The
Battle of Wagram (July 5–6 1809) was the most important
military engagementGenerally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment.Wars and military campaigns...
of the
War of the Fifth CoalitionThe War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
and took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
. An important site of the battle was the village of
Deutsch-WagramDeutsch-Wagram is a city in Austria in the federal state of Lower Austria. It lies 15 km northeast of Vienna and has a population of 6,808 as of the 2001 census.- History :...
, 10 kilometres northeast of
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
, which would give its name to the battle. The two-day struggle saw an
Imperial FrenchThe French Empire
, also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...
, German and
ItalianThe Kingdom of Italy was founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, and ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional Statutes:...
army under the command of Emperor Napoleon I defeat an army of the
Austrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867...
under the command of
Archduke Charles of Austria-TeschenArchduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
.
Following a setback at the
battle of Aspern-EsslingIn the Battle of Aspern-Essling , Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles...
, Napoleon remained with his army on the right (southern) bank of the Danube and concentrated significant resources on the great island of
LobauThe Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...
, northeast of the occupied Austrian capital. Using the island as a springboard for another crossing, the French and their German and Italian allies began crossing the river to the north bank, as night fell, on July 4. During the next morning, they had successfully deployed on the Marchfeld, pushing back all Austrian opposition in the area. The evening saw a series of violent French and Allied attacks on the strong Austrian positions, the latter managing to hold their ground. On July 6, at dawn, the Austrians moved forward and launched an aggressive series of attacks, seeking to take the opposing army in double envelopment. Despite the fact that this offensive nearly shattered the French and Allied centre and left flank, Napoleon masterfully redeployed his forces to counter the Austrian plan. Then, by setting up a
Grand BatteryGrand Battery was a French artillery tactic of the Napoleonic wars. It involved massing all available batteries into a single large, temporary one, and concentrating the firepower of their guns at a single point in the enemy's lines.Substituting volume of fire for accuracy, rate of fire and rapid...
and ordering a violent attack on the Austrian left and centre, the Emperor of the French managed to push back Archduke Charles' line, the latter promptly organising a phased retreat. Hostilities ended at about 20:00 hours, with the Austrians retreating in relatively good order, while the exhausted French and Allies were unable to launch a proper pursuit. Commanding a secondary army, Archduke John of Austria was in the vicinity of the
battlefieldGenerally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, wherein each group will seek to defeat the others within the scope of a military campaign, and are well defined in duration, area and force commitment.Wars and military campaigns...
on July 6, but was unable to join the main Austrian force and thus played no part in the battle of Wagram. After the battle, Archduke Charles remained in command of a significant and still cohesive force and decided to retreat to
BohemiaBohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...
, where he clashed again with the French and was again defeated, at the battle of Znaim. This forced him to sign an
armisticeThe Armistice of Znaim was a ceasefire agreed between Archduke Charles and Napoleon I on 12 July 1809 following the Battle of Znaim, effectively ending hostilities between Austria and France in the War of the Fifth Coalition....
, which was to be sanctioned by Emperor
Francis I of AustriaFrancis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
.
The two-day battle of Wagram was particularly bloody, mainly due to the extensive use of artillery on a flat battlefield packed with some 300,000 men. Despite the fact that Napoleon was the uncontested winner, he failed to secure a complete victory and the Austrian casualties were only slightly greater than those of the French and Allies. Nonetheless, the defeat was serious enough to shatter the morale of the Austrians, who could no longer find the will to continue the struggle, hence deciding to accept a harsh peace treaty, which meant the loss of one sixth of the Empire's subjects, alongside significant territories.
