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

critical for the French. Napoleon realized this but Davout did not. Davout should either have given the Austrians the bridge or protected it with a more suitable force. As it was Davout was fortunate Coutard held out as long as he did. Davout then launched his divisions southward in three columns. They departed Ratisbon at 5:00 A.M. on the nineteenth. Davout knew that the Austrians were very close to his left flank. He also knew that true to form the Austrians would not begin their movement until later in the morning. So by leaving at five o'clock he could slip by them before they could detect his movement. At the minimum he hoped to get through the Saal defile before the Austrians could reach that point (see Appendix A, Figure 2). The western, or right, column was the artillery and baggage trains. This road was near the Danube and was out of supporting distance of his other columns. This was a very risky maneuver, but one that he was forced to take. The next column consisted of the divisions of St Hilaire and Morand. This column moved in the center through Peising to Teugen and Abensberg. The third column of Friant and Gudin was moving closest to the front of the Austrians on the eastern side of I11 Corps movement (see Appendix A, Figure 2). Montbrun's horse cavalry augmented with infantry screened the eastern or left flank.