The second and third columns were left in Sokolnitz, through which the head of the latter had passed. It was also stated, that the two columns had become entangled during a thick fog that took place, and they were thrown into confusion, in this village, where they mutually embarrassed each other. At this time that part of the French which had been engaged in front of Tellnitz retired upon Sokolnitz; General Legrand having ordered that village to be turned by General Franceschi. When this took place, the centre of the allies had already been penetrated; and the French were in possession of the heights of Pratzen. The Russians who were in Sokolnitz, and those who had passed through it, when they saw themselves surrounded, immediately surrendered. Lieutenant-general Przibischewsky, who had the command of the third column, was made prisoner in the valley of Sokolnitz, together with 6,000 men, being a part of both columns, which likewise lost the whole of their artillery. The relics of the second column retreated in disorder upon Aujest, and what continued embodied fell back upon the first column. This latter, informed, when too late, of the attack made by the French upon the centre, intended to move to its support; but took a wrong direction to be capable of making a diversion in its favour. The Austrian cavalry, which had been left beyond Tellnitz, retired through that village, which was now evacuated, leaving some Battalions of infantry, with a few cavalry on the hill fronting it, as a corps of observation, and to secure the march of M. de Buxhoevden, who was retiring upon Aujest, by the same route he had advanced. To protect the flank of the Russian infantry, the Szeckler hussars under Prince Maurice Liechtenstein, and O'Reilly's light cavalry, with two regiments of Cossacks, under General Stutterheim, were advanced upon the plain, between the foot of the mountains and the villages of Tellnitz and Sokolnitz; General Nostitz, with the hussars of Hesse Homburg, marched with the column. The French, after their success in the centre, had already brought forward their reserve, consisting of 20 Battalions, and had extended along the crest of the heights that were occupied in the morning by the allies, from Pratzen to the chapel above Aujest, but, _as yet_, they were not in force, and had no cannon above that village.[16]