1809 battle of the War of the Fifth Coalition
Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
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Part of the
War of the Fifth Coalition
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Rott River near Oberdietfurt, 10 km downstream. The Bavarians suffered heavy losses while retreating across the Rott.
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Belligerents
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Austrian Empire
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First French Empire
Kingdom of Bavaria
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Commanders and leaders
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Johann von Hiller
Archduke Louis
Michael von Kienmayer
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Jean Bessieres
Karl von Wrede
Gabriel Molitor
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Strength
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27,000
to 28,000
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18,000
-20,661 Add strengths of Jacquinot, Molitor, Marulaz, and Wrede. Casualties unknown for 19–23 April.
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Casualties and losses
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800
-1,000
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2,500
-2,602
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200km
125miles
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21
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19
Wagram
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17
16
15
Aspern
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12
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10
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1
current battle
Napoleon in command
Napoleon not in command
The
Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
on 24 April 1809 saw a
Franco
-
Bavarian
force led by
Marshal
Jean-Baptiste Bessieres
face an
Austrian Empire
army commanded by
Johann von Hiller
. Hiller's numerically superior force won a victory over the Allied troops, forcing Bessieres to retreat to the west.
Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
is located ten kilometers north of
Muhldorf
and 33 kilometers southeast of
Landshut
in Bavaria.
On 10 April 1809,
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
's surprise invasion of the
Kingdom of Bavaria
put the
Grande Armee
of Emperor
Napoleon I of France
at a disadvantage. On 19 April, Charles failed to take advantage of his opportunities and Napoleon struck back with savage force against the Austrian left wing under Hiller. After battles on 20 and 21 April, Hiller's troops were driven into a headlong retreat to the southeast.
Having temporarily disposed of Hiller, Napoleon turned north with his main army against Archduke Charles. On 22 and 23 April, the Franco-Germans defeated Charles' army and forced it to withdraw to the north bank of the
Danube
. Meanwhile, Napoleon sent Bessieres to pursue the Austrian left wing with minor forces. Not knowing that Charles had been defeated, Hiller turned back upon his pursuer, defeating Bessieres near Neumarkt-Sankt Veit. Once he found that he was alone on the south bank facing Napoleon's main army, Hiller retreated rapidly to the east in the direction of
Vienna
.
Background
[
edit
]
On 10 April 1809, Archduke Charles invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria with 209,000 Austrian soldiers and 500 artillery pieces.
A set of orders from Emperor Napoleon in
Paris
was transmitted poorly and misunderstood by Marshal
Louis Alexandre Berthier
. By the time Napoleon arrived at the front on the 17th, his Franco-German army invited defeat in detail.
On the morning of the 19th, Charles gained a position in which he might have severely punished Marshal
Louis Davout
's isolated III Corps. Instead, Davout escaped defeat in the hard-fought
Battle of Teugen-Hausen
.
On 20 April, the Austrian left wing was strung-out on a 13 kilometer front behind the
Abens River
from
Mainburg
in the south to
Biburg
in the north. The left wing consisted of the V Armeekorps under Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Archduke Louis of Austria
, the VI Armeekorps led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Hiller, the small II Reserve Armeekorps commanded by Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Michael von Kienmayer
, and a detachment from the III Armeekorps.
In total, there were about 42,000 Austrians. Napoleon launched 55,000 troops at his enemies in the
Battle of Abensberg
, inflicting 6,710 casualties, and forcing them to retreat.
In command of the left wing since his arrival that morning,
Hiller elected to continue withdrawing southeast toward
Landshut
, thus separating Hiller's three corps from Archduke Charles' main body near
Regensburg
.
Napoleon beat Hiller again in the
Battle of Landshut
on 21 April, seizing a crossing over the
Isar River
and driving the Austrians farther to the southeast. Until 2:30 am on 22 April, Napoleon mistakenly believed that Hiller's three corps represented the main Austrian army. When he realized his error, he sent most of his troops marching north to crush Archduke Charles.
