may appear in the “Moniteur” as will gain him twenty days and give General Bertrand time to win over Bavaria, while “I make my 200,000 men pirouette into Germany.”  On August 29th the Army of England became the Grand Army, composed of seven corps, led by Bernadotte, Marmont, Davoust, Soult, Lannes, Ney and Augereau.  The cavalry was assigned to Murat; while Bessieres was in command of the Imperial Guard, now numbering some 10,000 men.

Already the greater part of this vast array was beginning to move inland; Davoust and Soult left some regiments, 30,000 strong, to guard the flotilla, and Marmont detached 14,000 men to defend the coasts of Holland; but the other corps on September 2nd began their march Rhine-wards in almost their full strength.  On that day Bernadotte broke up his cantonments in Hanover, and began his march towards the Main, on which so much was to turn.  The Elector of Hesse-Cassel now espoused Napoleon’s cause.  Thus, without meeting any opposition, Bernadotte’s columns reached Wuerzburg at the close of September; there the Elector of Bavaria welcomed the Marshal and gave him the support of his 20,000 troops; and at that stronghold he was also joined by Marmont.

In order to mislead the Austrians, Napoleon remained up to September 23rd at St. Cloud or Paris; and during his stay appeared a Senatus Consultum ordering that, after January 1st, 1806, France should give up its revolutionary calendar and revert to the Gregorian.  He then set out for Strassburg, as though the chief blows were to be dealt through the passes of the Black Forest at the front of Mack’s line of defence; and, to encourage that general in this belief, Murat received orders to show his horsemen in the passes held by Mack’s outposts, but to avoid any serious engagements.  This would give time for the other corps to creep up to the enemy’s rear.  Mack, meanwhile, had heard of the forthcoming junction of the French and Bavarians at Wuerzburg, but opined that it threatened Bohemia.[26]

Accordingly, he still clung to his lines, contenting himself with sending a cavalry regiment to observe Bernadotte’s movements; but neither he nor his nominal chief, the Archduke Ferdinand, divined the truth.  Indeed, so far did they rely on the aid of the Russians as to order back some regiments sent from Italy by the more sagacious Archduke Charles; but 11,000 troops from Tyrol reached the Swabian army.  That force was now spread out so as to hold the bridges of the Danube between Ingolstadt and Ulm; and on October 7th the Austrians were disposed as follows:  18,000 men under Kienmayer were guarding Ingolstadt, Neuburg, Donauwoerth, Guenzburg, and lesser points, while Mack had about 35,000 men at Ulm and along the line of the Iller; the arrival of other detachments brought the Austrian total to upwards of 70,000 men.  Against this long scattered line Napoleon led greatly superior forces.[27] The development of his plans proceeded