The Washington herald., 1914-05-10
THE SUN OF AUSTERLITz
rrs Ann wENrs-AGE .

Ill UUls Vi HOOA
DATES AND rvENrs-AeE u
Nov Is. lsos. Napoleon left visnn.
Nov. ls. lso6. Murats BATH at Hoiaounn-
Nov. u 1so6 AIiies advanced toward HIM :,
Dec. l. ss' Ceietratiou Of the hrst anniversary o.
the cprunation.
De. Iss Meeting Of nnpson Napo'soo and
Francis .
psc. d, 1906. The peace Of Prsss6uL E.
CoME great battle fields are IKE so| Pc
great men; the closer you come "
~ them the smaller they appeal.
Austerlitz and the sun Of Austeriitz, TOT
example are known to every scnooiooy,
in the Western aemlspdneii ,,.t an Water-
loo is synonymous with defeat yer tne
nearer Austerlitz is approaches, the more
obscure il becomes. 1t Is not even oo'
Al Brunn. in whose Austrian castle
Silvio Pelltco, the italian patrtot-pris-
oner, wrote his sad and moving tale my
Prisons" and where Napoieons army
winter OF 1905, the guide books and the
hotel people, with all their volubility
about the surrounding attractions and
neighboring excursions. are aumo .G 4oH-
And even the $500 Inhabitants OF the VIZ
LACE itself have to think twice before
thew can call to mind the name py WniSh
their little town Is ce,e hsv ere 1 mostly
Slays who speak the Czech or Bohemian
tongue. and they call their place Slav-
koya Thus the shining name OF AUS
terlitz, which is DINNER at vienna tnan
II is at san Francisco. vanishes quite at
the gates of the town: -,,..
Non only is Austerlitz not Austeriitz,
but there never was a battle OF Austei-
litz. For not a volley was nred wltnln
the limits of the town. Two Emperors
rode out of the village one December
morning to wrestle with t1Ifa I'll I'll
peror in front Of Austerlitz. BUT tney
did not fight in the town or for the to"n.
n better suited Napoleon, however, 70
emphasize his victory by naming tne
battle for the village in which the TWO
defeated Emperors had made their neaa-
Quarters and to write his bulletin In the
very room from which he drove them
forth in the snow Of a winters night
Batting the Trap.
NAPOLEON not only named the battle 20
please his fancy, but he also chose tne
battle ground and even the oattie Gay:
He had been away from Paris hardly
more than eight weeks when he nrst
looked upon the field Of Austeriitz. In
those eight weeks he had destroyed an
Austrian army OF seVp on Ine LUZ
ital of the Hapsburgs, without nring a
shot, and had marched into Morav1a 70
meet another army of 5000 Austrians
the Emperor Francis OF Austria anu 'he
Arrived at Brunn, the Moravian capital
which lies at the foot of castled mn
of the Revolution loudly clamored for
neace to my brother the heir OF
Charles v, and my brother, the heir
of Peter the Great. who were at the
camp of the allied army at Oimutz'
some ffty miles north and near the Rus
sian frontier His appeals, as he shrewd-
ly intended, were mistaken for craven
confession of weakness and IeaI ana El
lies to give him battle. then and there,
the very thing he was seeking.
For, above all, he did not wish 10
chase the enemy any fartner. ss M
Russians and Austrians In front OF MIN,
5000 Austrians behind him, and win
10000 Prussians and Saxons marsnaleo
and ready to join the alliance against
him. He must have a battle at once and
win a crushing victory or fall back:
When he saw the welcome signs that
his two brothers" Alexander ana FRAN
els, were sufficiently catered in their
conceit that they had caught him in
desI crate plight and saw them preparing
to smite him, he galloped out on the roao
to OImutz for the purpose OF getting the
lay of the land between him ana Ihe
enemy. Pausing at a point a dozen miles
TO the east of Brunn, he studied the
scene in silence for some time.
In his strategic Imagination Napoleon
was fighting then the battle Of Austerlitz,
for the field Of that great combat was
snread before him. On the eastern hori-
zon he saw the Little Carpathian Noun
tains rising to form the Hungarian from
tier forty miles away; but his practiced
eve fingered on the rolling plains and
gentle hills, little dales and brooks, ponds
and marshes lying in front Of the village
of AusterlitZ.
The allies would come down the road
from Olmutz, while his own outposts fell
back before their advance and steadily
drew them on to the battle ground. where
his forces would be more than half con-
ceaIed as they crouched behind range
of hills west of Austerlitz. Naturally
and properly the allies would aim to get
around him on the right or south, In
their effort TO cut his lines TO vienna
and to Brunn and place themselves be-
tween him and those cities. Once they
were behind him they could hope to eff
feet a junction with the army OF sO,Oo
Austrians. which was moving toward
the Austrian capital and with an over
whelming force destroy the legions OF
France.
tempting, after the fashion of his foes to
do the right thing in the wrong way. He
knew they would finch from stalking
everything on a single move and would
selves upon his right wing in a solid
body. In their anxiety to make success
certain they would make it impossible
nv sending only a part OF their army
against his right. while they sent an
other part against his left.
Moreover, he took note OF the fact that
their principal movement would have to
be made across a brook and between a
high hill and some ponds. natural con-
ditions that would aid him to retard
and embarrass them. And while they
were striking at his two wings, he would
hold the main body Of his forces In his
hand, ready to hurl 1t like thunderbot
at their center and thus break their army
In two. 1t would be the old story re-
cons victories. His foes would divide
to attack him while he united to attack
them.
After he had finished fighting the battle
IN his fancy. as he sat In his saddle on
the highroad. he turned to his waiting
and watching staff. Make a careful
note of all these heights" he commanded.
'Tt is here you will fight before two
months ere over" His only mistake was
but only two weeks to meet him on the
ground he had chosen.
Luring the Prey.
allied armies prudently counseled the
adoption Of waiting policy and defen-
sive measures until, by making a wide
detour. the other Austrian army in the
south had como to join them. But EN-
peror Francis was impatient to recover
his lost capital and dominions, and tine
twenty-eight-year-old Gear was burning
with eagerness to see battle. as also
ware the young MOBILES who surrounded