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

Austrian influence in Germany and Italy was essential for her s~rvival.~ To accomplish this Austria began as early as 1806 to improve and increase the size of her army. Austria used the three years since Austerlitz to create an army that became a very potent enemy for Napoleon. A number of authors support the premise that Napoleon began his decline as a general in 1809. He did make more mistakes in this campaign than ever before. However, it is unfair to judge his actions without first examining the Austrian army of 1809. The French were facing a new and different enemy than they had three years earlier. The Austrian army was now a much more powerful and capable force. The Archduke Charles was the architect of this new army. Charles began to institute reforms in the army formulating the Austrian organization and tactics on the French system. He was the first of the Europeans to do so. He instituted the divisional concept and integrated artillery at the division and corps level. Like the French, Charles also began to use skirmishers in the front of his linear formations to increase depth and flexibility.Although the Austrian Army had employed skirmishers in the past, it was Charles who perfected their tactical integration with regular infantry. Additionally, Charles developed a new philosophy of warfighting. His basic principle was that the army should