Misplaced Pages

#778221

89-885: The range is named after the Zillertal (Ziller river valley) on its north. The range is bounded by the Tuxerjoch mountain pass to the north (separating it from the Tux Alps ); the Birnlücke - Forcella del Picco pass to the east (separating it from the Hohe Tauern ); the Eisack and its tributary the Rienz to the south (separating it from the Southern Limestone Alps ); and the Brenner Pass to

178-472: A battle across rivers and ordered his marshals to capture the important bridges around Ulm. He also began shifting his forces to the north of Ulm because he expected a battle in that region rather than an encirclement of the city itself. These dispositions and actions would lead to a confrontation at Elchingen on the 14th as Ney's forces advanced on Albeck. At this point in the campaign, the Austrian command staff

267-472: A cavalry division, and about 36 to 40 cannon . On top of these forces, Napoleon created a cavalry reserve of 22,000 organized into two cuirassier divisions , four mounted dragoon divisions, and two divisions of dismounted dragoons and light cavalry, all supported by 24 artillery pieces. By 1805, the Grande Armée had grown to a force of 350,000, was well equipped, adequately trained, and possessed

356-596: A conclusion. On 15 October, Ney's troops successfully charged the Michelsberg encampments and on the 16th the French began to bombard Ulm itself. Austrian morale was at a low point and Mack began to realize that there was little hope of rescue. On 17 October, Napoleon's emissary, Ségur , signed a convention with Mack in which the Austrians agreed to surrender on 25 October if no aid came by that date. Gradually, however, Mack heard of

445-698: A decisive French victory at the Battle of Campo Tenese . On 26 December 1805, Austria and France signed the Treaty of Pressburg, which took Austria out of both the war and the Coalition, while it reinforced the earlier treaties of Campo Formio and of Lunéville between the two powers. The treaty confirmed the Austrian cession of lands in Italy to France and in Germany to Napoleon's German allies, imposed an indemnity of 40 million francs on

534-413: A knockout blow against Ney's corps by enveloping Dupont's force. Dupont sensed what was happening and preempted the Austrians by launching a surprise attack on Jungingen that captured at least 1,000 prisoners. Renewed Austrian attacks drove these forces back to Haslach, which the French managed to hold. Dupont was eventually forced to fall back on Albeck, where he joined d'Hilliers 's troops. The effects of

623-542: A large wheeling manoeuvre by the Grande Armée lasting from late August to mid-October 1805 that captured an entire Austrian army, and the decisive French victory over a combined Austro-Russian force under Alexander I of Russia at the Battle of Austerlitz in early December. Austerlitz effectively brought the Third Coalition to an end, although later there was a small side campaign against Naples, which also resulted in

712-608: A link between his brother, Charles, and his cousin, Archduke Ferdinand ; the latter's force of 72,000, which was to invade Bavaria and hold the defensive line at Ulm, was effectively controlled by Mack. The Austrians also detached individual corps to serve with the Swedish in Pomerania and the British in Naples , though these were designed to obfuscate the French and divert their resources. In both

801-557: A north–south direction. The Ziller Valley proper stretches from the village of Strass to Mayrhofen, where it separates into four smaller valleys, the Tux valley and the sparsely settled, so-called Gründe – Zamsergrund, Zillergrund and Stilluppgrund. Along the way, two more Gründe and the Gerlos valley , which leads to the Gerlos Pass and into Salzburg , branch off. Unlike other side valleys of

890-519: A phase of mergers by building connecting lifts during the 1990s and early 2000s, there are now four big ski areas , the largest of which is the Zillertal Arena , and three smaller satellite areas in the valley. Combined, they offer a total of more than 170 lifts and more than 630 km of downhill slopes. Traditional agriculture – mostly cattle, dairy and some sheep farming on the Alm pastures –

979-611: A possible British invasion. Marshal Joachim Murat and General Bertrand conducted reconnaissance between the area bordering the Tyrol and the Main as General Savary , chief of the planning staff, drew up detailed road surveys of the areas between the Rhine and the Danube. The left-wing of the Grande Armée would move from Hanover and Utrecht to fall on Württemberg; the right and centre, troops from