Background
After defeat at the
battle of AusterlitzThe Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...
in 1805, Emperor Francis II signed the Treaty of Pressburg with
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Its terms were harsh. Austria paid France a war indemnity of 40 million francs and ceded 2.5 million of the Austrian Empire's 24 million subjects, which also amounted to giving up one-sixth of the Austrian Empire's revenues. The population lost went mostly to expand French
clientClient may refer to:* Customer, someone who purchases or hires something from someone else* Client , software that accesses a remote service on another computer* Client , a citizen of ancient Rome who was sponsored by a benefactor...
kingdoms, such as those of
ItalyThe Kingdom of Italy was founded in Northern Italy by Napoleon, and ended with his defeat and fall.-Constitutional Statutes:...
and
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, and also to elements of the
Confederation of the RhineThe Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation was a client state of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
, created by Napoleon to act as a
bufferA buffer state is a country lying between two rival or potentially hostile greater powers, which by its sheer existence is thought to prevent conflict between them. Buffer states, when authentically independent, typically pursue a neutralist foreign policy, which distinguishes them from satellite...
against enemies in the east and to provide him with troops. In 1806, after Napoleon's comprehensive defeat of
PrussiaPrussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...
and under French pressure, Francis II relinquished the centuries-old title of
Holy Roman EmperorThe Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a Middle Ages ruler, who as German King had in addition received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope of the Holy Roman Church, and after the 16th century, the elected monarch governing the Holy Roman Empire, a Central...
and became (simply) Francis I,
Emperor of AustriaThe phrase Emperor of Austria describes an hereditary imperial title and position proclaimed in 1804 by the Austrian Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and continually held by him and his immediate successors until the Habsburg dynasty was overthrown in 1918.In the face of aggressions by...
—not at least aiming to preserve the imperial title to his family, the danger of Napoleon becoming Roman Emperor was imminent. Not surprisingly, the Treaty of Pressburg was unpopular in
HabsburgThe House of Habsburg or Hapsburg was an important royal house of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1452 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian and Spanish Empire and several other countries...
ruling circles and a war party began to form. The
Archduke CharlesArchduke Charles may refer to:*Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria*Archduke Charles Louis of Austria*Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria*Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen*Archduke Charles of Austria III...
, the emperor's brother and Austria's ablest general, was appointed
Generalissimus (supreme commander) with a remit to reform the army and the military establishment, whose incompetence had been exposed by the 1805 defeat. Austria also began to seek allies for the coming conflict, but met with little success. Following the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit,
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
was a French ally. Prussia procrastinated and eventually declined to participate.
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...
, already at war with France, was receptive but her army was already fully committed in
SpainThe Peninsular War was a contest between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars...
and was unable to offer more than the prospect of a diversionary intervention in northern Europe, which eventually did not take place until after Austria's defeat. Austria therefore went to war essentially alone, although with high hopes of rallying nascent
nationalismNationalism is an ideology, a sentiment, a form of culture, or a social movement that focuses on the nation. It is a type of collectivism emphasizing the collective of a specific nation...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
and northern Italy to her cause. In the end, although a pro-Austrian revolt under
Andreas HoferAndreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
erupted in the Bavarian
TyrolGerman Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps now divided between Austria and Italy. It includes largely ethnic German areas of historical County of Tyrol: the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian region known as the Alto Adige/Südtirol but not the largely Italian-speaking Trentino...
, Napoleon's German clients and allies remained aligned to the French cause.
Initial hostilities
On 9 April 1809, armies under the overall command of Archduke Charles invaded Bavaria and northern Italy. There was no
declaration of warA declaration of war is a formal performative speech act or signing of a document by an authorized party of a government in order to initiate a state of war between two or more nations. The legality of who can declare war varies between nations and forms of government. In many nations power is...
. A simple message from Charles was conveyed to the outlying outposts of the French army—"I have orders to advance with my forces and to treat as enemies any who oppose me"—and hours later the Austrian army attacked. Although Napoleon was aware that an Austrian attack was likely, it came sooner than he expected, and he was still in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
when the Archduke Charles advanced. Though slow-moving, the Austrian attack was initially successful, capturing
MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
and almost splitting the French army in Bavaria in two. When Napoleon arrived with the Imperial Guard, however, he counter-attacked vigorously and defeated various Austrian columns at
AbensbergThe Battle of Abensberg took place on April 20 1809, between the French, Württembergers and Bavarians under Napoleon which numbered about 90,000 strong, and 80,000 Austrians under the Archduke Charles of Austria...
