Landshut
Landshut is a town 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 and it is the seat of the surrounding district, and with a population of more than 60,000. Landshut is the largest city in Lower Bavaria, followed by Passau and Straubing, owing to its characteristic coat of arms, the town is often called City of the three Helmets. Furthermore, the town is known for the Landshuter Hochzeit. Due to its proximity and easy access to Munich and the Franz Josef Strauss International Airport, Landshut became a powerful, the town is one of the richest industrialized towns in Bavaria and has East Bavarias lowest unemployment rate, which represents full employment. Landshut lies in the centre of Lower Bavaria, and is part of the Alpine foothills, the River Isar runs through the city centre. Landshut is about 72 kilometres northeast of Munich, the city of Landshut and Trausnitz castle were founded in 1204 by Duke Louis I.
Landshut was already a Wittelsbach residence by 1231, and in 1255, Duke Henry XVI was the first of the three famous rich dukes who ruled Bayern-Landshut in the 15th century. The wedding of Duke George with the Polish Princess Royal Jadwiga Jagiellon in 1475 was celebrated in Landshut with one of the most splendid festivals of the Middle Ages, after his death and the Landshut War of Succession, Bavaria-Landshut was reunited with Bavaria-Munich. Louis X, Duke of Bavaria built the Landshut Residence 1537–1543 after his visit to Italy, Louis built the first Renaissance palace constructed north of the Alps after the Palazzo Te in Mantua. William V, Duke of Bavaria ordered to upgrade Trausnitz Castle from a gothic fortification into a renaissance complex when he lived in Landshut as crown prince for ten years until 1579, afterwards Landshut lost most of its importance until the University of Ingolstadt was moved to Landshut in 1800. But already in 1826 the university was transferred to Munich, in 1634, during the Thirty Years War, the city was taken and plundered by Swedish forces under the command of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar.
During World War II, a subcamp of Dachau concentration camp was located in the city to provide labour for local industry. The U. S. Army maintained facilities in Landshut, including Pinder Kaserne, since the opening of Munich Airport close to Landshut in 1992, the town has become an attractive business location. Among other Gothic architecture are the churches of St. Jodok and Holy Spirit, but the Town Hall and the Ländtor, Landshut is known for a festival celebrated every four years called the Landshuter Hochzeit, commemorating the 1475 marriage of George of Bavaria and Jadwiga Jagiellon. The renaissance era produced in particular the inner courtyard of the Trausnitz Castle. Baroque churches are represented by the Jesuit church St. Ignatius, the Dominican church St. Blasius, the medieval churches of the Seligenthal convent and of the Cistercians were redesigned in baroque style. Many old middle-class houses of the past in the Old Town still represent the history of the town from the Gothic times to the Neo-Classicism
Battle of Tarvis (1809)
Eugène crushed Gyulais division in a pitched battle near Tarvisio, an Austrian town known as Tarvis. At nearby Malborghetto Valbruna and Predil Pass, small garrisons of Grenz infantry heroically defended two forts before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers, the Franco-Italian capture of the key mountain passes allowed their forces to invade Austrian Kärnten during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Tarvisio is located in far northeast Italy, near the borders of both Austria and Slovenia, Eugènes main column marched up the Fella River valley, which runs east and west in the area of the fighting. On 15 May the column found itself blocked by the Malborghetto fort, attacking in greatly superior force, Eugènes troops captured the fort on the morning of the 17th. Later that day, the Franco-Italians routed Gyulais division from its positions near Tarvisio, a second Franco-Italian column, attempting to join Eugène from the south, was halted on the 15th by the Predil fort. On 18 May, Predil fell to assault and the defenders were killed to the last man, monuments at both forts honor the Austrians who gave their lives in the fighting.
For this formidable task, Johns forces were not especially large, the VIII Armeekorps numbered 24,500 infantry,2,600 cavalry, and 62 guns. The IX Armeekorps counted 22,200 infantry,2,000 cavalry, General-Major Andreas von Stoichevich was poised to advance south into French-occupied Dalmatia with 10,000 more. Assembling in Carinthia were 23,500 second-line soldiers in 33 Landwehr battalions, to support the Tyrolean Rebellion, John reorganized his army and sent Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles west with 10,000 troops from VIII Armeekorps. The detachment left John with about 40,000 soldiers for his invasion of Italy out of 85,000 available, the departure of Chasteler left Feldmarschall-Leutnant Albert Gyulai in command of VIII Armeekorps and his brother Feldmarschall-Leutnant Ignaz Gyulai in charge of IX Armeekorps. Eugène commanded 70,000 Franco-Italian troops in his Army of Italy, of his six French and three Italian infantry divisions, only two defended the Soča River near the eastern frontier, while the rest were scattered across the Kingdom of Italy.