SECTION 10

#1732852186779

1068-507: A reasonable opportunity at saving the bulk of his forces. Napoleon had little accurate information about Mack's intentions or manoeuvres. He knew that Kienmayer 's Corps was sent to Ingolstadt east of the French positions, but his agents greatly exaggerated its size. On 5 October, Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to join Marshals Lannes , Soult , and Murat in concentrating and crossing the Danube at Donauwörth . The French encirclement

1157-554: A skilled officer class. The Imperial Russian Army in 1805 had many characteristics of ancien régime military organization: there was no permanent formation above the regimental level, senior officers were largely recruited from aristocratic circles (including foreigners), and the Russian soldier, in line with 18th-century practice, was regularly beaten and punished to instill discipline. Furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained and had difficulty getting their men to perform

1246-559: A successful rearguard action in Amstetten . On 7 November, the Russians arrived in St. Pölten , and then moved across the Danube river the next day. Late on 9 November, they destroyed the bridges across the Danube, holding the last one, at Stein, near Krems , until the late afternoon. The following day, Marshal Mortier ordered General Gazan to attack what they believed to be a Russian rear guard, at

1335-635: A viceroy, his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais ). Keen on revenge and having been defeated twice in recent memory by France, Austria joined the Third Coalition a few months later. Prior to the formation of the Third Coalition, Napoleon had assembled the Army of England , an invasion force meant to strike at England, from around six camps at Boulogne in Northern France. Although they never set foot on British soil, Napoleon's troops received careful and invaluable training for any possible military operation. Boredom among

1424-518: Is not supported in a contemporary account from a major-general of the Austrian army, who tells of a joint advance of the Russian and Austrian forces (in which he himself took part) five days before the Battle of Austerlitz, and it is explicitly rejected in Goetz's recent book-length study of the battle. In August 1805, Napoleon, Emperor of the French since May of the previous year, turned his army's sights from

1513-499: Is often cited as a cause for disastrous consequences. The Russians were still using the old style Julian calendar , while the Austrians had adopted the new style Gregorian calendar , and by 1805 a difference of 12 days existed between the two systems. Confusion is purported to have ensued from the differing timetables regarding when the Allied forces should combine, leading to an inevitable breakdown in mutual coordination. However, this tale

1602-564: Is still widespread and the large sawmill outside the village of Fügen is a sign of the lumber industry that also plays a significant role. The periphery of the area is home to a number of factories. Four large reservoirs in the Gründe supply water to a total of eight hydroelectric power stations , generating slightly more than 1,200  GWh per year. The Ziller Valley is particularly renowned for its musical tradition. For instance, several families of travelling singers and organ builders from

1691-616: Is visible, as churches on the right bank of the river generally have green towers and belong to Salzburg Diocese , while churches on the left bank have red towers and belong to Innsbruck Diocese. In 1248, the land west of the Ziller was acquired by the Counts of Tyrol , while the lands east of the Ziller pledged as security to the Counts of Tyrol by the Lords of Rattenberg from 1290 to 1380. In 1504, with both

1780-649: The Austrian Empire , the Russian Empire , Naples , Sicily , and Sweden . Prussia remained neutral during the war. Britain had already been at war with France following the breakdown of the Peace of Amiens and remained the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg . From 1803 to 1805, Britain stood under constant threat of a French invasion . The Royal Navy , however, assured its naval dominance at

1869-604: The Battle of Haslach-Jungingen on Napoleon's plans are not fully clear, but the Emperor may have finally ascertained that the majority of the Austrian army was concentrated at Ulm. Accordingly, Napoleon sent the corps of Soult and Marmont towards the Iller , meaning he now had four infantry and one cavalry corps to deal with Mack; Davout, Bernadotte, and the Bavarians were still guarding the region around Munich. Napoleon did not intend to fight

SECTION 20

#1732852186779

1958-560: The Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. The Third Coalition itself came to full fruition in 1804–05 as Napoleon's actions in Italy and Germany (notably the arrest and execution of the Duc d'Enghien ) spurred Austria and Russia into joining Britain against France. The war would be determined on the continent, and the major land operations that sealed the swift French victory involved the Ulm Campaign ,

