War of the Fifth Coalition
Encyclopedia
The 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 very high casualty rates. Britain, already involved on the European continent in the ongoing Peninsular War
, sent another expedition, the Walcheren Campaign
, to the Netherlands in order to relieve the Austrians, although this effort had little impact on the outcome of the conflict. After much campaigning in Bavaria and across the Danube valley, the war ended favorably for the French after the bloody struggle at Wagram
in early July.
The resulting Treaty of Schönbrunn
was the harshest that France had imposed on Austria in recent memory. Metternich
and Archduke Charles
had the preservation of the Habsburg Empire as their fundamental goal, and to this end the former succeeded in making Napoleon seek more modest goals in return for promises of Franco-Austrian peace and friendship. Nevertheless, while most of the hereditary lands remained part of Habsburg territories, France received Carinthia
, Carniola
, and the Adriatic
ports, while Galicia was given to the Poles
and the Salzburg
area of the Tyrol
went to the Bavarians
. Austria lost over three million subjects, about one-fifth of her total population, as a result of these territorial changes. Although fighting in the Iberian Peninsula
continued, the War of the Fifth Coalition was the last major conflict on the European continent until the French invasion of Russia in 1812 sparked the Sixth Coalition
.
subdued the First Coalition
in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798, only to be defeated. In March 1802, France (now under Napoleon, as First Consul) and Great Britain, its one remaining enemy, agreed to end hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens
. For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. However, many disagreements between the two sides remained unresolved, and implementing the agreements they had reached at Amiens seemed to be a growing challenge. Britain resented having to turn over all of its colonial conquests since 1793 when France was permitted to retain most of its conquered territory in Europe. France, meanwhile, was upset that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta
. In May 1803, Britain declared war on France.
in 1804) planned an invasion of England, spending the better part of the next two years (1803–05) on this objective. In December 1804, an Anglo-Swedish agreement led to the creation of the Third Coalition
. British Prime Minister William Pitt
spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France and neutralizing the threat of invasion. Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians
eased in the face of several French political mistakes, and by April 1805, the two had signed a treaty of alliance. Alarmed by Napoleon's consolidation of northern Italy into a kingdom under his rule, and keen on revenge for having been defeated twice in recent memory by France, Austria would join the coalition a few months later.
In August 1805, the French Grande Armée
invaded the German states in hopes of knocking Austria out of the war before Russian
forces could intervene. On 25 September, after great secrecy and feverish marching, 200,000 French troops began to cross the Rhine on a front of 160 miles (260 km). Mack had gathered the greater part of the Austrian army at the fortress of Ulm
in Bavaria
. Napoleon hoped to swing his forces northward and perform a wheeling movement that would find the French at the Austrian rear. The Ulm Maneuver
was well executed, and on 20 October Mack and 23,000 Austrian troops surrendered at Ulm, bringing the total number of Austrian prisoners in the campaign to 60,000. The French captured Vienna
in November and went on to inflict a decisive defeat on a Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz
in early December. Austerlitz led to the expulsion of Russian troops from Central Europe
and the humiliation of Austria, which signed the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December.
felt threatened about her security in the region and, alongside Russia, went to war with France as part of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. One hundred and eighty thousand French troops invaded Prussia in the fall of 1806 through the Thuringian Forest
, unaware of where the Prussians were, and hugged the right bank of the Saale River and the left of the Elster
. The decisive actions took place on 14 October: with an army of 90,000, Napoleon crushed Hohenlohe at Jena, but Davout, commander of the III Corps
, outdid everyone when his 27,000 troops held off and defeated the 63,000 Prussians under Brunswick
and King Frederick William III
at the Battle of Auerstadt. A vigorous French pursuit through Northern Germany finished off the remnants of the Prussian army. The French then invaded Poland, which had been partitioned
among Prussia, Austria, and Russia in 1795, to meet the Russian forces that had not been able to save Prussia.
The Russian and French armies met in February 1807 at the savage and indecisive Battle of Eylau
, which left behind between 30,000–50,000 casualties. Napoleon regrouped his forces after the battle and continued to pursue the Russians in upcoming months. The action in Poland finally culminated on 14 June 1807, when the French mauled their Russian opponents at the Battle of Friedland
. The resulting Treaty of Tilsit in July ended two years of bloodshed and left France as the dominant power on the European continent. It also severely weakened Prussia and formed a Franco-Russian axis designed to resolve disputes among European nations.
, Portugal
adopted a double policy. On the one hand John, Prince of Brazil
, as regent of Portugal, signed the Treaty of Badajoz
with France and Spain by which he assumed the duty to close the ports to English trade. On the other hand, not wanting to breach the Treaty of Windsor (1386) with Portugal's oldest allied, England, he allowed for such trade to continue and maintained secret diplomatic relations with England. However, after the Franco-Spanish defeat in the Battle of Trafalgar
, John grew bold and officially resumed diplomatic and trade relations with England.
Discontent with this change of policy of the Portuguese government, Napoleon send an army to invade Portugal. On 17 October 1807, 24,000 French troops under General Junot
crossed the Pyrenees
with Spanish cooperation and headed towards Portugal to enforce Napoleon's Continental System
. This was the first step in what would become the six-year-long Peninsular War, a struggle that sapped much of the French Empire's strength. Throughout the winter of 1808, French agents became increasingly involved in Spanish internal affairs, attempting to incite discord between members of the Spanish royal family. On 16 February 1808, secret French machinations finally materialized when Napoleon announced that he would intervene to mediate between the rival political factions in the Spanish royal family
. Marshal Murat
led 120,000 troops into Spain and the French arrived in Madrid
on 24 March, where wild riots against the occupation erupted a few weeks later. The resistance to French aggression soon spread throughout the country. The shocking French defeat at the Battle of Bailén
in July gave hope to Napoleon's enemies and partly persuaded the French emperor to intervene in person. A new French army commanded by Napoleon crossed the Ebro
in autumn and dealt blow after blow to the opposing Spanish forces. Napoleon entered Madrid on 4 December with 80,000 troops. He then unleashed his troops against Moore
's British forces. The British were swiftly driven to the coast, and, after a last stand at the Battle of Corunna
in January 1809, withdrew from the Iberian Peninsula entirely.
, Sweden
(which meant Austria could not count on Swedish support either), and the Ottoman Empire in 1809. Frederick William III of Prussia
initially promised to help Austria, but reneged before conflict began. The British had been at war with the French Empire for six years. A report from the Austrian finance minister suggested that the treasury would run out of money by mid-1809 if the large army that the Austrians had formed since the Third Coalition remained mobilized. Although Charles warned that the Austrians were not ready for another showdown with Napoleon, a stance that landed him amidst the so-called "peace party", he did not want to see the army demobilized. On 8 February 1809, the advocates for war finally succeeded when the Imperial Government secretly decided to make war against France.
. Even though Charles was allowed to spearhead the reforms of the Austrian army, Francis kept the Hofkriegsrat (Aulic Council), a military advisory board, to oversee the activities of Charles as supreme commander.
In 1806, Charles issued a new guide for army and unit tactics. The main tactical innovation was the concept of the "mass", an anti-cavalry formation created by closing up the spacing between ranks. However, Austrian commanders disliked the innovation and rarely used it unless directly supervised by Charles. Following the failures at Ulm and Austerlitz, the Austrians went back to using the six-companies
-per-battalion
model, abandoning the four-company-per-battalion that had been introduced by Mack on the eve of war in 1805. Problems persisted despite the reforms. The Austrians lacked the number of skirmishers to successfully contend with their French counterparts, the cavalry was often sprinkled into individual units throughout the army, preventing the shock and hitting power evident in the French system, and even though Charles imitated the French corps command structure, leaders in the Austrian military establishment were often wary of taking the initiative, relying heavily on written orders and drawn-out planning before they formed a decision.
