Karl von Stutterheim

“ The few Austrian troops there yet remained were not collected on one point; but, as we have seen, conducted themselves every where with constancy and animation. The sixth Battalions of the regiments of Wurtemberg and Reuss-Graitz were the only corps that were in confusion at the time when the fourth column was defeated. The Russians, at the commencement, fought with intrepidity, and the guards and Hulans distinguished themselves for their courage. The French infantry manœuvred with coolness and precision, fought with courage, and executed its bold movements with admirable concert. ”

“ I have always considered the superiority of the French troops over those of the continent, as the result of their individual intelligence; arising in a great degree from the habit of every Frenchman, to discuss whatever topic comes under his notice; and it is quite unnecessary for me to remark, that the powers of the mind only develope themselves in proportion as they are called into action. Let us hear no more then of soldiers being mere machines. The absurdity of the doctrine is too palpable to need refutation. ”

“ An army, so commanded, never could make head against a French army in so great and difficult a warfare. The emperor took advantage of the faults committed by the enemy, who would have committed yet greater errors had the emperor retired behind Brunn: the latter would have been in greater force; and had already planned new combinations, in the course of which, the general who possessed most experience, and the greatest genius for the art of war, must naturally have taken his adversary at a disadvantage. ”

“ Note by a French officer.—A general, whose movements are not so combined as to enable him to oppose another manœuvre to that of his enemy, whatever it may be, is a general devoid of talent, and ignorant of the art of war.
If the Russians had assumed the offensive at Wischau, it would have been previous to the arrival of the corps under the Grand Duke Constantine, which would have weakened their army by 10,000 chosen men. ”

“ The cloud which has been long gathering over Europe has begun to burst; we have seen the storm fall where least expected, and bury whole empires, and their people, in one common ruin. When the demon of destruction is abroad, let us not be unmindful of ourselves. Are we better prepared than our neighbours? ”

“ Much will not be expected from one, who embraced the profession of arms at a very early period, and whose ambition, from a child, has been military and not literary reputation. All that I can flatter myself with having succeeded in, is, the rendering the sense of the author, in terms plain and intelligible. For elegance of style, and flowing periods, the public may look to a Hutchinson, but not to soldiers in general. ”

“ Prince Bagration had caused the villages of Krug and Holubitz to be occupied by General Ulanius, with three Battalions of light infantry.
We now come to the centre of the allied army, where the fate of this day was decided. It was too weak to resist the enemy's attacks. Abandoned by the third column, and all the left of the army, while the division on the right flank was not sufficiently powerful to divide the French forces; the centre saw itself attacked, or menaced with attack, by four divisions, to which it could only oppose 27 very weak Battalions, without any hope of reinforcement. ”

“ To the want of correctness in the information possessed by the allies, as to the enemy's army; to the bad plan of attack, supposing the enemy to have been entrenched in a position which he did not occupy; to the movements executed the day before the attack, and in sight of the enemy, in order to gain the right flank of the French; to the great interval between the columns when they quitted the heights of Pratzen; and to their want of communication with each other. To these causes may be attributed the first misfortunes of the Austro-Russian army. ”

“ After the regiment of Elisabethgrod hussars had formed in order of battle, under General Uwarrow, the Grand Duke Constantino's regiment of Hulans became the head of the column of cavalry. Prince John de Liechtenstein, when he arrived on the Grand Duke's left, found the enemy in presence of the Russian guards; it was the cavalry under General Kellermann, supported by the infantry of Marshal Bernadotte's left, and of Marshal Lannes' right. Prince John de Liechtenstein immediately determined on forming his cavalry in order of battle, to charge the enemy. ”

“ Here, as in the position, in front of Olmutz, the army was posted on a curtain, behind which massive columns might be posted, ready to act offensively. Its left was secured by the lakes of Menitz and Aujest, while the right was refused. But the taking advantage of this position was never thought of, any more than the possibility of being attacked on these heights, or of finding the enemy on this side the defile. The French emperor took advantage, in a masterly manner, of the faults that were committed. He kept his troops concentrated in massive columns, ready to act according to circumstances. ”

“ The French defended themselves with obstinacy; and the Austrians, who had been supported by another Battalion, attacked with spirit. The hussars of Hesse Hombourg, on the right, under Major General Nostitz, and those of Szeckler on the left, under Major General Prince Maurice Liechtenstein, took post on the flanks of this infantry, to check the enemy's cavalry, (which was perceived on the farther side of the defile of Tellnitz) should it attempt to pass for the purpose of attacking these Austrian Battalions. ”

“ After the French had occupied Aujest, the centre and rear of the first column, which was so very strong, fell back under the orders of Lieut.-general Dochtorow, upon the plain between Tellnitz and the lake. This infantry was collected, but not in good order. Lieut.-general Dochtorow succeeded for a moment in re-establishing order, after which he considered only how to effect his retreat. This was very difficult in the execution, and could only be effected across a very narrow dike between the lakes, on which it was not possible to march more than two men in front. ”

“ Supposing the emperor not to have attacked the heights of Pratzen, merely keeping possession of the Santon, and the village of Girshikowitz, he would have made an effort in the centre, when the enemy attacked him, and the left of the enemy, once arrived at the wood of Turas, was by that divided from his centre.
All this serves to prove, that many men are capable of manœuvring 15 or 20,000 men, but very few know how to derive all the possible advantage from an army of 80,000. ”

