page_title: Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim
section_title: Austrian service: 1799-1805
hierarchical_section_title: Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim / Austrian service: 1799-1805
context_page_description: Karl Daniel Gottfried Wilhelm von Stutterheim, born 6 August 1770 – died 13 December 1811, served in the Prussian and Saxon armies during the French Revolutionary Wars, leaving the latter service in 1798. He spent most of his career in the army of Habsburg Austria and the Austrian Empire. He commanded a brigade in combat against the First French Empire during the 1805 and 1809 wars. In the latter conflict, he led his troops with dash and competence. He authored two histories about the wars; the second work remained unfinished due to his suicide in 1811.
context_section_description: On 4 April 1800, Michael von Melas led the 62,000-strong Austrian army in operations against the French-held city of Genoa. Despite savage fighting, especially on 7 April, the Austrians invested the city and began the Siege of Genoa. At dawn on 30 April, the Austrian Kray and Alvinczi Infantry Regiments seized the Deux-Frères (Two Brothers) redoubt atop Monte Fratelli. André Masséna sent a column of grenadiers to retake the fort and the French ejected the Austrians from the fortification. Now a staff officer,  Stutterheim was on the scene and sent an urgent message requesting reinforcements, though he neglected to mention how many were needed. With typical Austrian rigidity, the local general refused to honor the request until his superior, Ludwig von Vogelsang approved it. By the time Vogelsang acted on the information, the fort was firmly back in French hands. He received promotion to Oberstleutnant in 1801 and Oberst (colonel) in 1803.
  Stutterheim was promoted to General-Major on 24 October 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. At the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805, he led a cavalry brigade in Michael von Kienmayer's Advance Guard column. His command included eight squadrons of the O'Reilly Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 3, about 900 sabers, and 40 troopers of the Merveldt Uhlan Regiment Nr. 1. Kienmayer's force was assigned to clear the village of Telnice (Tellnitz) of the French. Before 8:00 AM, the Austrians bumped into several companies of French infantry deployed outside of Telnice. Kienmayer ordered one battalion of the 1st Szekler Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 14 to attack a vineyard-covered hill on which the French were posted. The first battalion soon lost half its strength, forcing the commitment of the second battalion to the fight. Johann Nepomuk von Nostiz-Rieneck guarded the right flank with the Hessen-Homburg Hussar Regiment Nr. 4, while Moritz Liechtenstein protected the left flank with the Szekler Hussar Regiment Nr. 11. French marksmen picked off a number of the hussars who hovered too close.
  Kienmayer put Stutterheim in charge of the two Szekler grenzer battalions, who finally captured the knoll after being thrown back twice. The French covering force fell back to Telnice and nearby vineyards, which were vigorously defended by the 3rd Line Infantry Regiment. Even after Kienmayer sent in Georg Symon de Carneville's three Grenz infantry battalions, the Austrians were unable to seize the village. At one point, the French nearly recaptured the hill on which Stutterheim's two battalions stood. After an hour, Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden marched up with the Russians of the 1st Column. Carneville's grenzers, backed by the Russian 7th Jäger Regiment, stormed Telnice and drove the French beyond the stream on the west side of the village. At this moment, 4,000 French reinforcements appeared and recaptured the village under cover of a fog that rolled in. Nostiz led an effective charge with his hussars which captured many of their enemies and soon the French were driven out of Telnice again.
  This triumph allowed Liechtenstein and Stutterheim to deploy their cavalry brigades on the west side of the stream. But because the 2nd Column had not kept contact with the 1st Column and Advance Guard, the allied generals halted the troops. When their leaders finally became aware of the French breakthrough of the center, the 1st Column attempted to go to the rescue, but marched in the wrong direction. The Austrian cavalry was pulled back, abandoning Telnice, and a few battalions were deployed nearby to cover Buxhoeveden's retreat. Liechtenstein with the Szekler Hussars and Stutterheim with the O'Reilly Chevau-légers plus two regiments of Cossacks covered the rear of the withdrawing 1st Column.
  Dominique Vandamme's victorious division took the 1st Column in flank at the village of Újezd u Brna (Aujest). Buxhoeveden got away with the lead elements, but 4,000 Allies became prisoners and Dmitry Dokhturov's troops were cut off with their backs to some lakes near the southern edge of the battlefield. By this time a 
caption: Dmitry Dokhturov
exif: {}