An invitation to attack
By late 1805 Napoleon had marched his army from the Channel coast deep into central Europe. Near the village of Austerlitz he faced a larger Russian and Austrian army. Rather than avoid battle, he made his position look weak, gave up the high ground of the Pratzen Heights and seemed to leave his right wing exposed.
The sun of Austerlitz
On the morning of 2 December the allies took the bait and sent strong columns against the French right. As the morning fog lifted and the sun broke through, Marshal Soult’s troops stormed the Pratzen Heights in the centre, now thinly held, and split the allied army in two.
After the battle
By evening the allied army was broken. Austria made peace at Pressburg on 26 December and the Third Coalition collapsed. “The sun of Austerlitz” became a phrase Napoleon would use for the rest of his life.