Battle of Aspern-Essling

The Battle of Aspern-Essling (May 22, 1809) pitted France and Austria against each other in the context of the Napoleonic Wars of the Fifth Coalition, and marked a tactical defeat for Napoleon in his attempt crossing the Danube River.

Prolegomena to the battle

At the time of this battle, Napoleon had control over Vienna, the bridges over the Danube had been destroyed and the army of Archduke Charles was around Bisamberg, a mountain near Korneuburg, on the left bank of the river. The first thing the French did was cross the Danube. The island of Lobau, one of the many that divide the river into small channels, was chosen as a crossing point, and the French troops made careful preparations that culminated in the effective occupation of the island on the night of May 19 to 20. On the night of the 20th a large number of men had gathered at that place, and they crossed the last branch of the Danube between Lobau and the eastern bank. Masséna's troops crossed the river while avoiding the Austrian outposts. Undeterred by news of heavy attacks on his rear from Tyrol and Bohemia, Napoleon led all his available troops to the bridges, and by dawn on the 21st he had mustered 40,000 men on the Marchfeld plain. area that would be the scene of the Battle of Wagram the following July.

The Archduke did not resist the French when crossing the river. His intention was to attack when he had crossed a sufficient force, but before the rest of the French army could assist them. Napoleon had accepted the risk of such an attack, but sought at the same time to minimize its consequences by assembling every available battalion on the scene of battle. His forces on the Marchfeld were positioned in front of the north-facing bridges, with the left wing at the village of Aspern (Gross-Aspern) and the right wing at Essling. Both places were close to the Danube and could not be surrounded. Aspern, indeed, is located on one of the channels of the river. The French had to cover the gap between both towns, as well as advance to the front to make room for the troops who were still crossing.

The combat

Hiller, Bellegarde and Hohenzollern would converge on Aspern, while Rosenberg would attack Essling. The Austrian cavalry advanced through the center, ready to confront any French cavalry units that attempted to attack the heads of the columns. During the 21st, the bridges became increasingly unsafe due to the violence of the environment, but the French crossed without interruption throughout the day and the following night. The battle finally began at Aspern; Hiller led the first attacks on the village, but Masséna recovered it again, and held his positions with the same tenacity that he had shown in the Battle of Marengo in 1800. The French infantry fought that day with greater bravery than that shown in previous battles. from the war.

The three Austrian columns, fighting with full force, were not able to capture more than half of the village, and the positions still belonged to Masséna as night fell. Meanwhile, the infantry posted between the two towns and in front of the bridges headed to the fight on this flank. Napoleon, however, headed towards the center as a diversionary movement. This center, now supported only by the French cavalry, would charge against the Austrian artillery positions that, located in a long line, were beating Aspern. The first French charge failed, although a second more serious attempt, carried out by a large number of cuirassiers, was successful. The elegantly led French cavalry eliminated the Austrian guns, then rode around Hohenzollen's infantry, and resisted the harassment of Lichtenstein's cavalry, although they could do nothing more and retreated to their old positions.

Meanwhile, Essling had become the scene of fighting almost as desperate as that of Aspern. The French cuirassiers made strong charges against the flank of Rosenberg's forces, delaying his assault for a long time, and in the villages Lannes made the heroic (and ultimately successful) determination to resist, until night finally put an end to the battle. battle.

The two armies remained on their grounds, while in Aspern, the French and Austrians were within gunshot range. The latter had fought as hard as their opponents, and Napoleon then thought that they were no longer the professional soldiers of ancient campaigns. The spirit of a nation could be seen in them, and they fought to the death for it, and not for the honor of their armies. The emperor was not daunted, but on the contrary, he renewed his efforts to provide as many men as were available. Throughout the night, more and more French soldiers were deployed on the ground.

At daybreak on the 22nd, the battle restarted. André Masséna quickly cleared Aspern of enemies, but at the same time, Rosenberg attacked Essling. Lannes, however, resisted desperately and, reinforced by Saint-Hilaire's division, repulsed Rosenberg. At Aspern, Masséna was less fortunate, and Hiller and Bellegarde's counterattack was as successful as that of Lannes and Saint-Hilaire.

At the same time this was happening, Napoleon launched a major attack on the center of the Austrian army. Together with the French center, with Lannes on the left and the cavalry in reserve, they advanced at the same time. They broke the Austrian line between Rosenberg's right flank and Hohenzollen, and had practically won when the Archduke put his last reserve of troops into motion, leading them personally. Lannes repelled the attack with all his impetus along the entire line. Aspern had been lost, and the news reached Napoleon at a critical moment. The bridges over the Danube were cut by heavy barges set adrift in the current for this purpose by the Austrians.

Napoleon immediately called off the attack. Essling fell under a new assault from Rosenberg, and as the French were driven back, the Austrian general directed his efforts towards the flank of the French center which was slowly retreating along the shore. The retreat was terribly costly, and but for Lannes's preparations, the French might have been driven into the Danube by the Archduke's extremely furious effort to break their resistance. Only the complete exhaustion of both sides could finally stop the combat. The French lost 21,000 men out of the 90,000 they had, and even more: this was Napoleon's first major defeat, although it did not break his resolve. France's defeated forces were eventually withdrawn to the island. On the night of the 22nd, with the last bridge repaired, the army would wait for the arrival of reinforcements, although not in Vienna, but in Lobau.