Battle of Aspern-Essling
Encyclopedia
In the Battle of Aspern-Essling (21–22 May 1809), 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
. The battle was the first time Napoleon had been personally defeated in over a decade, but it was no more than a tactical victory for the Austrians, who failed to capitalise on their superior numbers and merely repulsed Napoleon, without defeating him.
, the bridges over the Danube
had been broken, and the Archduke's army was near the Bisamberg
, a hill near Korneuburg
, on the left bank of the river. The French wanted to cross the Danube. Lobau
, one of the numerous islands which divide the river into minor channels, was selected as the point of crossing. Careful preparations were made, and on the night of the 19th-20 May the French bridged all the channels on the right bank to Lobau and occupied the island. By the evening of the 20th many men had been collected there and the last arm of the Danube, between Lobau and the left bank, bridged. Masséna
's corps at once crossed to the left bank and dodged the Austrian outposts. Undeterred by the news of heavy attacks on his rear from Tyrol
and from Bohemia
, Napoleon ferried all available troops to the bridges, and by daybreak on the 21st, 40,000 men were collected on the Marchfeld, the broad plain of the left bank, which was also to be the scene of the Battle of Wagram
.
The Archduke did not resist the passage. It was his intention, as soon as a large enough force had crossed, to attack it before the rest of the French army could come to its assistance. Napoleon had accepted the risk of such an attack, but he sought at the same time to minimize it by summoning every available battalion to the scene. His forces on the Marchfeld were drawn up in front of the bridges facing north, with their left in the village of Aspern
(Gross-Aspern) and their right in Essling
. Both places lay close to the Danube and could not therefore be turned; Aspern, indeed, is actually on the bank of one of the river channels. The French had to fill the gap between the villages, and also move forward to give room for the supporting units to form up.
The corps led by Johann von Hiller
(VI), Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde
(I) and Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
(II) were to converge upon Aspern, while Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
(IV) was to attack Essling. Prince Johann of Liechtenstein's Austrian reserve cavalry was in the center, ready to move out against any French cavalry attacking the heads of the columns. During the 21st the bridges became more and more unsafe, owing to the violence of the current, but the French crossed without intermission all day and during the night.
:
TOTAL: 99 000 men; 84 000 infantry, 14 250 cavalry, 288 guns
Grande Armée d'Allemagne, under the command of Napoleon I
:
TOTAL (on May 22): 77 000 men; 67 000 infantry, 10 000 cavalry, 152 guns
The battle began at Aspern; Hiller carried the village at the first rush, but Masséna recaptured it, and held his ground with remarkable tenacity. The French infantry fought with the old stubborn bravery which it had failed to show in the earlier battles of the war.
The three Austrian columns were unable to capture more than half the village. The post was still held by Masséna when night fell. Meanwhile, all the French infantry between the two villages and in front of the bridges had been drawn into the fight on the flank. Napoleon therefore, to create a diversion, sent forward his center, now consisting only of cavalry, to charge the enemy's artillery, which was deployed in a long line and firing on Aspern. The first charge of the French was repulsed, but second attempt was made by heavy masses of cuirassiers. The French horsemen drove off guns, rode round Hohenzollern's infantry square
s, and resisted the cavalry of Lichtenstein, but they were unable to do more, and in the end they retired to their old position.
In the meanwhile Essling had been the scene of fighting almost as desperate as that of Aspern. The French cuirassiers made heavy charges on the flank of Rosenberg's force, and delayed an assault. In the villages, Lannes
with a single division resisted until night ended the battle. The two armies bivouacked, and in Aspern the French and Austrians lay within pistol shot of each other. The emperor was not discouraged, and renewed efforts to bring up every available man. All through the night more and more French troops came across.
