Eggmühl

On the morning of the 22 April, a thick fog covered the entire valley of the Grosse Laaber. When the fog cleared around 8:00 AM, Austrian General Rosenberg became concerned with the lack of movement by Davout’s troops. He assumed …

1809-04-22

EPIC03

On the morning of the 22 April, a thick fog covered the entire valley of the Grosse Laaber. When the fog cleared around 8:00 AM, Austrian General Rosenberg became concerned with the lack of movement by Davout’s troops. He assumed this meant that more French troops were on their way or had already arrived. French reinforcements had indeed arrived, and Napoleon wasted no time joining his front line. Napoleon ordered Davout to attack the Austrian at Unterlaichling and the woods to the north, and his German troops to capture Eggmühl and the bridges crossing the Grosse Laaber. Davout’s troops under Friant and Hilaire succeeded in pushing the Austrians back, with support of the Bavarian cavalry. Unterlaichling was finally occupied, while the fight for the woods rolled back and forth. On the extreme French right, Gudin’s division attacked Bieber’s brigade and the Austrians were forced to fall back to the woods, where they managed to hold their ground and prevent the French from advancing any further. Once Eggmühl was secure, French cavalry squadrons crossed the river. Austrian General Rosenberg, ordered what little cavalry he had on hand to counter the French cavalry. Rosenberg had appealed to Charles earlier in the day for the Austrian Cuirassier Division, but his request was met with no response. In the meantime, Charles decided to withdraw and sent Rosenberg an order to pull back as best he could. About the same time, the French cavalry was now all across Grosse Laaber. Although outnumbered, Rosenberg ordered his cavalry to charge to buy time for the infantry to withdraw.

Eggmühl, Germany

The Battle of Eckmühl, fought on 21 April – 22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon I had been unprepared for the start of hostilities on 10 April 1809, by the Austrians under the Archduke Charles of Austria and for the first time since assuming the French Imperial Crown had been forced to cede the strategic initiative to an opponent. Thanks to the dogged defense waged by the III Corps, commanded by Marshal Davout, and the Bavarian VII Corps, commanded by Marshal Lefebvre, Napoleon was able to defeat the principal Austrian army and wrest the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.

Wikipedia: Battle of Eckmühl

French

Austrians

Fifth Coalition