156 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



♦o tak^ a position behind the Ens, 

 but they were closely pursued by 

 the French advanced guard, with 

 ■whom they had some skirmishes. 

 Murat took possession of Wells on 

 the 1st of Noverabcr and on the same 

 day his reserve of cavairy, under ge- 

 neral Mill'.aud, entered Lintz, in 

 which town were found considerable 

 luagazincs. The main body of the 

 army were at the heels of the ad- 

 vanced guard ; marshal Lanncs Avith 

 his division arrived at Liniz on the 

 .jd,,and Davoust approached Steyr 

 on the Ens. Uoiiaparte, whose 

 bead quarters were at Lambach, 

 made his arrangements for driving 

 the enemy from tiie banks of the 

 Ens, the last line of defence which 

 remained to tlieni between tliat ri- 

 ver and Vienna. 



With this view general Marmont 

 was detached with his corps to Le- 

 oben, to turn the left of the allies. 



On the 4th, Murat proceeded to 

 the town of Ens, and general Wal- 

 ther, with a corps of dragoons, pass- 

 ed the Traun at Ebersberg, where 

 he discomtitcd a few hundred Aus- 

 trians, whowere stationed to impede 

 the passage of that river, and ad- 

 vanced, without opposition, to the 

 Ens. 



The allies having observed the 

 dispositions, when made for turning 

 their left ilank, and the enemy ad- 

 vancing with such boldness in their 

 front, abandoned the defence of the 

 river, and retired slowly towards 

 Vienna. 



The French army lost no time in 

 crossing the Ens, and pressed for- 

 Avard with ougcrness towards the 

 Austrian capital, which was in a 

 state of great consternation and 

 confusion. 



The Russian army made a stand 

 (Mitheheights of Amstcttin, in order 



to retard the progress of the French, 

 They were furiously attacked by 

 Murat's cavalry and Oudinofs gre- 

 nadiers, and several times repelled 

 their assailants, but they were at 

 length obliged to quit the field, lea- 

 ving 400 killed and 1200 prisoners. 

 The -French likewise sustained a 

 considerable loss in this atfiiir. The 

 Russians, in their retreat, destroyed 

 the bridges over the Ips, and took 

 the direction of St. Polten, an ad- 

 vantageous post, and only 30 miles 

 distant from Vienna. 



On the 7th, atnight, countGiulay 

 arrivedat Bonaparte's head-quarters, 

 at Lintz, with proposals, in the 

 name of the emperor of Germany 

 and his allies, to conclude an armis- 

 tice of a few w eeks, as a jireliminary 

 step towards a ncgociation for a ge- 

 nera! peace. Bonaparte expressed 

 his readiness to accede to the ar- 

 mistice, on condition that the Aus. 

 trian monarch would cause the al- 

 lied troops to return home, the 

 Jiungarian levy to be disbanded, 

 and the duchy of Venice and the 

 Tyrol to be occupied by the French 

 army. With this reply count Giu- 

 lay returned to his court, and Bo- 

 naparte continued his plan of ope- 

 rations. » 



IMurat had already restored the 

 bridges over ihe Ips, and on the 7th 

 established his head-quarters at the 

 celebrated abbey of iVloelk : his ad- 

 vanced posts were pushed to St. 

 I'olten. Mortier had contrived, 

 with part of his corps, to keep pace 

 on the left bank of the Danube, 

 with the main army on the opposite 

 side, so as to render it material assist- 

 ance. Davoust now advanced from 

 Steyr by Naydholfen, Mariuzel, 

 and Lilienfeldt, with the project of 

 coming upon the left of the allies 

 stationed at St. Polten, whilst Bo- 

 naparte, 