2047-593: The Black Forest . Meanwhile, Marshal Murat would conduct cavalry screens across the Black Forest to fool the Austrians into thinking that the French were advancing on a direct west–east axis. The main attack in Germany would be supported by French assaults in other theatres: Marshal Masséna would confront Archduke Charles in Italy with 50,000 men, Marshal St. Cyr would march to Naples with 20,000 men, and Marshal Brune would patrol Boulogne with 30,000 troops against

2136-679: The English Channel to the Rhine in order to deal with the new Austrian and Russian threats. The War of the Third Coalition began with the Ulm Campaign, a series of French and Bavarian military manoeuvres and battles designed to outflank an Austrian army under General Mack. General Mack thought that Austrian security relied on sealing off the gaps through the mountainous Black Forest area in Southern Germany that had witnessed much fighting during

2225-543: The Grande Armée safe passage. The allied fleet, under the command of the French admiral, Pierre-Charles Villeneuve , sailed from the port of Cádiz in the south of Spain on 18 October 1805. They encountered the British fleet under Lord Nelson , recently assembled to meet this threat, in the Atlantic Ocean along the southwest coast of Spain, off Cape Trafalgar . Nelson was outnumbered, with 27 British ships of

2314-416: The Iller line anchored on Ulm. In the last three days of September, the French began the furious marches that would find them at the Austrian rear. Mack believed that the French would not violate Prussian territory, but when he heard that Bernadotte 's I Corps had marched through Prussian Ansbach , he made the critical decision to stay and defend Ulm rather than retreat to the south, which would have offered

2403-678: The Protestant Reformation , the remaining Protestants were oppressed more harshly during the Habsburg rule of the 19th century. In 1837, 437 Protestant inhabitants of the Ziller Valley left the valley after they were given the choice of renouncing the Augsburg Confession or emigrating to Silesia , where Frederick William III of Prussia offered them lands and housing near Erdmannsdorf (now Mysłakowice in western Poland). In 1902,

2492-580: The Reformation a lively Protestant movement developed in the Ziller Valley. There was animosity from the side of the Catholic Church, culminating in the forced exodus of Ziller Valley Protestants in 1837. Today, some smaller Protestant congregations exist in Mayrhofen , Jenbach and Schwaz . 47°20′N 11°52′E  /  47.333°N 11.867°E  / 47.333; 11.867 War of

2581-527: The Treaty of Amiens . For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. However, many problems persisted between the two sides making the implementation of the treaty increasingly difficult. Napoleon was angry that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta . The tension only worsened when Napoleon sent an expeditionary force to attempt to re-establish control over Haiti . Prolonged intransigence on these issues led Britain to declare war on France on 18 May 1803. Napoleon's expeditionary army

2670-659: The Ziller Valley Railway was constructed, which still runs between Jenbach and Mayrhofen to this day, opening up the valley, the economy of which had previously relied mostly on agriculture and mining , to commerce and tourism . From 1921 to 1976, magnesium carbonate (and later tungsten ) were mined around the Alpine pastures of the Schrofen and Wangl Almen above the Tuxertal A ropeway conveyor of more than 9 km length

2759-646: The Zillertal Alps , the strongly glaciated section of the Alps in which it lies. The Tux Alps lie to its west, while the lower grass peaks of the Kitzbühel Alps are found to the east. The Ziller Valley is one of the valley areas in Tyrol most visited by tourists. Its largest settlement is Mayrhofen . The Ziller Valley branches from the Inn trench near Jenbach , about 40 km northeast of Innsbruck , running mostly in

Zillertal Alps - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-484: The Zillertal Arena , which was soon followed by other lifts and the opening of the Mayrhofner Penkenbahn in 1954. The use of water power took off in the 1970s. In the second half of the 20th century, after the end of mining in the valley, tourism became the area's dominant economic activity. In 2003, tourists stayed a total of 6 million nights in the valley, mostly during winter sports holidays. Following

2937-549: The Anglo-Russian alliance was to reduce France to its 1792 borders. Austria, Sweden, and Naples would eventually join this alliance, whilst Prussia again remained neutral. Meantime, the lull in participating in active military campaigning from 1801 to 1804 permitted Napoleon to consolidate his political power base in France. 1802 saw him proclaimed Consul for Life, his reward for having made peace with Britain, albeit briefly, as well as