Meanwhile Napoleon had launched a great attack on the Austrian center. The whole of the French center, with Lannes on the left and the cavalry in reserve, moved forward. The Austrian line was broken through, between Rosenberg's right and Hohenzollern's left. Victory was almost won when the Archduke brought up his last reserve, leading his soldiers with a colour in his hand. Lannes was checked, and with his repulse the impetus of the attack died out all along the line. Aspern had been lost, and the news reached Napoleon at the critical moment. The Danube bridges, which had broken down once already, had been cut by heavy barges, which had been sent drifting down stream by the Austrians.
Napoleon at once suspended the attack. Essling now fell to another assault of Rosenberg, and the French drove him out again. Rosenberg then directed his efforts on the flank of the French center, slowly retiring on the edges. The retirement was terribly costly, but Lannes stopped the French from being driven into the Danube. Complete exhaustion of both sides ended the fighting.
The French lost over 20,000 men including one of Napoleon's ablest field commanders and close friend, Marshal Jean Lannes
, who died after being mortally wounded by an Austrian cannon ball in an attack on Johann von Klenau
's force at Aspern, which was backed up by 60 well-placed guns. The Austrians had also suffered similar casualties but had secured the first major victory against the French for over a decade. The victory demonstrated the progress the Austrian army had made since the string of catastrophic defeats in 1800 and 1805.
The French forces were withdrawn to the island. On the night of the 22nd the last bridge was repaired, and the army awaited the arrival of reinforcements in Lobau
. The Austrians failed to capitalise on the situation allowing the French to regroup. One month later, the French made a second attempt to cross the Danube where Napoleon gained a decisive victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram
.
The Löwe von Aspern (Lion of Aspern) is a monument commemorating the battle.
, a French author, wrote a fictionalized account of the conflict entitled "The Battle
" using many first-hand sources. Just looking from the French perspective, the novel provides a rather realistic description of combat in the Napoleonic era, as well as detailed depictions of famous commanders such as Napoleon, Massena, and Lannes. The concept and notes for the book originally came from noted French author Honoré de Balzac
. De Marbot, one of Marshal Lannes aide-de-camps, wrote in his memoirs of the battle, in which he had to observe the last moments of his close friends, and describes the amount of bloodshed and sadness which came to the Grande Arme after the crossing of the Danube.
The army surgeon Dominique-Jean Larrey also described the battle in his memoirs and mentions how he fed the wounded at Lobau with a bouillon
of horse meat
seasoned with gunpowder.
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
attempted a forced crossing of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
near Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
under Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
. The battle was the first time Napoleon had been personally defeated in over a decade, but it was no more than a tactical victory for the Austrians, who failed to capitalise on their superior numbers and merely repulsed Napoleon, without defeating him.
Background
At the time of the battle Napoleon was in possession of ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the bridges over the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
had been broken, and the Archduke's army was near the Bisamberg
Bisamberg
Bisamberg is a town in the district of Korneuburg in Austria with a population of 4,001 according to the 2001 census. It is about 5 km north east of Vienna within the Weinviertel in Niederösterreich. Bisamberg takes up about 10.71 square kilometers, 24.43 percent of which are forest. The community...
, a hill near Korneuburg
Korneuburg
Korneuburg is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12 km northwest of Vienna...
, on the left bank of the river. The French wanted to cross the Danube. Lobau
Lobau
The 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...
, one of the numerous islands which divide the river into minor channels, was selected as the point of crossing. Careful preparations were made, and on the night of the 19th-20 May the French bridged all the channels on the right bank to Lobau and occupied the island. By the evening of the 20th many men had been collected there and the last arm of the Danube, between Lobau and the left bank, bridged. Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's corps at once crossed to the left bank and dodged the Austrian outposts. Undeterred by the news of heavy attacks on his rear from Tyrol
County of Tyrol
The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...
and from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Napoleon ferried all available troops to the bridges, and by daybreak on the 21st, 40,000 men were collected on the Marchfeld, the broad plain of the left bank, which was also to be the scene of the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
.
