This was given, but under the proviso that part of the Austrian force should still be sent to contain what troops the French might have around Böhmisch – Nuedorf.
His lack of cavalry had not hampered him a great deal during the early stages of the campaign, indeed, it was his massive weight of infantry numbers that had swung the balance in his favour at both Lutzen and Bautzen, and given the fact that for the most part they were untried and untested in battle, they had fought splendidly. But it is strange that, given that his orders to Vandamme only mention dealing with Wüttembergs command, then how he was to supposed to capture all of the allied armies baggage and equipment, which was moving by several different routes, is hard to understand.
To the south of Kulm rose the Strisowitz Heights, quite steep and heavily wooded at the north and south, with pasture land across the east – west central area.The Russian left, commanded by Ermolov, took ground around Straden with its Leather Chapel and the Sawmill, or Eggenmühle, just to the north. Also the weather, which had been fine, became increasingly cold and wet during the evening of 26One can see that, although Napoleon had shelved the plan of marching against the rear of the Army of Bohemia with his main army, he nevertheless considered that Vandamme’s I Corp could still execute a similar manoeuvre, causing problems for the Allies if they were to be forced back into the defiles of the Erzgebirge Mountains, which indeed proved to be the case.Cognizant to the orders received from Napoleon on the 26The young French recruits, bolstered by a few hard – core veterans scattered throughout the various battalions and regiments under Vandamme’s command, were wet and hungry, but nevertheless still full of fight, albeit only to be guaranteed for a limited period, and buoyed by the news filtering in of the imminent return of their emperor and his Guard to Dresden; their spirits rose as they began to march across the rocking pontoons to confront the enemy, Vandamme informing Napoleon by dispatch that he would be, ‘master of Pirna tomorrow at an early hour.’Württemberg was well aware of Vandamme’s superiority in numbers and called for assistance from both Wittgenstein and Barclay de Tolly, but fully realising that this would take some time to materialise, he made preparations to fight a delaying action until help arrived. The old soldier was not keen to keep pushing forward when he knew full well that Napoleon would soon take advantage of Russia’s weak and extended line of communication: ‘You must understand that any reverse will be a big blow to Russia’s prestige in Germany.’During the last days of April, Napoleon, with some 100,000 men of the Army of the Main, began to advance on Leipzig from the direction of Erfurt, while The Army of the Elbe, under Prince Eugéne, Napoleon’s stepson, and numbering around 30,000, approached from the direction of Halle in the north. Barclay de Tolly now replaced Wittgenstein as commander – in – chief owing to the latter’s total mismanagement of affairs at all levels, and the alliance was held together tentatively, mainly by Tsar Alexander, who suggested that the army should retire in a south – easterly direction, covering Silesia and therefore being able to keep in touch with Austria whose intervention on the allied side was now fast becoming a necessity.With the benefit of hindsight it could be said that, on the one hand, Napoleon should have kept up the pressure. Russian Empress Cuirassier Regiment; Tartar Uhlan Regiment; Serpuchov Uhlan Regiment; Cossack Regiment #; Bianchi’s and Colloredo’s Austrian Infantry Brigades.Vandamme’s first priority was to contain the Austrian columns under Colloredo while at the same time attempting to punch a hole through the net that now threatened to trap him. In front of the cavalry stood the Guard Horse Battery #1 of 12 cannon.