Battle of Aspern-Essling (1809): Napoleon's First Defeat

The Battle of Aspern-Essling, fought on 21–22 May 1809 just east of Vienna, was a hard-won Austrian victory in which Archduke Charles threw back Napoleon’s attempt to cross the Danube. It is widely regarded as Napoleon’s first major battlefield defeat in more than a decade. The battle cost the lives of thousands of soldiers on both sides, including one of Napoleon’s most celebrated marshals, Jean Lannes.

Background

In April 1809 Austria went to war with France again, forming the Fifth Coalition with Britain. After defeating the Austrians in Bavaria, Napoleon advanced along the Danube and entered Vienna on 13 May. Archduke Charles, however, had withdrawn his army intact to the north bank of the river, and the bridges at Vienna had been destroyed.

Archduke Charles, the emperor’s brother, had spent the years since 1805 reforming the Austrian army. He introduced army corps on the French model, improved training and created a reserve militia, the Landwehr. His forces had been beaten in Bavaria in April, but they had not been destroyed, and by mid-May he had gathered nearly 100,000 men on the Marchfeld plain opposite Vienna.

To finish the war, Napoleon needed to bring the Austrian army to battle. He chose to cross the Danube downstream of Vienna, using the large island of Lobau as a stepping stone. French engineers built a long bridge of boats to the island and a shorter one to the north bank, near the villages of Aspern and Essling.

The battle

On 21 May French troops began crossing, but the Danube was rising with melting snow, and the Austrians floated heavy barges and other objects downstream to smash the bridges. Only part of the French army, perhaps 25,000–30,000 men at first, had reached the north bank when Charles attacked with roughly 95,000–100,000 men and a powerful artillery.

The fighting centred on the two villages. Marshal Masséna held Aspern, where the church, churchyard and houses changed hands several times in bitter hand-to-hand combat. Marshal Lannes defended Essling, whose large stone granary served as a strongpoint. By nightfall both villages were still partly in French hands.

During the night the bridge was repaired and more French troops crossed, bringing their strength on the north bank to perhaps 60,000–70,000. On the morning of 22 May Napoleon ordered Lannes to attack the Austrian centre. The assault made progress, and at one point Archduke Charles is said to have seized a regimental flag to rally his wavering troops, a scene later painted by Johann Peter Krafft.

Then the main bridge broke again, cutting off French reinforcements and ammunition. Lannes’s attack stalled, and the Austrians retook Aspern. In the afternoon Napoleon ordered a withdrawal to Lobau. Lannes was struck by a cannonball that shattered both legs; he died nine days later, on 31 May. General Saint-Hilaire was also mortally wounded. During the night of 22–23 May the French army retreated to the island.

Why the French lost

The decisive problem was the river. Napoleon had underestimated both the strength of the Danube in flood and the size of the Austrian army, which he believed to be retreating. Because his bridges kept breaking, he could never bring his full force or enough ammunition to the north bank, and his troops fought with their backs to the water. The Austrians, by contrast, could feed in fresh units and keep up a heavy artillery fire throughout both days.

Key people

• Archduke Charles (1771–1847) – brother of Emperor Francis I and Austria’s leading commander.
• Napoleon – who underestimated both the river and his opponent.
• Jean Lannes (1769–1809) – Marshal of France, the first of Napoleon’s marshals to die of wounds received in battle.
• André Masséna – who held Aspern and covered the retreat; he was later given the title Prince of Essling.

By the numbers

Consequences

Aspern-Essling shattered the idea that Napoleon could not be beaten in the field and encouraged opponents of France across Europe. Yet Charles, cautious and short of supplies, did not follow up his victory by attacking the French on Lobau.

Napoleon used the following six weeks to fortify the island, build stronger bridges and gather reinforcements. In early July he crossed again by a different route and won the Battle of Wagram, which ended the war. Aspern-Essling remained a warning, however: like the costly victories of the later years, it showed that Austria’s army had learned much since its collapse at Austerlitz.

Timeline

• 1809, 13 May: Napoleon enters Vienna.
• 1809, 20 May: French complete bridges to Lobau and the north bank.
• 1809, 21 May: First day of battle at Aspern and Essling.
• 1809, 22 May: French attack on the centre fails; Lannes mortally wounded.
• 1809, 22–23 May (night): French withdraw to Lobau island.
• 1809, 31 May: Lannes dies of his wounds.

Why it matters

Aspern-Essling showed that a well-led Austrian army could defeat Napoleon in person. Although its effects were reversed at Wagram, it remains a celebrated victory in Austria and a turning point in how Europe saw the French emperor.