,
LandshutThe Battle of Landshut took place on April 21 1809, between the French, Württembergers and Bavarians under Napoleon which numbered about 77,000 strong, and 36,000 Austrians under the General Johann von Hiller...
,
EckmühlThe Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21 April – 22 April, 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition...
and
RatisbonThe Battle of Ratisbon also called the Battle of Regensburg was fought from 19 April to 23 April in 1809 between France and Austria. The French were led by Baron de Coutaud, while the Austrians were led by Archduke Charles. The Austrians had to retreat. During the battle Napoleon himself was...
. Charles retreated along the north bank of the
DanubeThe Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg rivers which join at the German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows...
with Napoleon in pursuit. On 12 May the French captured
ViennaVienna is the capital of the Republic of Austria and also one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.7 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 10th largest city by...
, on the Danube's south bank. The Austrians did not capitulate or ask for terms despite the loss of their capital, and Charles' main body, north-east of Vienna, was still undefeated. Napoleon's bridging trains had not caught up with the main body, but on 21 May, he crossed the Danube east of Vienna, aiming to find and attack the Archduke's army. Napoleon chose a crossing point where sandbars and islands broke the Danube up into several smaller, relatively manageable spans that could be bridged with the extemporised pontoons and trestles available. Archduke Charles, who had anticipated this move, waited until part of Napoleon's army had occupied the Mühlau salient and the villages of
Aspern and EsslingIn the Battle of Aspern-Essling , Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles...
, which flanked it, and then attacked the bridgehead. Napoleon's attempts to reinforce the outnumbered defenders were thwarted by the Austrians' successful ploy of sending heavy stone-laden barges—and even, at one point, an entire floating watermill—downstream to ram and break the flimsy French bridges. This prevented both reinforcements and ammunition from reaching the French defenders. After a fierce two-day battle in which
Marshal LannesJean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, 1st Sovereign Prince de Sievers was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
, one of Napoleon's abler subordinates, was mortally wounded, the Austrians took Aspern and forced Napoleon to abandon the bridgehead. He withdrew to the island of
LobauThe Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...
, a large island in the middle of the Danube that the French army was using as a staging post across the river.
Lobau, with its masses of densely-packed French troops, was a lucrative artillery target within easy range of the opposite shore, but Charles made no attempt to bombard it. Instead he left an observation force on the left bank and withdrew several miles. Napoleon recognised that a second attempt to cross the Danube would have to be made, and would require much more thorough preparation this time. On 1 June, French engineers and naval battalions began construction of several
pontoonA pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water, supported by barge-or-boat-like pontoons to support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
and
trestle bridgesA trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, especially referring to a path supported by a number of such braced frames or short spans supported by splayed vertical elements . Timber trestles were extensively used in the nineteenth century in mountainous areas and to traverse floodplains adjacent...
across each span, built far more robustly than the previous efforts. The works were completed on June 21. Upstream of them, piles were driven into the river bed to form an 800-metre long double palisade to prevent a repeat of the previous ramming tactics. Boats were requisitioned, fitted with guns, and used to patrol the river to prevent attacks on the bridges. Lobau remained the main staging post, but became an armed camp filled with ammunition, supplies, and troops. In early July, the French army recrossed the Danube and created a decoy bridgehead in the Mühlau salient, directly north of Lobau. On the night of 4 to 5 July, all was ready and 150,000 French troops executed a masterly crossing of the river onto the opposite bank east of Lobau. There, pivoting on Gross-Enzersdorf, they began to fan out across the Marchfeld, a plain enclosed on the south by the river and on the other three sides by the Bisamberg, a crescent-shaped
escarpmentIn geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope. Usually escarpment is used interchangeably with scarp...
. It was regularly used in peacetime by the Austrian army for manoeuvres and was familiar ground to Archduke Charles, who had deployed his army in defensive positions along the Bisamberg.
