Ulm campaign in the context of "Jean-de-Dieu Soult"

Play Trivia Questions online!

 or

Skip to study material about Ulm campaign in the context of "Jean-de-Dieu Soult"
Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Ulm campaign

The Ulm campaign was a series of French and Bavarian military maneuvers and battles to outflank and capture an Austrian army in 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. It took place in the vicinity of and inside the Swabian city of Ulm. The French Grande Armée, led by Emperor Napoleon, had 210,000 troops organized into seven corps and hoped to knock out the Austrian army in the Danube before Russian reinforcements could arrive. Rapid marching let Napoleon conduct a large wheeling maneuver, which captured an Austrian army of 60,000 under Feldmarschall-Leutnant (FML) Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich on 20 October at Ulm. The campaign is by some military historians regarded as a strategic masterpiece and was influential in the development of the Schlieffen Plan in the late 19th century. Napoleon himself wrote:

The victory at Ulm did not end the war since a large Russian army under Mikhail Kutuzov was near Vienna to defend the city against the French. The Russians withdrew to the northeast to await reinforcements and to link up with Austrian army units. The French moved aggressively forward and captured Vienna on 12 November. On 2 December, the massive Battle of Austerlitz, causing 24,000 to 36,000 casualties, removed Austria from the war. The resulting Treaty of Pressburg in late December brought the Third Coalition to an end and established Napoleonic France as the major power in Central Europe, which led to the War of the Fourth Coalition against the Kingdom of Prussia and Russia the following year.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<

👉 Ulm campaign in the context of Jean-de-Dieu Soult

Marshal General Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia (French: [ʒɑ̃dədjø sult]; 29 March 1769 – 26 November 1851) was a French general and statesman. He was a Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic Wars, and served three times as President of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) of France. Soult is referred to as one of the outstanding military commanders of the modern era.

Son of a country notary from southern France, Soult enlisted in the French Royal Army in 1785 and quickly rose through the ranks during the French Revolution. He was promoted to brigadier general after distinguishing himself at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, and by 1799 he was a division general. He fought a drawn battle against equally numbered troops of Alexander Suvorov at Glarus in 1799 and in the same year notably defeated the Austrians under the lead of Friedrich von Hotze at the Linth River as Hotze died at the very beginning of battle leaving his Austrians without organization. In 1804, Napoleon made Soult one of his first eighteen Marshals of the Empire. Soult played a key role in many of Napoleon's campaigns, most notably in the Ulm campaign (e.g., Battle of Memmingen) and at the Battle of Austerlitz, where his corps delivered the decisive attack that secured French victory. He was subsequently created Duke of Dalmatia. From 1808, he commanded French forces during the Peninsular War. At the Battle of Corunna, Soult clashed with the British under generals John Moore and John Hope; during Soult's attack, his troops were outflanked by numerically superior infantry and retreated to their original positions as did the British troops, but eventually the battlefield remained his due to the British retreat to their ships, thus Spain was left without British support for a while. At the Battle of Albuera, against superior Anglo-allied forces of William Beresford, he again fought to a draw. Despite several initial victories, for instance at the Battle of Ocaña, Soult was eventually outmaneuvered and driven out of Spain by the coalition forces under the command of Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington), which were superior to the army given to Soult in terms of the quality of troops and supplies. Soult then stubbornly fought Wellington at Toulouse in 1814, days after Napoleon's first abdication. Soult declared himself a royalist following the Bourbon Restoration, but rejoined Napoleon during the Hundred Days. He was Napoleon's chief of staff during the Waterloo campaign in 1815, where the emperor suffered a final defeat; in this role Soult proved himself less capable than as a field commander.

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier

Ulm campaign in the context of Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a global series of conflicts fought by a fluctuating array of European coalitions against the French First Republic (1803–1804) under the First Consul followed by the First French Empire (1804–1815) under the Emperor of the French, Napoleon Bonaparte. The wars originated in political forces arising from the French Revolution (1789–1799) and from the French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802) and produced a period of French domination over Continental Europe. The wars are categorised as seven conflicts, five named after the coalitions that fought Napoleon, plus two named for their respective theatres: the War of the Third Coalition, War of the Fourth Coalition, War of the Fifth Coalition, War of the Sixth Coalition, War of the Seventh Coalition, the Peninsular War, and the French invasion of Russia.

