Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life

by Alan Schom

  Clearly Napoleon was planning something big, and yet day after day, Archduke Karl just watched these preparations and did not lift a finger to hinder or attack the French or to destroy the mountains of supplies clearly visible on low-lying Lobau. Napoleon did attempt some feints to put the Austrians off the scent, however. For instance, he started preparations for building another bridge across the Danube well above Vienna at Nussdorf, and he dispatched large numbers of cavalry to the south and away from Vienna, but to any intelligent man, the real work, the basic concentration, obviously was at and around Lobau Island. One could hardly conceal tens of thousands of men and many thousands of horses at work there.

  Troops too now began concentrating. Lirst Eugène’s army of 23,200 men and one hundred cannon under the command of General MacDonald reached the region, defeating Archduke Johann’s army at Raab in early June, sending the Austrian commander fleeing into Hungary. General Vandamme arrived at Vienna with his troops, Bernadotte with his force at Engerdorf, Marmont with his 10,000 men, all of whom joined Davout’s corps and Eugène’s army at Lobau. By the beginning of July Napoleon had almost 160,000 men with him, and another 29,000 or so in outlying districts along the Danube between Ratisbon and Vienna.

  As for Archduke Karl, despite reinforcements, after heavy casualties suffered since Eckmühl, he was down to about 136,000, to which he hoped could be added Archduke Johann’s remaining 12,500, although the Archduke Palatine’s army of another 19,000 Hungarians seemed too far away to be of any help.

  Meanwhile Napoleon sent messenger after messenger to Czar Alexander asking him to attack the Austrians through Poland, as required by the Treaty of Erfurt. The czar, however, had no intention of obliging Napoleon in the dismantling of the Habsburg Empire. He warned him that “the destruction of the Austrian Monarchy would be a calamity for the whole of Europe,” echoing the advice Talleyrand had given earlier. Alexander also warned Napoleon that he could not permit any further partitioning of Poland to go to Napoleon or his allies, “for anything added to the Duchy of Warsaw would be a step to re-establishing Poland, and therefore contrary to the first interests of Russia.” Never before had the czar spoken so bluntly. When Napoleon reminded Alexander of his Erfurt obligations to aid the French in a war against Austria, Russia finally sent a symbolic force into Austrian Galicia (in Poland). Alexander was determined to hedge his bets against the omnivorous French. There would be no further effective Russian military collaboration. To be sure, as late as May 13, 1809, the czar had told Caulaincourt that “the Emperor will find in me a supportive ally. I shall take no half measures.” In fact, the czar was all the while secretly informing the Austrians that they had nothing to fear from him. Alexander “assures me that everything humanly possible will be done to avoid attacking us,” General Schwarzenberg informed Vienna.

  Prince Poniatowski for one openly warned Napoleon from Warsaw of what he referred to as Russian “perfidy.” Napoleon duly took heed. Indeed, during a visit earlier in the year, Alexander had warned Prince von Schwarzenberg not to attack the French, for Austria could not possibly win. If Austria did attack, “you will set Europe ablaze and you will be the first victim.”

  Austrian Emperor Franz I had ignored this advice and was now preparing for the third and final round with Napoleon in the latest Danube campaign.

  By the end of June Napoleon was nearly ready to launch this third offensive. Lobau Island had been transformed into a massive garrison, complete with enormous supply depots linked by a network of new roads in and around the buildings and fortifications, the whole of which ringed by 129 pieces of large artillery. If Archduke Karl finally decided to attack the French here, it was now too late. He did, however fortify his positions between Aspern and Essling, now defended by Generals Hiller and Klenau, supported by several thousand fresh troops and two hundred more cannon. Archduke Karl was apparently still awaiting the arrival of Archduke Johann and his small army, while worrying about a possible descent from Galicia by the Russians. Clearly there would be another French attack, but Karl was still dithering.