Opposing armies
The French army of the 1809 campaign was significantly different from that of earlier campaigns. Despite military success almost everywhere, Napoleon's need for manpower had grown since 1805-7, partly because of casualties in those campaigns, partly to enforce the
Continental SystemThe Continental System was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars...
against Britain, and partly because of the continuing military commitment in Spain. His armies therefore included a substantial proportion of conscripts who had received much of their training on the march from their regimental depots in France. It also included significant foreign contingents, notably from the Confederation of the Rhine, of varying quality. Napoleon had also expanded the Imperial Guard by establishing the Young Guard, a formation comprising the best of the recruits from each year's intake. These factors all tended to reduce the quality of the average line infantry formation available in 1809 compared to those with which the Emperor had defeated Austria in 1805, and at a number of points in the campaign, this lack of experience showed in diminished tactical and formational agility. The cavalry, particularly the
heavy cavalryHeavy cavalry is a class of cavalry whose primary role was to engage in direct combat with enemy forces . Although their equipment differed greatly depending on the region and historical period, they were generally mounted on large powerful horses, and were often equipped with some form of scale,...
, was still excellent. The artillery was in the process of switching to a new system based on 6-pounder and 12-pounder pieces only. Previously the artillery had used 4- and 8-pounder pieces as well, and the net effect of the change was to reduce slightly the average weight of projectile in the army as a whole. Despite this, the artillery was always effectively handled and the standardisation of gun types was of great assistance logistically.
The Austrian army was a polyglot force comprising "Hungarian" regiments, recruited from the federated
Kingdom of HungaryThe Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...
and "German" regiments, recruited from elsewhere in the empire whether ethnically German or not. Unique to the Austrian army, there also existed
Grenz infantryIn Habsburg Austria , Grenz infantry or Grenzers were troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier. This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the Ottoman Turks...
regiments, recruited from the
Military FrontierThe Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against Turkish incursions from the Ottoman Empire...
with the Ottoman Empire. These troops were less well adapted to traditional line infantry tactics, but were among the best marksmen in the army and were excellent skirmishers. Despite Charles' attempts at reform, the army was still slow-moving and tactically inflexible, had never really mastered the
corps d'armée system used by the French, and tended to fill senior positions with members of the aristocracy of uncertain military ability. For the 1809 campaign the regular army was augmented by
LandwehrLandwehr, or Landeswehr, is a German language term used in referring to certain national armies, or militias found in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. In different context it refers to large scale, low strength fortifications...
(militia) infantry battalions. In theory 170 such were raised, but only 70 ever actually mustered, most poorly equipped. Seventeen served at Wagram where, brigaded with regular units, they fought unexpectedly well. There were also
insurrectio troops—raised under an ancient power of emergency levy—whose performance was patchy. The cavalry lacked the French cavalry's ability to operate tactically
en masse, in
brigadeA brigade is a military unit that is typically composed of two to five regiments or battalions, depending on the era and nationality of a given army. Usually, a brigade is a sub-component of a division, a larger unit consisting of two or more brigades; however, some brigades are classified as a...
,
divisionA division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between ten to thirty thousand soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions make up a corps...
and even corps-sized manoeuvres. Austrian cavalry instead mostly fought in
squadronA squadron is a small unit or formation of cavalry, armour, aircraft , or warships.-Army and Marines:A cavalry squadron , typically consists of four troops.-United States:...
- or
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
-sized "penny packets" to support infantry, rather than as a decisive force in itself. Austrian cuirassiers wore a breastplate, which put them at a disadvantage in combat against French cuirassiers who had backplates too, but gave them the edge over France's
élite carabinierA Carabinier was originally a cavalry soldier armed with a carbine...
heavy cavalry, who wore no armour at all. The Austrian light cavalry were far more successful, with the Austrian
uhlans proving so effective that several French dragoon regiments were subsequently converted to the use of the lance. The Austrians also had regiments of
hussarHussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry created in Hungary in the 15th century and used throughout Europe and in Latin America since the 18th century...
s, all recruited from Hungary. Most armies in 1809 had such units, but they were largely conventional light cavalry re-uniformed in flamboyant hussar style for recruiting purposes. Austria's hussars were the authentic "Hungarian article", however, and proved to be their best raiding troops throughout the Napoleonic Wars. Unlike the French army, Austria had no
éliteElite is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect". In sociology as in general usage, the elite is a relatively small dominant group within a large society, having a privileged status perceived as being envied by others of a lower line of order.The elite at the top of the social strata...
units comparable to the Imperial Guard. The artillery had made great strides in doctrine and practice since 1805 and instead of dispersing guns ineffectually all along the line had started to use them
en masse, in grand batteries, like the French.