The Archduke did not resist the passage. It was his intention, as soon as a large enough force had crossed, to attack it before the rest of the French army could come to its assistance. Napoleon had accepted the risk of such an attack, but he sought at the same time to minimize it by summoning every available battalion to the scene. His forces on the Marchfeld were drawn up in front of the bridges facing north, with their left in the village of Aspern
Aspern
Aspern is part of Donaustadt, the 22nd district of Vienna.In 1904, the formerly independent village was incorporated into Vienna as part of the 21st district, Floridsdorf. Only in 1946 did it become part of the newly created 22nd district, Donaustadt. The area is known because of the Battle of...
(Gross-Aspern) and their right in Essling
Essling
Essling is part of Donaustadt, the 22nd district of Vienna.The area is known because of the Battle of Aspern-Essling, which was fought nearby on May 21 and May 22, 1809....
. Both places lay close to the Danube and could not therefore be turned; Aspern, indeed, is actually on the bank of one of the river channels. The French had to fill the gap between the villages, and also move forward to give room for the supporting units to form up.
The corps led by Johann von Hiller
Johann von Hiller
Johann Baron von Hiller, June 10, 1754 – June 5, 1819, was an Austrian general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
(VI), Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde
Heinrich Graf von Bellegarde
Count Heinrich von Bellegarde, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia , was born in Saxony, later joined the Austrian army, became a general officer, and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
(I) and Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Friedrich Franz Xaver Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen
Friedrich Franz Xaver Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen was an Austrian general. He joined the Austrian military and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia, Ottoman Turkey, and the First French Republic. He was promoted to the rank of general officer during the French Revolutionary Wars...
(II) were to converge upon Aspern, while Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
Prince Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg, born 18 October 1761 – died 4 August 1832, joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Ottoman Turks, winning a prestigious award for bravery. In the 1790s, he served in the wars against the First French Republic and received promotion...
(IV) was to attack Essling. Prince Johann of Liechtenstein's Austrian reserve cavalry was in the center, ready to move out against any French cavalry attacking the heads of the columns. During the 21st the bridges became more and more unsafe, owing to the violence of the current, but the French crossed without intermission all day and during the night.
Order of battle
Kaiserlich-Königliche Hauptarmee, under the command of Charles of AustriaArchduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
:
- 3rd Column (VI Corps), HillerJohann von HillerJohann Baron von Hiller, June 10, 1754 – June 5, 1819, was an Austrian general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
:- Vanguard: Nordmann
- Div. Kottulinsky
- Div. Vincent
- 2nd Column (I Corps), Bellegarde:
- Div. Fresnel
- Div. Vogelsang
- Div. Ulm
- Div. Notitz
- 3rd Column (II Corps), Hohenzollern-Hechingen:
- Advance Guard
- Div. Brady
- Div. Weber
- 4th Column (IV Corps), RosenbergPrince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-OrsiniPrince Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg, born 18 October 1761 – died 4 August 1832, joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Ottoman Turks, winning a prestigious award for bravery. In the 1790s, he served in the wars against the First French Republic and received promotion...
/Dedovich:- Div. KlenauJohann von KlenauJohann von Klenau , also called Johann Josef Cajetan von Klenau und Janowitz, the son of a Bohemian noble, was a field marshal in the Habsburg army...
- Div. Dedovich
- Div. Klenau
- 5th Column (a part of IV Corps), Rosenberg/Hohenlohe:
- Vanguard: Rohan
- Div. Hohenlohe
- Reserve Corps, Liechtenstein:
- Div. Hessen-HomburgFrederick VI, Landgrave of Hesse-HomburgFrederick VI reigned as Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg from 1820 until his death in 1829.-Biography:Born in Homburg, Hesse, on 30 July 1769, Friedrich Joseph Ludwig Carl August was the eldest son of the incumbent Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, Frederick V, and his wife Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt, the...
- Div. Kienmayer
- Div. of grenadiers, Lindenau
- Div. of grenadiers, d'Aspre
- Div. Hessen-Homburg
TOTAL: 99 000 men; 84 000 infantry, 14 250 cavalry, 288 guns
Grande Armée d'Allemagne, under the command of Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
:
- Imperial Guard:
- Div. 1 (Young Guard): CurialPhilibert Jean-Baptiste CurialPhilibert-Jean-Baptiste François Joseph, comte Curial was a general in the Napoleon army.-References:...
