The Battle of Amstetten was a minor engagement during the War of the Third Coalition between the First French Empire and the alliance of the Austria and Russia. It occurred on 5 November 1805, when the Austrians retreating from Vienna fought a rear-guard action against Marshal Joachim Murat's cavalry and a portion of Marshal Jean Lannes' corps. The Russian troops were led by Pyotr Bagration. Prior to the main action, Murat led a reckless charge with his cavalry escort of two squadrons against three Austrian cavalry regiments. He was overwhelmed and forced to fall back, but the pursuing Austrians were halted by canister shot from the French horse artillery. Murat waited for the balance of his column to arrive with Lannes. Lannes was ordered to move against positions held by Bagration and proceeded to attack. The Russian Jägers were forced to fall back and a further attack upon Amsetten routed a Grenz infantry battalion. The total number of troops on the allied side was around 6,700. The Austro-Russian forces were defeated with heavy casualties. One thousand Austrian soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured. Three hundred Russian soldiers were killed or wounded, and fewer than seven hundred were captured. This was intended to be a delaying action and thus succeeded as the entire day was spent moving the allies out of their positions.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Napoleonic wargame site featuring an article with orders of battle and a map [1].
First French Empire
Austrian Empire
Russian Empire