Battle of Wagram
By the day of the battle, Lobau Island was a massive warehouse and Napoleon was ready to move out.
Plans
Napoleon's plan was to create a diversion to the north of Lobau, in the same area as the battle of Aspern-Essling had been fought, that would pin the Austrians in place. Crossing the Danube east of that point, he hoped to swinging his army around the Austrian flank in a right hook that would encircle it against the Danube.
Charles, for his part, recognised that Napoleon would have to cross the river in much the same place as previously. Rather than defend at the river bank or on the Marchfeld itself—whose broken terrain he thought would offer too much advantage to the French light troops—he pulled most of his army back behind the Russbach and formed a V-shaped line nearly twelve miles long, anchored in the west on Süssenbrunn, at the apex on Wagram and Aderklaa, and in the east on Markgrafneusiedl.
Initial moves
Using a fortified bridgehead, Napoleon started a full-scale crossing of the island with his 190,000 men on the night of 5-6 July. His army was composed of
Nicolas OudinotNicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
's 2nd Corps,
Louis DavoutLouis-Nicolas d'Avout , better known as Davout, 1st Duc d'Auerstaedt, 1st Prince d'Eckmühl, was a Marshal of France during the Napoleonic Era. His prodigious talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian, earned him the title "The Iron Marshal"...
's 3rd Corps, 4th Corps under
André MassénaJean-André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
, the Army of Italy under
Eugène de BeauharnaisEugène Rose de Beauharnais, Prince Français, Prince of Venice, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy, Hereditary Grand Duke of Frankfurt, 1st Duke of Leuchtenberg and 1st Prince of Eichstätt ad personam was the first child and only son of the future French emperor Napoleon's first wife, Joséphine...
, the Saxon 9th Corps under Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, and
Auguste MarmontAuguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
's 11th Corps. Additionally present were the Imperial Guard and
Jean-Baptiste BessièresJean-Baptiste Bessières, 1st Duc d' Istria , was a Marshal of France of the Napoleonic Era.-Biography:Bessières was born in Prayssac near Cahors in southern France...
's Cavalry Reserve, and
Karl WredeKarl Philipp Josef Wrede, Freiherr von Wrede, 1st Fürst von Wrede , Bavarian field-marshal, was born at Heidelberg, the youngest of three children of Ferdinand Josef Wrede , created in 1791 1st Freiherr von Wrede, and wife, married on March 21, 1746, Anna Katharina Jünger , by whom he had two more...
's Bavarian contingent, which marched 120 miles in 6 days to arrive on the second day.
On the other side of the Marchfeld, Archduke Charles had neglected to concentrate every man available. One-third of
Johann KollowratKollowrat-Krakowsky, Johann Karl, Graf von commanded large Austrian forces in several notable battles during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.-Early career:...
's Corps was not recalled, the 5th Corps of Prince Reuss was left to the north-west as a reserve upon which to rally, and the Archduke John's 15,000 men were allowed to loiter at
BratislavaBratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...
(Pressburg). Other formations were left doing little useful in Galicia and Bohemia. Had all these troops been recalled, Charles would have faced Napoleon with over 60,000 more troops than he actually did. The force he did have was composed of Armand Nordmann's advanced guard,
Heinrich Graf von BellegardeCount Heinrich von Bellegarde , was born in Saxony, later joined the Austrian army, became a general officer, and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
's 1st Corps,
Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-HechingenFriedrich Franz Xaver Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen joined the Austrian military and was promoted to the rank of general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars, and led a corps in battle during the Napoleonic Wars....
