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Henri-Gatien Bertrand (1773-1844) was one of Napoleon I's most loyal paladins. During Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition (1798/99) he led the expansion of Alexandria, led divisions and corps against Prussia, Russia and Austria and was appointed high court marshal in 1813.

In this function he followed Napoleon to Elba in 1814, fought with Waterloo the following year and then accompanied the overthrown emperor to the British Atlantic island of St. Helena, where he persevered until his death in 1821.

Bertrand owed his steep ascent above all to his bravery, which he displayed on December 2nd, 1805 in the famous "Battle of the Three Emperors" near Austerlitz.

At that time he acquired the title of count and was promoted to adjutant general.

Henri-Gatien Bertrand (1773-1844) rose to Napoleon I's chief marshal

Source: Wikipedia / Public Domain

This may explain why a detailed description of Napoleon's battle is now on sale in the Parisian gallery “Arts et autographes”.

The house wants one million euros for the 74-page manuscript in which Bertrand apparently wrote down dictations from the ex-emperor on St. Helena.

He is said to have annotated the text in several places.

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The gallery reports that the text has been in the gallery's holdings since the mid-1970s.

Its owner Jean-Emmanuel Raux discovered the manuscript at the time when papers from the descendants of General Bertrand were sold in a castle.

The reason for the sale is the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death on May 5th, said Alizée Raux from "Arts et autographes".

The gallery exhibits the manuscript for several days.

Napoleon's depiction of the Battle of Austerlitz from the pen of Henri-Gatien Bertrand

Source: dpa

Napoleon himself described the battle against Tsar Alexander of Russia and Emperor Franz II of Austria as "the most beautiful that I have ever fought".

He wrote his soldiers in the studbook: “On the day of Austerlitz you justified everything I expected of your fearlessness and adorned your eagles with everlasting glory ... in case one of you says: 'I was with Austerlitz' everyone immediately replied: 'Here stands a brave man.' "

The fact that this proclamation has made a deep impression on the culture of remembrance in France is not least due to the importance of victory for Napoleon.

In 1805, a few months after his coronation as emperor, the Royal Navy had destroyed the Franco-Spanish fleet near Trafalgar, the Banque de France was de facto insolvent, and revolts threatened in Paris.

And Russia and Austria united in the Third Coalition War, which Prussia threatened to join.

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Napoleon had to act quickly.

He immediately led the army that he had gathered on the English Channel for the planned invasion of England in forced marches to southern Germany.

With this demonstration of power and the prospect of increasing his rank, he convinced the rulers of Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to make alliances with him.

At Ulm he was able to force an Austrian army to surrender.

While Alexander and Franz relied on their personal superiority in Moravia - 86,000 against 73,000 men - Napoleon set a trap for them.

At Brno he found terrain on which he wanted to fight the decisive battle.

He posted his troops around the approximately 100 meter high Pratzen Plateau not far from Austerlitz (Slavkov u Brna) so that he could react flexibly to the movements of the allies.

An offer of a ceasefire and feigned withdrawal movements should lead to the illusion of weakness.

Napoleon's bivouac near Austerlitz

Source: picture-alliance / akg-images

On December 2nd, a year after his coronation as emperor in Paris, luck came to the rescue.

Thick fog on the plain prevented the French from seeing, but in return they could see the movements of the allies on the plateau.

Assuming that Napoleon would withdraw, the Allies began the advance over the flanks, which weakened their center on the claw.

This is exactly where Napoleon's main focus of attack was aimed.

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When the sun began to dissolve the fog over Austerlitz after nine o'clock, "they (the French) suddenly appeared before us completely unexpectedly", writes Leo Tolstoy in his novel "War and Peace".

The center of the Allies was pierced and from there the left wing rolled up.

At 2 p.m. Napoleon had won the "Battle of the Three Emperors".

The allies lost 16,000 men and 20,000 prisoners, Napoleon 8,000 soldiers.

From the fog that had become proverbial, the French stormed against the Allied center

Source: picture alliance / Heritage Imag

On December 6th, Emperor Franz II concluded an armistice with Napoleon, which was soon followed by the Peace of Pressburg (now Bratislava).

Franz, who had not only headed the new Austrian Empire since 1804 as Franz I, but had already wore the venerable crown of the Holy Roman Empire since 1792, had to agree to the elevation of Bavaria and Württemberg to sovereign kingdoms and Baden to a grand duchy and thus the fundamental one Reorganization of Germany.

The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation finally became history.

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