"Soldiers, the War of the Third Coalition has begun. The Austrian Army has crossed the Inn, violated treaties, attacked and driven our [Bavarian] ally from his capital. You yourselves have had to hasten by forced marches to the defence of our frontiers. But you have already passed the Rhine. We will not halt until we have ensured the independence of Germany, relieved our allies and humbled the pride of unjust aggressors. We will make no peace without guarantees. Our generosity will no longer defeat our policy. Soldiers, your Emperor is in your midst; you are only the vanguard of a great people. If necessary, they will rise at my call to destroy and dissolve this new league formed by the hatred of and gold of England. But, soldiers, we have forced marches to make, fatigue and privations of all kinds to endure. We will vanquish all obstacles, and we will not rest until we have planted our eagles on the territory of our enemies."
(Proclamation of 30 Sept in Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, XI 319-320 (No. 9293))
Napoleon's main fear was that Mack would realize his grave danger and extricate his army before the completion of the French manoeuver. The Grande Armee was pivoting in a great right wheel, bringing six Corps to the Danube on a 70-mile front, east of Ulm. Therefore, the bulk of the French force was rapidly attaining a position from which it could cut Austrian communications and destroy Mack's army.
Austrian reconnaissance failed to reveal the true direction of the French offensive, Mack believing that the French were merely reinforcing the Bavarians. Regardless, Mack remained confident that his forces would soon be augmented by the Russian Army as well as reinforcements from Italy. The Czar had promised to send 54,000 men under the competent Kutusov, to Austria's aid. However, Russia had to deal with a Turkish diversion, influence by France, and the uncertain attitude of Prussia, which was only clarified by Napoleon's but as late as October 11, Kutusov's leading columns were no further than the Inn River, roughly 150 miles east of Ulm.
Napoleon anticipated that Mack would eventually endeavor to escape by turning south, toward the Tyrol. Accordingly, Soult and Murat were directed to cross the Danube at Donauworth, 50 miles downstream from Ulm, and encircle the Austrians. The French crossed the river on the 7th and Mack still had a chance to seize the northern bank and retire to safety to Ingolstadt or Regensburg. Mack failed to grasp this opportunity and Napoleon quickly bolted this door.
With the mass of his army across the enemy's rear, Napoleon was faced with two problems: to ensure that the Russian vanguard could not join the Austrians and to cut off Mack's remaining avenue of escape, north of Ulm, through Heidenheim and Nordlingen. The first contigency presented no immediate difficulty as the Russians were in no position to intervene at Ulm. On the other hand, there was a real danger that Mack would seize his last chance to retire to the north, destroying the bridges over the Danube and capturing French depots along the route.
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The Austrian defeat at Elchingen opened a fatal split between Mack's forces on the Danube and those attempting to flee through Heidenheim. As Ney, Lannes, Marmont, and Soult invested Ulm, Murat marched by Albeck to cut off the northern avenue of escape. With Ulm under French artillery fire, Mack received Napoleon's summons to surrender. On October 20, Mack surrendered the remainder of his army at Ulm.
La Victoire est à nous
Next Phase: Advance to Brno
