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Christopher Columbus’ Lunar Eclipse, and Other Brazen Bluffs From History

Khalid Elhassan February 20, 2025 14 min

Bluff - Christopher Columbus and the 1504 lunar eclipse — Christopher Columbus and the 1504 lunar eclipse. Science Photo Library

7. A Bridge Rigged to Explode

7 joachim murat. the history blog — Joachim Murat. The History Blog

Unfortunately for the Austrians, Count Auersperg was a fool, and fell for a ruse that allowed the French to seize his bridge. It began as the French army advanced upon Vienna, amidst a mood of uncertainty. The war was still on, but because negotiations were underway, all involved knew that the hostilities might end at any moment with an armistice and peace treaty. It was against that backdrop that the French vanguard neared the Tabor Bridge on November 13^th, 1805, and stopped. The French forces halted in front of the Tabor Bridge were led by two of Napoleon’s more daring generals, Joachim Murat and Jean Lannes. The duo wanted to cross the Danube, but knew that the bridge was rigged was explosives and would be destroyed if they tried to forcibly storm and seize it. So they decided to seize it by bluff.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.