[12]
On 22 April, the Franco-Germans defeated Charles at the
Battle of Eckmuhl
and forced him to withdraw through Regensburg to the north bank of the Danube the following day.
Napoleon instructed Bessieres to pursue Hiller and placed him in charge of one reinforced cavalry division and two infantry divisions.
The bulk of Hiller's force, numbering 27,000 to 28,000 troops,
lay near
Muhldorf
and
Neuotting
on the
Inn River
at noon on 23 April. A 10,000-strong division under Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Franz Jellacic
held
Munich
. Feldmarschall-Leutnant Dedovich's brigade from the IV Armeekorps, which had been blockading
Passau
, was assigned to Hiller's command and moved to
Braunau am Inn
. Hiller noticed that the French pursuit had slackened on the 22nd and 23rd and decided to counterattack. A letter from
Emperor Francis I
urging him to help defend Archduke Charles' south flank strengthened the left wing commander's resolve. Neither the emperor nor Hiller realized that Charles had withdrawn to the north bank of the Danube.
Battle
[
edit
]
On the night of 22 April, Napoleon instructed Bessieres to advance with
Lieutenant General
Karl Philipp von Wrede
's Bavarian division from the VII Corps,
General of Division
Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor
's French infantry division from the IV Corps, and
General of Brigade
Jacob Francois Marulaz
's IV Corps cavalry division. The emperor planned for the pursuit to cross the Inn and capture
Braunau am Inn
.
On the 24th, Napoleon ordered Marshal
Francois Joseph Lefebvre
, the commander of VII Corps, to take the division of Lieutenant General the
Crown Prince of Bavaria
to recapture Munich from Jellacic. If necessary, he could call on Lieutenant General Deroy's Bavarian division also.
Bessieres, with Wrede's division, reached
Neumarkt-Sankt Veit
on 22 April. From there he sent Marulaz to probe toward the Inn River.
Late on 23 April, Hiller recrossed the Inn at Muhldorf and ordered Jellacic to advance from Munich toward Landshut. That day, Marulaz's advance guard marched southeast toward the Inn. A short distance north of Muhldorf at the village of Erharting, the 3rd
Chasseurs a Cheval
Regiment collided with Hiller's advance elements. The French horsemen were quickly driven back on two supporting units, the 19th Chasseurs a Cheval and an infantry battalion. Marulaz pulled back in the direction of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit.
On the morning of 24 April, Hiller advanced in three columns. His right column of 12 infantry battalions and nine cavalry squadrons attacked Wrede at 8:00 am. The Bavarian general held high ground to the southeast of Neumarkt with 10 battalions and eight squadrons. On the far right, an advance guard under
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
felt its way to the north toward
Landau an der Isar
. Hiller's center column struck Marulaz's position and drove the cavalry back.
In addition to his own division, Marulaz had
General of Brigade
Charles Claude Jacquinot's light cavalry brigade from the III Corps attached.
In the face of Austrian assaults, Wrede held his ground until noon. Seeing that the opposing flanking columns threatened to envelop his Bavarians, Bessieres ordered a retreat about 1:00 pm. By this time, Molitor had arrived from
Vilsbiburg
and sent two regiments to cover Wrede's retreat while holding his other two regiments in reserve. Nevertheless, the Austrians continued to press the Bavarians hard and captured Neumarkt at about 3:00 pm. Wrede's soldiers suffered significant losses as they struggled across the
Rott River
. Once his enemies got across the Rott, which runs eastward into the Inn near
Scharding
, Hiller called off the battle. Bessieres conducted an orderly retreat to Vilsbiburg.
Result
[
edit
]
Francis Loraine Petre
gives Austrian casualties as 776 killed and wounded, plus 122 captured. He writes that Wrede lost 586 killed and wounded.
Digby Smith
lists 1,692 Bavarians killed and wounded, plus another 910 missing or captured. Smith notes that the Austrians lost 800 casualties.
To Smith's total must be added Bessieres' reported losses of 200 among the cavalry. On the night of 24 April, Hiller got word of the defeat of Archduke Charles and immediately pulled back to Neuotting.
