CHAP. 1809. from the wings engaged in the combats round the villages. From his station behind the centre of the French line, Napoleon, at seven in the morning, pointed out with his finger to Lannes, who was on horseback beside him, the direction which his corps should follow in their advance, which was where the Austrian line appeared weakest, between the left of Hohenzollern and the right of Rosenberg. The Emperor soon after rode through the lines of the troops who were to advance, and was received with enthusiastic shouts of "Vive 1 Sav. iv. 74, l'Empereur !" Attracted by the sound, the enemy's 310, 310, 312, cannon directed their fire in that direction, though the Jom. iii. 204. fog which still lingered on the banks of the Danube concealed him from their sight, and General Monthion was killed by his side.1 75. Pel. ii. Stut. 249, 252. 54. first successful Instantly the necessary orders were given, and in a few minutes the whole of Lannes' corps were thrown into Which is at open column, which advanced at a rapid pace, the right in front, the cavalry in reserve, immediately behind the infantry; while two hundred pieces of cannon, arrayed in the front of the whole line, distracted the attention of the enemy by a fire of unprecedented severity. As soon as Lannes, on the right, had made some progress, the remainder of the French centre, to the left, also advanced : Oudinot's troops formed the first columns, with the cuirassiers immediately behind them, and the Imperial Guard in reserve; so that the whole French line between Essling and Aspern moved forward in echelon, the right in front, and preceded by a tremendous array of artillery. The shock was irresistible: the heads of Lannes' columns, skilfully directed against the weakest part of the Austrian line, soon forced their way through, and threw some battalions into disorder; into the opening thus formed the cavalry rushed with appalling fury, and soon a huge gap appeared between Rosenberg and Hohenzollern, and the 1809, 391, foremost of the squadrons penetrated even to Breitenlee, 392. App. to Chron. Sav. Where the Austrian reserve of the Prince of Reuss was stationed, while the fugitives from the broken battalions spread in all directions the report that the battle was lost.2 2 Pel. ii. 310, 316. Jom. iii. 204. Stut. 241,250. Archduke Account of Aspern, Ann. Reg. in ii. 78, 80. The Archduke now felt that the decisive moment had arrived: the battle, the monarchy were at stake. In this CHAP. 1809. 55. the Austrian extremity that gallant prince displayed alike the skill of a consummate commander, and the heroism of a common soldier. The reserve grenadiers under the Prince of Reuss were hastily thrown into square, and brought up to the Desperate menaced point; the numerous dragoons of Prince Lich-resistance of tenstein advanced immediately behind them; and the centre. Archduke himself, seizing the standard of Zach's corps, which had begun to give way, addressed a few energetic words to the men, and led them back against the enemy. The generals around him emulated the noble example; but most of them were killed or wounded at this dreadful moment. General Colloredo received a ball in the head, close by the Archduke's side, and the diminished numbers of his personal staff showed how desperate was the strife in which the generalissimo was engaged. But these heroic efforts restored the battle. Reanimated by the heart-stirring example of their chiefs, the soldiers stood their ground; the dreadful column of Lannes was arrested in its advance, and the squares among which it had penetrated, pouring in destructive volleys on all sides, soon occasioned hesitation and anxiety in the dense array. The Austrian batteries, playing at half musket-shot, occasioned a frightful carnage in the deep masses of Napoleon's troops, which, unable either to deploy under so terrific a fire, or return it to advantage from the edges only of their columns, were swept away without the power of making any serious resistance. From the moment that the irruption of Lannes' column was stopped, and the regiments behind were compelled to halt, the French soldiers felt that the day was lost.* In vain the cuirassiers were brought forward, who dashed, as at Waterloo, through the intervals of the squares; in vain those brave horsemen "We persisted," says Savary, an eyewitness, "in penetrating into the checker of squares which formed the enemy's line, when the extreme severity of the fire of grape and musketry obliged us to halt, and begin exchanging volleys with our antagonists under very disadvantageous circumstances. Every quarter of an hour which we passed in that position rendered our disadvantage greater. Our troops were all in mass or column, and could not deploy to return the fire with which they were assailed. From that moment it was easy to foresee, not only that the day could not have a favourable issue, but even that it would probably terminate in some disaster. They tried in vain to restore these disadvantages by charges of cuirassiers, which took place in several directions, but they had hardly pierced through the openings of the enemy's squares, when they were assailed by the Austrian horse, three times more numerous, and driven back upon our infantry." This was before the breaking down of the bridges, which is afterwards mentioned by the Duke of Rovigo.-See SAVARY, iv. 77. CHAP. LVII. 1809. rode round the steady battalions, and charged them repeatedly to the bayonets' points. Not one square was broken, not one column gave way; and the horsemen, 1 Sav. iv. 77. grievously shattered by the terrible fire, were soon after charged by the enemy's reserve cavalry, under Lichtenstein, who came up with loud shouts from the rear, and driven back in disorder upon their own infantry.1 Stut. 249, 251. Pel. ii. 318, 320. 