Another reform was that Austria, having lost many officers, veteran and elite troops, and regulars, and unable to call on allies, embraced the Levée en masse
used earlier by the French. By this time, the French were moving from the Levée en masse, in favor of forming a regular army based on a core of battle-hardened and elite veterans. In a strange reversal of the earlier Napoleonic Wars, where Frenchmen with little experience and often pressed into service fought against the professional Austrian army, a massive amount of Austrian conscripts, with no experience and only basic training and equipment would be sent into the field against a highly trained, campaign-hardened, and well-equipped French Grande Armée.
designed to isolate the French forces in northern Germany and lead to a rapid decision. The greater part of the Austrian army was already concentrated there, so it seemed like a natural operation. The Aulic Council disagreed on account of the Danube River splitting the forces of Charles and his brother John
. They instead suggested that the main attack should be launched south of the Danube so as to maintain safer communications with Vienna. In the end, they had their way, but not before precious time had been lost. The Austrian plan called for the Bohemian corps, the I under Bellegarde
, consisting of 38,000 troops, and the II of 20,000 troops under Kollowrat
, to attack Regensburg
(Ratisbon) from the Bohemian mountains by way of Cham
, the Austrian center and reserve, comprising 66,000 men of Hohenzollern's III, Rosenberg's IV, and Lichtenstein's I Reserve Corps, to advance on the same objective through Scharding, and the left wing, made up of the V of Archduke Louis, Hiller's VI, and Kienmayer's II Reserve Corps, a total of 61,000 men, to move forward toward Landshut and guard the flank.
, on deployments and concentrations. His rough ideas about the possible upcoming campaign included the decision to make the Danube valley the main theater of operations, as he had done in 1805, and to tie down any Austrian forces that might invade northern Italy
by positioning some of his own forces that would be commanded by Eugène
and Marmont
. Faulty intelligence gave Napoleon the impression that the main Austrian attack would come north of the Danube. On 30 March, he wrote a letter to Berthier explaining his intention to mass around 140,000 troops in the vicinity of Regensburg, far to the north of where the Austrians were planning to make their attack. These misconceptions about Austrian thinking left the French army poorly deployed when hostilities commenced.
The war pitted a reformed Austrian army against a collection of French veterans and conscripts. With major engagements of the war lasting from April to July 1809, Napoleon achieved the quick victory that characterized his previous campaigns. However, the War of the Fifth Coalition would also mark the last time in which Napoleon and the French Empire would emerge as decisive victors.
In the early morning of 10 April, leading elements of the Austrian army crossed the Inn River
and invaded Bavaria. Bad roads and freezing rain slowed the Austrian advance in the first week, but the opposing Bavarian forces gradually retreated. The Austrian attack occurred about a week before Napoleon's anticipations, and in his absence Berthier's role became all the more critical. Berthier proved to be an unable field commander, a characteristic made worse by the fact that several messages from Paris were being delayed and misinterpreted when they finally arrived at headquarters. Whereas Napoleon had written to Berthier that an Austrian attack before 15 April should be met by a general French concentration around Donauwörth
and Augsburg
, Berthier focused on a sentence that called for Davout to station his III Corps around Regensburg and ordered the Iron Marshal to move back to the city despite massive Austrian pressure.
The Grande Armée d'Allemagne
was now in a perilous position of two wings separated by 75 miles (120.7 km) and joined together by a thin cordon of Bavarian troops. Berthier, the French marshals, and the rank-and-file were all evidently frustrated at the seemingly pointless marches and counter marches. On the 16th, the Austrian advance guard had beaten back the Bavarians near Landshut
and had secured a good crossing place over the Isar
by evening. Napoleon finally arrived in Donauwörth on the 17th after a furious trip from Paris. Charles congratulated himself on a successful opening to the campaign and planned to destroy Davout's and Lefebvre
's isolated corps in a double-pincer maneuver. When Napoleon realized that significant Austrian forces were already over the Isar and were marching towards the Danube, he insisted that the entire French army deploy behind the Ilm River
in a bataillon carré within 48 hours, all in hopes of undoing Berthier's mistakes and achieving a successful concentration. His orders were unrealistic because he underestimated the number of Austrian troops that were heading for Davout; Napoleon believed Charles only had a single corps over the Isar, but in fact, the Austrians had five corps lumbering towards Regensburg, a grand total of 80,000 men. Napoleon needed to do something quickly to save his left flank from collapsing.
Davout anticipated the problems and withdrew his corps from Regensburg, leaving a garrison of only 2,000 for defense. The northbound Austrian columns in the Kelheim
-Abbach
zone ran into the four French columns heading west towards Neustadt
in the early hours of the 19th. The Austrian attacks were slow, uncoordinated, and easily repulsed by the experienced French III Corps. Napoleon knew there was fighting in Davout's sector and had already devised a new strategy that he hoped would beat the Austrians: while the Austrians attacked to the north, Masséna
's corps, later augmented by Oudinot
's forces, would strike southeast towards Freising
and Landshut in hopes of rolling up the entire Austrian line and relieving the pressure on Davout. Napoleon was reasonably confident that the joint corps of Davout and Lefebvre could pin the Austrians while his other forces swept the Austrian rear.
The attack began well as the central Austrian V Corps guarding Abensberg
gave way to the French advance. Napoleon, however, was working under false assumptions that made his goals difficult to achieve. Massena's advance towards Landshut required too much time, permitting Hiller to escape south over the Isar. The Danube bridge that provided easy access to Regensburg and the east bank had not been demolished, allowing the Austrians to transfer themselves across the river and rendering futile French hopes for the complete destruction of the enemy. On the 20th, the Austrians had suffered 10,000 casualties, lost 30 guns, 600 caissons, and 7,000 other vehicles, but were still a potent fighting force. Later in the evening, Napoleon realized that the day's fighting had only involved two Austrian corps. Charles still had a good chance of escaping east over Straubing
if he wished.
On the 21st, Napoleon received a dispatch from Davout that spoke of major engagements near Teugen-Hausen
. Davout held his ground, and although Napoleon sent reinforcements, about 36,000 French troops had to face off against 75,000 Austrians. When Napoleon finally learned that Charles was not withdrawing to the east, he realigned the Grande Armée's axis in an operation that became known as the Landshut Maneuver. All available French forces, except 20,000 troops under Bessieres
that were chasing Hiller, now hurled themselves against Eckmühl
in another bid to trap the Austrians and relieve their beleaguered comrades. For 22 April, Charles left 40,000 troops under Rosenburg and Hohenzollern to attack Davout and Lefebvre while detaching two corps under Kollowrat and Lichtenstein to march for Abbach and gain undisputed control of the river bank. At 1:30 p.m., however, the sound of gunfire from the south could be heard—Napoleon had arrived. Davout immediately ordered an attack along the entire line despite numerical inferiority; the 10th Light Infantry Regiment successfully stormed the village of Leuchling and went on to capture the woods of Unter-Leuchling with horrific casualties. Napoleon's reinforcements were soon crippling the Austrian left. The Battle of Eckmühl
ended in a convincing French victory, and Charles decided to withdraw over the Danube towards Regensburg. Napoleon then launched Massena to capture Straubing to the east while the rest of the army pursued the escaping Austrians. The French managed to capture Regensburg
after a heroic charge led by Marshal Lannes
, but the vast majority of the Austrian army fled successfully to Bohemia. Napoleon then turned his attention south towards Vienna, fighting a series of actions against Hiller's forces, most famously, at the Battle of Ebersberg
on 3 May. Ten days later, the Austrian capital fell for the second time in four years.