's 2nd Corps, Kollowrat's 3rd Corps, 4th Corps under Franz Orsini-Rosenberg,
Johann von KlenauJohann von Klenau or Johann Josef Cajetan von Klenau und Janowitz joined the Austrian army, fought the French in the French Revolutionary Wars, and commanded a corps in several important battles during the Napoleonic Wars....
's 6th Corps (Klenau took over command of this formation from
Johann von HillerJohann Baron von Hiller was an Austrian general during the Johann Baron von Hiller was an Austrian general during the...
on the eve of the battle), and Johann Liechtenstein's Reserve Corps of grenadiers and cavalry.
MarshalThe Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Louis BerthierLouis Alexandre Berthier, 1st Duc de Wagram, 1st Duc de Valengin, 1st Sovereign Prince de Neuchâtel , marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.Alexandre was born at Versailles to Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Baptiste Berthier , an officer in...
, Napoleon's chief of staff, when giving orders to the various corps, accidentally assigned the same bridge to two of them. Although a very long delay ensued, Davout, Masséna and Oudinot and their corps were across. Bernadotte and his Saxons joined them, and on the 5th of July, Napoleon began his deployment near Aspern and Essling.
First day
Artillery smashed up the area around the two towns whilst the French army deployed. A few outpost divisions under generals Nordmann and Klenau were sent reeling back, Nordmann's troops suffering 50% losses but remaining cohesive and effective. By noon all of the area around Aspern and Essling was in the hands of the French. By late afternoon, the French army formed a semicircle with Masséna on the extreme left, Bernadotte, Eugène and Oudinot in the centre, and Davout on the right flank, with two extra brigades of cavalry to cover his own right against the anticipated arrival of the Archduke John.
At around 6 o'clock, in an attempt to decide the battle in a single day and to prevent the Austrian reserves under Archduke John coming up, Napoleon ordered an attack on the Austrian centre. This was manned by the corps of Bellegarde and Hohenzollern along the line of the Russbach. This extemporised attack was poorly co-ordinated and went in piecemeal. It initially carried the high ground beyond Wagram. But Archduke Charles personally rallied his troops and the attack faltered under the heavy Austrian fire and was bloodily repulsed. Austrian counterattacks then retook all the lost ground. In a foretaste of the following day's fighting, the encounters in the streets and hedgerows of Aderklaa were fierce and characterised by friendly-fire incidents, as French troops followed Saxons into action and mistook their white uniforms for those of the Austrians. The fighting drew Masséna's corps to the north, leaving few troops in the area.
Second day: Austrian offensive
Reflecting on the tactical position, Charles determined that the shorter front of the French position and their greater depth would enable Napoleon to attack and break his line almost anywhere he chose. To forestall this, he issued orders for a dawn general attack on both French flanks and the centre. One attack, against the right, was a feint to draw French reserves away. The real attack was aimed at the French left around the village of Aderklaa. Had this plan succeeded, it would have resulted in a veritable Cannae as the French were encircled with a river at their backs. The length of the Austrian front, poor staffwork, and Archduke John's non-arrival prevented any such success. At 4 am the following day, the Austrians first attacks went in against the French right flank. Poorly co-ordinated, this attack was stopped by Davout's men. However, the Austrian III and VI corps launched a dangerous attack against the weakened French left flank.
In the centre, the Austrians succeeded in throwing back Bernadotte's 9th Corps. Bernadotte had abandoned Aderklaa without orders and this key village fell to the Austrians without a shot. Advancing past the village, the Austrians broke the Saxons, who fled the field with Bernadotte galloping in front of them trying to rally them. Napoleon met Bernadotte as he was doing this and dismissed him from command of his corps on the spot. To stem the Austrian attack, Napoleon created a
Grand BatteryGrand Battery was a French artillery tactic of the Napoleonic wars. It involved massing all available batteries into a single large, temporary one, and concentrating the firepower of their guns at a single point in the enemy's lines.Substituting volume of fire for accuracy, rate of fire and rapid...
of 112 cannon which poured shot into the advancing Austrian formations. The effects of this fire and cavalry attacks halted Kollowrat's corps. Klenau brushed aside a single French division but then ran into a ferocious bombardment from
Jean ReynierJean Louis Ebénézer Reynier was a French Army general, that fought during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the command of an army corps under Napoleon in the 1812 and 1813 campaigns....
