Background
During the Ulm Campaign, Napoleon's Grand Army had executed a massive right wheel to trap the Austrian army led by Karl Mack von Lieberich. Starting on the Rhine River, facing east, the various French corps arrived on the Danube River, facing south. From the Danube, using Marshal Michel Ney's VI Corps as a pivot, the Grand Army continued its right wheel until most of Napoleon's corps were facing west. The bulk of the Austrian army was now trapped, though Napoleon did not know exactly where most of the enemy units were located.
The French believed that the Austrian garrison of Ulm formed part of a rearguard, not a large army. Marshal Joachim Murat was placed in command of the VI Corps on the north bank and the V Corps and a large force of cavalry on the south bank. His mission was to drive west toward Ulm.
On October 11, Murat ordered Marshal Michel Ney to move the bulk of his VI Corps to the south bank of the Danube. Ney argued that the north bank force was too small but Murat brushed him off with the comment, "I know nothing of plans except those made in the face of the enemy." Ney reluctantly complied with his orders, leaving only the division of Pierre Dupont on the north bank, supported by Tilly's VI Corps cavalry.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Haslach-Jungingen
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