3026-469: The Austrian armed forces. Charles was Austria's best field commander, but he was unpopular with the imperial court and lost much influence when, against his advice, Austria decided to go to war with France. Karl Mack became the new main commander in Austria's army, instituting reforms on the infantry on the eve of war that called for a regiment to be composed of four battalions of four companies rather than

3115-426: The Austrian pickets and a regiment boldly attacked and captured the abbey at the top of the hill at bayonet point. The Austrian cavalry was also defeated and Riesch's infantry fled; Ney was given the title "Duke of Elchingen" for his impressive victory. Other actions took place on the 14th. Murat's forces joined Dupont at Albeck just in time to drive off an Austrian attack from Werneck; together Murat and Dupont beat

3204-453: The Austrian positions, but all failed. Mack then sent in Ignác Gyulay with seven infantry battalions and fourteen cavalry squadrons to repair the destroyed bridges, but this force was charged and swept away by the delayed French 59th Infantry Regiment. Fierce fighting ensued and the French finally managed to establish a foothold on the right bank of the Danube. While the Battle of Günzburg

3293-412: The Austrians from the north and west. Auffenburg attempted a retreat to the southwest, but he was not quick enough: the Austrians were decimated, losing nearly their entire force, 1,000 to 2,000 of which were prisoners. The Battle of Wertingen had been an easy French victory. The actions at Wertingen convinced Mack to operate on the left bank of the Danube instead of making a direct eastwards retreat on

3382-463: The Austrians to the north in the direction of Heidenheim . By night on the 14th, two French corps were stationed in the vicinity of the Austrian encampments at Michelsberg, right outside of Ulm. Mack was now in a dangerous situation: there was no longer any hope of escaping along the north bank, Marmont and the Imperial Guard were hovering at the outskirts of Ulm to the south of the river, and Soult

3471-575: The Channel coast, would concentrate along the Middle Rhine around cities like Mannheim and Strasbourg . While Murat was making demonstrations across the Black Forest, other French forces would then invade the German heartland and swing towards the southeast by capturing Augsburg , a move that was supposed to isolate Mack and interrupt the Austrian lines of communication. On 22 September, Mack decided to hold

3560-640: The County of Tyrol and the Archbishopric of Salzburg dominated by the Habsburgs , the Ziller Valley was united under Emperor Maximilian and put under joint Tyrolean/Salzburgian rule. In 1805, the Treaty of Pressburg ended the War of the Third Coalition and forced Austria to cede Tyrol to Bavaria . For the purposes of this treaty, the Ziller Valley was considered part of Salzburg and thus remained with Austria. The people of

3649-478: The Franco-Spanish fleet in three, isolating the rear half from Villeneuve's flag aboard Bucentaure . The allied vanguard sailed off while it attempted to turn around, giving the British temporary superiority over the remainder of their fleet. In the ensuing fierce battle 20 allied ships were lost, while the British lost none. The offensive exposed the leading British ships to intense crossfire as they approached

Zillertal Alps - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-463: The Franco-Spanish lines. Nelson's own HMS  Victory led the front column and was almost knocked out of action. Nelson was shot by a French musketeer during the battle, and died shortly before it ended. Villeneuve was captured along with his flagship Bucentaure . He attended Nelson's funeral while a captive on parole in Britain. The senior Spanish fleet officer, Admiral Federico Gravina , escaped with

3827-407: The French originally thought. During this time, the Russian threat to the east began to preoccupy Napoleon so much that Murat was given command of the right wing of the army, consisting of Ney's and Lannes's corps. The French were separated in two massive rings at this point: the forces of Ney, Lannes and Murat to the west were containing Mack, while those of Soult, Davout, Bernadotte and Marmont to

3916-591: The Imperial throne, becoming Francis I, Emperor of Austria. Those achievements, however, did not establish a lasting peace on the continent. Austerlitz had driven neither Russia nor Britain, whose fleet protected Sicily from a French invasion, to cease fighting. Meanwhile, Prussian worries about the growing French influence in Central Europe sparked the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. Historians differ on when

