We had not been able to shut up all the Austrian force in Ulm. Werneck
escaped by the way of Heidenheim, and the Archduke hastened after him.
They were both in full flight; but Fate had pronounced her decree,
and against that there is no appeal. Napoleon being informed, in the
middle of the night, that they were advancing on Albeck, immediately
summoned the Grand-duke. “A division,” said he, “has escaped from
the garrison, and threatens our rear; pursue and destroy it: let not
one escape.” The rain descended in torrents, and the roads were in
a dreadful condition; but fatigue and danger were forgotten in the
triumph of victory. Our troops hastened onward intent on conquest.
Murat came up with the enemy, attacked and routed him. He pursued him
closely in his flight for the space of two leagues, scarcely allowing
him time to take breath. Some masses occupied Erbrectingen with
cannon. Night had set in and our horses were exhausted: we halted. The
9th light arrived about ten o'clock. We then advanced; the attack
was resumed; village, artillery, caissons, all were taken. General
Odonel endeavoured to keep his ground with his rear-guard; but he was
observed by one of our quarter-masters, who wounded him and made him
prisoner. It was midnight, our troops were overcome with fatigue, and
we pursued our triumph no farther.
The enemy fled precipitately in the direction of Nordlingen, where
we possessed artillery and depôts. It was important to prevent his
reaching that point. Murat detached some parties, who, by harassing
and impeding him in his march, forced him to take up a position, that
is to say, to lose time. On the other hand, General Rivaud was to
put the bridge of Donnavert in a state of security, and to proceed
with the surplus of his force to the Wiesnitz. Every passage was
intercepted. These arrangements being made, the Prince began his
march and came up with the Archduke, who was deploying on Neresheim.
We attacked him with the enthusiasm inspired by victory: the shock
was irresistible; the cavalry fled, and the infantry laid down
their arms. Guns, standards, troops, all were taken in a mass: the
most terrible disorder prevailed. Klein, Fauconet, and Lanusses,
continued the pursuit, intercepted the enemy on every side, and
dispersed him in every direction. Werneck was summoned to surrender;
he hesitated; but a combination of extraordinary circumstances at
length induced him to do so. The officer appointed to escort the
French flag of truce crossed several plains in quest of his chief. He
met the Prince of Hohenzollern, to whom he communicated the object
of his mission. The Prince accompanied him, not doubting that the
Field-Marshal would accept the conditions. They directed their course
to Nordlingen, which they found occupied, not by the Austrians, but
by French troops. On the other hand, General Lasalle had advanced on
Merking, and had taken a thousand men. The fugitives spread alarm in
the enemy's head-quarters. These accounts staggered Werneck, and he
shewed himself disposed to treat. He detained the French officer and
sent as a hostage the Major of the regiment of Rannitz. He deferred
the negotiation until next day; for he wished to try the chances of
the night. As soon as it was dark, he proposed to combine his forces
with those of the Archduke; but the French intercepted the road, and
General Rivaud drove back Lichtenstein, and penetrated the great park,
which our hussars attacked in the rear. Werneck dared not go farther;
he thought himself surrounded, and he negotiated. Our troops occupied
the heights in order to be prepared against a surprise: but night
advanced; and Hohenzollern, who on the preceding day had regarded
the capitulation as inevitable, now availed himself of darkness to
elude it. General Miskiery followed his example: they escaped with
the cavalry and a few infantry troops, which had formed a part of the
corps that had laid down arms. It might have been supposed that they
were bound by the engagements of their chief; but no such thing; at
least they thought so, for they rejoined the wrecks of the Archduke's
force, with which they threw themselves on the Prussian territory. We
came up with them at Gunderhausen, and demanded the fulfilment of the
convention. The Prince of Schwartzenberg referred to orders, wished to
clear up doubts, to write, to explain; in a word, to gain time.
The Prussians insisted on their neutrality; they required that the
city should not be attacked, and that the enemy's column should
evacuate it. A person in magisterial robes came, escorted by a party
of the Archduke's officers, to threaten us with the displeasure of
King William. Klein was not the man to be intimidated by this kind
of masquerade: he sent to the Grand Duke the magistrate in the
Austrian interest, and gave the signal for the attack. The Prince of
Schwartzenberg was quite disconcerted: he had not imagined that the
General was so near at hand. He protested against the violation of
the Prussian territory, and proposed that we should respect it and
not occupy Gunderhausen. Klein told him to set a good example, and he
would follow it. We continued to advance, and yet Schwartzenberg came
to no decision. Murat, tired of being taken for a dupe, gave orders
for terminating the discussions and marching forward. The enemy's
rear-guard then set off at full gallop, and left us in possession of
the place. We pursued him for several leagues, without being able to
come up with him. It was night, and we took a position. We resumed
our march at daybreak; but the Archduke had fled so rapidly that we
did not overtake the rear of his baggage until we reached Nuremberg.
