6. A Daring Scheme to Seize a Bridge
In 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte conducted the Ulm Campaign, a series of daring maneuvers that culminated in the capture of an entire Austrian army. Austria’s Russian allies had sent an army, but it did not arrive in time to save the trapped Austrians. The Russians retreated to the north bank of the Danube, hoping for breathing space to regroup by putting that river between them and the pursuing French. To that end, all bridges spanning the Danube were either blown up, or rigged with explosives to detonate at a word of command to prevent their capture by Napoleon’s forces.
In the meantime, as the French neared the Austrian capital of Vienna on the Danube, peace negotiations were underway. The Austrians did not immediately blow up Vienna’s bridges, because they did not want to cast a pall over the negotiations. They also figured it might prove unnecessary, if the negotiators succeed in reaching a peaceful settlement. Vienna’s bridges were prepared for detonation if the French tried to seize them. One such was the Tabor Bridge, entrusted to a Count Auersperg. Unfortunately for the Austrians, Count Auersperg ended up falling for a daring ruse that allowed the French to seize the bridge placed under his command.