Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Austerlitz
Part of the War of the Third Coalition
Napoléon at the Battle of Austerlitz, by François Gérard (Galerie des Batailles, Versailles)
Date 2 December 1805 Location Austerlitz, Moravia, Austrian Empire (now Slavkov u Brna, Czech Republic) 49°8′N 16°46′E / 49.133°N 16.767°E / 49.133; 16.767 Result Decisive French victory Treaty of Pressburg Effective end of the Third Coalition Territorial changes Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and creation of the Confederation of the Rhine
Belligerents
France	Russia  Holy Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Napoleon I	Alexander I Mikhail Kutuzov Francis II
Strength
65,000–68,000 (not including III Corps)[1]	84,000–95,000[2]
Casualties and losses
1,305 dead 6,940 wounded 8,245 total casualties 573 captured 1 standard lost[3] Total: 9,000	16,000 dead or wounded 20,000 captured 186 guns lost 45 standards lost[4] Total: 36,000

In the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon Bonaparte fought Russian and Austrian troops. The battle took place near Austerlitz (now in the Czech Republic) in 1805. Napoleon’s big victory let him create the Confederation of the Rhine. The book War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy contains a detailed description of the battle.

The battle sometimes (as of the 2020s) gets acted out (or reenacted).^[5]

1. ↑ French numbers at the battle vary depending on the account; 65,000, 67,000, 73,000, or 75,000 are other figures often present in the literature. The discrepancy arises because about 7,000 men of Davout's III Corps were not at the battle right when it started. Including or not including these troops is a matter of preference (in this article, they will be included as separate from the 67,000 French soldiers originally on the field). David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon. p. 416 gives 67,000 (without Davout's III Corps)
2. ↑ Allied numbers at the battle vary depending on the account; 73,000, 84,000, or 89,000 are other figures often present in the literature. Andrew Uffindell, Great Generals of the Napoleonic Wars. p. 25 gives 73,000. David G. Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon. p. 417 gives 85,000. In Napoleon and Austerlitz (1997), Scott Bowden writes that the traditional number given for the Allies, 85,000, reflects their theoretical strength, and not the true numbers present on the battlefield.
3. ↑ Chandler, p. 432. sfn error: no target: CITEREFChandler (help)
4. ↑ Andrew Roberts, Napoleon, A Life. p. 390
5. ↑ https://www.nrk.no/urix/kva-kan-vi-eigentleg-laere-av-napoleon_-1.16682825. Retrieved 2024-01-07