14 October 1805
Ney crosses at Elchingen
On 13 October Mack sends Werneck’s corps north towards Heidenheim and Riesch’s corps along the Danube to destroy the bridges. At Elchingen Riesch finds the French already holding the south end of the bridge. He leaves it to them, partly dismantled, and camps on the heights of Ober- and Unter-Elchingen. Napoleon learns that only Dupont holds the north bank and orders Ney to cross.
The battle of Elchingen, 14 October 1805, by Johann Lorenz Rugendas, about 1810Wikimedia Commons, Johann Lorenz Rugendas, Public domain (Battle of Elchingen in 1805 (J. L. Rugendas II).jpg)
Riesch holds the heights with about 8,000 men by one account, nearly 15,000 by another. At 8 a.m. on 14 October the elite companies of Villatte’s brigade, from Loison’s division, cross the bridge and overpower its guard, and engineers repair the span under fire. Led by Ney himself, the 6th Light takes Elchingen Abbey on the hilltop and the village of Ober-Elchingen.
Austrian cavalry drive back the 39th Line, but Roguet’s brigade comes up and the 69th Line pushes Riesch’s men into the woods to the west. With Malher crossing further east and Dupont coming from the north-east, Riesch retreats towards Ulm, and the 18th Dragoons break an Austrian square. The French admit 793 killed and wounded and take 4,000 prisoners. Ney is later made Duke of Elchingen.
Sources
- Frederick W. Kagan, The End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801–1805 (2006).
- Gunther E. Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversaries: The Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army, 1792–1814 (1982).
- Digby Smith, The Napoleonic Wars Data Book (1998).
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