On 16 May and 17, the main Austrian army under Charles arrived in the Marchfeld, a plain northeast of Vienna just across the Danube that often served as a training ground for Austrian military forces. Charles kept the bulk of his forces several miles away from the river bank in hopes of concentrating them at the point where Napoleon decided to cross. On the 20th, Charles learned from his observers on the Bissam hill that the French were building a bridge at Kaiser-Ebersdorf, just southwest of the Lobau island
, that led to the Marchfeld. On the 21st, Charles concluded that the French were crossing at Kaiser-Ebersdorf in strength and ordered a general advance for 98,000 troops and the accompanying 292 guns, which were organized into five columns. The French bridgehead rested on two villages: Aspern to the west and Essling to the east. Napoleon had not expected to encounter opposition, and the bridges linking the French troops at Aspern-Essling to Lobau were not protected with palisade
s, making them highly vulnerable to Austrian barges that had been lighted on fire.
The Battle of Aspern-Essling
started at 2:30 p.m. on 21 May. The initial and poorly coordinated Austrian attacks against Aspern and the Gemeinde Au woods to the south failed completely, but Charles persisted. Eventually, the Austrians managed to capture the whole village but lost the eastern half. The Austrians did not attack Essling until 6 p.m. because the fourth and fifth columns had longer marching routes. The French successfully repulsed the attacks against Essling throughout the 21st. Fighting commenced by 3 a.m. on the 22nd, and four hours later the French had captured Aspern again. Napoleon now had 71,000 men and 152 guns on the other side of the river, but the French were still dangerously outnumbered. Napoleon then launched a massive assault against the Austrian center designed to give enough time for the III Corps to cross and clinch the victory. Lannes advanced with three infantry divisions and traveled for a mile before the Austrians, inspired by the personal heroics of Charles with his rally of the Zach Infantry Regiment (No. 15), unleashed a hail of fire on the French that caused the latter to fall back. At 9 a.m., the French bridge broke again. Charles launched another massive assault an hour later and captured Aspern for good, but still could not lay claim to Essling. A few hours later, however, the Austrians returned and took all of Essling except the staunchly defended granary. Napoleon replied by sending a part of the Imperial Guard under Jean Rapp
, who audaciously disobeyed Napoleon's orders by attacking Essling and expelling all Austrian forces. Charles then kept up a relentless artillery bombardment that counted Marshal Lannes as one of its many victims. Fighting diminished shortly afterwards, and the French pulled back all of their forces to Lobau. Charles had inflicted the first major defeat in Napoleon's military career.
; the main Habsburg army was stationed five miles (8 km) away, centered on the village of Wagram. After a successful crossing, Napoleon ordered an attack along the entire line so as to prevent the Austrians from escaping during the night. Furious assaults by the "Terrible 57th" Infantry Regiment and the elite 10th Light Infantry Regiment against the village of Baumersdorf led to an almost immediate French victory, but ultimately, the Austrians did not budge and kept the French from pressing further. Incessant attacks by the heroic Austrian Vincent Chevaulegers' cavalry forced the 10th and the 57th to retreat, leaving the French with no gains. Further attacks to the left of the line by Eugène and MacDonald
also produced nothing. Bernadotte's troops attacked later with equally disappointing results, and on the right Davout decided to disengage in the darkness of the night. The first day ended with the French on the Marchfeld but with little results to show for their efforts.
For 6 July, Charles planned a double-envelopment that would require a quick march from the forces of his brother John, then a few kilometers to the east of the battlefield. Napoleon's plan envisaged an envelopment of the Austrian left with Davout's III Corps while the rest of the army pinned the Austrian forces. Klenau's VI Corps, supported by Kollowrat's III, opened the fighting in the second day at 4 a.m. with a crushing assault against the French left, forcing the latter to abandon both Aspern and Essling. Meanwhile, a shocking development had occurred overnight. Bernadotte had unilaterally ordered his troops out of the key and central village of Aderklaa, citing heavy artillery shelling, an act that seriously compromised the entire French position. Napoleon was livid and sent two divisions of Massena's corps supported by some cavalry to regain the critical village. After difficult fighting in the first phase, Massena sent in Molitor's reserve division, which slowly but surely grabbed all of Aderklaa back for the French, only to lose it again following fierce Austrian bombardments and counterattacks. To buy time for Davout's materializing assault, Napoleon sent 4,000 cuirassier
s under Nansouty against the Austrian lines, but their efforts led to nothing. To secure his center and his left, Napoleon formed a massive artillery battery of 112 guns that began pounding at the Austrians and tearing gaping holes through their lines. As Davout's men were progressing against the Austrian left, Napoleon formed the three small divisions of MacDonald into a hollow, oblong shape that marched against the Austrian center. The lumbering phalanx was devastated by Austrian artillery but managed to break through the center, although the victory could not be exploited because there was no cavalry in the immediate area. Nevertheless, when Charles sized up the situation, he realized it was only a matter of time before the Austrian position broke completely and ordered a retreat toward Bohemia a few hours after noon. His brother John arrived on the battlefield at 4 p.m., too late to have any impact, and accordingly ordered a retreat to Bohemia as well.
The French did not pursue the Austrians immediately because they were exhausted from two straight days of vicious fighting. After recuperating, they chased the Austrians and caught up with them at Znaim
in mid-July. Here Charles signed an armistice
with Napoleon and agreed to end the fighting. Military conflict between France and Austria was effectively ended, although a few more months of diplomatic wrangling were required to make the result official.
in April, causing Eugène to fall back on Verona
and the Adige River, but Eugène regrouped and launched a more mature offensive that expelled the Austrians from Northern Italy again. By the time of Wagram, Eugène's forces had joined Napoleon's main army. In Dalmatia
, Marmont, under the nominal command of Eugène, was fighting against General Stoichewich. Marmont launched a mountain offensive on 30 April, but this was repulsed by the Grenzer troops
. Like Eugène, however, Marmont did not let an initial setback dictate the tempo of the conflict. He went back on the offensive and joined Napoleon at Wagram.
In the Duchy of Warsaw
, Poniatowski
defeated the Austrians at Raszyn
on 19 April, prevented Austrian forces from crossing the Vistula
river, invaded Austria and forced the Austrians to retreat from occupied Warsaw (see Polish-Austrian War
). In Tyrol
, Andreas Hofer
led a rebellion against Bavarian rule and French domination that resulted in early isolated victories, but the uprising was suppressed after the French won at Wagram. Hofer was executed in 1810 by a firing squad.
In Saxony, a joint force of Austrians and Brunswickers under the command of General Kienmayer
was far more successful, defeating a corps under the command of General Junot
at the Battle of Gefrees
. After taking the capital, Dresden, and pushing back an army under the command of Napoleon's brother, Jérôme Bonaparte
, the Austrians were effectively in control of all of Saxony. But by this time, the main Austrian force had already been defeated at Wagram and the armistice of Znaim
had been agreed.
In the Netherlands, the British launched the Walcheren Campaign
to relieve the pressure on the Austrians. The British force of over 39,000, a larger army than that serving in the Iberian Peninsula, landed at Walcheren on 30 July. However, by this time the Austrians had already lost the war. The Walcheren Campaign was characterized by little fighting but many casualties nevertheless, thanks to the popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Over 4,000 British troops were lost, and the rest withdrew in December 1809.
s, gave recognition to Napoleon's brother Joseph
as the King of Spain, and reaffirmed the exclusion of British trade from his remaining dominions. The Austrian army would never field more than 150,000 men at a time for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars
. The Austrian defeat paved the way for the marriage of Napoleon to the daughter of Emperor Francis, Marie Louise
. Dangerously, Napoleon assumed that his marriage to Marie Louise would eliminate Austria as a future threat, but the Habsburgs were not as driven by familial ties as Napoleon thought.
