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Austerlitz Tour: The Stare Vinohrady
By William Peterson
Click on any thumbnail image for a larger view.
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(Left to right)
- Looking E from Pratzen village. The 46th Ligne of Vandamme's division advanced through this field to hit elements of the Allied IV Column attempting to block the French advance onto the Pratzen Heights.
- Looking E from Pratzen village along the Krenowitz road. Vandamme's 57th Ligne advanced here on the left of the 46th Ligne to destroy five Russian battalions of the Novgorod, Apsheron, and Smolensk Musketeers south of the Stare Vinohrady (the hill visible at far left).
- The Stare Vinohrady seen from the south (looking N). This unimposing rise, then covered with vineyards, was Tsar Alexander's headquarters, whence the Imperial staff viewed with alarm the advance of Vandamme's division straight at themselves. The six battalions of the Austrian Salzburg Infantry Regiment #23 deployed here were crushed by the converging attack of Vandamme's 24th Lègére and 4th, 28th, and 55th Ligne. The hill then became the epicenter of the furious counterattack by the Russian Imperial Guard.
- The Stare Vinohrady as seen by the Russian Imperial Guard, looking SW. The Russian Guard Jaeger and three Guard Fusilier battalions assaulted the 1st Battalion, 4th Ligne, which was finally broken by a charge of the Russian Garde du Corps Cuirassiers, becoming the only French battalion to lose its eagle at Austerlitz. Another charge by the Garde du Corps Cuirassiers mauled the 24th Lègére and threatened the French position.
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