HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



171 



before he issued his last orders : 

 tliey then rode oii\ at full gallop, to 

 join their respective corps. He 

 himself passed, with great rapidit}', 

 along the whole line, and was re- 

 ceived with great enthusiasm by the 

 troops. 



The movements of the allies were 

 perfectly discernable to the French, 

 who could not but perceive con- 

 siderable intervals between the 

 columns, in proportion as they ap- 

 proached the valleys of Tellnitz, 

 "Sokolnitz, and Kobelnitz. The ac- 

 tion began on the left wing of the 

 allies. 



The corps of general Kiennicyer, 

 posted in front of Aujut, was nearest 

 the enemy, and destined to force the 

 defile of rdlnitz, and to carry the 

 village of that name as soon as pos- 

 sible, in order to open a passage 

 for the first coltinin, which had a 

 great circuit to make before it could 

 arrive at the point which would bring 

 it in aline with the second column. 



The French had some infantry 

 posted on a hill in front of the vil- 

 lage : general Kieniiieyer attacked 

 them. His troops were twice re- 

 pulsed, but, receiving reinforcements, 

 he at length succeeded in gaining 



I possession of it with two battalions, 

 under general Stuttcrheim. The 



, Austrian cavalry sufi'ered consider- 



I ably from the Krench sharp-shoot- 

 ers, who v.cre placed in the vine- 

 yards and other inclosures round 

 thevillage. The French still defended 



I the village. The action had lasted 

 above an hour before the first Ilt:s- 

 sian column made its appearance : 

 at length general Buxlioevden ar- 

 rived, who detached a force to their 

 support, by which means the French 

 were dislodged. The French, rein- 



I forced by 4000 men, from the 

 'orps of general Davoust, which 



was stationed at the convent of 

 Reygan, availing themselves of a 

 sudden fog, again obtained possession 

 of the village and the hill beyond it. 

 As soon as the fog dispersed, the 

 allied troops again moved forwards, 

 and the French abandoned the vil- 

 lage. This being accomplished, 

 tlie defile was passed without dif- 

 ficulty, and the plain occupied be- 

 tween Tellnitz and Turas. Here 

 they wished to form a communica- 

 tion with the second column ; but 

 this, and likewise the third column, 

 had met with some opposition from 

 apart of the division of Le Grand, 

 which occupied Sokolnitz, and, in 

 passing that village, they were fur- 

 ther delayed by some confusion in 

 their movements. 



The French troops liad hitherto 

 remained upon the defensive ; but 

 Conaparte had not failed to remark, 

 the want of concert and consistency 

 in the movements of the Austro- 

 lliissiau army ; and perceiving that 

 by the circuitous route their left 

 was obliged to take, it became more 

 distant from the centre in propor- 

 tion as it advanced, immediately put 

 in motion the massive columns, 

 which he had kept together, with a 

 vi-Hv of marching against the centre, 

 and by that manueuvre cutting olf 

 the left w ing, which still continued 

 to advance for the purpose of turn- 

 ing the French array in a position 

 which it did not occupy. 



During this operation, the reserve 

 of the French army (composed as 

 we have already stated,) remained 

 upon the heights between bchla- 

 panitz and Kobelnitz, and had not 

 occasion to fire a shot. 



Marshal Soult, with the two di- 

 visions of St.Hilairc and Vanda.mme, 

 traversed the villages of Kobelnitz 

 and Puntswitz, to attack the heights 



and 



