The few Austrian corps not trapped at Ulm withdraw toward Vienna, with the French in close pursuit.

A Russian army under General Mikhail Kutuzov also maneuvers away from the French, withdrawing to the east.

At the Ill river on October 22 it joins with the retreating Austrian corps commanded by Michael von Kienmayer.

The Coalition forces hold a successful rearguard action in Amstetten on November 5, 1805.

The Russians had arrived in St. Pölten on November 7 and crossed the Danube river the next day.

Late on November 9, they destroy the bridges across the Danube, holding the last one at the hamlet of Stein, near the village Krems, until the late afternoon.

A Russian column under Strik's command begins its passage through the narrow canyons on the night of November 10–11, intent on arriving at Dürenstein by noon; two more columns, under Dokhtorov and Schmitt, move in wider semicircles, planning to pass through the mountains and attack the French, who are extended along the river bank.

According to the plan, in late morning Strik's column wil emerge from the mountains first and launch a flanking assault on the French right.

This flanking attack, combined with Miloradovich's frontal assault from Stein, will force the French into a vise; encircled, they will have no option but to surrender—or die.

To ensure the success of the plan, the second and third columns, under Dokhtorov and Schmitt, will arrive in early and mid-afternoon and support the earlier assaults.

In this way, even if the French try to retreat west to Marbach, they will not escape the vise-like grip of the Coalition army.

Napoleon has calculated that Kutuzov, expecting reinforcements from Russia to defend its political allies, will withdraw toward Vienna; he envisions that his and Kutuzov's armies will engage in a great battle at Vienna, and that this battle will decide the war.

As a consequence, Napoleon draws divisions from four of the other seven corps of the Grande Armée to create a new VIII Corps.

This corps is to secure the north shore of the Danube, block any of the Austrian or Russian groups from reinforcing one another and, more importantly, prevent Kutuzov from crossing the river and escaping to Russia.

The new VIII Corps, under the overall command of Édouard Mortier, includes three infantry divisions and a division of cavalry.

Corps Mortier, as it is known, had crossed the Danube at Linz and Passau in early November 1805 and marched east, on the north bank of the Danube.

Operating independently, the corp's cavalry had conducted reconnaissance ahead of them and on the flanks.

General Gazan's division (about six thousand men) takes the lead; Mortier is with them.

They are followed by Dupont's division (another four thousand) about one day's march behind

Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau's division (another four thousand), marching another day behind Dupont, brings up the rear.

A flotilla of fifty boats acquired at Passau provides communications across the Danube.

Before sending Mortier on his mission, Napoleon had instructed him to protect his north flank at all times against possible Russian reinforcements, advice he had reiterated in subsequent written orders.

Napoleon had also advised Mortier to secure all crossings of the Danube between Linz and Vienna.

On November 9, Gazan's division had reached Marbach an der Donau and covered the fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) to Dürenstein by early on the following afternoon.

Here it skirmishes with some Russian patrols to the east of the town and expels them.

Feeling confident, the French establish a forward post just upstream from Stein.

In Dürenstein itself, Mortier establishes his command post and directs the construction of a small field hospital.

Although the position seems secure, Mortier ignores Napoleon's strict instructions and neglects to protect his left (north) flank.

This failure is an important factor when Mortier loses his corps' so-called "eyes": after he and Gazan crossed the Danube, the French dragoons had veered to the northwest, leaving only three squadrons of the 4th Dragoons available for reconnaissance.

These had left the division and are operating independently of Gazan's command.

As a consequence, Mortier and Gazan march blindly through the narrow canyon west of Dürenstein, not knowing what lies ahead of them.

Kutuzov had led the Coalition army across the Danube at Krems, a short distance past Stein, and destroyed the bridge behind him.

His actions have deprived the France commanders of a possible route across the Danube, putting the deployment of the entire French division at further risk in the case of retreat.

In this decision Kutuzov abandons Vienna to the French, who are converging on the Austrian capital from the north, west and southwest, for the security of uniting with reinforcements from Galicia.

Contrary to Napoleon's expectation, Kutuzov chooses a military solution over a political one.

Unknown to either Gazan or Mortier, the Coalition has concentrated a force of approximately twenty-four thousand men (mostly Russians and a few Austrians) within a few kilometers of the French position at Dürenstein.