  In Vienna, life was hardly cheerful, with thousands of French wounded crowded into grossly understaffed Viennese hospitals, and sequestered princely palaces were converted into temporary hospitals. Captain Marbot, after tending to Marshal Lannes day and night until the very end, was himself finally forced to seek treatment in the officers’ quarters of Prince Albert’s castle in the Old City, where the continuous ninety-degree heat further discomfited the wounded.

  Many weeks earlier Napoleon had personally promoted Marbot to the rank of major, but then battles had ensued and the written confirmation of this brevet had never arrived through channels. Following the battles of this campaign and the ultimate victory at Wagram, all the officers involved were duly promoted, and some made officers of the Legion of Honor as well. Marbot, however, still recovering in his hospital ward, heard nothing. Had Lannes lived, no such oversight would have been permitted.

  Claude-Philippe Mounier, one of Napoleon’s secretaries and later a peer of France, often came to visit another wounded officer and close friend of Marbot. Having heard of Marbot’s various wounds and exploits, and now seeing him recuperating from yet another wound, asked what reward he had received. “Nothing,” Marbot told him. “Surely it has been an oversight,” Mounier responded. “I am certain I have seen your name among a stack of brevets in the Emperor’s portfolio.” The next day Mounier brought the matter to Napoleon’s attention. Napoleon immediately announced that as a special reward for Marbot’s exceptional services, he would be made a major in the Imperial Guard cavalry. As any rank held in the guard was equivalent to one rank above its nominal rank, Marbot had received an immediate jump promotion to lieutenant colonel. His devotion and fidelity to Lannes had not been forgotten.

  On receiving the good news, the twenty-seven-year-old Marbot was speechless. “It was simply magnificent!” he recalled in old age, still deeply moved by the memory, leaving the new lieutenant colonel more devoted than ever to Napoleon. The war would go on with his full support.

  Chapter Thirty – Wagram

  ‘Once my great empire has been launched, no one must be allowed to get in its path; woe unto him who gets crushed under its wheels.’

  Given all the activity it is difficult to imagine how Napoleon thought he could possibly hoodwink the Austrians about his intentions on Lobau. With the arrival of Oudinot’s II Corps, the massing French force now totaled 188,500 troops (including engineers and other noncombatants) and 488 guns. Arriving secretly at “misery island” from Schönbrunn on the night of July 4-5, Napoleon was at last ready to launch five full army corps, exclusive of Bessières’s small reserve of Guards — Masséna’s IV Corps of 29,000, Bernadotte’s IX Corps of 18,400, Eugène’s (MacDonald’s) Italian Corps of 20,300, Oudinot’s II Corps of 28,200, and last, Davout’s III Corps of 37,900, exclusive of a few detached units — giving him 142,600 men ready for the initial attack.

  Facing the French, Archduke Karl had seven corps under Reuss, Kollowrat, Klenau, Liechtenstein, Bellegarde, Hohenzollern, and Rosenberg, for an immediate field force of 121,700. With only 136,000 men, including noncombatants, and 446 guns, the Austrians were at a numerical disadvantage. The weeks of wavering and indecision, resulting in their failure to crush Napoleon after his defeat at Aspern-Essling, had actually left them weaker.

  Napoleon was ready to avenge himself for the humiliating defeat in May. Marmont’s XII Corps was now marching to Lobau to join the others. In northern Germany “General” Jérôme Bonaparte was still showing the flag, if not in quite the right place, with 11,500 men to intimidate further German rebellion for the moment, while the untrustworthy General Junot was brought up with a small reserve force stationed on the right bank of the Rhine, near Mainz. For all his numerical superiority, Napoleon sorely missed the tough Marshal Lannes. And the valuable Marshal Suchet was absent as well, his presence badly needed in Spain to offset the deleterious effect of the sly, perpetually excuse-finding, and pol
itically plotting Soult.

