The 1805 Battle of Austerlitz is often considered Napoleon's greatest triumph and is probably the second most famous battle of the Napoleonic Wars after Waterloo. Napoleon defeated two other emperors (Russia and Austria) after driving their armies off the strategic high ground in the center. As a final act of cruelty, he ordered his artillery to fire at the frozen ice of the Sachsen pond, drowning thousands of fleeing troops. Today the ponds have been drained and the villages have grown very slightly, but otherwise the battlefield is farmland as it was 200 years ago when the armies confronted each other there. Austerlitz took place near the town of Brunn (now Brno) in today's Czech Republic, just a few kilometers from the border with Austria. Since the battle took place in December, I guessed the weather may have been similar, albeit not as foggy. The first image above shows the fields around the former Sachsen ponds, location of so much death at the end of the battle. The second image shows the little town of Telniz, which formed the extreme southern end of the battle. It was beseiged by the French and the Austrian defenders were driven out. Below is an image of me by the Austerlitz Memorial at Prace, the hill which commanded the center of the battlefield and whose possession sealed Napoleon's victory. Finally, I have included a couple of maps to show the course of the battle as well as my driving trip. The battlefield is huge, and I drove over 45 kilometers just exploring it.
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