On 16 April 1809, an overconfident Eugène gave battle with one cavalry and five infantry divisions. At the Battle of Sacile, Johns invading army mauled Eugènes army, the defeated Army of Italy fell back to Verona on the Adige River gathering reinforcements until it had accumulated 60,000 soldiers. After hearing of the main Austrian armys defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl on 22 April, after fencing with the Viceroy near Soave and Monte Bastia at the Battle of Caldiero at the end of April, the archduke withdrew on 2 May. The retreat was covered by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann Maria Philipp Frimonts rear guard. On 8 May, John defended a position behind the Piave River. In the Battle of Piave River, Eugène defeated his opponent, on 11 May, the Franco-Italian advance guard turned both flanks of Frimonts 4, 000-man rear guard at San Daniele del Friuli. The Austrians were crushed with losses of about 2,000, after a clash at Venzone, Frimont retreated north up the Fella River valley, burning the bridges behind him
Battle of Linz-Urfahr
The Battle of Linz-Urfahr on 17 May 1809 saw soldiers from the Austrian Empire fighting against troops from two of Emperor Napoleons allies, the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Kingdom of Saxony. As the combat got underway, Saxons led by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte began reinforcing the defenders and this prompted Kollowrat to order a retreat, which was followed up by Napoleons German allies. The Austrian commander-in-chief, Generalissimo Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen detached Kollowrats III Armeekorps from the army to guard Bohemia. Later, Charles directed his subordinate to threaten Napoleons long and vulnerable supply line followed the Danube valley. Accordingly, Kollowrat descended upon the Linz bridgehead, but the presence of a defending force thwarted his plans. The action was fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition, urfahr is part of the modern city of Linz, on the north bank of the Danube. After his defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl on 21 and 22 April 1809, Charles regrouped his army at Cham, which is just west of the Bohemian frontier.
Convinced that his army was demoralized by its defeat, Charles gave up any thought of counterattacking Napoleon, instead, he intended to retreat from Cham to Vienna via České Budějovice. For his part, Napoleon made up his mind to plunge forward on the south bank toward Austrias capital, the French emperor called off the brief pursuit by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davouts III Corps and allowed Charles an untroubled retreat. At the outbreak of the war, Napoleon ordered Bernadotte to march the Saxon army, known as the IX Corps, because this left the Kingdom of Saxony unprotected, Bernadotte evacuated the Saxon royal family and the military stores from Saxonys capital Dresden. By 20 April the Saxon troops were at Gera on the way south, jérôme Bonaparte was ordered to march his Kingdom of Westphalia army, named the X Corps, to hold Saxony. With the Saxon army at large, Archduke Charles worried that Bohemia might be overrun, for this task, he chose the III Armeekorps with its 23 battalions and 15 squadrons.
To this were added 23 badly-organized battalions of Bohemian landwehr, Kollowrat was appointed to lead the III Armeekorps, while Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen exchanged his old corps for Kollowrats former II Armeekorps. After brutal fighting at the Battle of Ebelsberg on 3 May, after a perfunctory resistance, Archduke Maximilian of Austria–Este abandoned the Austrian capital which was handed over to the French early on 13 May. On 4 May and his VIII Corps reached Linz and he found General-major Joseph von Richter and an Austrian landwehr brigade opposite Linz on the Danubes north bank. Earlier in the campaign, this unit had assisted in the blockade of the Bavarian garrison of Passau, after Passau was relieved, Richter fell back on the north bank to Linz. Aggressively, Vandamme lined up his artillery on the south bank, under cover of the cannonading, the Württembergers crossed over in boats and attacked. Richters poorly trained landwehr were overrun and most were captured, on the 6th, Bernadottes Saxons reached Rötz near Cham in their march around the west side of Bohemia
Battle of Graz
The Battle of Graz took place on 24–26 June 1809 between an Austrian corps commanded by Ignaz Gyulai and a French division led by Jean-Baptiste Broussier. The French were soon reinforced by a corps under Auguste Marmont, the battle is considered a French victory though Gyulai was successful in getting supplies to the Austrian garrison of Graz before the two French forces drove him away from the city. Graz, Austria is located 145 kilometers south-southwest of Vienna at the intersection of the modern A2, before the Battle of Raab on 14 June, the Franco-Italian army left Broussiers division in its rear to besiege an Austrian garrison in the Graz citadel. When Gyulais force appeared before the town in late June, Broussier retreated, on the night of 25 June, Broussier sent two unsupported battalions of the 84th Line Infantry Regiment against the town. Surrounded by a superior force of Austrians, the French stubbornly defended their position until the next afternoon. The 84th was soon joined by Auguste Marmonts newly arrived French corps, Marmont attacked and forced Gyulai to retreat from Graz.
