Soldiers!
I am pleased with you. Everything I expected of your dauntlessness has been fulfilled by you today, at Austerlitz. You have crowned our colors with immortal fame. The enemy army, comprised of a hundred thousand men, led by the Russian and Austrian emperors, was pulverized and crushed in less than 4 hours. Those who escaped the brunt of your weapons were drowned. Forty battalions, Russian Emperor’s Guard flags, one hundred and twenty cannons, twenty generals, and more than thirty thousand captured – this is the outcome of this monumental day. Despite its superior size, the reputed Russian infantry was not able to withstand your assault, and you need not fear any opponent anymore. The third coalition was defeated and destroyed within two months. Peace is not far in the future. However, as I promised my nation before I crossed the Rhine, I will establish only such a peace that would provide me with an assurance and ensure our allied with compensation.

Soldiers,
When my nation placed the Emperor’s crown upon my head, I trusted that you would maintain it in the brilliant lustre of fame, which is the only value it holds for me. But at the same moment, our enemies wanted to destroy and debase it. They wanted to force me to place this iron crown, tainted by the blood of so many of our people, on the head of our most cruel enemy. You have suppressed and ruined those arrogant and senseless efforts, on the anniversary of your Emperor’s crowning. You have proved that it is easier to threaten and hold us in contempt than it is to defeat us.

Soldiers,
When I have completed everything that is necessary for ensuring the happiness and prosperity of our fatherland, I will lead you back home to France. There you will be treated to my most kind and generous care. My nation will welcome you with open arms. It will be enough to say: I fought at Austerlitz, in order for everyone to rejoin: this is a hero!

Napoleon

In our Emperor’s tent at Austerlitz, 12 Frimaire of the year XIV.

Situation at 3-4 p.m. on the 2. december 1805