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

Colonel Coutard remained at Ratisbon to guard the bridge and prevent the Austrians from moving southward. This unit was hand picked by Davout and had a reputation for excellence in combat. Additionally, Colonel Coutard was Davoutls cousin and an excellent commander. Unfortunately Coutard's two-thousand men were insufficient for.the task at hand. They were unable to blow the bridge so their only recourse was to hold the Austrians off as long as possible. After ten straight hours of fighting Coutard had captured two flags and over four-hundred prisoners. However, in the process he had suffered over fifty percent casualties and was critically short of ammunition.13 Davout had not forgotten these brave Frenchmen guarding Ratisbon. In the early morning of April 20 he . .attempted to resupply colonel Coutardts force and begged him to hold out to the last. Unfortunately the Austrians captured the ammunition train before it reached Coutard's forces. Coutard was precariously perched between Kollowrath's Corps moving in from the north and Liechtenstein's Corps approaching the city from the south. Facing Kollowrathls forces alone Coutard was outnumbered ten to one. He had managed to hold out until late in the day and through a ruse convinced Kollowrath to agree to a twenty-four-hour truce. However, when Liechtenstein approached from the south he would not honor the truce as it did not apply to his forces. Coutard was then forced