The castle hill, remained in possession of its Austrian garrison, shortly afterward, Emperor Napoleon I summoned both Marmont and Broussier to march to Vienna, where both participated in the climactic Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July. In recognition of its action, the 84th was allowed to inscribe UN CONTRE DIX on its colors. On 8 May 1809, the Viceroy of Italy, Eugène de Beauharnais and his Franco-Italian army defeated General der Kavallerie Archduke John of Austria at the Battle of Piave River, after the battle, John made the decision to split his army into two parts. He took the troops of Feldmarschall-Leutnants Albert Gyulai and Johann Frimont northeast to Villach and sent Ignaz Gyulai and this dispersal of the available Austrian military units made Eugènes subsequent invasion of Inner Austria considerably easier. Johns purpose in sending Ignaz Gyulai to Carniola was to raise the Croatian Feudal Ban, on 15 May, the troops reporting to Archduke John were distributed as follows. On the right flank, General of Division Jacques MacDonald led two divisions and General of Division Charles Randon de Pullys cavalry, altogether 14,000 troops.
General of Division Jean-Baptiste Rusca commanded a guard that marched on Eugènes left. Eugène captured two forts and defeated Albert Gyulai at the Battle of Tarvis from 15 to 18 May. Archduke John retreated from Villach toward Graz, where he arrived on 24 May, the next day, Greniers two divisions crushed Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Jellacics division in the Battle of Sankt Michael. Only 2,000 of Jellacics troops managed to join John at Graz, the rest were killed or captured. On 26 May, Eugène reached Bruck an der Mur and established contact with Napoleons main army which had occupied Vienna on 13 May, MacDonald occupied Ljubljana on 23 May, capturing 7,000 muskets,71 artillery pieces, and large supplies of food and munitions. Another French column occupied Trieste, seizing 22,000 British-supplied muskets intended for the use of the Hungarian and Croatian militia, ordered to move closer to Eugène, MacDonald marched northeast to Maribor where he met Grouchy and a cavalry-infantry force
Battle of Raab
The Battle of Raab was fought on June 14,1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, between Franco-Italian forces and Habsburg forces. The battle was fought near Győr, Kingdom of Hungary, Napoleon referred to the battle as a granddaughter of Marengo and Friedland, as it fell on the anniversary of those two battles. During the 1809 campaign in Italy, Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais led the Franco-Italian army while General der Kavallerie Archduke John of Austria commanded the Austrian army, at the outbreak of war, John moved rapidly to defeat his opponent at the Battle of Sacile on 16 April. This victory drove Eugène back to the Adige River, the front remained static for a few weeks despite attacks by Eugène in the Battle of Caldiero. Meanwhile, an Austrian force bottled up the corps of General of Division Auguste Marmont in Dalmatia, after the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl, John received orders to retreat in order to cover the strategic left flank of the army in southern Germany. John fought Eugène in a rearguard action at the Battle of Piave River on 8 May.
Up to this moment and his soldiers had fought well, John probably committed a serious blunder by splitting up his command. With the main army he fell back to the northeast, by the second week of May and Feldmarschallleutnant Albert Gyulai stood at Tarvisio with 8,340 troops. Feldmarschallleutnant Johann Maria Philipp Frimonts 13, 060-man Mobile Force lay at nearby Villach, Feldmarschallleutnant Ignaz Gyulai with 14,880 men of the IX Armeekorps defended the Ljubljana area to the southeast of Villach. Far to the west-northwest, Feldmarschallleutnant Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles and 17,460 soldiers of the VIII Armeekorps held the region around Innsbruck, Feldmarschallleutnant Franjo Jelačić and the 10, 200-strong Northern Division was stationed at Salzburg to the northwest. Finally, General-major Andreas von Stoichewichs 8,100 men continued to pin Marmont in Dalmatia to the south of Ljubljana, by this time a large proportion of Johns forces was made up of hastily raised landwehr infantry.