4005-404: The Inntal, the Ziller Valley rises constantly, but only marginally, from one end to the other – only about 100 m over 30 km. Permanent settlements cover about 9% of the entire area of the Ziller Valley municipalities. Near the Tuxer Joch , a pass between the Wipptal and the Tux valley , there have been archeological finds from middle Stone Age . The oldest remains of settlements in

4094-492: The Mediterranean front by only focusing on land battles in Central Europe and the Trafalgar campaign. Europe had been embroiled in the French Revolutionary Wars since 1792. After five years of war, the French Republic subdued the armies of the First Coalition in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798, but this too was defeated by 1801, leaving Britain the only opponent of the new French Consulate . In March 1802, France and Britain agreed to cease hostilities under

4183-413: The Third Coalition [REDACTED] France The War of the Third Coalition ( French : Guerre de la Troisième Coalition ) was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars . During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Third Coalition, which was made up of the United Kingdom ,

4272-491: The War of the Third Coalition began and when it ended. From the British perspective, the war started when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803, but it was still on its own. It was not until December 1804 when Sweden entered into an alliance with the United Kingdom, not until 11 April 1805 when Russia joined the alliance, not until 16 July when Britain and Russia ratified their treaty of alliance, and only thereafter Austria (9 August) and Naples–Sicily (11 September) completed

4361-439: The Ziller Valley date back to the Illyrians during the late Bronze and early Iron Ages – a tribe from the Balkan Peninsula who were absorbed in that area by the Bavarians ( Baiuvarii ). The earliest written record of the Ziller Valley dates from 889, when Arnulf of Carinthia granted land to the Archbishop of Salzburg in the "Cilarestale". Ownership of the valley was divided along the Ziller River. Even today this division

4450-418: The Ziller Valley nevertheless joined Andreas Hofer 's Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809 in the Battle of the Ziller Bridge (14 May). Later that year, the insurrection was defeated and the Ziller Valley briefly became Bavarian until the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815. While the relatively lenient stance of the archbishops of Salzburg had allowed the creation of small pockets of Protestantism in their lands since

4539-435: The area provided valuable commodities like timber, tar, and hemp, crucial supplies to its Royal Navy . Additionally, Britain had supported the Ottoman Empire in resisting Russian incursions towards the Mediterranean . Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians eased in the face of several French political mistakes, and on 11 April 1805 the two signed a treaty of alliance in Saint Petersburg . The stated goal of

SECTION 50

#1732852186779

4628-408: The arrest and execution of Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien , a royalist émigré who had been implicated (on dubious evidence) in an assassination plot against First Consul Bonaparte. The execution of Enghien shocked the aristocrats of Europe, who still remembered the bloodletting of the Revolution and thus lost whatever conditional respect they may have entertained for Napoleon. Fanning the flames of

4717-542: The bridges at Günzburg would yield a large strategic advantage. To accomplish this objective, Napoleon sent Ney's Corps to Günzburg, completely unaware that the bulk of the Austrian army was heading to the same destination. On 8 October, however, the campaign witnessed its first serious battle at Wertingen between Auffenburg's troops and those of Murat and Lannes. For reasons not entirely clear, Mack ordered Auffenburg on 7 October to take his division of 5,000 infantry and 400 cavalry from Günzburg to Wertingen in preparation for

4806-438: The campaigns of 1796 and 1800, Napoleon had envisaged the Danube theatre as the central focus of French efforts, but in both instances, the Italian theatre became the most important. The Aulic Council thought Napoleon would strike in Italy again. Napoleon had other intentions: 210,000 French troops would be launched eastwards from the camps of Boulogne and would envelop General Mack's exposed Austrian army if it kept marching towards

4895-405: The campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars. Mack believed that there would be no action in Central Germany. Mack decided to make the city of Ulm the centrepiece of his defensive strategy, which called for containment of the French until the Russians under Mikhail Kutuzov could arrive and alter the odds against Napoleon. Ulm was protected by the heavily fortified Michelsberg heights, giving Mack