's massed cannon on Lobau Island. Masséna's Corps pulled out of the center and executed a five-mile march south, within gunshot of the Austrian positions, to fall upon Klenau's left flank as he fought his way into Napoleon's left rear. This stabilised the French left flank.
Second day: French counterstroke
Meanwhile, on the French right flank, things were going better, with Oudinot and Davout advancing towards the village of Markgrafsneusiedl. A large conflict erupted around the village and Davout's Corps forced back the troops under Orsini-Rosenberg and eventually took the village around 3 pm. Soon Davout was rolling up the Austrian left.
A major attack was now launched against the advancing Austrian centre by General of Division Jacques MacDonald's corps, which formed part of Eugene's command. MacDonald formed 27 battalions into a hollow square about 8,000 strong and launched this formation at the Austrian centre. The Austrians responded with intense artillery fire and local charges by their light cavalry. Hussar General Antoine Lasalle rode to Macdonald's support with French light cavalry, but was killed doing so. After ferocious fighting at bayonet point, Macdonald's attack ground to a halt without breaking through the Austrian centre. He succeeded, however, in preventing Charles from reinforcing his left flank, and the Austrians now began to evacuate the position, falling back in an orderly fashion towards Znaim to the north-west.
Exhausted by forty hours of marching and fighting, the French army followed rather than pursued Charles. MacDonald was granted a
MarshalThe Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
's baton on the field of battle.
Aftermath
Charles had sent for help from his brother,
Archduke JohnArchduke John of Austria was the thirteenth child of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Louisa of Spain. His son from a morganatic marriage was Franz Graf von Meran.-Biography:...
, but John only got his troops on the road by the next morning, far too late to help Charles. Five days after the battle, the French defeated the rear guard of the retreating Austrians at
ZnaimThe Armistice of Znaim was a ceasefire agreed between Archduke Charles and Napoleon I on 12 July 1809 following the Battle of Znaim, effectively ending hostilities between Austria and France in the War of the Fifth Coalition....
and Charles proposed an armistice, to which Napoleon agreed.
MacDonald was promoted to Marshal on the battlefield, for his leadership in attacking the Austrian centre. Oudinot and Marmont received Marshal's batons at Znaim, Marmont being somewhat surprised to receive his. The army soon had a new chant about the three men:
La France a nommé MacDonald, L'armée a nommé Oudinot, L'amitié a nommé Marmont (France chose MacDonald, the army chose Oudinot, friendship chose Marmont).
Avenue de WagramL’avenue de Wagram is a street in the 8th and 17th arrondissements of Paris, between place de Wagram and place Charles-de-Gaulle . It is 1.5 km long and 36m wide. It is named after Napoleon's 1809 victory at the battle of Wagram and is cut by place des Ternes...
, one of the avenues leading up to the
Arc de TriompheThe Arc de Triomphe is a monument in Paris, France that stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known as the "Place de l'Étoile". It is at the western end of the Champs-Élysées. The triumphal arch honors those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. On the...
on the
Place de l'EtoileThe Place de l'Étoile is a large road junction in Paris, France, the meeting point of twelve straight avenues including the Champs-Élysées which continues to the east...
in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, was renamed after this battle in 1864.
Analysis
Wagram was the first battle in which Napoleon failed to score an uncontested victory with relatively few casualties. The French forces suffered 34,000 casualties, a number compounded by the 20,000 suffered only weeks earlier at Aspern-Essling. This would be indicative of the gradual decline in quality of Napoleon's troops and the increasing experience and competence of his opponents, who were learning from previous errors. The heavy losses suffered, which included many seasoned troops as well as over thirty generals of varying rank, was something that the French would not be able to recover from with ease. Bernadotte's dismissal from the Grande Armée for his failure would have severe consequences for Napoleon in later years. Being unexpectedly elected heir to the throne of Sweden the following year, the former Marshal would eventually prove an asset to the Allies.
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