On 13 May, Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre and a Bavarian army wrecked part of Chastelers corps at the Battle of Wörgl near Innsbruck, on 17 May, John received orders to cut the communications of Emperor Napoleons Grand Army by moving north. However, the archduke delayed too long in carrying out this assignment, though badly isolated, Jelačić remained near Salzburg until 19 May. When he finally got moving it was too late, a French corps under General of Division Paul Grenier cut the Northern Division to pieces at the Battle of Sankt Michael on 25 May. John pulled back to Graz, but when he heard of Jelačićs disaster, during May, small Grenz infantry forces heroically defended the mountain passes during the Battle of Tarvis. At Malborghetto Valbruna,400 soldiers held a blockhouse against 15,000 Frenchmen between 15 and 17 May and only 50 men survived, the French admitted only 80 casualties. At the Predil Pass blockhouse,250 Austrians and 8 cannon held off 8,500 French soldiers for three days, on 18 May, when the position was finally overrun, the Grenzers were killed to a man.
The French admitted suffering 450 casualties, at Tarvisio itself, Eugène inflicted a serious defeat on Albert Gyulais outnumbered division
Dalmatian Campaign (1809)
The Dalmatian Campaign saw several battles fought between 30 April and 21 May 1809 by Auguste Marmonts First French Empire soldiers and Andreas von Stoichevichs Austrian Empire troops. The Austrians drove the French from their positions on the Zrmanja River at the end of April, but in mid-May, the French counterattack forced back the Austrians. The defenders offered stout resistance, but ultimately Marmont broke out of Dalmatia, the campaign was fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Dalmatia is part of the nation of Croatia. At the beginning of the conflict, the Austrians thrust across the Zrmanja, after the Austrian defeat and subsequent retreat from Italy of the army of Archduke John of Austria, Marmont launched his own offensive. The French beat the Austrians at Pribudić, capturing Stoichevich, two more actions were fought at Gračac on 17 May and Gospić on 21 May before Marmont reached Ljubljana in Carniola. Continuing north, the French general fought in the Battle of Graz on 25 and 26 June, in addition, General of Division Marmont commanded a French corps in occupation of Dalmatia.
At the end of the War of the Third Coalition on 26 December 1805, since that time, Marmont had administered the region. Because Marmonts troops had trained with the Grande Armée at the Camp de Boulogne, Marmonts so-called Army of Dalmatia consisted of two infantry divisions commanded by Generals of Division Joseph Hélie Désiré Perruquet de Montrichard and Bertrand Clausel. Soyes brigade included the 18th Light and 5th Line Infantry Regiments, de Launays brigade was made up of the 79th and 81st Line Infantry Regiments. Clausels 2nd Division comprised the brigades of Generals of Brigade Alexis Joseph Delzons, the divisional artillery included the 3rd and 9th companies of the 8th Foot Artillery Regiment, with six 6-pound cannons and two 5-inch howitzers in each company for a total of 16 guns. Delzons led the 8th Light and 23rd Line Infantry Regiments and Bachelu directed the 11th Line Infantry Regiment, the 11th Line had three battalions, while the other regiments only had two battalions each.
Average battalion strength was approximately 700, the Army of Dalmatia was provided with an especially powerful artillery contingent of 78 guns led by General of Brigade Louis Tirlet. The large corps artillery included the 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th. The 10th company of the 7th Foot Artillery Regiment had six 12-pound cannons, the 14th and 15th companies of the 2nd Foot Artillery Regiment each consisted of six 6-pound cannons. The 3rd squadron of the 24th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment completed the corps, Marmonts chief of staff was General of Brigade Jacques-Antoine-Adrien Delort. On 15 May, Stoichevich commanded about 8,100 troops, including roughly 7,740 infantry,120 infantry, the Austrian regular infantry consisted of two battalions each of the Liccaner Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 1, two battalions of the Warasdiner Szent-George Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr,6, one battalion of the 1st Deutsch Banat Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr
Walcheren Campaign
Around 40,000 soldiers,15,000 horses together with field artillery and two siege trains crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30 July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the serving in the Peninsular War in Portugal. The Walcheren Campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the popularly dubbed Walcheren Fever. Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 died in combat, in July 1809, the British decided to seal the mouth of the Scheldt to prevent the port of Antwerp being used as a base against them. The primary aim of the campaign was to destroy the French fleet thought to be in Flushing whilst providing a diversion for the hard-pressed Austrians, the Battle of Wagram had already occurred before the start of the campaign and the Austrians had effectively already lost the war. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham commanded the army, whilst Sir Richard Strachan commanded the navy, as a first move, the British seized the swampy island of Walcheren at the mouth of river Scheldt, as well as South Beveland island, both in the present-day Netherlands.