The impact of the conflict was not all positive from the French perspective. The revolts in Tyrol and the Kingdom of Westphalia
during the conflict were an indication that there was much discontent over French rule among the German population. Just a few days after the conclusion of the Treaty of Schönbrunn, an 18-year-old German named Stapps approached Napoleon during an army review and attempted to stab the emperor, but he was intercepted in the nick of time by General Rapp. The emerging forces of German nationalism
were too strongly rooted by this time, and the War of the Fifth Coalition played an important role in nurturing their development. By 1813, when the Sixth Coalition was fighting the French for control of Central Europe, the German population was fiercely opposed to French rule and largely supported the Allies.
The war also undermined French military superiority and the Napoleonic image. The Battle of Aspern-Essling was the first major defeat in Napoleon's career and was warmly greeted by much of Europe. The Austrians had also shown that strategic insight and tactical ability were no longer a French monopoly. The French themselves were actually suffering from tactical shortcomings; the decline in tactical skill of the French infantry led to increasingly heavy columns of foot soldiers eschewing all maneuver and relying on sheer weight of numbers to break through, a development best emphasized by MacDonald's attack at Wagram. The Grande Armée
lost its qualitative edge partly because raw conscripts replaced many of the veterans of Austerlitz and Jena, eroding tactical flexibility. Additionally, Napoleon's armies were more and more composed of non-French contingents, undermining morale. Although Napoleon maneuvered with customary brilliance, as evidenced by overturning the awful initial French position, the growing size of his armies stretched even his impressive mental faculties. The scale of warfare grew too large for even Napoleon to fully cope with, a lesson that would be brutally repeated during the invasion of Russia in 1812.
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...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
against Napoleon
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...
's French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
from April to July, with very high casualty rates. Britain, already involved on the European continent in the ongoing Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, sent another expedition, the Walcheren Campaign
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
, to the Netherlands in order to relieve the Austrians, although this effort had little impact on the outcome of the conflict. After much campaigning in Bavaria and across the Danube valley, the war ended favorably for the French after the bloody struggle at 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...
in early July.
The resulting Treaty of Schönbrunn
Treaty of Schönbrunn
The Treaty of Schönbrunn , sometimes known as the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at the Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna on 14 October 1809. This treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars...
was the harshest that France had imposed on Austria in recent memory. Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich was a German-born Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era...
and 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...
had the preservation of the Habsburg Empire as their fundamental goal, and to this end the former succeeded in making Napoleon seek more modest goals in return for promises of Franco-Austrian peace and friendship. Nevertheless, while most of the hereditary lands remained part of Habsburg territories, France received Carinthia
Carinthia (province)
Slovenian Carinthia or Slovene Carinthia, most commonly simply Carinthia is a traditional region in the north of Slovenia. It has no official status as an administrative unit within Slovenia, although the association with an informal province is still quite common.The region is referred to as...
, Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
, and the Adriatic
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
ports, while Galicia was given to the Poles
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
and the Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
area of the 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...
went to the Bavarians
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
. Austria lost over three million subjects, about one-fifth of her total population, as a result of these territorial changes. Although fighting in the Iberian Peninsula
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
continued, the War of the Fifth Coalition was the last major conflict on the European continent until the French invasion of Russia in 1812 sparked the Sixth Coalition
War of the Sixth Coalition
In the War of the Sixth Coalition , a coalition of Austria, Prussia, Russia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Spain and a number of German States finally defeated France and drove Napoleon Bonaparte into exile on Elba. After Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia, the continental powers...
.
Background
Europe had been embroiled in warfare, pitting revolutionary France against a series of coalitions, nearly continuously since 1792. After five years of war, the French RepublicFrench First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
subdued the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
in 1797. A Second Coalition was formed in 1798, only to be defeated. In March 1802, France (now under Napoleon, as First Consul) and Great Britain, its one remaining enemy, agreed to end hostilities under the Treaty of Amiens
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
. For the first time in ten years, all of Europe was at peace. However, many disagreements between the two sides remained unresolved, and implementing the agreements they had reached at Amiens seemed to be a growing challenge. Britain resented having to turn over all of its colonial conquests since 1793 when France was permitted to retain most of its conquered territory in Europe. France, meanwhile, was upset that British troops had not evacuated the island of Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. In May 1803, Britain declared war on France.
Third Coalition (1804–1805)
With the resumption of hostilities, Napoleon (proclaimed EmperorFirst French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
in 1804) planned an invasion of England, spending the better part of the next two years (1803–05) on this objective. In December 1804, an Anglo-Swedish agreement led to the creation of the Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition was a conflict which spanned from 1803 to 1806. It saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I...
. British Prime Minister William Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
spent 1804 and 1805 in a flurry of diplomatic activity geared towards forming a new coalition against France and neutralizing the threat of invasion. Mutual suspicion between the British and the Russians
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
eased in the face of several French political mistakes, and by April 1805, the two had signed a treaty of alliance. Alarmed by Napoleon's consolidation of northern Italy into a kingdom under his rule, and keen on revenge for having been defeated twice in recent memory by France, Austria would join the coalition a few months later.
In August 1805, the French Grande Armée
La Grande Armée
The Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain...
invaded the German states in hopes of knocking Austria out of the war before Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
forces could intervene. On 25 September, after great secrecy and feverish marching, 200,000 French troops began to cross the Rhine on a front of 160 miles (260 km). Mack had gathered the greater part of the Austrian army at the fortress of Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Napoleon hoped to swing his forces northward and perform a wheeling movement that would find the French at the Austrian rear. The Ulm Maneuver
Battle of Ulm
The Battle of Ulm was a series of minor skirmishes at the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's Ulm Campaign, culminating in the surrender of an entire Austrian army near Ulm in Württemberg....
was well executed, and on 20 October Mack and 23,000 Austrian troops surrendered at Ulm, bringing the total number of Austrian prisoners in the campaign to 60,000. The French captured 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...
in November and went on to inflict a decisive defeat on a Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
in early December. Austerlitz led to the expulsion of Russian troops from Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and the humiliation of Austria, which signed the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December.
Fourth Coalition (1806–1807)
Austerlitz incited a major shift in the European balance of power. PrussiaKingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
felt threatened about her security in the region and, alongside Russia, went to war with France as part of the Fourth Coalition in 1806. One hundred and eighty thousand French troops invaded Prussia in the fall of 1806 through the Thuringian Forest
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest running northwest to southeast, forms a continuous stretch of ancient rounded mountains posing ample difficulties in transit routing save through a few navigable passes in the southern reaches of the German state of Thuringia. It is about long and wide...
, unaware of where the Prussians were, and hugged the right bank of the Saale River and the left of the Elster
Weiße Elster
The White Elster or Weisse Elster is a long river in central Europe, right tributary of the Saale. Its source is in the westernmost part of the Czech Republic, near Aš. After a few kilometres, it flows into eastern Germany...
. The decisive actions took place on 14 October: with an army of 90,000, Napoleon crushed Hohenlohe at Jena, but Davout, commander of the III Corps
III Corps (Grande Armée)
The III Corps of the Grande Armée were few military units during the Napoleonic Wars. The III Corps came to prominence between 1805 and 1809 under the command of Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout, when it repeatedly scored impressive victories single-handedly or in conjunction with other French forces...
, outdid everyone when his 27,000 troops held off and defeated the 63,000 Prussians under Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick
Charles William Ferdinand , Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, was a sovereign prince of the Holy Roman Empire, and a professional soldier who served as a Generalfeldmarschall of the Kingdom of Prussia...
and King Frederick William III
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
at the Battle of Auerstadt. A vigorous French pursuit through Northern Germany finished off the remnants of the Prussian army. The French then invaded Poland, which had been partitioned
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...
among Prussia, Austria, and Russia in 1795, to meet the Russian forces that had not been able to save Prussia.