“ General Ulanius, who commanded the cavalry with the greatest degree of intelligence and bravery, succeeded by his efforts in checking the rapid progress which the enemy would otherwise have made on the right of the allies. Prince Bagration, after having long maintained himself at Posorsitz, retired upon the heights of Rausnitz, at the moment when the Russian guards were quitting the heights in rear of Blasowitz; and, in the evening, received orders to march to Austerlitz. ”

“ The Grand Duke's regiment of horse-guards, in order to disengage the infantry, made a charge on the enemy's flank, where it checked and routed their cavalry, and afterwards attacked the French infantry, which had advanced to support the cavalry. It was on this occasion that the regiment of horse-guards captured a French eagle belonging to a Battalion of the fourth regiment. The corps of guards being obliged to retire, succeeded, after considerable loss, in rallying and forming its Battalions on the heights which it had originally quitted ”

“ At the time of the junction of the two Russian armies near Wischau, they had only opposed to them, the corps of Prince Murat, part of which formed the advanced guard, those of Marshals Soult and Lannes, the imperial guards, under Marshal Bessiéres, and a corps of grenadiers, drawn from these different troops, forming a reserve of 15,000 men, under General Duroc. This army, when near Brunn, was composed of eight divisions, each of which was about 7000 strong. ”

“ It is then only to the people we can look in the day of trial; and I trust there is yet enough left of the genuine spirit of the constitution, and of the native valour of Britons, to make every man feel his country is worth contending for. The moment that ceases to be the case, our independence as a nation is virtually gone ”

“ Two persons rarely see the same object in a similar point of view. But, as to the general arrangement, the plans, and the principal movements, their execution, and their result, my pen has been strictly guided by the love of truth, an accurate knowledge of what was done, and the utmost impartiality. ”

“ Between Aujest and Tellnitz is a considerable plain, on which some squadrons of hussars were advanced, between seven and eight o'clock, to reconnoitre the enemy. On a hill, in front of the village, were posted several companies of infantry, who defended its approach, while some detachments of cavalry were on the right, having the lake of Menitz as their appuy.
M. de Kienmayer ordered a detachment of cavalry to advance against their right, and a Battalion [12] of the first regiment of Szeckler infantry to attack the hill on which the French infantry was posted. ”

“ In order that the past may serve to elucidate the future, it becomes requisite to recur to the circumstances that led to this decisive day; which proved how scrupulously accurate it is necessary to be, in making the calculations and combinations, to which the existing circumstances and the knowledge of human nature give rise. ”

“ The Enemy's Cavalry received considerable reinforcements in retiring upon Rausnitz, where was a strong Reserve. In the first instance, they were pursued by four squadrons of Russian Hussars, and two of Cosacks; but afterwards all the cavalry under Prince Bagration, reinforced by that of the fourth column, under the command of Lieutenant General Essen, (under whose orders were placed ten squadrons of Hulans, five of Cuirassiers, five of Dragoons, and eight of Cosacks) passed through Wischau, to support the attack of the advanced guard. ”

“ The Emperor having always had it in view, during the campaign in Moravia, not to allow his left to be turned, and to abandon his right; that alone would have been a sufficient reason for resting his left on a position not defensive, but offensive, such as was that of the Santon. The fact is, the more we discuss the plan of the campaign, the more we perceive the judgment and military eye of a master in the science of war. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Many misfortunes of the allies appear to have originated in attacking with small corps where they had the power of attacking in force. It is obvious, that if one Battalion is inadequate to the service on which it is sent, it will not only suffer severely in the attempt, but that very attempt will apprize the enemy of the intention, and enable him to reinforce. ”

“ The fourth column of the allies abandoned a part of its artillery. The first, second, and third columns, lost the whole of theirs, with the exception of General Kienmayer's corps, which saved its cannon. The guns were entangled in the sloughs, as before mentioned, and the Russian horses, which are more calculated for speed than for draft, could not drag them out of the deep clay, into which they had sunk. The number of the Russian prisoners may be computed at 15,000 men; while their killed and wounded must have been very considerable ”

“ The Russians would have had 10,000 chosen men less than at Austerlitz, and the French 30,000 men more: and if it is asked, why, at Austerlitz, the French had not these 30,000 men more, it is, because the Emperor Napoleon, being informed that the Russian army was retiring from Wischau, and falling back on Olmutz, conjectured that the Russians were waiting for the third army under Michelson, in order to resume the offensive ”

“ The soldier, who here gives the relation of what he himself saw, neither wishes to flatter a government, nor to gain the good opinion of an army. His object will be, to detail, with truth, what he has either seen or been able to discover from others ”

“ The French received the Austrians with firmness, and defended themselves with valour, notwithstanding which they were forced to retreat; but, receiving a reinforcement, they quickly regained the ground which they had lost. Two Russian regiments, belonging to the second column, the grenadiers of Fanagorisky, and the musketteers of Rhiasky, who were left in Reserve upon the height which the column had occupied during the night, were ordered, by the General-in-chief, to reinforce the Brigade under General Kamensky. ”

“ On the 4th December, the very day on which the armistice took place, the Archduke Ferdinand, who could not be made acquainted with it, and who had received orders to advance and observe the Bavarians that remained at Iglau, after the departure of Marshal Bernadotte: on this day, that prince attacked General Wrede (to keep him in check) with some troops, the remnant of his corps; with which he succeeded in driving him from Iglau. ”