Jellacic was unable to carry out his orders to threaten Landshut. He found out about Archduke Charles' defeat and evacuated Munich on the evening of the 23rd. When Jellacic got Hiller's orders of the 23rd, he tried to reoccupy Munich. Before he reached the Bavarian capital, he received new orders from Hiller instructing him to retreat to
Salzburg
.
Eventually, General of Division
Paul Grenier
's corps from the
Army of Italy
crushed Jellacic's wandering division on 25 May at the
Battle of Sankt Michael
in
Styria
.
When Napoleon received news of the Battle of Neumarkt, he sent Marshal
Jean Lannes
with a corps of 25,000 to support Bessieres. By this time Hiller was in full retreat to the east.
The French emperor directed
Andre Massena
and the IV Corps to take the road to Passau, while Bessieres and Lannes (who now led the II Corps) took a route farther south.
The next major action was the
Battle of Ebelsberg
on 3 May.
Order of battle
[
edit
]
Austrian forces
[
edit
]
Returns from 20 March 1809, less detachments
Left Wing: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Johann von Hiller
- VI Armeekorps:
Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Johann von Hiller
. Less Jellacic's detachment.
- Reserve Artillery: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Rouvroy
- Three 12-pdr position batteries (18 guns), 6-pdr position battery (6 guns)
- Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich Kottulinsky
- Brigade: General-Major Otto Hohenfeld
- Klebek
IR # 14 (3 bns),
Jordis
IR # 59 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major Nikolaus Weissenwolf
- Deutschmeister
IR # 4 (3 bns),
Kerpen
IR # 49 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Artillery: 6-pdr position battery (6 guns)
- Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Franz Jellacic
(Detached at Munich)
- Brigade: General-Major Konstantin Ettingshausen
- Esterhazy
IR # 32 (3 bns),
De Vaux
IR # 45 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major Karl Dollmayer von Provencheres. Jellacic had exchanged Hoffmeister's brigade for Dollmayer's at the beginning of the war.
- Warasdin-Kreutzer
Grenz
IR # 5 (2 bns), 3-pdr Grenz brigade battery (8 guns)
- O'Reilly
Chevau-leger
Regt # 3 (8 sqns), 6-pdr cavalry battery (6 guns)
- Artillery: 6-pdr position battery (6 guns)
- Light Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Karl von Vincent
- Brigade: General-Major Josef Hoffmeister
- Benjowsky
IR # 31 (3 bns),
Splenyi
IR # 51 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major
Armand von Nordmann
- Warasdin-St. George
Grenz IR # 6 (2 bns), 3-pdr Grenz brigade battery (8 guns)
- Rosenberg
Chevau-leger Regt # 6 (8 sqns),
Liechtenstein
Hussars
Regt # 7 (8 sqns), 6-pdr cavalry battery (6 guns)
- 4th, 5th, 6th
Vienna Freiwilligers
Battalions. These units joined Hiller at Moosburg on 18 April. They belonged to Dollmayer's brigade, but since Dollmayer was at Munich, they never joined it.
- V Armeekorps:
Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Archduke Louis
- Reserve Artillery: Major Adam Pfefferkorn
- Two 12-pdr position batteries (12 guns), 6-pdr cavalry battery (6 guns)
- Brigade III Corps:
- Kaiser
IR # 1 (3 bns),
Lindenau
IR # 29 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Karl Friedrich von Lindenau
(Detached to I Reserve Armeekorps)
- Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen
- Brigade: General-Major
Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza
- Duka
IR # 39 (3 bns),
Gyulai
IR # 60 (3 bns), 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major Franz Johann Schulz von Rothacker
- Beaulieu
IR # 58 (3 bns), 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Vienna Freiwilligers
Battalions
- Artillery: 6-pdr position battery (6 guns)
- Light Division: Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Emmanuel von Schustekh-Herve
- II Reserve Armeekorps:
Feldmarschall-Leutnant
Michael von Kienmayer
. Order of battle.
