As the sun set on December 1st, 1805, the emperors of Russia and Austria felt victory within their grasp.

They had the high ground, and the French were retreating in haste.

With more men, better position, momentum on their side, the two grand emperors commanding their imperial troops, were finally in a position to put that little Corsican upstart Napoleon in his place.

As the sun rose on the morning of the second, from those commanding heights, the two emperors looked down on the French forces.

They looked small.

The emperors must have imagined the French soldiers clutching their muskets, shaking in their boots.

It was going to be a good day.

With one determined attack, this war was over, they thought.

They were right, but not in the way they believed.

Eight hours later, more than 30,000 Austrian and Russian men were dead or captured, and the

war was over with Napoleon victorious. He addressed his men before the day was done.

Soldiers, even at this hour before this great day shall pass away and be lost in the ocean of eternity,

your emperor must address you, and say how satisfied he is with your conduct.

The recollection of this day, and of your deeds, will be eternal.

But as pleased as he was with his men, Napoleon knew that the day belonged to him alone.

His brilliant planning, his prodigious leadership and ability to inspire is what had really turned the tide.

As Napoleon would later write, in war, men are nothing.

One man is everything.

Today, he was that man.

Some historians have suggested that this battle, the Battle of Austerlitz, ruined Napoleon.

His victory was so complete in the face of such overwhelming odds that he no longer believed

himself capable of defeat.

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