Battle of Sankt Michael
Battle of Sankt Michael | |||||||
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Part of the Napoleonic Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
First French Empire | Austrian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Paul Grenier |
Franz Jellacic | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,000[2] to 15,000[3] | 8,000[3] to 9,000[2] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
670[2] | 6,573[2] |
In the Battle of Sankt Michael (or Sankt Michael-Leoben) on 25 May 1809,
Originally part of the Danube army of Archduke Charles, Jellacic's division was detached to the south before the Battle of Eckmühl and later ordered to join the army of Archduke John at Graz. As it retreated southeast toward Graz, Jellacic's division passed across the front of Eugène de Beauharnais' Army of Italy, which was advancing northeast in pursuit of Archduke John. When he learned of Jellacic's presence, Eugène sent Grenier with two divisions to intercept the Austrian column.
Grenier's lead division duly intercepted Jellacic's force and attacked. Though the Austrians were able to hold off the French at first, they were unable to get away. The second French division's arrival secured a clear numerical superiority over Jellacic, who was critically short of cavalry and artillery. Grenier's subsequent French assault broke the Austrian lines and captured thousands of prisoners. When Jellacic joined John it was with only a fraction of his original force.
Background
In the opening encounters of the 1809 war between France and Austria,
At the beginning of the 1809 war, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Jellacic's division formed part of VI Armeekorps and consisted of two brigades of line infantry under
In Italy, General of Cavalry Archduke John defeated
On 8 May, Eugène and John fought the
On 15 May, Jellacic held Salzburg with 10,200 troops and 16 artillery pieces of the Northern Division. His force included 2,880 poorly trained Landwehr and only 60 cavalrymen.[17] After receiving orders from Archduke John to join him at Graz, Jellacic evacuated Salzburg on 19 May. By this time his isolation had become dangerous.[2] Eugène at Villach was only 130 km from Graz, while Jellacic at Salzburg was 200 km distant from Graz.[a]
Battle
French order of battle
- Corps: General of Division Paul Grenier[18]
- Artillery: One 6-pdr foot battery, one 4-pound horse battery. This source shows Durutte's division had a 6-pdr foot battery at Piave. In Eugene's army all horse batteries had 4-pound guns.[19]
- Division: General of Division Pierre François Joseph Durutte
- Brigade: General of Brigade François Valentin
- 22nd Light Infantry Regiment (two battalions), 23rd Light Infantry Regiment (four battalions)
- Brigade: General of Brigade Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix
- 62nd Line Infantry Regiment (four battalions), 102nd Line Infantry Regiment (three battalions)
- Attached: 6th Chasseurs à chevalRegiment (four squadrons)
- Brigade:
- Division: General of Division Jean Mathieu Seras
- Brigade: General of Brigade Roussel[b]
- 1st Light Infantry Regiment (one battalion), 53rd Line Infantry Regiment (four battalions)
- Brigade: General of Brigade Louis Gareau Schneid's order of battle omits Gareau.[20][c]
- 35th Line Infantry Regiment (one battalion), 42nd Line Infantry Regiment (one battalion), 106th Line Infantry Regiment (four battalions)
- Attached: 9th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment (four squadrons)
- Brigade: General of Brigade Roussel[b]
Austrian order of battle
- Northern Division: Franz Jellacic[21] This source's estimated strengths are from 15 May. It differs from Schneid by including 4 battalions of landwehr and 16 3-pdr cannons, and leaving out the Reuss and Archduke Charles units.</ref> Smith agrees with Schneid except in stating that Jellacic only had four guns. Since an Austrian brigade battery typically had eight cannons, four guns would be a half-battery.[2][17]
- Brigade: General-MajorKonstantin Ettingshausen
- Esterhazy IR # 32 (3 bns, 2,700)
- De Vaux IR # 45 (2 bns, 2,160)
- Brigade: General-Major Ignaz Legisfeld
- Warasdiner-Kreutzer Grenz IR # 5 (2 bns, 2,160)
- Reuss-Greiz IR # 55 (1 bn)
- Archduke Charles IR # 3 (½ bn)
- Attached:
- Salzburger Landwehr (1 bn, 720)
- O'Reilly Chevaulegers # 3 (1 sqn, 60 troopers)
- 3-pdr brigade half-battery (4 cannons)
- Brigade:
Key
- bn, bns = Infantry battalion, battalions
- sqn, sqns = Cavalry squadron, squadrons
- IR = Infantry Regiment
- 3-pdr = Three-pounders were light cannons
- 4-pdr = Four-pounders were light cannons. French batteries included two 6-pouce (inch) howitzers.[22]
- 6-pdr = Six-pounders were medium cannons. French batteries included two 6-inch howitzers.
