New Edition with Improved Maps, Photos, Illustrations, and Orders of Battle
by James R. Arnold
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Napoleon Books (2013)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9670985-6-2
Product Dimensions: 6 x 05 x 9 inches
Out of Print. Watch for the 1809 Omnibus edition in Summer 2021.
The sun rose on April 24, 1809 to illuminate a continent at war. From Poland to Spain some 600,000 soldiers awakened to duty. Rising to the bugle’s call and the tap of the drum was a routine that the oldest veterans had performed nearly without pause for seventeen years. Yet the issues at stake remained huge. Therefore, national leaders — from emperor, kaiser, prime minister, and king to the rulers of the smallest German principalities — continued to send their young men to resolve by fire and sword intractable problems that defied alternative solution.
The ensuing campaign witnessed another French triumph as Napoleon’s warriors occupied Vienna. Then came a surprise when the Austrians repulsed Napoleon’s impetuous assault across the Danube at the Battle of Aspern-Essling. Defeated, compelled to lick its wounds, the French army was vulnerable, its line of communications exposed to a Europe in revolt. At this moment of supreme crisis, Napoleon displayed his formidable talents and prepared a masterful counterstroke. His second assault crossing of the Danube yielded a terrible battle featuring a heretofore unprecedented concentration of strength and firepower. Consequently, Wagram cost both sides staggering losses, but Napoleon’s commanding presence produced victory. It was a victory so complete that the emperor forced Austria into an unwilling alliance and even took the daughter of the Austrian kaiser to be his new wife and, for one final time, the French conqueror redrew the map of Europe.
Praise for Napoleon Conquers Austria: The 1809 Campaign for Vienna
1995 Winner of the International Napoleonic Society Literary Award
“Combining fascinating character studies with a fast-paced narrative, the author has produced a first rate study of the 1809 Austria campaign.” — Daily News
“A solid military history, looking closely at the strategy and tactics employed by both sides.” — Choice
“Well written…highly recommended.” — Military and Naval History Journal
“Nicely written, well researched, and detailed military history.” — The Historian
Table of Contents
- Chapter I. Strategic Delusion
- Carnage in the Streets
- The Fall of Vienna
- Chapter II. The Armies of 1809
- The French War Machine
- The Austrian War Machine
- Chapter III. Day of Battle
- Bridgehead
- “A Numerous Artillery Ravaged Our Lines”
- Chapter IV. “A Combat of Giants”
- Lannes’s Assault
- The Cost of Glory
- Chapter V. Tour de Horizon
- Chapter VI. In Flank and Rear
- “The Music of the Brave”
- Raids in the Rear
- Preparation for Battle
- Chapter VII. In Search of Battle
- River Assault
- Evening Defeat
- Chapter VIII. The Killing Ground
- Spoiling Attack
- Disaster along the Danube
- Artillery Charge
- The “Infernal Column”
- Chapter IX. The Spoils of War
- Armistice
- A Durable Peace
- Perfidious Albion
- Chapter X. An End to Glory
- Dynastic Imperative
- Assessment
- Appendix I. Aspern-Essling Order of Battle
- Appendix II. Wagram Order of Battle
BONUS: Supplemental Detailed Orders of Battle by Ralph R. Reinertsen
We provide these in addition to his orders of battle that appear in Napoleon Conquers Austria.
Opposing Forces - French Army Composition and Organization During May-July 1809
La Grande Armée under Napoleon, Emperor of France and King of Italy |
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Austrian Army Composition and Organization During May-July 1809 |
Brigade batteries: 4 batteries (one 3-pound and three 6-pound)
Position batteries: 4 batteries (two 6-pound and two 12-pound)
Cavalry batteries: 2 batteries (6-pound cavalry batteries)
In Bohemia In Galicia |