A piquet of our advance-guard charged him, and obliged the escort
battalion to lay down their arms. The piquet then pressed forward,
and entered a woody road, thronged with artillery and baggage,
pursuing some hundreds of dragoons, who vainly endeavoured to rally
themselves. The great body of the Austrian force was awaiting us in
an advantageous position. Our chasseurs were obliged to fall back;
but the hussars and carabiniers advanced, and the army was completely
routed. The Archduke himself narrowly escaped being made prisoner.
This was a finishing stroke to the corps who had escaped from Ulm. In
the short space of five days, 7000 brave men marched over forty-five
leagues, destroyed an army of 25,000 men, took their military chest
and baggage, carried off 128 pieces of cannon, 11 standards, and made
from 12 to 15,000 prisoners. Of all the Archduke's force nothing now
remained but a few thousand unfortunate men scattered about in the
woods.
Klein, however, persisted in his demands, and Werneck himself urged
the fulfilment of the conditions that had been entered into. They
required that the officers included in the capitulations should
surrender themselves prisoners. The French General addressed his
remonstrances to the Archduke, or, in his absence, to the General
commanding the Austrian army; but such disorder prevailed, that
the flag of truce was obliged to advance into the very heart of
Bohemia before he could find an officer to receive his dispatches.
The answer was long expected; but it at length arrived. It was a
letter from General Kollowrard, who transmitted to us the following
correspondence:
TO COUNT HOHENZOLLERN, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL IN THE SERVICE OF HIS
IMPERIAL AND ROYAL MAJESTY.
“You have submitted Lieutenant-general Werneck's letter to my
consideration. I must inform you that, according to the rules
of war and the law of nations, I regard the pretensions of the
French General as very illegal.
“Consequently I declare that you, and the troops with whom
you have returned, cannot be included in the capitulation. I
therefore order you as well as them to continue to serve as
before.
_Signed_, FERDINAND.
_Countersigned_, MORVAHL. Major and Aide-de-Camp.
“Egra, Oct. 23, 1805.”
By this document the capitulation was rendered no capitulation; and
thus Hohenzollern had fled without any violation of honour. He seemed
astonished at being required to surrender in a mass troops which he
was losing no less effectually in detail. His letter was curious; it
was as follows:
TO FIELD MARSHAL BARON WERNECK.
“Dear Comrade,
“I cannot conceal my astonishment at the proposition that has
been made to me to surrender with the cavalry which formed part
of your corps. When I left you, you in my presence refused to
enter into any capitulation; and, for my part, I intended to
bring back the cavalry to the army at all hazards, if you could
not extricate yourself with the infantry. I endeavoured to do
this, and I succeeded. I do not understand by what law I can be
accounted a prisoner of war, not having been present at your
arrangements, in which I should never have suffered myself to be
included. Having been separated from you since yesterday, I no
longer conceive myself bound to fulfil your orders: I receive the
commands of his Royal Highness our General-in-chief.
“I have the honour to be your very humble and obedient servant,
_Signed_, LIEUT.-GEN. HOHENZOLLERN,
Privy Counsellor.”
Napoleon was satisfied with himself, with the army and with every
body. He expressed his approbation of our conduct by the following
proclamation:
“Soldiers of the Great Army!
“In the space of fifteen days we have finished the campaign. All that
we proposed to do has been accomplished. We have driven from Bavaria
the troops of the House of Austria, and restored our ally to the
sovereignty of his States.
“That army which, with equal presumption and imprudence, came to
station itself on our frontiers, has been annihilated.
“But what does it signify to England? Her object is fulfilled. We are
no longer at Boulogne, and her subsidy will be neither more nor less.
“Of the 100,000 men who composed that army, sixty thousand are
prisoners: they will supply the place of our conscripts in
agricultural labours.
“Two hundred pieces of cannon, the whole park, ninety standards, and
all their Generals, are in our hands. Scarcely 15,000 men have escaped.
“Soldiers! I announced to you a great battle; but thanks to the ill
concerted plans of the enemy, I have obtained all the success I
anticipated without encountering any risk; and it is a circumstance
unparalleled in the history of nations that so great a triumph should
have diminished our force only by 1500 men rendered unfit for service.
“Soldiers! this success is due to the full confidence you reposed in
your Emperor, to your patience under fatigue and privation of every
kind, and to your singular intrepidity.
“But we shall not stop here. You are eager to commence a second
campaign.
“The Russian army, which English gold has transported from the further
extremity of Europe, will experience a similar fate.
“The present campaign is particularly connected with the glory of
the French infantry; the question which has already been determined
in Switzerland and Holland, will now be decided for the second time;
namely, whether the French infantry be the first or the second in
Europe.
“There are among the Russians no Generals over whom I can hope to
obtain glory. All my care will be to gain the victory with the least
possible effusion of blood: my soldiers are my children.”