bodart 1916, p. 128.

Sources and further reading

• Bodart, G. (1916). Losses of Life in Modern Wars, Austria-Hungary; France.
  ISBN 978-1-371-46552-0
  .
• Brooks, Richard, ed. (2000). Atlas of World Military History. London:
  ISBN 0-7607-2025-8
  .
• ISBN 0-02-523660-1
  .
• ISBN 0-06-270056-1
  .
• Fisher, Todd; Fremont-Barnes, Gregory (2004). The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. Oxford:
  ISBN 1-84176-831-6
  .
• ISBN 0-306-81137-5
  .
• Knight. Roger. Britain Against Napoleon: The Organisation of Victory. 1793–1815 (2013)
• Masséna, André; Koch, Jean Baptiste Frédéric (1848–50). Mémoires de Masséna (in French). Vol. V. Paris: Paulin et Lechevalier. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
• ISBN 1-55970-631-7
  .
• Schroeder, Paul W. (1996). The Transformation of European Politics 1763–1848. Oxford U.P. pp. 210–86.
  ISBN 978-0-19-820654-5
  ., diplomatic history of Europe
• Schneid, Frederick C. Napoleon's conquest of Europe: the War of the Third Coalition (Greenwood, 2005).
• Uffindell, Andrew (2003). Great Generals of the Napoleonic Wars. Kent: Spellmount.
  ISBN 1-86227-177-1
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to War of the Third Coalition.

• Maude, Frederic Natusch (1911). "Napoleonic Campaigns" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). pp. 212–236.