went off without a hitch; not a single man was lost and complete surprise
was achieved when the French emerged at their new location on the
north bank. But Charles was saved by his own lack of imagination.
Hoping to repeat his success on 2I-22 May he pulled his troops back to
lure the French into Aspern-Essling instead of opposing the imagined
crossing, as Napoleon had expected. The consequence was that the
French outflanking movement was no longer feasible. But the Austrians
were in a rare panic when they realized the true state of affairs and pulled
their troops out of Aspern and Essling on the double.
By 9 a.m. on 5 July the three front-line corps of Davout, Oudinot and
Massena were moving forward to make way for the second line (Eugene
and Bernadotte) and the third (Marmont's corps, Bessiere's cavalry and
the Guard. The general advance was sounded at noon. Everyone knew
there would soon be a battle, for on the treeless plains of the Marchfeld
there were now nearly 30o,ooo men and 900 cannon; the Austrians had
I36,ooo troops and 400 guns, Napoleon I56,ooo and 500 guns. Charles
drew up his army in a semicircle of fifteen miles running from Aspern
through the villages of Aderklaa and Markgrafneusiedl with his centre
resting on Wagram. Napoleon placed the bulk of his army - Davout,
Oudinot, Eugene and Bernadotte (uo,ooo in all) on the right, leaving
Massena with just 27 ,ooo on the left; in reserve he kept I I ,ooo Guard and
8,ooo cavalry. The dispositions were classically Napoleonic, aiming for
the 'centre position' or hinge between the two wings of the enemy army,
and arranged so that he could transfer troops from one flank to the other
faster than his opponent. But it was not a textbook formation, since
Napoleon had no choice but to fight with his back to the Danube. The
Emperor had three aims: to pierce the Austrian centre before it was
reinforced; to gain a decisive victory so that Charles could not escape and
to split the enemy before Archduke John could come to the rescue.
It was with John in mind that Napoleon ordered the attack at 5 p.m. on
the 5th, despite the lateness of the hour. The first part of the Battle of
Wagram was a near fiasco. Oudinot's corps withdrew after taking heavy
losses, while Eugene's Army of Italy panicked and fled, having earlier
mistaken the Saxons for the enemy and fired on them; they were forced
to turn and face the enemy only when they nearly impaled themselves on
the bayonets of the Guard in reserve. Both Davout and Bernadotte failed
to make progress; the Emperor was forced to call off the attack and spend
his third successive night without sleep.
Once again Bernadotte had failed at a crucial battle but this time he
went too far. Attempting one of his gasconnades to conceal his failure to
take the village of Aderklaa, he declared that Napoleon had botched
marcin
(Marcin)
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