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

The first action of the day occurred around 7:00 A.M. near the village of Lanquaid (see Appendix A, Figure 5). At that town St Hilaire ran into Hohenzollern's and Rosenberg's lead units. Simultaneously, Lefebvre was moving along a parallel road to the south. As at Teugen-Hausen, Davout was traveling with his lead forces. Davout again controlled the situation and committed the 3rd Ligne and 10th Legere to the fight. They succeeded in pushing the Austrians out of the town. It was this action that convinced the Austrians that they were facing more than a mere two divisions. In fact Rosenberg sent a note to Charles at 8:00 A. M. stating "1 am compelled to fall back on Eckmuehl in the face of superior hostile forces.1t18 Friant's division moved to the left and engaged Stutterheim's forces near Paering. At this point Davout could no longer view and control the entire battlefield. He had to rely on his subordinates to act in accordance with the instructions he had given them during the previous night. The Austrian command problems soon became evident. Rosenberg and Hohenzollern received three different sets of conflicting orders from Charles. This resulted in Hohenzollern's Corps being spread in a number of different directions. This highlights the difference between the two commanders, Charles and Davout. Charles panicked and created much confusion through misaligned