EYLAU
When Napoleon became Emperor
of the French he needed something to solidify his power. Napoleon
had seized power after his return from Egypt just after Massena
had saved France from annihilation. This rivalry, and his need
to expand the French borders, caused him to look for trouble.
He had gathered all the armies into La Grande Armee under the
pretext of invading England, but he really wanted to train them
for the war he hoped to provoke. Austria, which had lost to Napoleon
in two Italian campaigns, was the first to seek revenge. Thinking
Napoleon would fight in terrain he knew, the Austrians sent large
armies into Italy while Napoleon entered through Germany. Napoleon
went past Mack at Ulm, and would have been in bad trouble had
not Archduke Ferdinand refused to fight. Napoleon returned to
siege Mack, and Ferdinand escaped with 6000 men, while 35,000
others fled to the Tyrol. Murat chased down Ferdinand and Mack
got penned in. Mack refused to surrender or negotiate, but his
officers disobeyed him and surrendered in his name. In 1797 Mack
had surrendered to the French to escape his own soldiers. The
only man willing to fight Napoleon would have his career ruined
by an incompetent archduke and disloyal officers. The Russians
began retreating until Czar Alexander took over command. Napoleon
looked for the ideal battlefield for a spectacular victory and
waited for the allies to attack him. His plan at Austerlitz was
so spectacular, that had Murat done as he was told, there would
have been no fighting in 1806-1807, and probably not in 1812.
It was to be Napoleon's best battle, and end the war with Austria.
The Prussians, meanwhile had been watching the fighting with interest.
Having conflicting interests with Austria, the Prussians wanted
better concessions from France by defeating Napoleon after he
had taken territory from Austria. With the war in Austria over,
the Prussians began to arm and movedagainst France, thinking the
French Army would have gone home. Napoleon was expecting Prussia
to go to war, and had left La Grande Armee in Germany. As the
Prussians were marching against Napoleon he was outflanking them.
They began to retreat causing the twin battles of Jena and Auerstadt.
Thoroughly mauled, the Prussian army was chased down and annihilated
before it could recover. All of Prussia was occupied, and only
one corps was left to fight the French. With Russia at the border
of Poland, and Prussia nearly out of the war, Napoleon moved into
Poland for winter quarters. The Russians attacked in the hope
of catching the French spread out, but Napoleon outflanked them
and caused them to retreat. After a series of large delaying actions,
the Russians finally made a stand at Preussich-Eylau. As night
was arriving Napoleon had the Russians pushed off the heights
overlooking the town. Murat impetuously followed the retreating
Russians, Soult's men charged after, and Russian cavalry mauled
French infantry. After eight hours of vicious fighting in the
cold, the French took Eylau and used it to shelter from the bitter
cold, while wounded Russians froze to death. On the eighth Napoleon
prepared to wait for Davout, Ney and Bernadotte, but the Russians
began an artillery barrage and started to attack Napoleon's left
flank. Wanting to regain the initiative, Napoleon ordered Augereau
to advance up the center without preparation. He got lost in a
snowstorm and wandered into a massed Russian battery. The Russians
followed with cavalry and infantry. The corps disintegrated. With
no center and the enemy fast approaching, the imperial guard destroyed
a column heading towards Napoleon, while Murat performed the greatest
cavalry charge of the Napoleonic wars. Davout began to arrive
and pushed back the Russian left flank. The imperial guard were
now the center. The Prussians arrived on the Russian right flank
and travelled all the way over to the Russian left flank. When
they arrived Davout was pushed back until he formed a massed battery
which kept the Prussians at bay. Ney arrived late and did little
more than defeat the Prussian rearguard before rejoining the French
left flank. The battle was a disaster for the French. Augereau's
corps was disbanded among the other corps and 25,000 French were
casualties. The Allies lost 15,000 men. This began the decline
of the greatest army of the Napoleonic era. German auxiliaries
were desperately organized to replace French losses. Friedland
would be their first taste of battle. That decisive battle would
end in the Treaty of Tilsit. Had the Russians been defeated more
decisively at any of the battles, the invasion of Russia in 1812
would have been unnecessary.
