 | | 02 December 1805, Austerlitz.
For several hours now, the villages of Telnitz and Sokolnitz have been stormed by the Austro-Russians and defended by Marshal Davout's Iron Division. At 7.30 am, Napoleon gathered all his marshals: Murat, Lannes, Bernadotte, Soult and Davout. After giving his instructions, he declared to each of them: "Go!". Marshal Soult, commanding the IVe French Army Corps, which the Emperor had kept the last one close to him, wanted to run to his divisions and give them the signal, but Napoleon, calmer, letting the enemy finish his fault, held him back again. He shows him the Pratzen:
"How long will it take you to crown this summit?
-Ten minutes, replied the Marshal.
-Go away, the Emperor replied; but you are still waiting for fifteen minutes, then it will be time!"
Marshal Soult's IVe Corps was composed of the divisions Saint-Hilaire, Vandamme and Legrand, the latter divided into the Merle brigade in charge of holding on to the Goldbach and the Levasseur brigade, which was to form the reserve for the two divisions charged with attacking the plateau. The movement of each division and each regiment being perfectly orchestrated, the French took the advantage wherever they encountered the Coalised. Between 9 and 10 am, the two divisions Saint-Hilaire and Vandamme were in contact with the Allies on the heights. They were the Kamensky Brigade (3800 men) and the fourth Austro-Russian column of Miloradovitch and Kollowrath (12000 men, three-quarters of them Austrians).
It was thus the 16,000 men of the Saint-Hilaire and Vandamme divisions (with the 3,000 men of the Levasseur brigade in reserve) who attacked the 15,800 men of the Miloradovitch-Kollowrath column and the Kamensky brigade, 16300 if we count the dragons of Saint-Petersburg and the Issayev Cossacks remaining on the plateau. An almost perfect equality of forces, but the French have the advantage of the position and quality of the troops. In a little over two hours of fighting, the Allies were repulsed, and around noon Soult and the French IVe Corps were in control of the Pratzen Plateau.
However the game is not won, Soult still has Russian reserves against him. These will nevertheless be swept away by the VeCorps of Lannes, and Murat's Cavalry, which will annihilate the Knight Guards of the Russian army. Logically, the IVe Corps having led the main assault of the Battle of Austerlitz, is also the one that suffered the greatest losses. Thus, there were 292 dead among the Saint-Hilaire Division, including 14 officers. There were 176 dead among the Vandamme Division, including 12 officers. There were 232 dead in the Legrand Division, including 14 officers. Finally, there were 11 deaths in the IVth Corps Light Cavalry Brigade (Margaron Brigade), including 1 officer.
In total, the IVe Corps suffered 711 losses, nearly half of the total losses of the Grande Armée at the Battle of Austerlitz, amounting to 1537 killed, including 109 officers. |  |
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