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

CHAPTER 5 YOU ONLY HAVE A CURTAIN OF THREE REGIMENTS TO YOUR FRONT General Bonnal considered Davout's situation on the morning of the nineteenth to be desperate.' However, even if Charles could have brought forward all his available troops he would still have had a very difficult fight. The terrain in the area of Teugen-Hausen favored the French style of fighting. The battlefield consisted of two rolling ridges separated by one-thousand meters of open farmers' fields (see Appendix A, Figure 3). The sides were heavily wooded constricting the fields at various points. One road ran through the center connecting the small villages of Teugen and Hausen. This area therefore favored the use of light infantry tactics and skirmishing in which the French excelled. Davout knew that there was a better than average chance that he would run into the Austrians before he could join forces with Lefebvre. This was one reason for his decision to move in three columns. If he made contact with the Austrians he wanted to do it with the minimum necessary force. At the same time if that minimum force got into trouble the other columns remained within