Losses. 
Peace 
signed. 
Comments. 
Faults of 
allies. 
No attempt 
to . conceal 
their moye- 
‘ments. 
214 THE BATTLE OF AUSTERLITZ. 
The French sleep on the field they have so gloriously won, and the 
shattered remains of the allies, under cover of the night, retire by the 
road to Hungary. 
The allies lost in this battle about 25,000 killed, wounded and 
prisoners, some 200 guns, 45 standards, etc. 
The French lost 8000 to 9000 killed and wounded. 
On December 4th an armistice was signed, followed on December 
27th by the Peace of Presburg. Austria retired from the coalition 
ceding some territory and paying an indemnity of 160 millions of francs 
(£4,000,000). 
COMMENTS. 
This battle may well be quoted as one of the most decisive in the 
world’s history, and as a triumph of the genius of Napoleon. The 
causes of the defeat of the alles are not hard to discern, and may be 
briefly summed up as follows :— 
(L.) The allied army was composed of two different nations, both 
the Emperors being present, and although Kurusorr was in actual com- 
mand of the army, still he was bound to be subject to their wishes. 
General WerrorueEr, the chief of the staff, though doubtless an able 
man in many ways, was over confident, did not try to make himself 
acquainted with the strength and movements of the French, and 
therefore, however good his plans would have been, had his premisses 
been correct (instead of their being in the present case, utterly wrong) 
they were now worse than useless. Instead of distributing his army 
over such a large front, he should have concentrated it near the main 
road north of Blasowitz in order to try and drive the French away 
from Brunn and open out communications with the army of Archduke 
FerpInAND, who was advancing on Iglau. But knowing that Naponzon 
was hemmed in with enemies, and that Prussia was ready to take up 
arms against him, it would have been far better for the allies not to 
have risked a battle and to have waited for help. It is quite posssible 
however, that, had the allies given battle earlier, before Davoust had 
come up, or had they waited a fortnight to allow the large reinforce- 
ments under Archdukes Caries and Joun (some 80,000 men) to come 
up, they would have had much better chances of success. 
(2.) As regards the movements of the allies, they had in Pratzen 
a position behind which they could have masked the movements of their 
troops; but we find them making their turning movement in broad 
day-light, the destination of their columns being perfectly apparent. 
They thereby played into the hand of Napontuon, who saw them 
weakening their centre and separating their two flanks. Kutrusorr 
Danger of Should have avoided making the turning movement an isolated attack, 
isolated at- 
tacks. 
by supporting his left in prolonging the centreand right. The turning 
force had seven miles to go, over a country which, from its nature, 
gave an advantage to an inferior force. There was a long distance 