Action
On the evening of 23 May, Jellacic's column marched into
Jellacic's advance guard arrived at Sankt Michael on the morning of 25 May, and by 9:00 am the bulk of his division had reached a location just to the north. However, Grenier's advance elements soon appeared to the southwest. Jellacic sent his 60 horsemen and General-Major Ignaz Legisfeld's light brigade to hold off the French on a ridge just west of the town. At 10:00 am, Seras attacked Legisfeld's line but his troops were driven back. Seras kept up the pressure and soon the Austrian division commander brought Ettingshausen's brigade of approximately 5,000 soldiers into action. Jellacic anchored his left flank on the Mur and planted his right flank in the hills to the north. Durutte's division arrived in the afternoon, giving Grenier a superiority of about 15,000 to 8,000.[3] Another authority gives the French numerical advantage as 12,000 to 9,000 troops.[2]
Grenier prepared a two-division assault. He placed
With only one landwehr and one Grenzer battalion to face Roussel's envelopment, Jellacic withdrew one battalion of the Esterhazy Infantry Regiment # 32 from the center to shore up his right flank. Other troops had to be sent to face the threat from the 62nd Line. At 4:00 pm, Grenier's assault smashed the weakened Austrian center. Roussel also broke through on the flank to cut the road to the north. The Austrian fled in rout to the northeast along the Mur valley, closely pursued by the French. Grenier harried his beaten foes through Leoben, 7 km northeast, and Bruck an der Mur, 20 km northeast. At Bruck, Jellacic's survivors turned south, following the Mur valley to Graz. Only 2,000 of Jellacic's troops reached Graz the next day.[23]
Result
Grenier wrecked the Northern Division. Instead of providing a substantial reinforcement to Archduke John, Jellacic brought in less than one-third of his command. The Austrians suffered 423 dead, 1,137 wounded, 4,963 captured, and 50 missing. French losses numbered 200 killed, 400 wounded, and 70 captured. Historian
Explanatory notes
- ^ Airline distances measured from Google Earth.
- ^ French Wikipedia, fr:Liste des généraux de la Révolution et du Premier Empire. This is either Jean Charles Roussel or Charles Alexandre Roussel de Saint-Rémy.
- ^ French Wikipedia, fr:Louis Gareau
Notes
- ^ a b Bodart 1908, p. 406.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Smith 1998, p. 312.
- ^ a b c d e Schneid 2002, p. 86.
- ^ Smith 1998, pp. 290–291.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 292.
- ^ Smith 1998, pp. 292–294.
- ^ Bowden & Tarbox 1980, p. 70.
- ^ a b Schneid 2002, p. 85.
- ^ Arnold 1990, p. 260n.
- ^ Petre 1976, p. 249.
- ^ Rothenberg 1982, p. 138.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 299.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 286.
- ^ Schneid 2002, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 300.
- ^ Schneid 2002, p. 83.
- ^ a b Bowden & Tarbox 1980, p. 115.
- ^ Schneid 2002, pp. 186–187.
- ^ Bowden & Tarbox 1980, pp. 110–112.
- ^ Bowden & Tarbox 1980, p. 101.
- ^ Schneid 2002, p. 186.
- ^ Bowden & Tarbox 1980, pp. 101–103.
- ^ Schneid 2002, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Rothenberg 1982, p. 145.
- ^ Schneid 2002, pp. 87–88.
References
- Arnold, James R. (1990). Crisis on the Danube: Napoleon's Austrian Campaign of 1809. New York, N.Y.: Paragon House. ISBN 1-55778-137-0.
- Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905). Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- Bowden, Scotty; Tarbox, Charlie (1980). Armies on the Danube 1809. Arlington, Texas: Empire Games Press. ISBN 0-913037-08-7.
- Petre, F. Loraine (1976). Napoleon and the Archduke Charles. New York, N.Y.: Hippocrene Books.
- ISBN 0-253-33969-3.
- Schneid, Frederick C. (2002). Napoleon's Italian Campaigns: 1805-1815. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-96875-8.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
Further reading
- Chandler, David (1966). The Campaigns of Napoleon. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780025236608. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
External links
- French Wikipedia, Louis Gareau
- French Wikipedia, Liste des généraux de la Révolution et du Premier Empire
- Media related to Battle of Sankt Michael at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Battle of Alcañiz |
Napoleonic Wars Battle of Sankt Michael |
Succeeded by Battle of Stralsund (1809) |