Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth CenturyMorris, Charles
History
Famous Men and Great Events of the Nineteenth Century
Morris, Charles
Nineteenth century -- History
Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the heights ranging
from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied by the Austrians, but not
fortified, as his point of attack, and on the night of July 4th bridges
were thrown from the island of Lobau to the mainland, and the army
which had been gathering for several days on the island began its
advance. It moved as a whole against the heights of Wagram, occupying
Aspern and Essling in its advance.
[=The Victory at Wagram=]
The great battle began on the succeeding day. It was hotly contested
at all points, but attention may be confined to the movement against
the plateau of Wagram, which had been entrusted to Marshal Davout.
The height was gained after a desperate struggle; the key of the
battlefield was held by the French; the Austrians, impetuously assailed
at every point, and driven from every point of vantage, began a
retreat. The Archduke Charles had anxiously looked for the coming of
his brother John, with the army under his command. He waited in vain,
the laggard prince failed to appear, and retreat became inevitable. The
battle had already lasted ten hours, and the French held all the strong
points of the field; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in battle
array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to pursue. There
was nothing resembling a rout.
The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces were dispersed
during the march, but he had 70,000 men with him when Napoleon reached
his front at Znaim, on the road to Prague, on the 11th of July. Further
hostilities were checked by a request for a truce, preliminary to a
peace. The battle, already begun, was stopped, and during the night
an armistice was signed. The vigor of the Austrian resistance and the
doubtful attitude of the other powers made Napoleon willing enough to
treat for terms.
[=The Peace of Vienna=]
The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 1809,
took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 3,000,000
inhabitants, together with a war contribution of $85,000,000, while
her army was restricted to 150,000 men. The overthrow of the several
outbreaks which had taken place in north Germany, the defeat of a
British expedition against Antwerp, and the suppression of the revolt
in the Tyrol, ended all organized opposition to Napoleon, who was once
more master of the European situation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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