56. Success of Hohenzollern, and bridges. At this critical moment, Hohenzollern, perceiving a considerable opening on the right of the French line, occasioned by the unequal advance of some of their regiments, seized the favourable opportunity to dash in with Trorupture of the luk's regiment, and occupy the space: it sustained itself there against all the attacks of the enemy, till the Archduke, who at once saw the importance of this movement, supported that gallant corps, when almost overwhelmed by fatigue and numbers, by six regiments of Hungarian grenadiers. These fresh troops pressed forward, intersecting the whole French line, and overthrowing every thing which opposed them: they even reached the batteries in the rear near Essling, where they were assailed by such a destructive fire from that village, that nothing but the presence of the Archduke, who hastened to the spot, enabled them to maintain their ground. At the same time, the want of ammunition began to be sensibly felt in the French army, especially by the artillery, the supplies of which were nearly exhausted by the incessant firing of the two days; and accounts began to circulate, and soon spread like wildfire through the ranks, that the bridges were broken down, and all communication with the reserve posts, and two-thirds of Davoust's corps, still on 255. Jom. the southern bank, cut off. In effect, at half-past eight, Pel. ii. 318, the alarming intelligence reached the Emperor that the 320. Arch. fire-ships and heavy barks laden with stones, sent down the river by the Archduke, had, with the swelling of the river, produced the desired effect, and that a considerable part of the bridge over the main stream of the Danube had been swept away.2 2 Sav. iv. 77. Stut. 251, iii. 205, 206. Charles's Account, Ann. Reg. 1809, 391, 292. 57. In this terrible moment Napoleon's courage did not The French forsake him. Grave and thoughtful, but collected, he retire towards allayed by the calmness of his manner the alarm of those Lobau. around him, and immediately gave the necessary orders to suspend the attack at all points, and fall back towards the the island of island of Lobau. Before they could reach the columns in front, however, the advance of these was already arrested by the violence of the enemy's fire, and several battalions, melting away under the destructive storm, had begun to recede, or stood in a state of hesitation, unable to go on, unwilling to retire. The Austrians, perceiving those symptoms of vacillation, resumed the offensive at all points, and, forming two fresh columns of attack under Dedowich and Hohenlohe, made a sudden assault on Essling, which was carried, with the exception of the great granary, at the very moment that the French centre, slowly retiring, re-entered the narrow plain between that village and Aspern, from which they had issued in all the confidence of victory in the morning. This important success rendered the situation of Napoleon wellnigh desperate, and disorder was rapidly spreading through the ranks; for Aspern, in spite of the most heroic efforts Massena and Le Grand, was in great part already lost, and the capture of the second village precluded almost entirely the possibility of a retreat to the river side. of 58. defence of Guard. He made the utmost exertions, therefore, to regain it, and General Mouton, at the head of a brigade of the Imperial Guard, being intrusted with the attack, advanced Invincible in double-quick time, and drove out the enemy at the Essling by point of the bayonet. Again the Austrians returned, and the Imperial pushing up to the very foot of the granary, fired, and thrust their bayonets into the loopholes from which the deadly fire issued which thinned their ranks. In the tumult, the upper part of the building took fire, but still the invincible French soldiers maintained themselves in the lower stories, amidst the roar of musketry and the crash of burning rafters. Five times did the Hungarian grenadiers rush up to the flaming walls, and five times were they repulsed by the unconquerable firmness of the Old Guard. At length Rosenberg, finding that the enemy 2 Nap. in was resolved to maintain himself in that post at all 77, 79. Sav. hazards, and that the combat there was constantly fed by iv. 78, 798 fresh reinforcements of the flower of the French army, 325, 326. drew off his troops; and, desisting from all further attack Archduke on the village, confined himself to an incessant fire of Charles, Ann. Reg. 1809, grape and round shot upon the French columns,2 which, 392, 393. now in full retreat, were massed together in such extra Month. ii. Pel. ii. 318, Stut. 260, 268. LVII. CHAP. ordinary numbers at the entrance of the bridges leading to Lobau, that every shot told with fatal effect on men or horses. 1809. 59. of the Aus trians, and fall of Mar Anxious to crown his glorious efforts by a decisive attack, the Archduke now brought forward his last Last attack reserves of Hungarian grenadiers, and, putting himself at their head, advanced with an intrepid step against the shal Lannes. retreating French columns, while the whole artillery, rapidly advancing in front and rear, contracting into a semicircle round the diminished host, kept up an incessant and destructive fire. The most vivid disquietude seized the French generals when they beheld their wearied bands assailed by fresh troops, which seemed to have sprung up from the earth at the conclusion of this fight of giants. But Lannes arranged his best men in the rear of the columns, and, supporting them by the infantry and cuirassiers whom Napoleon sent up to his assistance, prepared to resist the attack; while Massena, on his side, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, with his sword in his hand and resolution in his countenance, seemed to multiply as necessity required his presence. Reserving their fire to the last moment, the French veterans, when the Hungarians were within pistol-shot, poured in so close and destructive a volley, that the advance of the enemy was checked, and a close combat with fire-arms commenced. At that moment, Lannes, who had dismounted from his horse to avoid the dreadful fire of the artillery, which swept off every thing above the heads of the soldiers, was struck by a cannon-ball, which carried away both his legs. As Napoleon was engaged in the island of Lobau in directing the position of some batteries to protect the passage into that island 1 Stut. 272, 280. Sav. iv. from the field of battle, he saw a litter approaching, on 79, 80. Nap. which, when it came up, he beheld the heroic marshal, his early companion in arms in Italy, extended in the agonies of death.1 in Month. ii. 78, 79. 60. Lannes seized his hand, and said, with a voice tremulous from loss of blood-" Adieu, Sire! Live for the His death. world; but bestow a few thoughts on one of your best friends, who in a few hours will be no more." On his knees, beside the rude couch of the dying hero, Napoleon wept: "Lannes, do you not know me? It is the Emperor― |