The loss of Schmitt was a significant blow to the Austrian military organization . Called out of retirement for this specific task , he was one of their most experienced general staff officers , other than the Archduke Charles . From the summer of 1796 until his retirement in 1800 he had been Chief of the Quartermaster General Staff of the Army , the Lower Rhine , the Rhine and the Army of Germany . Furthermore , he was a trusted member of Archduke Charles ' staff . He had helped to design several of Charles ' more important victories at Emmendingen , Schliengen , the sieges at Kehl and Hünigen , the battles at Ostrach and Stockach , and the northern Swiss Campaign of 1799 that included battles at Winterthur and Zürich . An experienced officer and excellent tactician , he might well have made a more effective Chief of the Quartermaster General Staff of the Coalition Army at the Battle of Austerlitz than his eventual replacement , Franz von Weyrother . In Schmitt 's absence Weyrother , the architect of the Austrian catastrophe at Hohenlinden in 1800 , was chosen to develop the general battle plan of Coalition action at Austerlitz . Schmitt , undoubtedly a far better tactician than Weyrother , and possessed of superior training and mapping skills , would have developed a more realistic Coalition plan for Austerlitz . Schmitt 's presence would probably not have been enough to turn that defeat into a victory , but it would have mitigated the magnitude of the Coalition 's losses ; Austerlitz was considered one of Napoleon 's finest triumphs .