The Battle of Lambach ''(Russian: Бой при Ламбахе, French: Bataille de Lambach, German: Gefecht bei Lambach)'' was a minor French victory where the French vanguard won against an Austro-Russian force under Pjotr Bagration ( Russia) and Emanuel Freiherr Schustekh ( Austria) on 31 October 1805 at Lambach in

Oberösterreich Upper Austria (german: Oberösterreich ; bar, Obaöstareich) is one of the nine states or of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styri ...

, today Austria, during the Napoleonic Wars.

Background

After surrounding and defeating an Austrian army at Ulm in October 1805, Napoleon's army, supported by the Bavarian Army, marched to the east. On 30 October (or 31, depending on how you look at the campaign), Beaumont's vanguard engaged and defeated a minor Austrian force in the

battle of Mehrnbach The Battle of Mehrnbach (also known as the Battle of Ried) on 30 October 1805 saw the French vanguard commanded by Marc Antoine de Beaumont engaging an Austro- Russian rearguard detachment during the War of the Third Coalition. Background Th ...

(also called battle of Ried).

Battle

Not long after Beaumont reached the fortified Russian positions. None of the opposing sides actually wanted to fight (the Russians had 4 jäger battalions, some

hussar A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...

s, and a few

horse artillery Horse artillery was a type of light, fast-moving, and fast-firing artillery which provided highly mobile fire support, especially to cavalry units. Horse artillery units existed in armies in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, from the early 17th to t ...

cannons, while the French had 3

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiments and 2 infantry regiments). Therefore, this part of the battle was limited to a small fight and firefight over a village near the Russian positions. The Austrians, under Major General Schustekh, wanted to cross the Traun river and unite with the main army under Kutusov. His rearguard was pushed back by the French, and soon the fighting came to the bridge over the river. Though the Austrians set fire on it, the French crossed the river by boat a while later. At Lambach the French lost around 50 men, the Russians 148 men and 1 cannon. The Austrians lost around 400 men.

Aftermath

The battle of Lambach was a part of several Austrian and Russian attempts to slow down the French advance, to give Kutusov's army time to retreat. Though these battles were mostly defeats, they gave time to Kutusov's army, so they could retreat. On 13 November French troops entered Vienna without a shot being fired. On 2 December the Austro-Russian army was defeated at Austerlitz. A few days later the war of the Third Coalition was over.

Notes

References

External links

* {{commons-inline Lambach