The Russian and French armies met in February 1807 at the savage and indecisive Battle of Eylau
Battle of Eylau
The Battle of Eylau or Battle of Preussisch-Eylau, 7 and 8 February 1807, was a bloody and inconclusive battle between Napoléon's Grande Armée and a Russian Empire army under Levin August, Count von Bennigsen near the town of Preußisch Eylau in East Prussia. Late in the battle, the Russians...
, which left behind between 30,000–50,000 casualties. Napoleon regrouped his forces after the battle and continued to pursue the Russians in upcoming months. The action in Poland finally culminated on 14 June 1807, when the French mauled their Russian opponents at the Battle of Friedland
Battle of Friedland
The Battle of Friedland saw Napoleon I's French army decisively defeat Count von Bennigsen's Russian army about twenty-seven miles southeast of Königsberg...
. The resulting Treaty of Tilsit in July ended two years of bloodshed and left France as the dominant power on the European continent. It also severely weakened Prussia and formed a Franco-Russian axis designed to resolve disputes among European nations.
French in Iberia (1807–1809)
After the War of the OrangesWar of the Oranges
The War of the Oranges was a brief conflict in 1801 in which Spanish forces, instigated by the government of France, and ultimately supported by the French military, invaded Portugal...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
adopted a double policy. On the one hand John, Prince of Brazil
John VI of Portugal
John VI John VI John VI (full name: João Maria José Francisco Xavier de Paula Luís António Domingos Rafael; (13 May 1767 – 10 March 1826) was King of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (later changed to just King of Portugal and the Algarves, after Brazil was recognized...
, as regent of Portugal, signed the Treaty of Badajoz
Treaty of Badajoz (1801)
The Treaty of Badajoz was signed in Badajoz on 6 June 1801 between John VI of Portugal and representatives from the Spanish Empire. Based on the terms of the accord, Portugal agreed to cede Olivenza . Moreover, Portugal was required to close all ports to the British...
with France and Spain by which he assumed the duty to close the ports to English trade. On the other hand, not wanting to breach the Treaty of Windsor (1386) with Portugal's oldest allied, England, he allowed for such trade to continue and maintained secret diplomatic relations with England. However, after the Franco-Spanish defeat in the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, John grew bold and officially resumed diplomatic and trade relations with England.
Discontent with this change of policy of the Portuguese government, Napoleon send an army to invade Portugal. On 17 October 1807, 24,000 French troops under General Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
crossed the Pyrenees
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
with Spanish cooperation and headed towards Portugal to enforce Napoleon's Continental System
Continental System
The Continental System or Continental Blockade 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. It was a large-scale embargo against British trade, which began on November 21, 1806...
. This was the first step in what would become the six-year-long Peninsular War, a struggle that sapped much of the French Empire's strength. Throughout the winter of 1808, French agents became increasingly involved in Spanish internal affairs, attempting to incite discord between members of the Spanish royal family. On 16 February 1808, secret French machinations finally materialized when Napoleon announced that he would intervene to mediate between the rival political factions in the Spanish royal family
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
. Marshal Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
led 120,000 troops into Spain and the French arrived in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
on 24 March, where wild riots against the occupation erupted a few weeks later. The resistance to French aggression soon spread throughout the country. The shocking French defeat at the Battle of Bailén
Battle of Bailén
The Battle of Bailén was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and the Imperial French Army's II corps d'observation de la Gironde under General Pierre Dupont de l'Étang...
in July gave hope to Napoleon's enemies and partly persuaded the French emperor to intervene in person. A new French army commanded by Napoleon crossed the Ebro
Ebro
The Ebro or Ebre is one of the most important rivers in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the biggest river by discharge volume in Spain.The Ebro flows through the following cities:*Reinosa in Cantabria.*Miranda de Ebro in Castile and León....
in autumn and dealt blow after blow to the opposing Spanish forces. Napoleon entered Madrid on 4 December with 80,000 troops. He then unleashed his troops against Moore
John Moore (British soldier)
Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, KB was a British soldier and General. He is best known for his military training reforms and for his death at the Battle of Corunna, in which his force was defeated but gained a tactical advantage over a French army under Marshal Soult during the Peninsular...
's British forces. The British were swiftly driven to the coast, and, after a last stand at the Battle of Corunna
Battle of Corunna
The Battle of Corunna refers to a battle of the Peninsular War. On January 16, 1809, a French army under Marshal Soult attacked the British under Sir John Moore...
in January 1809, withdrew from the Iberian Peninsula entirely.
Austria stands alone
Austria sought another confrontation with France to avenge the recent defeats, and the developments in Spain only encouraged its attitudes. Austria could not count on Russian support because the latter was at war with BritainAnglo-Russian War (1807-1812)
The Anglo-Russian War occurred during the Napoleonic Wars. Hostilities were limited primarily to a small number of naval actions in the Baltic, though there were also attacks in the Barents Sea...
, Sweden
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
(which meant Austria could not count on Swedish support either), and the Ottoman Empire in 1809. Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
initially promised to help Austria, but reneged before conflict began. The British had been at war with the French Empire for six years. A report from the Austrian finance minister suggested that the treasury would run out of money by mid-1809 if the large army that the Austrians had formed since the Third Coalition remained mobilized. Although Charles warned that the Austrians were not ready for another showdown with Napoleon, a stance that landed him amidst the so-called "peace party", he did not want to see the army demobilized. On 8 February 1809, the advocates for war finally succeeded when the Imperial Government secretly decided to make war against France.
Austrian reforms
Austerlitz and the subsequent Treaty of Pressburg in 1805 indicated that the Austrian army needed reform. Napoleon had offered Charles the Austrian throne after Austerlitz, an act that aroused deep suspicion from Charles' brother, Austrian emperor Francis IIFrancis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis 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...
. Even though Charles was allowed to spearhead the reforms of the Austrian army, Francis kept the Hofkriegsrat (Aulic Council), a military advisory board, to oversee the activities of Charles as supreme commander.
In 1806, Charles issued a new guide for army and unit tactics. The main tactical innovation was the concept of the "mass", an anti-cavalry formation created by closing up the spacing between ranks. However, Austrian commanders disliked the innovation and rarely used it unless directly supervised by Charles. Following the failures at Ulm and Austerlitz, the Austrians went back to using the six-companies
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
-per-battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
model, abandoning the four-company-per-battalion that had been introduced by Mack on the eve of war in 1805. Problems persisted despite the reforms. The Austrians lacked the number of skirmishers to successfully contend with their French counterparts, the cavalry was often sprinkled into individual units throughout the army, preventing the shock and hitting power evident in the French system, and even though Charles imitated the French corps command structure, leaders in the Austrian military establishment were often wary of taking the initiative, relying heavily on written orders and drawn-out planning before they formed a decision.
Another reform was that Austria, having lost many officers, veteran and elite troops, and regulars, and unable to call on allies, embraced the Levée en masse
Levée en masse
Levée en masse is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793.- Terminology :...
used earlier by the French. By this time, the French were moving from the Levée en masse, in favor of forming a regular army based on a core of battle-hardened and elite veterans. In a strange reversal of the earlier Napoleonic Wars, where Frenchmen with little experience and often pressed into service fought against the professional Austrian army, a massive amount of Austrian conscripts, with no experience and only basic training and equipment would be sent into the field against a highly trained, campaign-hardened, and well-equipped French Grande Armée.
Austrian preparations
Charles and the Aulic Council were divided about the strategy with which to attack the French. Charles wanted a major thrust from BohemiaBohemia
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...
designed to isolate the French forces in northern Germany and lead to a rapid decision. The greater part of the Austrian army was already concentrated there, so it seemed like a natural operation. The Aulic Council disagreed on account of the Danube River splitting the forces of Charles and his brother John
Archduke Johann of Austria
Archduke John of Austria was a member of the Habsburg dynasty, an Austrian field marshal and German Imperial regent .-Biography:...
