Battle_of_Mariazell Knowpia

Battle of Mariazell
	Part of the Napoleonic Wars
	; Mariazell as it appeared around 1900
Date	8 November 1805
Location	Mariazell, Austria47°46′23″N 15°18′59″E / 47.7731°N 15.3164°E
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Étienne Heudelet	Count of Merveldt
Units involved
III Corps (Grande Armée)	Merveldt's Corps
Strength
3,800	4,000
Casualties and losses
light	4,000; 16 guns

The Battle of Mariazell or Battle of Grossraming (8 November 1805) saw the advance guard of the French III Corps attack a retreating Austrian force led by Maximilian, Count of Merveldt. The action occurred during the War of the Third Coalition, which is part of the Napoleonic Wars. Mariazell is located in the Austrian province of Styria, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of St. Pölten.

War of the Third Coalition:
Austria

100km
62miles

Austerlitz

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

current battle

Napoleon in command

Napoleon not in command

Battle edit

The advance guard, led by Étienne Heudelet de Bierre, overwhelmed their demoralized enemies, capturing about half of them. Marshal Louis Davout commanded the III Corps.

The 1805 war began with the Ulm Campaign, which was disastrous for Austria, with only the corps of Michael von Kienmayer and Franz Jellacic escaping envelopment by the Grande Armée of Napoleon. As Kienmayer's columns fled to the east, they joined with elements of the Russian Empire's army in a rear guard action at the Battle of Amstetten on 5 November. Davout's III Corps caught up with Merveldt's division at Mariazell a few days later. The Austrian soldiers, their morale shaken by continuous retreating, were routed after a brief struggle.

Aftermath edit

On 12 November, Austria's capital Vienna fell to the French without a fight. The Battle of Austerlitz would decide the war's outcome in early December.

References edit

Notes edit

^ Bodart 1908, p. 368.

Cited and general sources edit

Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Stern.
Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. New York, NY: Macmillan.
Horne, Alistair (1979). Napoleon Master of Europe 1805-1807. New York, NY: William Morrow & Co. ISBN 0-688-03500-0.
Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.

External links edit

Media related to Battle of Mariazell at Wikimedia Commons

[FOOTNOTEBodart1908368-1] Bodart 1908, p. 368.

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