Austerlitz: Napoleon's Greatest Victory Demo

The Allied army was, on paper, commanded by the very experienced Mikhail Kutusov, the Fox of the North, but he was sidelined by the presence of his sovereign, Czar of All The Russias Alexander I, who fancied himself quite the military leader. Holy Roman and Austrian Emperor Francis II had no military aspirations but had retreated from his capital in Vienna across Europe with the French yapping at his heels and wanted a quick resolution and restoration of his wounded imperial dignity. The upshot was that Alexander ignored Kutusov's concerns and had the Allied army advance to occupy the Pratzen Heights. Alexander's adjutant, General Winzingerode, was directed to draw up a plan of attack to finish the French and their upstart emperor.

Winzingerode devised a complicated plan of the type much beloved during the just-concluded eighteenth century. Separate columns were to hit the French lines with mathematical precision just after dawn. While heavy attacks pinned the French to the north, a massive bludgeon of four columns under Russian General Buxhowden would crush the southern flank before swinging into the French rear to complete their defeat. What the Allies failed to anticipate was that Napoleon had foreseen the details of the Allied plan and was prepared to counter it. While the Allies were held in the north, the weak French southern wing would fall back, drawing the Allied spearheads further and further west. When Buxhowden's wing had advanced beyond recall, Napoleon planned to unleash his reserves to smash the Allied center and then defeat the various separated parts of the Allied array in detail.

The Allies were up before dawn, advancing on their various routes towards the French lines through a dense fog. The French were equally early risers and remained in their carefully chosen positions or moved short distances forward to await the Allied advance. As the Allied columns jostled in the fog, creating memorable traffic jams, the battle moved towards its inevitable start.

So began the Battle of Austerlitz, considered by many historians to be Napoleon's greatest victory.