1805 Campaign: Act III - The Armies Converge (25 - 31 October 1805)

The Russian victory at Ottenhoven left the security of the whole French advance into Austria in question.  Marshal Soult retreated to the south-east, linking up with Bernadotte's army group on the Inn but leaving the way to Munich open to the Russians.  The (now Royal) Army of Bavaria was too far away to guard its own capital, having been sent to the right flank of the advance to act in concert with Marshal Ney in seizing the Inn crossing city of Rosenheim.

Further west, the Emperor himself was hastening to the front, and ordered the Imperial Guard to make haste to Munich to frighten off the Russians.  Marmont, in his haste to join the action, had violated express orders to avoid crossing the Prussian frontier. He took a short-cut across Prussian territory at Nuremberg, provoking the King of Prussia to get off the fence and send a letter to the Emperor that made his war-like intentions clear.  The clock was now ticking.

Marmont's was not the only French corps unaccounted for by the Coalition, though.  As Marmont was marching through Nuremberg, Lannes was approaching Nördlingen and Augereau, having marched all the way from Brest, was within striking distance of Ulm.  On 27 October Lannes and Marmont united their forces at Neuburg, on the Danube, and began to establish a base of operations there.  On the 31st Augereau reached Augsburg, on the Lech, and all three corps marched to converge on Kutozov's flank and rear.

He remained so far blissfully unaware of this threat.  His scouts were in the south, checking whether Munich was open for the taking.  Approaching the Englischer Garten his Cossack pickets ran into a French cavalry screen, which they recognised as Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde.  The rest of the Guard were still many miles away, but the Russians were not to know that.  On receiving this unwelcome news Kutuzov abandoned his plan to burn the Bavarian capital, and resolved instead to edge closer to the Austrians, looking for opportunities to cut the French suppy lines between the Isar and the Inn.  This would be the high-water mark of the Russian advance into Bavaria.  

The army established a base at Freising, on the Isar, occupying the triangular area between there, Markt Schwaben and  Dachau and scouting cautiously to the south and east to establish where he might safely strike.    

The northern tail of the Russian army is on the city of Freising (obscured by the unit markers).  Three French corps (II, V and VII) approach,
so far undetected, from the north, while Dokhturov's colum is futher south again, at Markt Schwaben.  This blocks the main road east from Munich
(luckily for the French not the route taken by their main logistics trunk to the front) but plagued by French scouts on all sides.

Meanwhile, on the Inn, Bernadotte had put together a strong enough bridgehead east of the river to make a serious push against the Austrians.  A minor engagement near Wasserburg on the 22nd had allowed room for the bulk of I, III and IV Corps across and in position to attempt an assault upon the Austrians, who had been digging in on the slopes to the east.  The result was the four-day battle of Babensham-Jettenbach, in which the Armeekorps of Riesch, Klenau and Werneck were given a thorough kicking.