- Div. 2 (Old Guard): Dorsenne
- Div. 3 (cavalry): Arrighi
- Div. 1 (Young Guard): Curial
- II Corps, LannesJean LannesJean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, 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"...
† :- Div. TharreauJean Victor TharreauJean Victor Tharreau , 15 January 1767, Le May-sur-Èvre – 26 September 1812, was a General of Division in the Army of the French Empire....
- Div. ClaparèdeMichel Marie ClaparèdeMichel Marie Claparède was a French general. His name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe.- Life :...
- Div. Saint-Hilaire †
- Div. of reserve, Demont (unengaged)
- Div. Tharreau
- IV Corps, MassénaAndré MassénaAndré Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
:- Div. LegrandClaude Juste Alexandre LegrandClaude Just Alexandre Louis Legrand was a French general. He commanded French divisions at several notable battles of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He rose to senator on 5 April 1813, then Pair de France on 4 June 1814 and chevalier de Saint-Louis on 27 June 1814...
- Div. Carra Saint-Cyr
- Div. MolitorGabriel Jean Joseph MolitorGabriel-Jean-Joseph, comte Molitor , was a Marshal of France, born in Hayingen in Lorraine.Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, Molitor joined the French revolutionary armies as a captain in a battalion of militia. In 1793 he was given command of a brigade and served under Hoche under whom...
- Div. BoudetJean BoudetJean Boudet was a French général de division of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The campaigns in which he was involved include the Saint-Domingue expedition...
- Brig. MarulazJacob François MarulazJacob François Marulaz or Marola, born 6 November 1769, died 10 June 1842, joined the Army of the Kingdom of France as a cavalry trooper and rose to become a field officer during the French Revolutionary Wars...
(cavalry) - Div. Lasalle (cavalry)
- Div. Legrand
- Cavalry Reserve Corps, BessièresJean-Baptiste BessièresJean-Baptiste Bessières, 1st Duc d' Istria was a Marshal of France of the Napoleonic Era. His younger brother, Bertrand, followed in his footsteps and eventually became a Divisional General...
:- Div. NansoutyÉtienne Marie Antoine Champion de NansoutyCount Étienne-Marie-Antoine-Champion de Nansouty was a French cavalry commander during the French Revolutionary Wars who rose to the rank of General of Division in 1803 and subsequently held important military commands during the Napoleonic Wars. Of noble Burgundian descent, he was a student at...
- Div. Saint-Sulpice
- Div. d'Espagne †
- Div. Nansouty
TOTAL (on May 22): 77 000 men; 67 000 infantry, 10 000 cavalry, 152 guns
First Day
The three Austrian columns were unable to capture more than half the village. The post was still held by Masséna when night fell. Meanwhile, all the French infantry between the two villages and in front of the bridges had been drawn into the fight on the flank. Napoleon therefore, to create a diversion, sent forward his center, now consisting only of cavalry, to charge the enemy's artillery, which was deployed in a long line and firing on Aspern. The first charge of the French was repulsed, but second attempt was made by heavy masses of cuirassiers. The French horsemen drove off guns, rode round Hohenzollern's infantry square
Infantry square
An infantry square is a combat formation an infantry unit forms in close order when threatened with cavalry attack.-Very early history:The formation was described by Plutarch and used by the Romans, and was developed from an earlier circular formation...
s, and resisted the cavalry of Lichtenstein, but they were unable to do more, and in the end they retired to their old position.
In the meanwhile Essling had been the scene of fighting almost as desperate as that of Aspern. The French cuirassiers made heavy charges on the flank of Rosenberg's force, and delayed an assault. In the villages, Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, 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"...
with a single division resisted until night ended the battle. The two armies bivouacked, and in Aspern the French and Austrians lay within pistol shot of each other. The emperor was not discouraged, and renewed efforts to bring up every available man. All through the night more and more French troops came across.