The first stage of the war broke out when Britain declared war on France on 18 May 1803. After some minor campaigns, Britain allied with Austria, Russia, and several minor powers to form the Third Coalition in April 1805. Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian armies in the subsequent war which climaxed in French victories at Ulm and at Austerlitz, leading to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and Austria being forced to make peace by the end of the year. Britain and Russia remained at war with France. Concerned about increasing French power, Prussia joined Britain and Russia in the Fourth Coalition, which resumed war in October 1806. Napoleon defeated the Prussians at Jena-Auerstedt and the Russians at Friedland, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent by July 1807, and again leaving Britain as France's sole major enemy. Britain was unable to dispute French dominance on the continent but obtained hegemony over the seas after a string of victories including Trafalgar. Russia used the interim peace to resolve wars with the Ottomans, Swedes, and Iranians.

↑ Return to Menu

Ulm campaign in the context of Military career of Napoleon

The military career of Napoleon spanned over 20 years. He led French armies in the French Revolutionary Wars and later, as emperor, in the Napoleonic Wars. Despite his comprehensive battle-winning record, Napoleon ended his career in defeat. Nevertheless, European history has since regarded Napoleon as a military genius and one of the finest commanders in history. His battles, campaigns and wars have been studied at military schools worldwide. Such campaigns as the Italian campaign of 1796–1797, the Ulm campaign and the Six Days' Campaign demonstrated his strategic and tactical genius. He fought more than 80 battles, losing only ten, mostly towards the end when the French army was not as dominant. As historian Alexander Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky observed, Napoleon was a "despotic sovereign of the battlefield, in whose presence but few generals ventured to maneuver, striving only to ward off his blows." Napoleon never sought refuge behind ridges, redoubts, etc.; he was a proponent of the offensive principle.

The French dominion collapsed rapidly after the invasion of Russia in 1812. Napoleon was defeated in 1814 and exiled to the island of Elba, before returning to France. He was finally defeated in 1815 at Waterloo. He spent his remaining days in British custody on the remote volcanic tropical island of Saint Helena. In his long military career, Bonaparte celebrated 64 victories and suffered 10 defeats; 6 battles ended with an uncertain outcome.

↑ Return to Menu

Ulm campaign in the context of Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este

Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este (25 April 1781 – 5 November 1850) was the third son of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este and Princess Maria Beatrice Ricciarda d'Este, last member and heiress of the House of Este. For much of the Napoleonic Wars, he was in command of the Austrian army.

Ferdinand was born at Milan. He attended the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt before embarking on a military career. In 1805, in the War of the Third Coalition against France, Ferdinand was commander-in-chief of the Austrian forces with General Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich as his quartermaster general. In October, his army was surrounded at Ulm. General Mack surrendered, but Ferdinand managed to escape with 2000 cavalry to Bohemia. There, he took command of the Austrian troops and raised the local militia. With a total of 9,000 men, he set out for Iglau to distract attention from the Coalition's movements. He succeeded in holding the Bavarian division of Prince Karl Philipp von Wrede in Iglau thereby and preventing it from joining the Battle of Austerlitz.

↑ Return to Menu
LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Napoleonic Wars ← Napoleonic wars ← Military career of Napoleon ← Jean-de-Dieu Soult ← Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este ← Napoleonic War
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
First French Empire → Electorate of Bavaria → Austrian Empire → War of the Third Coalition → Swabia → Ulm → Grande Armée → Napoleon → Corps → Danube → Russian Empire → Feldmarschall-Leutnant → Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich → Schlieffen Plan → Mikhail Kutuzov → Vienna → Battle of Austerlitz → Treaty of Pressburg (1805) → War of the Fourth Coalition → Kingdom of Prussia →