Battle of Eckmühl
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2012) |
Battle of Eckmühl | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the War of the Fifth Coalition | |||||||
Battle of Eckmühl by Bagetti Giuseppe Pietro | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Austria | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| |||||||
Strength | |||||||
70,000[2] | 75,000[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3,000[3] | 10,700[3] | ||||||
The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the
Strategic situation
Operating over a fifty-mile front, from
The French attack, however, had only split the Austrian Army, separating its Left Wing, composed of the V Armee Korps, VI A.K., and II Reserve A.K., from the balance of the army. Two corps, III A.K. and IV A.K., were withdrawn by Archduke Charles to the North, forming a nine-mile line from Abbach on the
Battle Plans
For his part, Napoleon was intent on enveloping and destroying the Austrian forces retiring Southwest to Landshut and its bridge across the
22 April
The leading elements of the Austrian attack ran into
The vanguard of the assault were the German troops under
The struggle now devolved into a series of major cavalry clashes as the Austrians attempted to extricate their army without losing too many prisoners. Perhaps the best cavalry in the Habsburg army, the Vincent Chevau-légers and the Stipsic Hussars, occupied the Bettelberg ridgeline between Eckmühl and the woods above Unterlaiching. These elite units demolished some German light cavalry before being stopped by Bavarian infantry. Napoleon was insistent on the immediate capture of this position and ordered forward two heavy cavalry divisions under St. Sulpice and Nansouty. These horsemen were pummeled by Austrian artillery but came on nonetheless and managed to saber the gunners after having seen off the enemy cavalry.
The first phase of the retreat ended, but it was not over yet. The Austrians had found a chokepoint in the road and were instructed to stem the French tide. Three French cuirassier divisions supported by additional German light cavalry attacked and a swirling melee developed. The Austrians fought but were heavily outnumbered and had to retreat. During this part of the conflict, more French cavalry struck in their flank and the remaining Austrian horse fled north to Ratisbon with great celerity.
Aftermath
The French had won the battle, but it was not a decisive engagement. Napoleon had hoped that he would be able to catch the Austrian army between Davout and the Danube, but he didn't know that Ratisbon had fallen and thus gave the Austrians a means of escape over the river.
Nevertheless, the French inflicted 10,700 casualties at the cost of just 3,000, and Napoleon's speedy arrival witnessed an entire axial realignment of his army (from a north–south axis to an east–west one) that permitted the defeat of the Austrians. Subsequent campaigning led to the French recapture of Ratisbon, Austrian eviction from Southern Germany, and the fall of Vienna.
Napoleon is alleged to have remarked of the series of manoeuvers that culminated at Eckmühl, it was "the finest" that he ever conducted.
Following the victory at Eckmühl, Napoleon's council of war led to the Battle of Ratisbon.
See also
- Eckmühl
- Marshal Davout
Notes
- ^ Bodart 1908, p. 399.
- ^ a b Gill 2014, p. 257.
- ^ a b Gill 2014, p. 279.
- ^ Rothenberg 1982, p. 173.
- ^ a b Gallaher 2000, p. 185.
References
- Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Gallaher, John G. (2000). The Iron Marshall. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-396-X.
- Gill, John H. (2014). 1809: Thunder on the Danube – Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs, Vol. 1. London: Frontline Books. ISBN 978-184415-713-6.
- Rothenberg, Gunther E. (1982). Napoleon's Great Adversary. Sarpedon.
- Chandler, David (1979). Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars. MacMillan.
Further reading
- Bowden, Scott & Tarbox, Charles (1989). Armies On The Danube 1809. The Emperor's Press. ISBN 0-913037-08-7.
- Chandler, David G. (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-523660-1. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Chandler, David G., Ed. (1987). Napoleon's Marshals. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-905930-5.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISBN 978-0-85368-353-7. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- Epstein, Robert M. (1994). Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-0664-5. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ISBN 1-885119-21-6.
- Rothenberg, Gunther E. (2004). The Emperor's Last Victory. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84672-8.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Eckmühl at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Battle of Landshut (1809) |
Napoleonic Wars Battle of Eckmühl |
Succeeded by Battle of Ratisbon |