The British troops soon began to suffer from malaria, within a month of seizing the island, the medical provisions for the expedition proved inadequate despite reports that an occupying French force had lost 80% of its numbers a few years earlier, due to disease. Once it had decided to garrison Walcheren Island in September 1809. The French forces were commanded by Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, who had just been stripped of his command after disobeying orders at Wagram, dismissed from Napoleons Grande Armée, Bernadotte returned to Paris and was sent to defend the Netherlands by the council of ministers. With the main objective for the British out of reach, the expedition was called off in early September, around 12,000 troops stayed on Walcheren, but by October only 5,500 remained fit for duty. In all, the British government spent almost £8 million on the campaign, along with the 4,000 men that had died during the campaign, almost 12,000 were still ill by February 1810 and many others remained permanently weakened.
Those sent to the Peninsular War to join Wellingtons army caused a permanent doubling of the sick lists there, a number of smaller vessels including customs-house and excise cutters were involved, as was a packet ship. The City of London, Loyal Greenwich, and Royal Harbour River Fencibles contributed men to the expedition, the 1st battalion of the Irish Legion was stationed in Flushing during the assault and received its baptism of fire there. It fought a rear guard action for days but the battalion was almost completely captured. The Legions brass band followed by the Irish battalion led the surrendered French garrison out of the town, however, a small party of Irishmen escaped and went into hiding with the battalions cherished imperial eagle, and after a few days they crossed the Scheldt River and escaped. Commandant Lawless was presented to Napoleon and he together with Captain OReilly received the Légion dhonneur in gratitude, the British Expeditionary Force to Walcheren,1809
Tyrolean Rebellion
At the end of the War of the Third Coalition shortly afterwards, Bavaria found itself on the victorious side. The French officially handed over the Tyrolean county including the secularized Bishopric of Trent to Bavaria on 11 February 1806. In its policies, the Bavarian government under Count Montgelas angered the Tyrolean population by raising taxes there, but at the same time barring exports, e. g. of cattle, from Tyrol into Bavaria. Furthermore, the state mingled into the affairs of the church in Tyrol, banning traditional rural holidays, additionally, on May 1,1808, the County of Tyrol was disestablished and administratively split up into the three districts of Inn and Etsch. Conscription was thus introduced in Tyrol and Tyroleans called into Bavarian military service, which led to open revolt. The trigger for the outbreak of the uprising was the flight to Innsbruck of young men that were due to be called into the Bavarian army by the authorities at Axams on March 12 and 13,1809. The partisans stayed in contact with the Austrian court in Vienna by their conduit Baron Joseph Hormayr, the Austrian Empire, citing a breach of the conditions agreed in the Peace of Pressburg guaranteeing Tyrolean constitutional autonomy, declared war on the Bavarian-French allies on April 9,1809.
Meanwhile, an army led by the innkeeper Andreas Hofer upon the war message had gathered around Sterzing. In the First and Second Battle of Bergisel near Innsbruck on April 12 and May 25, the peasant troops clashed with the Bavarians, the Tyroleans celebrated the news that Napoleon had suffered his first defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Essling on May 22. Thus, the rebels, who had their strongholds in Southern Tyrol, were fighting alone. Hofer now took over the administration of the territories at Innsbruck. However, in the Treaty of Schönbrunn of October 14, the treaty ending the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon ordered the re-conquest of the province the same day and those last loyal troops were defeated at the Fourth Battle of Bergisel on November 1, that effectively crushed the rebellion despite minor rebel victories in November. Many of the rebels were executed by the French and Bavarian forces in the following weeks, the leader Andreas Hofer fled into the mountains and hid at several places in South Tyrol.
