The camp has been dressed up in the beautiful place of the castle park. During the saturday morning line up the troops were hailed by the mayor of Mikulov, Mr. Rostislav Kostial. Both armies (all three armies should we say, there were several dozens of Duchy of Warsaw infantrymen in the ranks of the french battalion) drilled and maneuvered to improve their skills before the great events of Austerlitz 2008 and Znaim 2009.
Shortly before 3 p.m. the austrian arriere-garde under the command of Hauptmann Partyka took position on the town square to prevent any ennemy troops to pass the town. The french commander in chief, first ADC to the marshal Davout, colonel Vystrcil, sent a few cavarly skirmishers to the town to get more information on the ennemy. The chasseurs à cheval of the guard were driven back by the austrian infantry, the colonel moved forward with his infantry and two cannons and pushed the Austrians from the square… at the same time he recieved the order to cease fire and the sweet word of ARMISTICE ended the useless carnage.
The troops lined up for the solemn defilé, the commander in chief hailed Mrs. vice-mayor Ilona Ziskova, promissed to spare the town from injuries, presented the Emperor’s proclamation to the army.
The progam was finished by an exhibition of the french drummers led and exercised by the tambour of the 18th line infantry, brilliant Cruchot. The visitors could have listened to the regulation and non-regulation signals that directed the life of the french soldiers at the beggining of the 19th century and that helped them to maneuvre on the battlefield.
In the evening the troops moved to the austrian commune of Drasenhofen, were welcomed wormly by the mayor, Mr. Josef Studeny, defiled through the streets of the village and arrived to the famous Kellergasse (Kaiserstrasse), a beautiful lane of wine caves that had been visited by many famous personalities of the european history, among them Emperor Napoleon and Tsar Alexander. A 15 minutes skirmish ended by cease-fire, result of the battle of Znaim, went on celebration of the armistice.
On the next day the troops drilled and maneuvered again.
We would like to thank all participants for their discipline and ardour, the town of Mikulov and the commune of Drasehofen for the excellent conditions of the event and cooperation at the preparations, the South-moravian region for support of the project. Namely we thank the mayor of Mikulov, Mr. Rostislav Kostial, mayor of the commune of Drasenhofen, Mr. Josef Studeny, and the 1st vice-governor of the South-moravian region, Mr.