. They instead suggested that the main attack should be launched south of the Danube so as to maintain safer communications with Vienna. In the end, they had their way, but not before precious time had been lost. The Austrian plan called for the Bohemian corps, the I under 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...
, consisting of 38,000 troops, and the II of 20,000 troops under Kollowrat
Johann Kollowrat
Kollowrat-Krakowsky, Johann Karl, Graf von joined the Austrian army, fought against the Kingdom of Prussia and Ottoman Turkey before being promoted to general officer rank. During combat against the French in the French Revolutionary Wars, he first became known as an artillery specialist...
, to attack Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
(Ratisbon) from the Bohemian mountains by way of Cham
Cham (district)
Cham is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Regen, Straubing-Bogen, Regensburg and Schwandorf and by the Czech Plzeň Region.- History :...
, the Austrian center and reserve, comprising 66,000 men of Hohenzollern's III, Rosenberg's IV, and Lichtenstein's I Reserve Corps, to advance on the same objective through Scharding, and the left wing, made up of the V of Archduke Louis, Hiller's VI, and Kienmayer's II Reserve Corps, a total of 61,000 men, to move forward toward Landshut and guard the flank.
French preparations
Napoleon was not entirely certain about Austrian planning and intentions. He was in Paris at the time and was instructing the main French field commander in southern Germany, BerthierLouis Alexandre Berthier
Louis Alexandre Berthier, 1st Prince de Wagram, 1st Duc de Valangin, 1st Sovereign Prince de Neuchâtel , was a Marshal of France, Vice-Constable of France beginning in 1808, and Chief of Staff under Napoleon.-Early life:Alexandre was born at Versailles to Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Baptiste Berthier ,...
, on deployments and concentrations. His rough ideas about the possible upcoming campaign included the decision to make the Danube valley the main theater of operations, as he had done in 1805, and to tie down any Austrian forces that might invade northern Italy
Northern Italy
Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...
by positioning some of his own forces that would be commanded by Eugène
Eugène de Beauharnais
Eugène 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 Alexandre, Vicomte de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la...
and Marmont
Auguste Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont, 1st Duke of Ragusa was a French General, nobleman and Marshal of France.-Biography:...
. Faulty intelligence gave Napoleon the impression that the main Austrian attack would come north of the Danube. On 30 March, he wrote a letter to Berthier explaining his intention to mass around 140,000 troops in the vicinity of Regensburg, far to the north of where the Austrians were planning to make their attack. These misconceptions about Austrian thinking left the French army poorly deployed when hostilities commenced.
The Course of War
Austria strikes first
Inn River
The Inn is a river in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube and is approximately 500km long. The highest point of its drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina, at 4,049 metres.- Geography :...
and invaded Bavaria. Bad roads and freezing rain slowed the Austrian advance in the first week, but the opposing Bavarian forces gradually retreated. The Austrian attack occurred about a week before Napoleon's anticipations, and in his absence Berthier's role became all the more critical. Berthier proved to be an unable field commander, a characteristic made worse by the fact that several messages from Paris were being delayed and misinterpreted when they finally arrived at headquarters. Whereas Napoleon had written to Berthier that an Austrian attack before 15 April should be met by a general French concentration around Donauwörth
Donauwörth
Donauwörth is a city in the German State of Bavaria , in the region of Swabia . It is said to have been founded by two fisherman where the Danube and Wörnitz rivers meet...
and Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
, Berthier focused on a sentence that called for Davout to station his III Corps around Regensburg and ordered the Iron Marshal to move back to the city despite massive Austrian pressure.
The Grande Armée d'Allemagne
La Grande Armée
The Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain...
was now in a perilous position of two wings separated by 75 miles (120.7 km) and joined together by a thin cordon of Bavarian troops. Berthier, the French marshals, and the rank-and-file were all evidently frustrated at the seemingly pointless marches and counter marches. On the 16th, the Austrian advance guard had beaten back the Bavarians near Landshut
Landshut
Landshut is a city in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany, belonging to both Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also the seat of the...
and had secured a good crossing place over the Isar
Isar
The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria and Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald, and flows through Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching the Danube near Deggendorf. At 295 km in length, it is the fourth largest river...
by evening. Napoleon finally arrived in Donauwörth on the 17th after a furious trip from Paris. Charles congratulated himself on a successful opening to the campaign and planned to destroy Davout's and Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
's isolated corps in a double-pincer maneuver. When Napoleon realized that significant Austrian forces were already over the Isar and were marching towards the Danube, he insisted that the entire French army deploy behind the Ilm River
Ilm (Thuringia)
The Ilm is a long river in Thuringia, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Saale, into which it flows in Großheringen near Bad Kösen.Towns along the Ilm are Ilmenau, Stadtilm, Kranichfeld, Bad Berka, Weimar, Apolda and Bad Sulza....
in a bataillon carré within 48 hours, all in hopes of undoing Berthier's mistakes and achieving a successful concentration. His orders were unrealistic because he underestimated the number of Austrian troops that were heading for Davout; Napoleon believed Charles only had a single corps over the Isar, but in fact, the Austrians had five corps lumbering towards Regensburg, a grand total of 80,000 men. Napoleon needed to do something quickly to save his left flank from collapsing.
Landshut Maneuver
Kelheim
Kelheim is a municipality in Bavaria, capital of the district Kelheim. It is situated at the confluence of Altmühl and Danube. As of June 30, 2005, the town had a population of 15,667....
-Abbach
Bad Abbach
Bad Abbach is a municipality in the district Kelheim, Bavaria, Germany. Due to its sulphurous springs it has the status of a spa town.-External links:*...
zone ran into the four French columns heading west towards Neustadt
Neustadt an der Donau
Neustadt an der Donau is a town in Lower Bavaria on the Danube in Bavaria, Germany. Lying on the western border of Landkreis Kelheim, Neustadt is primarily known for the thermal spa Bad Gögging. Neustadt had a population of 12,753 as of December 31, 2003....
in the early hours of the 19th. The Austrian attacks were slow, uncoordinated, and easily repulsed by the experienced French III Corps. Napoleon knew there was fighting in Davout's sector and had already devised a new strategy that he hoped would beat the Austrians: while the Austrians attacked to the north, 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, later augmented by Oudinot
Nicolas Oudinot
Nicolas Charles Oudinot, 1st Comte Oudinot, 1st Duc de Reggio , was a Marshal of France.-Early life:...
's forces, would strike southeast towards Freising
Freising
Freising is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district Freising. Total population 48,500.The city is located north of Munich at the Isar river, near the Munich International Airport...
and Landshut in hopes of rolling up the entire Austrian line and relieving the pressure on Davout. Napoleon was reasonably confident that the joint corps of Davout and Lefebvre could pin the Austrians while his other forces swept the Austrian rear.
The attack began well as the central Austrian V Corps guarding Abensberg
Battle of Abensberg
The Battle of Abensberg took place on 20 April 1809, between a Franco-German force under the command of Emperor Napoleon I of France and a reinforced Austrian corps led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Louis of Austria. As the day wore on, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Hiller arrived with...
gave way to the French advance. Napoleon, however, was working under false assumptions that made his goals difficult to achieve. Massena's advance towards Landshut required too much time, permitting Hiller to escape south over the Isar. The Danube bridge that provided easy access to Regensburg and the east bank had not been demolished, allowing the Austrians to transfer themselves across the river and rendering futile French hopes for the complete destruction of the enemy. On the 20th, the Austrians had suffered 10,000 casualties, lost 30 guns, 600 caissons, and 7,000 other vehicles, but were still a potent fighting force. Later in the evening, Napoleon realized that the day's fighting had only involved two Austrian corps. Charles still had a good chance of escaping east over Straubing
Straubing
Straubing is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held....
if he wished.