Second Day
At the earliest dawn of the 22nd the battle was resumed. Masséna swiftly cleared Aspern of the enemy, but at the same time Rosenberg stormed Essling. Lannes, however, resisted desperately, and reinforced by St Hilaire's division, drove Rosenberg out. In Aspern, Masséna was driven out by a counter-attack of Hiller and Bellegarde.Meanwhile Napoleon had launched a great attack on the Austrian center. The whole of the French center, with Lannes on the left and the cavalry in reserve, moved forward. The Austrian line was broken through, between Rosenberg's right and Hohenzollern's left. Victory was almost won when the Archduke brought up his last reserve, leading his soldiers with a colour in his hand. Lannes was checked, and with his repulse the impetus of the attack died out all along the line. Aspern had been lost, and the news reached Napoleon at the critical moment. The Danube bridges, which had broken down once already, had been cut by heavy barges, which had been sent drifting down stream by the Austrians.
Napoleon at once suspended the attack. Essling now fell to another assault of Rosenberg, and the French drove him out again. Rosenberg then directed his efforts on the flank of the French center, slowly retiring on the edges. The retirement was terribly costly, but Lannes stopped the French from being driven into the Danube. Complete exhaustion of both sides ended the fighting.
Results
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, 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"...
, who died after being mortally wounded by an Austrian cannon ball in an attack on Johann von Klenau
Johann von Klenau
Johann von Klenau , also called Johann Josef Cajetan von Klenau und Janowitz, the son of a Bohemian noble, was a field marshal in the Habsburg army...
's force at Aspern, which was backed up by 60 well-placed guns. The Austrians had also suffered similar casualties but had secured the first major victory against the French for over a decade. The victory demonstrated the progress the Austrian army had made since the string of catastrophic defeats in 1800 and 1805.
The French forces were withdrawn to the island. On the night of the 22nd the last bridge was repaired, and the army awaited the arrival of reinforcements in Lobau
Lobau
The 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...
. The Austrians failed to capitalise on the situation allowing the French to regroup. One month later, the French made a second attempt to cross the Danube where Napoleon gained a decisive victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
.
The Löwe von Aspern (Lion of Aspern) is a monument commemorating the battle.
Accounts
Patrick RambaudPatrick Rambaud
Patrick Rambaud is a French writer.-Life:With Michel-Antoine Burnier, he wrote forty pastiches, .They wrote Le Journalisme sans peine ....
, a French author, wrote a fictionalized account of the conflict entitled "The Battle
The Battle (novel)
The Battle is a historical novel by the French author Patrick Rambaud that was first published in 1997. The English translation by Will Hobson appeared in 2000. The book describes the 1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling between the French Empire under Napoleon and the Austrian Empire...
" using many first-hand sources. Just looking from the French perspective, the novel provides a rather realistic description of combat in the Napoleonic era, as well as detailed depictions of famous commanders such as Napoleon, Massena, and Lannes. The concept and notes for the book originally came from noted French author Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
. De Marbot, one of Marshal Lannes aide-de-camps, wrote in his memoirs of the battle, in which he had to observe the last moments of his close friends, and describes the amount of bloodshed and sadness which came to the Grande Arme after the crossing of the Danube.
The army surgeon Dominique-Jean Larrey also described the battle in his memoirs and mentions how he fed the wounded at Lobau with a bouillon
Bouillon
Bouillon is a municipality in Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Luxembourg Province.The municipality, which covers 149.09 km², had 5,477 inhabitants, giving a population density of 36.7 inhabitants per km².- History :...
of horse meat
Horse meat
Horse meat is the culinary name for meat cut from a horse. It is a major meat in only a few countries, notably in Central Asia, but it forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many others, from Europe to South America to Asia. The top eight countries consume about 4.7 million horses...
seasoned with gunpowder.
External links
- Battle of Aspern-Essling by David Johnson in journal Military History, April 2001.