4984-400: The capitulations at Heidenheim and Neresheim and agreed to surrender five days before schedule on 20 October. 10,000 troops from the Austrian garrison managed to escape, but the vast majority of the Austrian force marched out on the 21st and laid down their arms without incident, all with the Grande Armée drawn up in a vast semicircle observing the capitulation. The Battle of Trafalgar

5073-432: The danger of his position, Mack decided to go on the offensive. On 8 October, he commanded the army to concentrate around Günzburg and hoped to strike at Napoleon's lines of communication. Mack instructed Kienmayer to draw Napoleon further east towards Munich and Augsburg. Napoleon did not seriously consider the possibility that Mack would cross the Danube and move away from his central base, but he did realize that seizing

5162-468: The defeated Habsburgs, and allowed the defeated Russian troops free passage, with their arms and equipment, through hostile territories and back to their home soil. Victory at Austerlitz also prompted Napoleon to create the Confederation of the Rhine , a collection of German client states that pledged themselves to raise an army of 63,000 men. As a direct consequence of those events, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when, in 1806, Francis II abdicated

5251-411: The early hours of 10 October. Mack was deliberating about a course of action to pursue and the Austrian army remained inactive at Ulm until the 11th. Meanwhile, Napoleon was operating under flawed assumptions: he believed the Austrians were moving to the east or southeast and that Ulm was lightly guarded. Ney sensed this misapprehension and wrote to Berthier that Ulm was, in fact, more heavily defended than

5340-402: The east were charged with guarding against any possible Russian and Austrian incursions. On 11 October, Ney made a renewed push on Ulm; the 2nd and 3rd divisions were to march to the city along the right bank of the Danube while Dupont's division, supported by one dragoons division, was to march directly for Ulm and seize the entire city. The orders were hopeless because Ney still did not know that

5429-407: The entire Austrian army was stationed at Ulm. The 32nd Infantry Regiment in Dupont's division marched from Haslach towards Ulm and ran into four Austrian regiments holding Bolfingen. The 32nd carried out several ferocious attacks, but the Austrians held firm and repulsed every single one of them. The Austrians flooded the battle with more cavalry and infantry regiments to Jungingen hoping to score

SECTION 60

#1732852186779

5518-474: The establishment of a meritorious order, the Legion of Honour . Then, in May 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Napoleon, Emperor of the French , and crowned at Notre Dame on 2 December 1804. He created eighteen Marshals of the Empire from among his top generals, securing the allegiance of the army. Napoleon added the crown of (Northern) Italy to his mantle in May 1805, thereby placing a traditional Austrian sphere of influence under his rule (eventually through

5607-429: The fragile Third Coalition" and "ended the War of the Third Coalition". This narrative leaves out the subsequent French invasion of Naples (February–July 1806), which the occupying Anglo-Russian troops hastily evacuated and the remaining Neapolitan forces relatively quickly surrendered. Other scholars argue the southern Italian campaign should be included into the War of the Second Coalition , and criticise ignoring

5696-537: The front and the rear. Not until Dupont's division arrived, after dark, was Gazan able to start to evacuate his soldiers to the other side of the Danube. Gazan lost close to 40 percent of his division. In addition, 47 officers and 895 men were captured, and he lost five guns, as well as the eagles of the 4th Infantry Regiment, and the eagle and guidon of the 4th Dragoons. The Russians also lost around 4,000, about 16 percent of their force, and two regimental colors. The Austrian Lt. Field Marshal Johann Heinrich von Schmitt

5785-408: The fully-fledged coalition. Meanwhile, Bavaria sided with France on 25 August, and Württemberg joined Napoleon on 5 September. No major hostilities between France and any member of the coalition other than Britain ( Trafalgar campaign March–November 1805) occurred until the Ulm Campaign (25 September – 20 October 1805). This was in part because Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom

5874-435: The impression that the city was virtually impregnable from outside attack. Fatally, the Aulic Council decided to make Northern Italy the main theatre of operations for the Austrian army. Archduke Charles was assigned 95,000 troops and directed to cross the Adige river with Mantua , Peschiera , and Milan as the initial objectives. Archduke John was given 23,000 troops and commanded to secure Tyrol while serving as