On the 21st, Napoleon received a dispatch from Davout that spoke of major engagements near Teugen-Hausen
Battle of Teugen-Hausen
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann was fought on 19 April 1809 between the French III Corps led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and the Austrian III Armeekorps commanded by Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The French won a hard-fought victory over their...
. Davout held his ground, and although Napoleon sent reinforcements, about 36,000 French troops had to face off against 75,000 Austrians. When Napoleon finally learned that Charles was not withdrawing to the east, he realigned the Grande Armée's axis in an operation that became known as the Landshut Maneuver. All available French forces, except 20,000 troops under Bessieres
Jean-Baptiste Bessières
Jean-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...
that were chasing Hiller, now hurled themselves against Eckmühl
Eckmühl
Eckmühl is a village of Germany, in Bavaria, on the Große Laaber, 20 km S.E. of Regensburg...
in another bid to trap the Austrians and relieve their beleaguered comrades. For 22 April, Charles left 40,000 troops under Rosenburg and Hohenzollern to attack Davout and Lefebvre while detaching two corps under Kollowrat and Lichtenstein to march for Abbach and gain undisputed control of the river bank. At 1:30 p.m., however, the sound of gunfire from the south could be heard—Napoleon had arrived. Davout immediately ordered an attack along the entire line despite numerical inferiority; the 10th Light Infantry Regiment successfully stormed the village of Leuchling and went on to capture the woods of Unter-Leuchling with horrific casualties. Napoleon's reinforcements were soon crippling the Austrian left. The Battle of Eckmühl
Battle of Eckmühl
The 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...
ended in a convincing French victory, and Charles decided to withdraw over the Danube towards Regensburg. Napoleon then launched Massena to capture Straubing to the east while the rest of the army pursued the escaping Austrians. The French managed to capture Regensburg
Battle of Ratisbon
The Battle of Ratisbon, also called the Battle of Regensburg, of the Napoleonic Wars was fought on the 23 April 1809 between the army of the First French Empire, led by Napoleon I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archduke Charles...
after a heroic charge led by Marshal 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"...
, but the vast majority of the Austrian army fled successfully to Bohemia. Napoleon then turned his attention south towards Vienna, fighting a series of actions against Hiller's forces, most famously, at the Battle of Ebersberg
Battle of Ebersberg
The Battle of Ebelsberg, known in French accounts as the Battle of Ebersberg, was fought on 3 May 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The Austrian left wing under the command of Johann von Hiller took up positions at Ebersberg on the Traun river...
on 3 May. Ten days later, the Austrian capital fell for the second time in four years.
Aspern-Essling
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...
, that led to the Marchfeld. On the 21st, Charles concluded that the French were crossing at Kaiser-Ebersdorf in strength and ordered a general advance for 98,000 troops and the accompanying 292 guns, which were organized into five columns. The French bridgehead rested on two villages: Aspern to the west and Essling to the east. Napoleon had not expected to encounter opposition, and the bridges linking the French troops at Aspern-Essling to Lobau were not protected with palisade
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
s, making them highly vulnerable to Austrian barges that had been lighted on fire.
The Battle of Aspern-Essling
Battle of Aspern-Essling
In 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...
started at 2:30 p.m. on 21 May. The initial and poorly coordinated Austrian attacks against Aspern and the Gemeinde Au woods to the south failed completely, but Charles persisted. Eventually, the Austrians managed to capture the whole village but lost the eastern half. The Austrians did not attack Essling until 6 p.m. because the fourth and fifth columns had longer marching routes. The French successfully repulsed the attacks against Essling throughout the 21st. Fighting commenced by 3 a.m. on the 22nd, and four hours later the French had captured Aspern again. Napoleon now had 71,000 men and 152 guns on the other side of the river, but the French were still dangerously outnumbered. Napoleon then launched a massive assault against the Austrian center designed to give enough time for the III Corps to cross and clinch the victory. Lannes advanced with three infantry divisions and traveled for a mile before the Austrians, inspired by the personal heroics of Charles with his rally of the Zach Infantry Regiment (No. 15), unleashed a hail of fire on the French that caused the latter to fall back. At 9 a.m., the French bridge broke again. Charles launched another massive assault an hour later and captured Aspern for good, but still could not lay claim to Essling. A few hours later, however, the Austrians returned and took all of Essling except the staunchly defended granary. Napoleon replied by sending a part of the Imperial Guard under Jean Rapp
Jean Rapp
Jean Rapp was a French Army general during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.Rapp was born the son of the janitor of the town-hall of Colmar. He began theological studies to became a clergy man, but with his build and heated character, he was better suited to the military,...
, who audaciously disobeyed Napoleon's orders by attacking Essling and expelling all Austrian forces. Charles then kept up a relentless artillery bombardment that counted Marshal Lannes as one of its many victims. Fighting diminished shortly afterwards, and the French pulled back all of their forces to Lobau. Charles had inflicted the first major defeat in Napoleon's military career.
Wagram
After the defeat at Aspern-Essling, Napoleon took more than six weeks in planning and preparing for contingencies before he made another attempt at crossing the Danube. The French brought in more troops, more guns, and instituted better defensive measures to ensure the success of the next crossing. From 30 June to the early days of July, the French recrossed the Danube in strength, no less than 188,000 troops marching across the Marchfeld towards the Austrians. Immediate resistance to the French advance was restricted to the outpost divisions of Nordmann and Johann von KlenauJohann 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...
; the main Habsburg army was stationed five miles (8 km) away, centered on the village of Wagram. After a successful crossing, Napoleon ordered an attack along the entire line so as to prevent the Austrians from escaping during the night. Furious assaults by the "Terrible 57th" Infantry Regiment and the elite 10th Light Infantry Regiment against the village of Baumersdorf led to an almost immediate French victory, but ultimately, the Austrians did not budge and kept the French from pressing further. Incessant attacks by the heroic Austrian Vincent Chevaulegers' cavalry forced the 10th and the 57th to retreat, leaving the French with no gains. Further attacks to the left of the line by Eugène and MacDonald
Étienne-Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre MacDonald
Étienne Jacques Joseph Alexandre MacDonald, 1st duke of Taranto was a Marshal of France and military leader during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Family background:...
also produced nothing. Bernadotte's troops attacked later with equally disappointing results, and on the right Davout decided to disengage in the darkness of the night. The first day ended with the French on the Marchfeld but with little results to show for their efforts.
For 6 July, Charles planned a double-envelopment that would require a quick march from the forces of his brother John, then a few kilometers to the east of the battlefield. Napoleon's plan envisaged an envelopment of the Austrian left with Davout's III Corps while the rest of the army pinned the Austrian forces. Klenau's VI Corps, supported by Kollowrat's III, opened the fighting in the second day at 4 a.m. with a crushing assault against the French left, forcing the latter to abandon both Aspern and Essling. Meanwhile, a shocking development had occurred overnight. Bernadotte had unilaterally ordered his troops out of the key and central village of Aderklaa, citing heavy artillery shelling, an act that seriously compromised the entire French position. Napoleon was livid and sent two divisions of Massena's corps supported by some cavalry to regain the critical village. After difficult fighting in the first phase, Massena sent in Molitor's reserve division, which slowly but surely grabbed all of Aderklaa back for the French, only to lose it again following fierce Austrian bombardments and counterattacks. To buy time for Davout's materializing assault, Napoleon sent 4,000 cuirassier
Cuirassier
Cuirassiers were mounted cavalry soldiers equipped with armour and firearms, first appearing in late 15th-century Europe. They were the successors of the medieval armoured knights...
s under Nansouty against the Austrian lines, but their efforts led to nothing. To secure his center and his left, Napoleon formed a massive artillery battery of 112 guns that began pounding at the Austrians and tearing gaping holes through their lines. As Davout's men were progressing against the Austrian left, Napoleon formed the three small divisions of MacDonald into a hollow, oblong shape that marched against the Austrian center. The lumbering phalanx was devastated by Austrian artillery but managed to break through the center, although the victory could not be exploited because there was no cavalry in the immediate area. Nevertheless, when Charles sized up the situation, he realized it was only a matter of time before the Austrian position broke completely and ordered a retreat toward Bohemia a few hours after noon. His brother John arrived on the battlefield at 4 p.m., too late to have any impact, and accordingly ordered a retreat to Bohemia as well.
