General Vandamme, in the action at Donawerth, routed the regiment of
Colloredo, who defended the bridge, killed about 60 men and took 150
prisoners. Marshal Soult hastened to the bridge, and bore down upon
Augsburg with the division under Vandamme and Legrand; while St. Hilaire
marched his troops up the left bank of the Danube, to watch the
movements of the army collected round Ulm, and afterward, followed the
two divisions we have just named.
Murat arrived at Donawerth on the morning of the 7th of October, 1805,
with the dragoons commanded by General Walter, and crossed the river to
bear down rapidly upon the Lech. Colonel Wathier, at the head of 200
dragoons of the Fourth Regiment, crossed that river by swimming, to
occupy the bridge on the road to Rain. A regiment of Austrian
cuirassiers made some efforts at resistance, but were charged so
gallantly by Wathier and his small handful of men that the bridge
remained in the hands of the French.
Napoleon, who accompanied the corps under Lannes, took up his quarters
at Zusmershausen, where he reviewed the cavalry under Murat, as well as
the two divisions under Oudinot and Suchet.
Marshal Soult, after having manœuvred with Legrand’s division on the 7th
and 8th of October, rejoined that of Vandamme, to make for Augsburg by
the right bank of the Lech; whilst St. Hilaire pursued the same course
on the left. Soult met with the _debris_ of the Austrian column, beaten
and dispersed, at Wertingen; from which village he drove them, and
entered Augsburg.
[Illustration: THE 4th CORPS ENTERING AUGSBURG.]