Military Career of Napoleon the Great: An Account of the Remarkable Campaigns of the "Man of Destiny"; Authentic Anecdotes of the Battlefield as Told by the Famous Marshals and Generals of the First EmpireGibbs, Montgomery B.
History
Military Career of Napoleon the Great: An Account of the Remarkable Campaigns of the "Man of Destiny"; Authentic Anecdotes of the Battlefield as Told by the Famous Marshals and Generals of the First Empire
Gibbs, Montgomery B.
France -- History -- 1789-1815; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Military leadership; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821 -- Relations with marshals
The Archduke Louis was defeated and driven back at Abensberg on the
20th, and utterly routed at Landshut on the 21st, losing 9,000 men,
thirty guns and all his stores. Those unfortunate Austrians who had been
led from Vienna singing songs, under a persuasion that there was no
longer a French army in Germany, and that they should only have to deal
with Wurtemburgers and Bavarians, experienced the greatest terror when
they came to conflict and found themselves defeated. The Prince of
Lichtenstein and General Lusignan, were wounded, while the loss of the
Austrians in colonels, and officers, of lower rank was considerable.
In the battle of Abensberg which occurred on the 20th, Napoleon was
resolved to destroy the corps of the Archduke Louis, and of General
Keller, amounting to sixty thousand men. The enemy only stood his ground
for an hour and left eighteen thousand prisoners. The cannonade of the
French was successful at all points and the Austrians, disconcerted by
Napoleon's brilliant movements, beat a hasty retreat leaving eight
standards and twelve pieces of cannon. The French loss was very small.
Before this engagement Napoleon saw defile before him on the plateau in
front of Abensberg the Wurtemberg and Bavarian troops, allies of the
French, who were going to put themselves in line and whom the pride of
fighting under a general of his renown filled with enthusiasm. The
Emperor caused them to be drawn up and proceeded to harangue them, one
after the other, the officers translating his words to the troops. He
said that he was making them fight, not for himself, but for themselves;
against the ambition of the house of Austria, which was enraged at not
having them, as of yore, under its yoke; that this time he would soon
restore them peace, and forever, and with such an increase of power that
for the future they should be able to defend themselves against the
pretensions of their old dominators. His presence and words electrified
his German allies, who were flattered to see him amongst them, he
trusting entirely to their honor, for at that moment he had no other
escort than some detachments of Bavarian cavalry.
When Napoleon arrived that evening at Rotterburg he was intoxicated with
joy. The engagement, which was of short duration, had cost the Austrians
7,000 or 8,000 men, and he saw his adversary driven back on the Iser at
the very beginning of the campaign, and the Austrian soldiers
disheartened, like the Prussians after Jena.
The battle of Landshut completed the defeat of the preceding evening. On
this day General Mouton, at the head of a column of grenadiers rushed
through the flames that were consuming one of the bridges of the Iser;
"Forward, but reserve your fire!" he shouted to the soldiers in a voice
of thunder; and in a few moments he had penetrated into the town, which
then became the seat of a sanguinary struggle, and which the Austrians
were not long in abandoning.
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