5963-428: The line to 33 Franco-Spanish ships, including the largest warship in either fleet, the Spanish Santísima Trinidad . To address this imbalance, Nelson sailed his fleet directly at the allied battle line's flank, hoping to break the line into pieces. Villeneuve had worried that Nelson might attempt this tactic, but for various reasons, failed to prepare for it. The plan worked almost perfectly; Nelson's columns split

6052-408: The main Austrian advance out of Ulm. Uncertain of what to do and having little hope for reinforcements, Auffenburg was in a dangerous position. The first French forces to arrive were Murat's cavalry divisions – Klein's 1st Dragoons, Beaumont 3rd Dragoons, and Nansouty's cuirassiers . They began to assault the Austrian positions and were soon joined by Oudinot 's grenadiers, who were hoping to outflank

6141-455: The older three battalions of six companies. The sudden change came with no corresponding officer training, and as a result, these new units were not led as well as they could have been. Austrian cavalry forces were regarded as the best in Europe, but the detachment of many cavalry units to various infantry formations precluded the hitting power of their massed French counterparts. Finally, a significant divergence between these two nominal allies

6230-402: The other under Franz von Werneck went north with most of the heavy artillery. Ney hurried his corps forward to reestablish contact with Dupont. Ney led his troops to the south of Elchingen on the right bank of the Danube and began the attack. The field to the side was a partially wooded flood plain, rising steeply to the hill town of Elchingen, which had a wide field of view. The French cleared

6319-406: The outcry resulting from d'Enghien's death and the growing fear over increasing French power, British Prime Minister William Pitt spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France. Pitt scored a significant coup by securing a burgeoning rival as an ally. The Baltic was dominated by Russia, something Britain had been uncomfortable with since

6408-736: The right bank. This would require the Austrian army to cross at Günzburg. On 8 October, Ney was operating under Marshal Berthier 's directions that called for a direct attack on Ulm the following day. Ney sent in Malher's 3rd Division to capture the Günzburg bridges over the Danube. A column of this division ran into some Tyrolean jägers and captured 200 of them, including their commander General d'Aspré , along with two cannons. The Austrians noticed these developments and reinforced their positions around Günzburg with three infantry battalions and 20 cannons. Malher's division conducted several heroic attacks against

6497-592: The sometimes complex manoeuvres required in a battle. Nevertheless, the Russians did have a fine artillery arm manned by soldiers who regularly fought hard to prevent their pieces from falling into enemy hands. Archduke Charles , brother of the Austrian Emperor, had started to reform the Austrian army in 1801 by taking away power from the Hofkriegsrat , the military-political council responsible for decision-making in

6586-504: The surviving third of the Franco-Spanish fleet; he died six months later of wounds sustained during the battle. The main body of the Grande Armée followed the remains of the Austrian army towards Vienna . Following the failure of the Austrian army at Ulm, a Russian army under General Mikhail Kutuzov was also withdrawing east, and reached the Ill river on 22 October, where it joined with Kienmayer's retreating corps. On 5 November, they held

6675-491: The troops occasionally set in, but Napoleon paid many visits and conducted lavish parades in order to boost the morale of the soldiers. The men at Boulogne formed the core for what Napoleon would later call La Grande Armée ("The Great Army"). At the start, this French army had about 200,000 men organized into seven corps , each capable of independent action or in concert with other corps. Corps were large combined arms field units typically containing 2–4 infantry divisions,

6764-646: The valley have been credited with spreading the Christmas carol Silent Night across the world during the 19th and early 20th centuries. More recently, the Schürzenjäger band have had tremendous success in German-speaking countries with their crossover mix of Volksmusik and pop . The majority of the population belongs to the Catholic Church , which plays an important role in socio-cultural life. After

6853-519: The village of Stein. This was a trap on the part of Kutuzov, laid for the sole purpose of convincing Mortier that he had retreated further toward Vienna, when he had actually crossed the Danube in force, and lay concealed behind the ridges above the village. In the ensuing Battle of Dürenstein , three Russian columns circled around the First Division of the Corps Mortier , and attacked Gazan from both