- Brigade: General-Major
Konstantin Ghilian Karl d'Aspre
- Puteani
,
Brezeczinsky
,
Scovaud
,
Kirchenbetter
,
Scharlach
Grenadier
bns, 6-pdr brigade battery (8 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major Josef von Clary
- Levenehr
Dragoon
Regt # 4 (6 sqns),
Wurttemberg
Dragoon Regt # 3 (6 sqns), 6-pdr cavalry battery (6 guns)
- Brigade: General-Major Andreas Schneller
(Detached to I Reserve Armeekorps)
- IR = Infantry Regiment
- bn, bns = Infantry battalion(s)
- sqn, sqns = Cavalry squadron(s)
- bty, btys = Artillery battery (batteries)
- Regt = Regiment
- 3-pdr, 6-pdr, 12-pdr = 3 (light), 6 (medium) and 12 (heavy) pounder field guns.
French-Allied forces
[
edit
]
Returns from 16 April 1809
Provisional Corps:
Marshal
Jean-Baptiste Bessieres
- Cavalry Division, IV Corps:
General of Brigade
Jacob Francois Marulaz
(2,765). Includes three staff members.
- 1st Brigade: Commander unknown (1,193)
- 2nd Brigade: General of Brigade Bertrand Pierre Castex (829)
- 3rd Chasseurs a Cheval Regt (3 sqns), 14th Chasseurs a Cheval Regt (3 sqns)
- 3rd Brigade: Commander unknown (740)
- Baden Light Dragoon Regt (4 sqns), Hesse-Darmstadt
Chevau-leger
Regt (3 sqns)
- Cavalry Brigade, III Corps: General of Brigade Charles Claude Jacquinot (1,797)
- 1st Chasseurs a Cheval Regt (3 sqns), 2nd Chasseurs a Cheval Regt (3 sqns), 12th Chasseurs a Cheval Regt (3 sqns)
- 2nd Bavarian Division, VII Corps: Lieutenant-General
Karl Philipp von Wrede
(8,944). Includes 250 headquarters guards.
- Brigade: General-Major Minuzzi (3,980)
- 6th
Laroche
Light bn, 3rd
Prince Karl
IR (2 bns), 13th IR (2 bns)
- Brigade: General-Major Beckers (3,139)
- 6th
Duc Wilhelm
IR (2 bns), 7th
Lowenstein
IR (2 bns)
- Cavalry Brigade: General-Major Preysing (1,012)
- Konig
Chevau-leger Regt (4 sqns),
Leiningen
Chevau-leger Regt (4 sqns)
- Artillery: Two 6-pdr foot btys, 6-pdr horse bty (563, 18 guns)
- 3rd Division, IV Corps: General of Division
Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor
(7,155). Includes 16 staff members.
- Brigade: General of Brigade Francois Joseph Leguay (3,647)
- 2nd Line IR (2 bns), 16th Line IR (3 bns)
- Brigade: General of Brigade Raymond Vivies de La Prade (3,184)
- 37th Line IR (3 bns), 67th Line IR (2 bns)
- Artillery: 6-pdr foot bty (308, 6 guns)
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Arnold, James R. (1995).
Napoleon Conquers Austria
. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers.
ISBN
0-275-94694-0
.
- Bodart, Gaston (1908).
Militar-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905)
. Retrieved
13 June
2021
.
- Bowden, Scotty; Tarbox, Charlie (1980).
Armies on the Danube 1809
. Arlington, Texas: The Emperor's Press.
- Chandler, David
(1966).
The Campaigns of Napoleon
. New York: Macmillan.
- Epstein, Robert M. (1994).
Napoleon's Last Victory and the Emergence of Modern War
. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas.
- Esposito, Vincent J.; Elting, John R. (1964).
A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars
. New York: Praeger.
- Petre, F. Loraine
(1976).
Napoleon and the Archduke Charles
. New York, N.Y.: Hippocrene Books.
- Smith, Digby
(1998).
The Napoleonic Wars Data Book
. London: Greenhill.
ISBN
1-85367-276-9
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
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