The Santon

It’s a short walk from our accommodation at The Post House to The Santon.

As soon as we had lunch and a wash up we set out to walk to The Santon along the side of the busy road. The present road follows the old road through the middle of the French left flank. To our left Murat fought his cavalry battle. Along this very road the Marshal Lannes pursued the broken allied army at the end of the battle

This map shows the Post House on the right, and The Santon on the left. This was the situation at the start of the battle.

Although The Santon is neither high, nor difficult to climb, it dominates the flat countryside around it. It is an excellent viewpoint to survey the whole battlefield, and in particular the northern part .

The left section of the diorama shows the French advance towards the end of the battle. Our road runs left to right, with The Post Office on the left

The right section of the diorama shows The Santon as it was during the battle. The French had transformed an insignificant hill into a redoubt, dominated by a large number of captured Austrian guns on the flattened top.