MARSHAL LOUIS N. DAVOUT AND THE ART OF COMMAND A ...

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efusal to give in to the circumstances that sets Davout apart from his contemporaries. Davout had turned a French defeat into at least a draw at Eylau. He pushed his corps forward to join the French army at the critical time falling in on their right flank. He knew Napoleon and the French army relied on his arrival. He immediately surveyed the fight and hit the Russians at their most vulnerable point. Once in the fight Davout was there to win. When the situation became critical he exhorted his men to stand and fight stating, 'The brave will find a glorious death here, the cowards will visit the deserts of Siberia."16 This was all his men needed and they continued their successful attack forward. Davout had a winning spirit and refused ever to. admit defeat. This attitude was passed on to his soldiers and is essential to the art of command. It would serve him and the French republic well throughout its existence. Eylau, followed by the French victory of Friedland and the Treaty of Tilsit, left the French in possession of most of Europe. In two short years Davout had established himself as an outstanding commander who had mastered the art of command at the tactical level. He spent the next twenty-two months in relative peace in Poland and Germany while Napoleon turned his attention to the Iberian peninsula. To enforce his economic policies and prevent Portugal from trading with Great Britain Napoleon moved
most of his marshals, generals, the Old Guard, and almost all of the French army to Spain and Portugal. Davout was left to control all of Central Europe with his 60,000 man corps. He was responsible for training and organizing his I11 Corps as well as the Polish army. He did this with the same talent and energy he applied to I11 Corps at the Camp of Bruges. l7It is in this time period of 1808 and early 1809 that Davout begins to develop his strategic art of command. Davout's actions at Auerstaedt, Austerlitz, and Eylau se~ed to demonstrate the value of such a man. They also illustrate his tactical brilliance and his art of command. By this time it was already becoming obvious to some that he was the best of Napoleon's marshals. As asserted earlier, one cannot learn the necessary lessons from the study of a broad sweep of leaders and battles as just done. The art of command should be learned by looking through the eyes of one man in a particular set of circumstances. The brief descriptions of the aforementioned battles were used only as an introduction to the man. The opening battles of the Austrian campaign in 1809 are an excellent example of an operation seemingly doomed to failure but salvaged by excellent generalship. Both Napoleon and Davout provided that generalship. It was a campaign which required a new method of command by
Page 3 and 4: ABSTRACT MARSHAL LOUIS N. DAVOUT AN
Page 5 and 6: TABLE OF CONTENTS ?&%slsAPPROVALPAG
Page 7 and 8: CHAPTER 1 BUT WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERS
Page 9 and 10: the study of simple strategy and ta
Page 11 and 12: This fact becomes even more obvious
Page 13 and 14: the grand tactic. Operational warfa
Page 15 and 16: Burgundian countryside. He was born
Page 17 and 18: In1803 Davout was given command of
Page 19 and 20: then launch a major offensive into
Page 21 and 22: This attack'then ensured victory fo
Page 23 and 24: would actually go to war. However,
Page 25 and 26: Bluecher made four unsuccessful att
Page 27 and 28: fight entirely on his own. The batt
Page 29 and 30: title until two years after the bat
Page 31: Without hesitation Davout pushed fo
Page 35 and 36: CHAPTER 3 THE AUSTRIANS ARE OUR WOR
Page 37 and 38: Finally, with Davout's information
Page 39 and 40: Austrian influence in Germany and I
Page 41 and 42: organization, always slow to act. M
Page 43 and 44: course of action. They now had a be
Page 45 and 46: elieved Prince Eugene and Marshal A
Page 47 and 48: 22 March Davout had sent a message
Page 49 and 50: were designated VII Corps and consi
Page 51 and 52: and intelligence at the strategic l
Page 53 and 54: across the Danube. The Austrians al
Page 55 and 56: transmitted from Napoleon to Berthi
Page 57 and 58: Normally, the message dispatched by
Page 59 and 60: me that the best maneuver would be
Page 61 and 62: Berthier chose to overlook this cor
Page 63 and 64: Landshut were only one corps and no
Page 65 and 66: destroy him. On the eighteenth Char
Page 67 and 68: critical for the French. Napoleon r
Page 69 and 70: Throughout these ten days before th
Page 71 and 72: CHAPTER 5 YOU ONLY HAVE A CURTAIN O
Page 73 and 74: Gudin to support the movement of hi
Page 75 and 76: well. They bought Davout the necess
Page 77 and 78: The remainder of the Austrians then
Page 79 and 80: His tactical leadership was at its
Page 81 and 82: Napoleon's vision of the battlefiel
Page 83 and 84:
against the French. His troops succ
Page 85 and 86:
to surrender at 5:00 P.M. Now Charl
Page 87 and 88:
pursuit on two parallel roads leadi
Page 89 and 90:
important part in Davout's decision
Page 91 and 92:
orders and directions. While Davout
Page 93 and 94:
Corps. He received no reply from th
Page 95 and 96:
convinced he was being attacked by
Page 97 and 98:
CHAPTER 6 THE DUKE OF AUERSTAEDT IS
Page 99 and 100:
eginning to feel the fatigue of con
Page 101 and 102:
Just as the Austrians began to move
Page 103 and 104:
effect, Davoutfs forces became the
Page 105 and 106:
The French carabiniers fired a volZ
Page 107 and 108:
Charles would lose his desire to st
Page 109 and 110:
The ~re'nch prevailed over the Aust
Page 111 and 112:
CHAPTER 7 IN BATTLE MEN ARE NOTHING
Page 113 and 114:
counter orders did nothing but conf
Page 115 and 116:
doctrine, and most importantly the
Page 117 and 118:
The art of war on land is an art of
Page 119 and 120:
Maintaining this vision or coup d'o
Page 121 and 122:
internal fears rather than obstinac
Page 123 and 124:
who never made a mistake. The key i
Page 125 and 126:
too seemed only to be small diversi
Page 127 and 128:
helped to provide definition to the
Page 129 and 130:
Figure 1.Theater of Operations.
Page 131 and 132:
INITIALACTIONSABOUT 1500Counteratta
Page 133 and 134:
Figure 5.Davout's Running Fight on
Page 135 and 136:
N1- 'LABER RIVER' SCHlERLlNGLANNESI
Page 137 and 138:
Reserve Division: Demont' (3,215) 2
Page 139 and 140:
APPENDIX C ORDER OF BATTLE CHANGES
Page 141 and 142:
ll~avidG. Chandler, The Cam~aians o
Page 143 and 144:
3~hisis noted in Napoleon's corresp
Page 145 and 146:
20~his is from correspondence numbe
Page 147 and 148:
WORKS CITED Primarv Sources Bonapar
Page 149 and 150:
Arnold, James R. Crisis on The Danu
Page 151 and 152:
ackground material and specifics on
Page 153 and 154:
secondary source but all informatio
Page 155 and 156:
INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST 1. , Comb
Page 157:
STATEMENT A: Approved for public re
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MARSHAL LOUIS N. DAVOUT AND THE ART OF COMMAND A ...

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