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

22 March Davout had sent a message to Napoleon indicating the movement of the Austrians from Bohemia to points south of the Danube. He predicted that the Austrian attack would in fact be two-pronged, consisting of a secondary thrust from Bohemia and the main effort south of the Danube across the Inn River into ~avaria.'~ On 26 March he relayed to Napoleon, "War is inevitable. The call up of conscripts, correspondence, proclamations, and journal articles are of the same opinion. Also the King of Prussia has returned to his capital.f114 Here Davout shows his strategic capabilities as a commander. His overall monitoring of the situation was excellent. He was able to ascertain what the Austrians were going to do and how they were going to do it. Davout remained in touch with the strategic situation and simultaneously began to formulate his operational and tactical plans. Moreover, he continually kept the Emperor informed of his and the Austrian movements. To meet the Austrian threat Davout began to deploy his forces without orders from Napoleon. Knowing he had to better position his forces Davout moved south through Ratisbon toward Ingolstadt. As it turned out this was the exact positioning of forces that Napoleon later dictated. Davoutls operational vision of the Austrian attack turned out to be correct. He would remain one step ahead of the Austrians throughout the course of the campaign.