6942-712: The west (separating it from the Stubai Alps ). The Zillertal Alps are divided into the following sub-groups: The main peaks of the Zillertal Alps are: The main mountain passes of the Zillertal Alps are: Zillertal The Ziller Valley ( German : Zillertal ) is a valley in Tyrol , Austria that is drained by the Ziller River. It is the widest valley south of the Inn Valley ( German : Inntal ) and lends its name to

7031-505: The whole amount on his planned invasion of England . The nascent Third Coalition came into being in December 1804 when, in exchange for payment, an Anglo-Swedish agreement was signed allowing the British to use Swedish Pomerania as a military base against France (explicitly, the nearby French-occupied Electorate of Hanover , the homeland of the British monarch). The Swedish government had broken diplomatic ties with France in early 1804 after

7120-681: Was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). As part of Napoleon 's plans to invade the United Kingdom , the French and Spanish fleets combined to take control of the English Channel and provide

7209-463: Was being fought, Ney sent General Loison's 2nd Division to capture the Danube bridges at Elchingen , which were lightly defended by the Austrians. Having lost most of the Danube bridges, Mack marched his army back to Ulm. By 10 October, Ney's corps had made significant progress: Malher's division had crossed to the right bank, Loison's division held Elchingen, and Dupont 's division was heading towards Ulm. The demoralized Austrian army arrived at Ulm in

7298-685: Was destroyed by disease in Haiti and subsequently swayed the First Consul to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, the vast territory of Louisiana in North America had little value to him. Though Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France per the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso , a war between France and Britain

7387-510: Was imminent. Out of anger against Spain and having the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory to the United States for a sum total of 68 million francs ($ 15 million). The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on 30 April 1803. Despite issuing orders that the over 60 million francs were to be spent on the construction of five new canals in France, Bonaparte spent

7476-406: Was in full confusion. Ferdinand began to openly oppose Mack's command style and decisions, charging that the latter spent his days writing contradictory orders that left the Austrian army marching back and forth. On 13 October, Mack sent two columns out of Ulm in preparation for a breakout to the north: one under General Johann Sigismund Riesch headed towards Elchingen to secure the bridge there and

7565-534: Was killed as the battle concluded, probably by Russian musketry in the confused melee. At the Battle of Schöngrabern (also known as the Battle of Hollabrunn) occurred a week after the battle at Dürenstein. On 16 November 1805. near Hollabrunn in Lower Austria . The Russian army of Kutuzov was retiring north of the Danube before the French army of Napoleon. On 13 November 1805 Marshals Murat and Lannes , commanding

7654-636: Was moving from Memmingen to prevent the Austrians escaping south to the Tyrol. Troubles continued with the Austrian command as Ferdinand overrode the objections of Mack and ordered the evacuation of all cavalry from Ulm, a total of 6,000 troopers. Murat's pursuit was so effective, however, that only eleven squadrons joined Werneck at Heidenheim. Murat continued his harassment of Werneck and forced him to surrender with 8,000 men at Trochtelfingten on 19 October; Murat also took an entire Austrian field park of 500 vehicles, then swept on towards Neustadt and captured 12,000 Austrians. Events at Ulm were now reaching

7743-412: Was not called off until 27 August 1805, when he decided to use his invasion force camped at Boulogne against Austria instead. Likewise, no major battles occurred after the Battle of Austerlitz and the signing of the Peace of Pressburg on 26 December 1805, which forced Austria to leave the Third Coalition and cease hostilities against France. Some historians conclude that Austria's departure "shattered

7832-548: Was not deep enough to prevent Kienmayer's escape: the French corps did not all arrive at the same place – they instead deployed on a long west–east axis – and the early arrival of Soult and Davout at Donauwörth incited Kienmayer to exercise caution and evasion. Napoleon gradually became more convinced that the Austrians were massed at Ulm and ordered sizeable portions of the French army to concentrate around Donauwörth; on 6 October, three French infantry and cavalry corps headed to Donauwörth to seal off Mack's escape route. Realizing

7921-545: Was used to transport the ore to the Ziller Valley Railway goods station in the valley below. The Ziller Valley was known for its itinerant tradesmen, "farm doctors" and singing families. In the second half of the 19th century refuge huts were erected and trails established as climbing became a mass sport. The development of the area for tourism began in 1953/1954 with the construction of the Gerlosstein ski region, today

#778221