The French did not pursue the Austrians immediately because they were exhausted from two straight days of vicious fighting. After recuperating, they chased the Austrians and caught up with them at Znaim
Znojmo
Znojmo is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, near the border with Lower Austria, connected to Vienna by railway and road . The royal city of Znojmo was founded shortly before 1226 by King Ottokar I on the plains in front of Znojmo Castle...
in mid-July. Here Charles signed an armistice
Armistice of Znaim
The 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....
with Napoleon and agreed to end the fighting. Military conflict between France and Austria was effectively ended, although a few more months of diplomatic wrangling were required to make the result official.
Other theaters
In Italy, Archduke John went up against Napoleon's stepson Eugène. The Austrians beat back several bungled French assaults at the Battle of SacileBattle of Sacile
The Battle of Sacile on 16 April 1809 and its companion Clash at Pordenone on 15 April saw an Austrian army commanded by Archduke John of Austria defeat a Franco-Italian army led by Eugène de Beauharnais and force it to retreat. Sacile proved to be the most notable victory of John's career...
in April, causing Eugène to fall back on Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
and the Adige River, but Eugène regrouped and launched a more mature offensive that expelled the Austrians from Northern Italy again. By the time of Wagram, Eugène's forces had joined Napoleon's main army. In Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
, Marmont, under the nominal command of Eugène, was fighting against General Stoichewich. Marmont launched a mountain offensive on 30 April, but this was repulsed by the Grenzer troops
Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
. Like Eugène, however, Marmont did not let an initial setback dictate the tempo of the conflict. He went back on the offensive and joined Napoleon at Wagram.
In the Duchy of Warsaw
Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw was a Polish state established by Napoleon I in 1807 from the Polish lands ceded by the Kingdom of Prussia under the terms of the Treaties of Tilsit. The duchy was held in personal union by one of Napoleon's allies, King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony...
, Poniatowski
Józef Antoni Poniatowski
Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish leader, general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of France.-Early Austrian years and war with Turkey:...
defeated the Austrians at Raszyn
Battle of Raszyn (1809)
The first Battle of Raszyn was fought on April 19, 1809 between armies of the Austrian Empire and the Duchy of Warsaw as a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in the Napoleonic Wars. The Austrian army was defeated....
on 19 April, prevented Austrian forces from crossing the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
river, invaded Austria and forced the Austrians to retreat from occupied Warsaw (see Polish-Austrian War
Polish-Austrian War
Polish–Austrian War or Austro-Polish War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809...
). In 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...
, Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer
Andreas Hofer was a Tirolean innkeeper and patriot. He was the leader of a rebellion against Napoleon's forces....
led a rebellion against Bavarian rule and French domination that resulted in early isolated victories, but the uprising was suppressed after the French won at Wagram. Hofer was executed in 1810 by a firing squad.
In Saxony, a joint force of Austrians and Brunswickers under the command of General Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer was an Austrian general who was active during the Napoleonic Wars.von Kienmayer joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia and Ottoman Turkey. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he continued to make his reputation in the cavalry and...
was far more successful, defeating a corps under the command of General Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot
Jean-Andoche Junot, 1st Duke of Abrantès was a French general during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Early life:...
at the Battle of Gefrees
Battle of Gefrees
The Battle of Gefrees was fought on 8 July 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition between a joint force of Austrians and Brunswickers under the command of General Kienmayer and a French force under the command of Marshal Junot. The battle ended in victory for the Austrians who avoided being...
. After taking the capital, Dresden, and pushing back an army under the command of Napoleon's brother, Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme Bonaparte
Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte, French Prince, King of Westphalia, 1st Prince of Montfort was the youngest brother of Napoleon, who made him king of Westphalia...
, the Austrians were effectively in control of all of Saxony. But by this time, the main Austrian force had already been defeated at Wagram and the armistice of Znaim
Armistice of Znaim
The 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....
had been agreed.
In the Netherlands, the British launched the Walcheren Campaign
Walcheren Campaign
The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Around 40,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains...
to relieve the pressure on the Austrians. The British force of over 39,000, a larger army than that serving in the Iberian Peninsula, landed at Walcheren on 30 July. However, by this time the Austrians had already lost the war. The Walcheren Campaign was characterized by little fighting but many casualties nevertheless, thanks to the popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Over 4,000 British troops were lost, and the rest withdrew in December 1809.
Aftermath
Although France had not completely defeated Austria, the Treaty of Schönbrunn, signed on 14 October 1809, nevertheless imposed a heavy political toll on the Austrians. As a result of the treaty, France received Carinthia, Carniola, and the Adriatic ports, while Galicia was given to the Poles and the Salzburg area of the Tyrol went to the Bavarians. Austria lost over three million subjects, about 20% of her total population. Emperor Francis also agreed to pay an indemnity equivalent to almost 85 million francFranc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s, gave recognition to Napoleon's brother Joseph
Joseph Bonaparte
Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...
as the King of Spain, and reaffirmed the exclusion of British trade from his remaining dominions. The Austrian army would never field more than 150,000 men at a time for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. The Austrian defeat paved the way for the marriage of Napoleon to the daughter of Emperor Francis, Marie Louise
Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma
Marie Louise of Austria was the second wife of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French and later Duchess of Parma...
. Dangerously, Napoleon assumed that his marriage to Marie Louise would eliminate Austria as a future threat, but the Habsburgs were not as driven by familial ties as Napoleon thought.
The impact of the conflict was not all positive from the French perspective. The revolts in Tyrol and the Kingdom of Westphalia
Kingdom of Westphalia
The Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...
during the conflict were an indication that there was much discontent over French rule among the German population. Just a few days after the conclusion of the Treaty of Schönbrunn, an 18-year-old German named Stapps approached Napoleon during an army review and attempted to stab the emperor, but he was intercepted in the nick of time by General Rapp. The emerging forces of German nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
were too strongly rooted by this time, and the War of the Fifth Coalition played an important role in nurturing their development. By 1813, when the Sixth Coalition was fighting the French for control of Central Europe, the German population was fiercely opposed to French rule and largely supported the Allies.
The war also undermined French military superiority and the Napoleonic image. The Battle of Aspern-Essling was the first major defeat in Napoleon's career and was warmly greeted by much of Europe. The Austrians had also shown that strategic insight and tactical ability were no longer a French monopoly. The French themselves were actually suffering from tactical shortcomings; the decline in tactical skill of the French infantry led to increasingly heavy columns of foot soldiers eschewing all maneuver and relying on sheer weight of numbers to break through, a development best emphasized by MacDonald's attack at Wagram. The Grande Armée
La Grande Armée
The Grande Armée first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain...
lost its qualitative edge partly because raw conscripts replaced many of the veterans of Austerlitz and Jena, eroding tactical flexibility. Additionally, Napoleon's armies were more and more composed of non-French contingents, undermining morale. Although Napoleon maneuvered with customary brilliance, as evidenced by overturning the awful initial French position, the growing size of his armies stretched even his impressive mental faculties. The scale of warfare grew too large for even Napoleon to fully cope with, a lesson that would be brutally repeated during the invasion of Russia in 1812.
External links
- The Fifth Coalition provides a brief description of the war.