  In addition the Austrian defenses were more imposing than ever, extending all the way from the Danube (just west of Aspern), solidly linking Aspern with Essling, then over to Gross Enzersdorf and several hundred yards beyond. This bristling line of armament was situated directly opposite the northern branch of the Danube, separating Lobau Island from the north, in part in reaction to Napoleon’s very convincing feint of having his engineers build ultimately six new bridgeheads from Lobau to the north shore. These were visible to the Austrians and could be swung out from the shore whenever needed. What the Austrians did not see, however, were four more pontoon bridges concealed well to the south of the last part of the Gross Enzersdorf fortification line, intended to link the swampy southern end of “misery island” with the Austrian-held shore of the Danube. Napoleon had not been idle these past six weeks. Never before had he made such elaborate plans for a river crossing, which would permit three entire army corps to cross and debouch simultaneously from Lobau Island. Once across, the French plan was to swing right around Archduke Karl’s massive static defenses and avoid them altogether. Simply bypassing this line would not prove enough, however, for the archduke had placed his principal force on a curving line well away from the river, to the north of the Russbach, stretching from Gerasdorf on the left to the village of Wagram, and from there all the way over to Markgrafneusicdl on the right. That line was strong in numbers, but there were neither major immediate fortifications to support it nor depth of reserves behind it.

  Napoleon initiated the new offensive by sending small units across the river at Mühlau and Stadlau, north of Vienna, to throw the Austrians off balance. The real attack began at 9:00 P.M. on July 4, 1809, under cover of yet another heavy thunderstorm. Napoleon launched Oudinot’s troops by boat and bridge from the southernmost tip of Lobau over to the northern bank round the Hansel Grund, silencing the lone Austrian outpost there. At the same time a massive coordinated artillery barrage was unleashed against the principal Austrian village fortifications, leveling Aspern-Essling and Gross Enzersdorf, taking the Austrians entirely by surprise. Under cover of this lethal barrage by a few hundred French cannon, one of the large concealed pontoon bridges, nearly 180 yards across, was swiftly swung into place, connecting the island with the north shore and permitting Masséna’s IV Corps to pass over quickly and in good order. Meanwhile the rest of Oudinot’s II Corps completed its crossing, and by 2:00 A.M. Davout was leading his men across a third bridge, between Masséna and Oudinot. Thanks to Napoleon’s plan and Bertrand’s superb engineers, the French had achieved complete tactical surprise. They pushed rapidly ahead, meeting little initial resistance, swinging around and bypassing Gross Enzersdorf and the elaborately fortified line of villages, just as anticipated. Napoleon had lost none of his cunning. By dawn on July 5 French troops, cavalry, and artillery had safely crossed over to the north shore and reformed, while Archduke Karl desperately began to dig in behind the low banks of the Russbach, reinforcing the center position before Wagram. Napoleon’s attack was one of the most remarkable achievements of its kind in modern French military history.

  By 7:00 A.M. the French were thus deployed right on schedule, Masséna pushing to the left, toward Lcopoldau and Siissenbrunn, facing Liechtenstein’s corps, while Eugène’s “army,” which had followed Davout across the bridge during the night, advanced toward the central Austrian line at Wagram, facing Bellegarde’s corps, with Oudinot to his right, along with Davout’s corps, to face the rest of the Austrian line, held by Hohenzollern’s and Rosenberg’s two corps. Everything was still going like clockwork.

  Just after seven the full thrust of the main French attack was unleashed, as more than four hundred French cannon bombarded the Austrian line. Napoleon’s aim was to throw Davout’s and Oudinot’s corps against the Austrian left while launching Bernadotte’s and Eugène’s combined force against the still relatively weak center before Wagram. If all went well, the French army could separate the two wings, then envelop them separately.

  The Austrian left wing, however, proved far stronger and more determined than Napoleon had anticipated, resulting in unexpectedly heavy French casualties. When Archduke Karl himself then appeared at the head of strong reserves, the French were stopped in their tracks. Marshal MacDonald, directing Eugène’s Italian army, had to cope with not only a reinforced enemy but also with thousands of his own unenthusiastic Italian troops as they panicked and broke ranks, abandoning their line and their comrades on either side. They were stopped at the rear only by the bayonets of the French Imperial Guard.[752] This unexpected setback was compounded by Bernadotte’s failure to storm Wagram as ordered, his men too falling back for the night. As usual the cowardly Bernadotte could not be relied on.