In comparison, Gazan's division has only six thousandmen.

The Austro-Russian force is a mixture of infantry, Jägers (frequently deployed as skirmishers), Russian musketeers and Russian and Austrian cavalry, accompanied by more than sixty-eight artillery pieces.

The Russian cavalry, units of the greatly feared Cossacks, are well-suited for patrolling the river bank; indeed, on November 9 they had taken forty French soldiers as prisoners.

Furthermore, reinforcements stand in Moravia, less than two weeks' march away.

If the main body of the French army crosses the river, they will require time to prepare.

Kutuzov, who had learned the military arts under the tutelage of the legendary Russian Generalissimo Suvorov, has overall command and will have ample warning of any large-scale French movement.

After the afternoon's initial skirmishing with the French, Kutuzov holds a council of war on the evening of November 10 at Melk, at the great abbey here.

He knows several things.

First, he knows the positions of the French from prisoners his Cossacks have captured.

He also knows that Gazan had crossed at Linz and is well ahead of any French reinforcements: Dupont had crossed at Passau and, by November 20, stands at Marbach, fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) upstream, and Dumonceau is another seven kilometers (four miles) further behind Dupont.

Kutuzov knows the size of the French force—its division strength—and its positions, and he knows that most of the dragoons are not covering the French flank but have turned north.

He also knows, or has made a good supposition, about Napoleon's orders, so he knows what to offer Mortier and Gazan as bait.

Strik arrives first and immediately assaults Gazan's line with three battalions, pushing the French out of Dürenstein.

Caught between two strong forces, Gazan attempts to push his way back through Dürenstein, to reach the river where the flotilla can evacuate his exhausted troops.

Withdrawing through the narrow Danube canyon and fighting off the Russian force at their rear, Gazan and his division are trapped when more of Strik's Russians appear to block their retreat.

The narrow defiles hamper the Russians; Strik's men have to march out of the canyons, form ranks and attack in waves.

Despite Strik's continuous assault in the next two to three hours, Mortier and Gazan push the Russians back up the narrow fissure in the hillside.

At this point, Dokhturov's column appears behind the French line and joins the battle.

The French are outnumbered more than three to one, assaulted in the front by Miloradovich's column, in the middle by Strik's and in the rear by Dokhturov.

Earlier in the morning Dupont had proceeded with his column south and east along the river, from Marbach, according to instructions.

Even before the arrival of Mortier's courier, he had heard the sound of artillery in the distance and sent riders ahead to discover the cause.

They had come back to report that a Russian column (Dokhturov's) was descending from the mountains to take the road to Dürenstein.

Realizing this will separate him from the forward division, Dupont hustles his troops toward the sound of battle and deploys them to take the Russians in the flank.

The French assault, heralded by cannon fire, causes Dokhturov's troops to turn their attention from Gazan's beleaguered force to face these new assailants.

Although superior in numbers, Dokhturov's column has no supporting artillery, and the narrow space prevent them from taking advantage of their size.

It is Dokhturov's turn to face attackers at his front and rear, until the arrival of Schmitt's column, which is wending its way through the mountains in the west.

Schmitt arrives at dusk, and the action continues well after dark; in mid-November night falls at close to 17:00 in the upper Danube climes.

Despite the darkness, Schmitt descends out of the defiles and deploys his troops to assail Dupont's flank.

As his Russians enter he fray, they come between a battalion of French and another of Russians.

With the additional force, the French are overwhelmed, but most of the shooting subsides when the combatants cannot tell apart friend from foe in the dark.

Under the cover of darkness, aided by a waning moon, Mortier uses the French flotilla to evacuate his exhausted troops to the south bank.

The French and Russians continue to skirmish fitfully into the night as sentries encounter one another in the dark.

Portions of Gazan's force provide any necessary rear guard action, and the following morning the remaining men are evacuated from the north shore of the Danube, while they maintain possession of only Spitz and Weissenkirchen on the north bank.

The losses are staggering: Gazan had lost close to forty percent of his division to death and wounds.

Aside from losing five guns, forty-seven officers and eight hundred and ninety-five men under his command have been captured, bringing the loss of effectives closer to sixty percent; furthermore, he has lost the eagles of the 4th Infantry Regiment (France) and the eagle and guidon of the 4th Dragoons.

