Capitulation of Dornbirn

Capitulation of Dornbirn
Part of the War of the Third Coalition

Map of the Dornbirn area
Date13 November 1805
Location47°24′50″N 09°44′40″E / 47.41389°N 9.74444°E / 47.41389; 9.74444
Result French victory
Belligerents
France France  Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
France Pierre Augereau Holy Roman Empire Franz Jellacic
Units involved
VII Corps Jellacic's Corps
Strength
14,000 4,058
Casualties and losses
none 4,058
7 colours captured

The Capitulation of Dornbirn (13 November 1805) saw the French VII Corps under Marshal Pierre Augereau face an Austrian force led by Franz Jellacic. Isolated near Lake Constance (Bodensee) by superior numbers of French troops, Jellacic surrendered his command. The event occurred during the War of the Third Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Dornbirn is located in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg, about 12 kilometres (7 mi) south of Bregenz at the eastern end of Lake Constance.

The Ulm Campaign in October 1805 was catastrophic for Austria, with only the corps of Michael von Kienmayer and Franz Jellacic escaping envelopment and capture by the Grande Armée of Napoleon. While Kienmayer's troops withdrew east toward Vienna, the only escape route open to Jellacic was to the south. As some of Napoleon's corps moved south into the Alps and the Austrian army of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen withdrew from Italy, Jellacic's force was cut off from the rest of Austria. In a remarkable trek, his cavalry set off for Bohemia and evaded capture. However, Augereau's late-arriving corps moved into the Vorarlberg and, after several clashes, trapped Jellacic's infantry at Dornbirn. The day before Jellacic's surrender, the French occupied the Austrian capital of Vienna, but the war would not be decided until the Battle of Austerlitz was fought on 2 December.


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