Sun of Austerlitz, The

Napoleon arrived from headquarters to meet with his key Marshals on the Pratzen Plateau. The Pratzen commanded a wide view of the whole region, and he was determined to fight here. Standing on the summit near a feature called the "Stari Vinohrady" and gazing eastward, Napoleon and his marshals beheld an amazing sight: the entire enemy army, some 72,000 strong, emerging from the village of Austerlitz and marching straight toward the heights on which they stood.

Pulling back his cavalry, Napoleon allowed the enemy to occupy the entire heights. This was, after all, just what the Austrian Chief of Staff had predicted. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. Napoleon had intelligence of the enemy plan to attack his center or his right, and cut-off his communications with the great depot of Vienna. The Emperor had no intention of interfering with this plan. "If they dare to descend from the heights to take me in my flank, they will surely be beaten without hope of recovery."

Napoleon's deliberately-weakened right flank was a tempting target for the southern columns under General Buxhöwden. From the onset of their attack, commencing at 7 A.M. on 2 December, the outmanned French defenders were on the ropes. However, a road-weary division under Marshal Davout arrived from Vienna in time to check the enemy in a terrible struggle at Sokolnitz.

Just before 8 A.M., the fog lifted from the battlefield, exposing the enemy flank march well underway. Napoleon was standing upon the Zuran Hill, looking at the light of dawn. "Yonder shines the Sun of Austerlitz - a sign that today shall be a day of Victory."

As the Russians poured off the heights to reinforce the south, Napoleon unleashed Soult's IV Corps into their vacated center. The enemy column under Marshal Kolowrat attempted to plug the gap, and the battle entered its critical phase. But determined Russian and Austrian counterattacks failed to drive Soult from the heights.

The Coalition left wing was driven back upon the lakes and decimated, but the Russian right under the fiery Prince Bagration held, allowing the Tsar's battered Guard to withdraw to safety. Napoleon's cavalry commander, Marshal Murat, launched a vigorous pursuit picking up many stragglers. The Russians lost about 20,000 men and the Austrians 5,900, along with 180 guns; the French lost 8,000 men.