He was betrayed by a Tyrolean peasant to the French near St Martin in Passeier on 28 January 1810. Hofer was arrested and brought to Mantua, where Eugène de Beauharnais, the French viceroy of Italy, first wanted to pardon him, the death penalty was issued on February 19 and executed the next day. Hofers mortal remains were buried at the Innsbruck Hofkirche in 1823, upon Napoleons fall in 1814 and the Congress of Vienna, all parts of Tyrol were re-united under Austrian rule. With the rise of nationalism in the 19th century, the fate of the rebellion
Battle of Teugen-Hausen
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann was an engagement that occurred during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The French won a victory over their opponents when the Austrians withdrew that evening. The site of the battle is a height approximately halfway between the villages of Teugn and Hausen in Lower Bavaria, part of modern-day Germany. Also on 19 April, clashes occurred at Arnhofen near Abensberg, Dünzling, together with the Battle of Teugen-Hausen, the fighting marked the first day of a four-day campaign which culminated in the French victory at the Battle of Eckmühl. Austrias invasion of the Kingdom of Bavaria caught Emperor Napoleon I of Frances Franco-German army by surprise, though the advance of Archduke Charles Austrian army was slow, mistakes by Napoleons subordinate Marshal Louis-Alexandre Berthier placed Davouts corps in great peril. As Davout withdrew southwest from Regensburg on the bank of the Danube. The first Austrian column missed the French altogether, while Davouts cavalry held off the second column, the third column crashed head-on into one of Davouts infantry divisions in a meeting engagement.
Generals of both armies led their troops with courage and skill as the troops fought over two ridges, French reinforcements finally pushed the Austrians off the southern ridge late in the afternoon and Charles ordered a retreat that night. This opened a path for Davout to join the main body of the French army on 20 April. On 8 February 1809, the Austrian Empire determined to make war on Napoleon, Archduke Charles wished to put off the war in order to fully mobilize and find allies. Archduke Charles, appointed Generalissimo after the debacle of the War of the Third Coalition in 1805, had tried for three years to improve the Austrian army, historian David G. Chandler wrote, Charles was the very best man available to Austria to lead her army. He expanded the number of soldiers to 340,000. He upgraded the artillery corps, adopted the organization, and revised the infantry drillbook. Serious deficiencies remained, however, in Austrian staffwork, in the landwehr organization, at the start, only 15,000 of the best landwehr formations were added to the field army while the rest were relegated to garrison duty or the reserves.
The Habsburgs did not wish to arm the population for fear of an insurrection, in Hungary, the nobles and people were cool toward the war and contributed as little as possible. Charles massed the remaining regular army in Bohemia and along the Danube for the main effort, Charles 206, 906-strong Hauptarmee was organized into six army corps and two reserve corps. The I Armeekorps was led by General der Kavallerie Count Heinrich von Bellegarde, the II Armeekorps commanded by Feldzeugmeister Johann Kollowrat counted 28,168 soldiers. The III Armeekorps consisted of 29,360 troops under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen, the IV Armeekorps of Feldmarschall-Leutnant Prince Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg controlled 27,800 soldiers
Louis-Nicolas Davout
Louis-Nicolas dAvout, better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French general who was Marshal of the Empire during the Napoleonic era. His talent for war along with his reputation as a stern disciplinarian earned him the title The Iron Marshal and he is ranked along with Masséna and Lannes as one of Napoleons finest commanders. His loyalty and obedience to Napoleon were absolute, during his lifetime, Davouts name was commonly spelled Davoust, which is how it appears on the Arc de Triomphe and in much of the correspondence between Napoleon and his generals. Davout was born at Annoux, the son of Jean-François dAvout and he was educated at a military academy in Auxerre, before transferring to the École Militaire in Paris on 29 September 1785. He graduated on 19 February 1788 and was appointed a sous-lieutenant in the Royal-Champagne Cavalry Regiment in garrison at Hesdin, on the outbreak of the French Revolution, he embraced its principles. He was chef de bataillon in a corps in the campaign of 1792.
He had just been promoted to general of brigade when he was removed from the active list because of his noble birth and he nevertheless served in the campaigns of 1794-1797 on the Rhine, and accompanied Desaix in the Egyptian Expedition of Napoleon Bonaparte. Although on his return he did not take part in the Battle of Marengo, at the accession of Napoleon as emperor, Davout was one of the generals who were created marshals of France. Davout was the youngest and least experienced of the promoted to Marshal. As commander of the III Corps of the Grande Armée, Davout rendered his greatest services, at the Battle of Austerlitz, after a forced march of forty-eight hours, the III Corps bore the brunt of the allies attack. Historian François-Guy Hourtoulle writes, At Jena, Napoleon won a battle he could not lose, at Auerstädt, Davout won a battle he could not win. As a reward, Napoleon let Davout and his men enter first in Berlin on 25 October 1806, Davout added to his renown in the campaign of Eylau and Friedland.
