Battle
Cross the Danube, extend the line, mass the fire
Military history
From Lobau, Napoleon crossed the Danube and deployed his army on the Marchfeld. The attacks of 5 July failed. The next day, Charles threatened the French left, but his corps advanced separately. The grand battery covered Masséna’s countermarch; Davout outflanked Markgrafneusiedl while Macdonald suffered heavy losses in the center. Charles left the field but preserved part of his army in good order.
Napoleon must turn a Danube crossing into a winnable battle before Archduke John arrives. Charles, outnumbered according to the strength returns retained by the syntheses, can offset that inferiority with a line resting on the Russbach, villages, and converging attacks.
The Danube and the channels around Lobau delay deployment and make the bridges essential. To the north, the Russbach and its escarpment provide the Austrian army with a line of fire and villages; between these supports, a long curve exposes gaps and transmission delays.
After the evening attacks, most of Masséna’s corps moved back toward Aderklaa. Boudet remained near the Danube. Klenau could therefore threaten Aspern while the other Austrian corps entered the action late. The French response had to protect the bridges without abandoning the offensive on the right.
Strength returns do not all count the same moment or the same reserves. Charles’s letter gives lower figures than modern reconstructions. Strengths and losses remain attributed to their sources; block sizes are not converted into headcounts.
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Military history
Lettre du 9 juillet, de Guntersdorf : passage, Russbach, combats du 6, repli et traînards ; lettre du 13 juillet pour l’armistice conclu le soir du 11.
Checking the sequence from the Danube bank, the Russbach deployment, Charles’s orders, Archduke John’s delay, and the retreat from a situated Austrian viewpoint.
View ↗Notice du tome 9, Wagram février 1809–février 1810 : corpus de lettres, appendices sur l’armée, cartes et chronologie annoncés dans la notice.
Identifying the edited primary corpus to consult for French decisions and orders; the catalog page does not replace reading each letter.
View ↗Introduction du dossier : conséquences d’Aspern-Essling, organisation de la Lobau, ponts et franchissement oriental du Danube.
Bounding the operational context before contact and the role of the bridges, Lobau, and the mass committed.
View ↗Sections “Return to Marchfeld”, “Advance Across Marchfeld”, “The French Assault on the Wagram”, “6 July 1809: The Second Day”, “Davout Storms Markgrafneusiedl” et “The End in Sight”.
Reconstructing corps movements, evening attacks, the crises at Aderklaa and Aspern, the grand battery, Markgrafneusiedl, Macdonald, and the withdrawal.
View ↗Entrées des 4, 5 et 6 juillet : fortification de Lobau, franchissement nocturne, ligne du Russbach, attaques du soir, plan de Charles, arrivée tardive de Jean et retrait.
Checking the temporal order of the three shifts: bridgehead, fighting on 5 July, and the offensive and withdrawal on 6 July.
View ↗Sections The Battlefield, The Crossing Battle, The Evening Battle, The Austrian Attack, The French Attack et Aftermath and Conclusion.
Cross-checking orders of battle, corps axes, terrain constraints, and the tactical limits of Macdonald’s column.
View ↗Présentation de la bataille et ordre de bataille : franchissement à Gross-Enzersdorf, arc Leopoldau–Markgrafneusiedl, effectifs de Chandler et retard de l’archiduc Jean.
Checking commanders, corps distribution, and stated reserves without converting the order of battle into exact positions.
View ↗Notice INV 26571 : titre, auteur et commentaire sur Napoléon devant les hauteurs de Russbach, l’attaque de Charles et la plaine du Danube.
Inherited iconographic orientation; a later depiction, not used as a record of positions.
View ↗Notice de la carte « Battle of Wagram: lines of attack ». Image non exploitable lors de cette reprise ; les axes ne sont pas déduits de sa seule légende.
Inherited map reference. Its notice was reviewed, but its image was not accessible during this revision; the topology rests on the Marchfeld atlas and campaign accounts.
View ↗Atlas de Thiers, 1859, Dufour et Duvotenay ; image examinée : Russbach, villages, Marchfeld et bras du Danube autour de la Lobau.
Bounding the open Marchfeld setting and avoiding treatment of Wagram as an urban battle or abstract land template.
View ↗Sections Shako, Uniforme, Havresac et Fusil et giberne.
Generic French silhouette around 1809, before the Bardin regulations; not a certified regimental uniform.
View ↗Part II, A. Uniforms : habit blanc, pantalons et guêtres ; passage du casque au shako incomplet en 1809.
Austrian helmeted silhouette possible in 1809, without attribution to a specific regiment.
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