The Sun.
London, England, 1806-09-04 00:00:00

.S.ITTLE AL'STP,PLTTZ

'ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ, BY AN
AUSTRIAN OFFICER.
-LC:one/mid from 7.LYe7St3 N of Aug. 29.]! ,
The French army now crowned the po:sition.
thick the Allies bad occupied on the preceding
night. These last, after the two Emperors had
made every exertion on the field of • battle to re-
medy the general- diserder, retired entirely, in the
evening, behind Austerlitz, to the position of Ho-
diegitz. But their very considerable loss in killed
and, wounded, and .the number of prisoners, and of
troops dispersed, especially of, the I st, 2d, 3d, and
4th • columns,' caused their army to arrive behind
Austerlitz in a condition prodigiously weakened,
at least as to disposable- force. The Austrian ca-
valry, Commanded by General Hon imHl, who
had succeeded the Prince 'ot LICHTENSTEIN, who
• was that evening charged with a mission to the
Empertir NAPOLEON, that cavelry alone had detach-
Ments during the night in front of Austerlitz, and
formed the rearguard- of the army. Thus ended
this memorable day.
It will not have escaped military men that the
following are the principal causes which lost the
battle to the Allies : the !inaccurate notions which
they held with regard to the French army ; the
bad plan of attack which they pursued, supposing
that army to be entrenched in a position, which • it
did not occupy ; the 'movement executed on the
evening before theribactle, and in sight of the
enetny; to advance upon the right of the French ;
the great distance between the columns when they
quitted the heights of ihtatzen, and their want of
mutual communication ;--these were the first lois=
fortunes of the Austro-Russian army. But 'in
spite of these great faults, there might have been a
mode of restoring the chalices in favour of the Al-,
lies, if the second and third columns had been less
anxious about their own dispositions, and more
about those of the Enemy, who, by a bold move-
ment, absolutely overthrew the basis on which, the
plan of attack had been calculated “and if, in short,
the first column, instead of retiring by Aujest, had
marched to the aid of the second and third, and
with them, or. at least their remains, had advanced
against the heights,' which the French only occupied
precariously as long as the left of the Allies was
not in,a stater of ront, and while the extremity of
their right, which only made public demonstra-
tions, was at Posoritt.
We do not speak here of the losses of the two
Armies in the battle of Austerlitz. It is impossible
even for persons on the field of battle to compute
exactly the number of killed and wounded on both
sides.
The battle of' the 2d of December was very
bloody. The few' Austrians who still remained
were not united in any one point, but concluded
themselves on alI points
,with well 'supported valour;
only the six battalions of the regiments of Wurtem-
burgh and of Reuss-Gratz were in a state of
rout, when the fourth column was beaten. The
'Russians at the commencement fought with intre-
pidity ; the Guards, and Hulans above all, were dis-
tinguished for their courage'. The French infantry
manoeuvred with, calmness and precision, fought
with audacity,_ and execoted' their bold movements
with greatconcert. After useless efforts, vacillation
was- introduced into the Russian battalions ; dis-
order and rout followed the imprudence of the se-
cond and third columns. The fourth column aban-
doned a part of their artillery; the-first, second, and
third columns lost all their's,' the corps of. General
KIENMAYER excepted, which saved its artillery.—
The cannon stuck' fast in the • mire ; 'and the Rus-
sian horses, more adapted for the chase than for
draught, could not drag them from the clayey soil'
into which they sunk.
The number 9f Russian prisoners May be com-
puted at 15,000: that of the killed and wounded
must have been considerable. There must also, as
in the case of similar misfortunes, have" been many
of the soldiers.of the Allies dispersed. The•loss of
the French must likewise have been.great—the fire
at the commencement of the action was too-severe
not .to have destroyed a .number of men; but 'still
this d'uninution of the French forces was not to be
compared With that of the Allies. The Generals
killed, wounded, or taken. prisoners, arelnown.-
THE 3D AND 4Th OF DECEMBER.
The Austro4lussian Army had such difficulty of
subsisting upon the line of operation which it had
takenn;, Since its offensive movements, that it was
Compelled to abandon that line in its retreat, and
.di-
rea its march 'towards Hungary. The Allies quitted,
after midnight, the position of Hodiegitz, and,march-
. ,ed for Czeitsch, where they arrived in the morning
Of the 3d of December. The Column of Docirro-
ROW arrived, on its route to Hungary, at Niskowitz,
where it found General KII:NMAYER. then forming
the. Rear Guard of the Allies.- -
This Russian•column continued, its march -to re-
join the army atsCzeitsch ; but, •during the night,
it was deprived of great numbers,
.who lost them-
selvesin,the'woods and villages. The Austrian ca-
valry, who had preteeted the retreat of this wreck of
the left of the Combined Army, and who formed part
of the corps of KeENTAYER, halted at Niskowitz„—
PrinCW•BA6RATITION was a league behind that
Austrian corps; occupying the heights of Urschutz.
Between Niskowitz and Urschutz there was all ex-
tensive wood, by Which the French could turn and
surround the corps of KIENM4YER, which was
pushed too 'far in advance. He therefore halted
in that position only the necessary time to give the
stragglers of the army; as well as some equipages,
an opportunity to file upon Urschutz, and to watch'
the movement of the French. When those who in
the morning entered Austerlitz marched forward,
General KIENMAYER fell back upon Prince BAGRA-
THION, and formed, in front of SaiEschitz, the sup-
port of that Corps. A detachment of light horse of.
°REILLY, with some Cossacks, Were sent to Stariltz,
to,watch that route: The Corps of M. DE MERR-
VELDT bad received orders to. retire from Liden-.
burg towards Goeding, to observe the left, 'and
chiefly the two routes of Auspitz and Nickolsburgh.
On the 3d of December tl.e French army,ad-
vanced in the following manner e—The cavalry
Prince 1111/RAT. had pushed its detachments to
Rausnitz and Wischau ;• it followed that 4-oute,'
made an immense booty, advanced beyond Pros-