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Battle of Schöngrabern

Part of the War of the Third Coalition (1805)

Summary

Part of the War of the Third Coalition (1805)

Field	Value
conflict	Battle of Schöngrabern (or Hollabrunn)
image	File:Shengraben1.jpg
caption	Battle of Shengraben (of Hollabrunn) by K. Bujnitsky
partof	the War of the Third Coalition
date	16 November 1805
place	Schöngrabern, Hollabrunn
coordinates
result	French victory
combatant1	First French Empire
combatant2	Russian Empire
commander1	{{plainlist
commander2	Russian Empire Pyotr Bagration
strength1
strength2	7,000–7,300
casualties1	1,200–2,000
casualties2
map_type	Europe
map_relief	1
map_size	300

First French Empire Jean Lannes
First French Empire Joachim Murat
First French Empire Louis Suchet
First French Empire Nicolas Oudinot Austria

| mark-coord1 = | mark-title1 = Battle of Lambach on 31 October 1805

| mark-coord2 = | mark-title2 = Battle of Amstetten on 5 November 1805

| mark-coord3 = | mark-title3 = Battle of Mariazell on 8 November 1805

| mark-coord4 = | mark-title4 = Battle of Dürenstein on 11 November 1805

| mark-coord5 = | mark-title5 = Battle of Schöngrabern on 16 November 1805 | label-color5 = black | shape-color5 = black

| mark-coord6 = | mark-title6 = Battle of Wischau on 25 November 1805

| mark-coord7 = | mark-title7 = Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805 | label-color7 = maroon | shape-color7 = maroon

The Battle of Schöngrabern, also known as the Battle of Hollabrunn, was an engagement in the Napoleonic Wars during the War of the Third Coalition, fought on 16 November 1805 near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria, four weeks after the Battle of Ulm and two weeks before the Battle of Austerlitz (Slavkov, Moravia - now Czech Republic).

Battle

The Russian army of Kutuzov was retreating north of the Danube before the French army of Napoleon. On 13 November 1805, Marshals Murat and Lannes, commanding the French advance guard, had captured a bridge over the Danube at Vienna by falsely claiming that an armistice had been signed, and then rushing the bridge while the guards were distracted. Kutuzov needed to gain time to make contact near Brno (Brünn) with reinforcements led by Buxhowden. He ordered his rearguard under Major-General Prince Pyotr Bagration to delay the French.

Murat and Lannes commanded the 4th and 5th Corps and the Reserve Cavalry. Bagration took up a position about 6 km north of Hollabrunn, on the hill above the small town of Schöngrabern (today part of Grabern). Murat believed the whole Russian army was before him and hesitated to attack. Bagration then suggested to Murat that negotiations for an armistice should be opened. Murat agreed and did not attack. When Napoleon was informed of this, he was furious and wrote to Murat:

On 16 November 1805, Murat informed Bagration that the armistice would end at 5:00 pm. The confused action took place during the night. After sustaining several French assaults and holding the position for six hours, Bagration was driven out and executed a skilled and organised withdrawal to retire northeast to join the main Russian army. His skillful defence in the face of superior forces successfully delayed the French enough for the Russian forces of Kutuzov and Buxhowden to unite at Brno (Brünn) on 18 November 1805.

In popular culture

The battle is depicted in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace. Prince Andrei Bolkonsky is present and attaches himself to the artillery battery of Captain Tushin. As the battle progresses, the battery ends up alone and unsupported, becoming the deciding factor in the successful withdrawal of the Russian troops. Later that evening, some Russian staff officers accused Captain Tushin of abandoning his artillery pieces rather than retreating with the guns as ordered. Prince Andrei tells Bagration that there were no supporting Russian troops and that Captain Tushin and his men might have been vital in delaying the French advance.

Given the lack of detail in historical sources for this battle, it is unclear how closely Tolstoy's version of the battle relates to the historical action.

Notes

References

"Napoleon Series Battle Lists: War of the 3rd Coalition".
Correspondance de Napoleon Ier, XI 505 (No. 9497)
(1949). "War and Peace". International Collectors Library.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

conflicts-in-1805 battles-of-the-war-of-the-third-coalition-involving-russia 1805-in-the-austrian-empire 1805-in-france november-1805 battles-inscribed-on-the-arc-de-triomphe joachim-murat

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