The Russians have lost around four thousand, about sixteen percent of their force, and two regimental colors.

The Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal Schmitt is killed as the battle concludes, probably by Russian musketry in the confused melee.

The vineyards and the villages of Ober- and Unterloiben are destroyed, as is most of Dürenstein and Stein.

Mortier has accepted the bait of a rumored Russian retreat.

In the early morning of November 11, he and Gazan had departed from Dürenstein to seize Stein and Krems, presuming the Russians had either abandoned the settlements or left only a small rear-guard behind.

As they approach Stein, a column of Miloradovich's troops attacks the French forward positions.

Thinking this force is the rumored Russian rear guard, Mortier orders General Gazan to counterattack and push east towards the town of Stein.

Fighting spreads though the villages of Oberloiben, Unterloiben and the farm at Rothenhof.

Instead of withdrawing, as a rear guard would, more and more Russian troops appear and engage the French column.

Initially Gazan makes rapid progress, but he quickly recognizes that the opposing force is much stronger than the typical rearguard of a retreating army.

Realizing he has been duped and that Gazan's troops are tiring rapidly, Mortier sends orders to Dupont's division to hurry forward.

By mid-morning the French momentum has stalled; Mortier commits most of his remaining forces to driving Miloradovich back, leaving a single battalion—perhaps three hundred troops—to cover his northern flank, and sends the rest to attack the Russian right.

Within thirty minutes he achieves the superiority of numbers he seeks.

His forty-five hundred French oppose twenty-six hundred Russians and force them back toward Stein while pressing an attack along the river.

Miloradovich has no option, for neither Strik's nor Dokhtorov's flanking columns are to be seen.

Fighting pauses.

Mortier and Gazan wait for Dupont's arrival while Kutuzov and Miloradovich wait for Strik's and Dokhturov's.

Schmitt's column is expected to be the last to join the fight because it has to march the greatest distance.

The timing of the respite—12:00 or 14:00—varies, depending on whose reports are consulted.

Krems is heavily damaged; the French plunder the town at least twice, and "barbarously handled" its inhabitants.

Both sides claim victory.

Although losses are fairly equal in terms of numbers—four thousand wounded or dead on each side—the Coalition forces had gone into battle with twenty-four thousand men while the French had started with Gazan's division of about six thousand, which had grown close to eight thousand when Dupont's men joined the fighting in the afternoon.

Regardless, Gazan's division has been nearly destroyed; the thirty percent losses experienced by the French had fallen predominantly on his division.

Clearly for both sides, the fighting was hard.

The weather had been cold; an early storm had left slick icy mud in the roadways, and icicles "like chandeliers" hung from the trees.

For the Coalition, the Russians are secure on the north bank of the Danube, awaiting reinforcements from Galicia; the bridges between Linz and Vienna have been destroyed, making French access to the Austrian capital more difficult, but not impossible.

After six months of fighting in which the Austrians had enjoyed little good news, the Coalition can claim a difficult and timely victory.

The French had retreated from the field with a badly mauled division and Kutuzov has secured the right flank.

Indeed, Francis is so pleased with the outcome at Dürenstein that he will award Kutuzov the Military Order of Maria Theresa.

For the French, the survival of the Corps Mortier seems nothing short of a miracle.

The remainder of Gazan's division cross the river the next morning and eventually recuperate in Vienna, which the French will acquire by deception later in the month.

More importantly for them, the French force has performed well over difficult terrain and under terrible combat conditions.

Initially there had been some panic and parts of at least one French battalion had tried to escape on the flotilla craft.

They had lost control of the boats in the current and smashed into the pillars of the burned bridge at Krems, overturning their boats.

Tossed into the icy river, most had drowned.

Despite this initial panic, Gazan's column had retained its cohesion, and responded well to various difficult demands.

Dupont had demonstrated his tactical acumen: when he heard cannon fire, he directed his troops toward it to support the French division.

In terms of French staffing, Mortier's failure to guard his flank, especially in the face of Napoleon's direct advice, has adversely influenced his relationship with his commander.

However, in the immediate weeks ahead, the flamboyant Murat will do more to annoy Napoleon than Mortier had.

In assessing the battle and its aftermath, historians will lay the blame and credit for its outcome not only on Mortier and Gazan, but also on Murat.