Battle of Wagram

Battle of Wagram, defeat of Austrian forces under Archduke Charles Louis John by French troops under Napoleon I at Wagram in Austria on July 5-6, 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars. The battle temporarily quelled resurgent Austrian resistance to Napoleonic dominance, but also was preceded by some of Napoleon’s first important military reverses. Napoleon’s great victories in 1805-1807, when he had defeated Austria, Russia, and Prussia, had allowed him to redraw the map of central Europe without further resistance, and to obtain the, albeit reluctant, alliance of those powers in the Continental System, in his continued conflict with the British Empire. However, the resentment of Austria at the progressive loss, at Napoleon’s hands, of most of its own empire led to a national awakening, led by Archduke Charles, younger brother of Emperor Francis II. In the spring of 1809 Austrian forces invaded southern Germany, which was under French protection.

Napoleon countered with a rapid march to the River Danube, the occupation of Vienna, and orders for his armies in Italy and Germany to join him. His resultant forces, though larger than ever before, were not as good as those he had led in earlier campaigns in Germany and Poland; and the Austrians, under new and revived leadership, inspired by patriotic fervour, were a more formidable foe.

Archduke Charles assembled his troops, over 140,000 strong, on the north bank of the Danube, almost within sight of Vienna’s ramparts. When Napoleon’s army of over 150,000, based on an island in the river, attempted to cross at the two villages of Aspern and Essling on May 21-22, it suffered heavily, with 20,000 casualties. This was Napoleon’s first serious reverse, and it had important political repercussions elsewhere, giving comfort to those who wished to throw off the French imperial yoke.

Nevertheless, Napoleon decided to attack the main body of Charles’s army before reinforcements, expected from his brother Archduke John, could be brought up to join him. In the biggest battle of his career to date, Napoleon crossed the river, in the middle of a thunderstorm on July 5, with 154,000 men and 554 guns, and advanced on a 22.5 km (14 mi) front, his left wing under André Masséna, the right led by Louis Nicolas Davout, and the centre under Jacques-Alexandre Macdonald. There was again stiff opposition, and on the following day the Austrians counter-attacked on Masséna’s wing, forcing him back to the river and threatening to cut off the main French thrust in the middle. At the same time, Macdonald’s infantry advanced with levelled bayonets against the Austrian centre, near the village of Wagram, and despite suffering great losses were able to hold their ground. This was the decisive moment of the battle. Overnight, with Archduke John’s forces still some 16 km (10 mi) distant, the main Austrian army withdrew in good order.

Huge numbers had been deployed at Wagram, and losses were correspondingly great on both sides: the French lost 30,000 combatants, the Austrians 26,000. Francis realized that further resistance was pointless and concluded the Treaty of Schönbrunn in October 1809. Austria surrendered more territory and entered an alliance with France that was sealed by the marriage of Francis’s daughter Marie-Louise with Napoleon. Not till Napoleon’s failed offensive in Russia in 1812 did Austria break free from his hegemony and join the Allies in his eventual defeat.