On September 21st, 1805, the three divisions under Bernadotte, took
their position at Butzbach, in the province of Gros-Herzogth; and on the
30th of the same month, the whole army was united before Wurtzburg.
General Marmont arrived at Mayence with his corps, joining Bernadotte
and the Bavarians.
The different columns of the army arrived successively upon the Rhine
from the 20th to the 26th of September; these corps were commanded by
Marshals Soult, Davoust, Ney, and Lannes; Murat commanding the reserve
of cavalry. They formed a line of which the right was at Strasburg, the
centre at Spire, and the left at Mayence.
The reserve of cavalry, composed of five divisions, crossed the Rhine on
the 25th of September, at Kehl. Lannes and his corps, consisting of the
grenadiers under Oudinot, and of a division under Suchet, crossed the
Rhine at the same place; and Marshal Ney, with his divisions, under
Dupont, Loison, and Malher, and the dragoons of Baragny d’Hilliers,
followed on the 26th.
Soult with the divisions of Vandamme, Legrand, and St. Hilaire, effected
his passage at Spire; and Davoust at Manheim at the head of the
divisions under Friant, Gudin, and Bouvrier.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON CROSSING THE RHINE AT KEHL.]