Napoleon left him as governor-general of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw following the Treaty of Tilsit of 1807, and the next year created him Duke of Auerstädt. In the war of 1809, Davout took part in the actions which culminated in the Battle of Eckmühl, and distinguished himself in the Battle of Wagram and he was created Prince of Eckmühl following this campaign. He was entrusted by Napoleon with the task of organizing the corps of observation of the Elbe, during the retreat he conducted the rear guard, which was deemed too slow by the Emperor, and was replaced by Ney. His inability to hold out at Berezina until the arrival of Ney and his corps, led him into disgrace and he would not meet with the Emperor again until his return from Elba. During the siege, he expelled up to 25,000 of Hamburg’s poorest and weakest citizens out of the city into the winter, many of whom perished of cold. Between 1806 and 1814, when the French occupation came to an end by the surrender of Davout, Davouts military character has been interpreted as cruel, and he had to defend himself against many attacks upon his conduct at Hamburg
Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
The Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit on 24 April 1809 saw a Franco-Bavarian force led by Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières face an Austrian Empire army commanded by Johann von Hiller. Hillers numerically superior force won a victory over the Allied troops, Neumarkt-Sankt Veit is located ten kilometers north of Mühldorf and 33 kilometers southeast of Landshut in Bavaria. On 10 April 1809, Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschens surprise invasion of the Kingdom of Bavaria put the Grande Armée of Emperor Napoleon I of France at a disadvantage. On 19 April, Charles failed to take advantage of his opportunities, after battles on 20 and 21 April, Hillers troops were driven into a headlong retreat to the southeast. Having temporarily disposed of Hiller, Napoleon turned north with his army against Archduke Charles. On 22 and 23 April, the Franco-Germans defeated Charles army, Napoleon sent Bessières to pursue the Austrian left wing with minor forces. Not knowing that Charles had been defeated, Hiller turned back upon his pursuer, once he found that he was alone on the south bank facing Napoleons main army, Hiller retreated rapidly to the east in the direction of Vienna.
On 10 April 1809, Archduke Charles invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria with 209,000 Austrian soldiers and 500 artillery pieces, a set of orders from Emperor Napoleon in Paris was transmitted poorly and misunderstood by Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier. By the time Napoleon arrived at the front on the 17th, on the morning of the 19th, Charles gained a position in which he might have severely punished Marshal Louis Davouts isolated III Corps. Instead, Davout escaped defeat in the hard-fought Battle of Teugen-Hausen, on 20 April, the Austrian left wing was strung-out on a 13 kilometer front behind the Abens River from Mainburg in the south to Biburg in the north. In total, there were about 42,000 Austrians, Napoleon launched 55,000 troops at his enemies in the Battle of Abensberg, inflicting 6,710 casualties, and forcing them to retreat. Napoleon beat Hiller again in the Battle of Landshut on 21 April, seizing a crossing over the Isar River, until 2,30 am on 22 April, Napoleon mistakenly believed that Hillers three corps represented the main Austrian army.
When he realized his error, he sent most of his troops marching north to crush Archduke Charles, on 22 April, the Franco-Germans defeated Charles at the Battle of Eckmühl and forced him to withdraw through Regensburg to the north bank of the Danube the following day. Napoleon instructed Bessières to pursue Hiller and placed him in charge of one reinforced cavalry division, the bulk of Hillers force, numbering 27,000 to 28,000 troops, lay near Mühldorf and Neuötting on the Inn River at noon on 23 April. A10, 000-strong division under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Jellacic held Munich, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Dedovichs brigade from the IV Armeekorps, which had been blockading Passau, was assigned to Hillers command and moved to Braunau am Inn. Hiller noticed that the French pursuit had slackened on the 22nd and 23rd, a letter from Emperor Francis I urging him to help defend Archduke Charles south flank strengthened the left wing commanders resolve. Neither the emperor nor Hiller realized that Charles had withdrawn to the bank of the Danube.
The emperor planned for the pursuit to cross the Inn and capture Braunau am Inn, on the 24th, Napoleon ordered Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre, the commander of VII Corps, to take the division of Lieutenant General the Crown Prince of Bavaria to recapture Munich from Jellacic
Austria
France
Bavaria
Württemberg
