15. An Idiot Commander In Charge of a Vital Bridge
As peace discussions between the French and their Austrian and Russian opponents were underway, the authorities in Vienna refrained from blowing up the city’s bridges because they did not want to cast a pall over the negotiations. They also figured that if the negotiators reached a settlement, then the destruction of the bridges would prove unnecessary. So Vienna’s bridges were prepared for detonation if the French tried to seize them, but left standing. One such was the Tabor Bridge, entrusted to a Count Auersperg.
Unfortunately for the Austrians, Auersperg turned out to be an idiot and fell for a ruse that allowed the French to seize his bridge. That chain of events began as the French army advanced upon Vienna, amidst a mood of uncertainty. The war was still on, but because negotiations were underway, 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 1, 1805, and halted.