  Napoleon’s great lightning offensive was stopped dead. Bernadotte, not content with his own failure even to hold his key place in the line, that evening loudly blamed the day’s setback on Napoleon’s poor battle plan. Things would have been different if he, Marshal Bernadotte, had been in command, he boasted. His criticism soon got back to GHQ and Napoleon himself, who immediately summoned Bernadotte for a well-deserved dressing down.

  During the night Bonaparte reorganized his plan of attack and before dawn moved Masséna down to take Essling and Aspern, held by Klenau’s corps, while dropping MacDonald’s force in a massive square to face Kollowrat’s and Liechtenstein’s corps. Eugène and Oudinot were ordered to attack Bellegarde and Hohenzollern at Wagram, with Marmont’s corps directly behind them. As for Davout, to the French far right, he had orders to turn and envelop Rosenberg’s opposing Austrian corps. Unknown to Napoleon, however, the Austrians were planning to concentrate opposite the French left, in an attempt to dislodge and turn Masséna. Up with his staff and commanders most of the night, Bonaparte dispatched the day’s final instructions, all units ordered to open fire at four o’clock the following morning, July 6. This would not be another Jena or Austerlitz.

  Nevertheless, this time it was Napoleon who was taken by surprise. Just before four in the morning, General Rosenberg unleashed a murderous artillery barrage and frontal attack against Davout’s III Corps on the extreme French right, preparatory to the main Austrian thrust along the French extreme left. Davout, bolstered by fresh reserves and a powerful additional battery, fought for his life for the next two hours before being able to halt the surprisingly fierce Austrian drive. Despite their exhaustion, it was only then that Napoleon, who had been with Davout’s corps much of the time, ordered that marshal to prepare for a sharp counterattack. If any man in the French army could be counted on in any situation, especially the most critical, it was Louis Davout, clearly one of Napoleon’s most talented and reliable commanders.

  Meanwhile fighting had developed all along the line, and as Bonaparte left Davout he discovered that brother-in-law Bernadotte, having abandoned the key village of Aderklaa without orders and instead having moved between Masséna on his left and Eugène on the right, now found his IX Corps again retreating in wild disorder. The Austrians of course had immediately moved in and seized Aderklaa. In one fell blow Bernadotte had undone all the day’s plans, and Napoleon, beside himself with anger at Bernadotte’s utter incompetence, now ordered that marshal, along with the more reliable Masséna, to retake that village — regardless of the human cost — although Archduke Karl was finally to retake it yet again.

  While trying to rally his men, now falling back once more, Bernadotte found himself face to face with none other than this very Napoleon whom he had so royally criticized before his staff the night before. Napoleon, equally caught off guard, and so outraged by Bernadotte’s having compromised the entire battle plan, not to mention by the stories reported to him, shouted at him over the deafening thunder of guns as that bewildered marshal came to a halt before him: “You are relieved of your command, which you have so bungled. Leave my presence and the Grande Armée immediately.”[753] It was electrifying. Bernadotte and his aides-de-camp and staff sat there on their mounts, stun
ned, as Austrian cannonballs fell thickly all about them. Finally Bernadotte turned to leave the field of battle. Never in the history of the Consulate or the Empire had anything quite like it been seen, and despite the fury of the fighting, word soon reached every corner of the smoke-covered battleground.

  As if this were not confusing enough for Bonaparte, Archduke Karl had finally unleashed his primary thrust against the French left at about eight o’clock that morning, after four hours of very hard fighting. As most of Masséna’s corps had been moved up to fill the gap left by Bernadotte to counter Liechtenstein and Bellegarde around Aderklaa, that marshal was now no longer in a position to prevent the large-scale breakthrough on the left by Kollowrat’s and Klenau’s combined corps, which then threatened the approaches behind Napoleon’s lines to the bridgeheads leading back to Lobau Island. Archduke Karl, for all his faults the best of the Austrian army commanders, still managed to summon a few lethal surprises for Napoleon.