The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-07-22 00:00:00

bira.. FRENCH _BU I. fiETINi r . IF A 7'WENTY-I.'IPM BULLETIItr. —mom — S. 64 The works raised by Gesteral Count Ber. trend, and the corps be commands, had, since the beginning of thflllsonth, entirely no tided the Danube. His Alljesiy instantly resolved to col. leer his forces in the Island of Lebow, open upon the Austrian army, lad - bring on a goaeral en. gagemeut. It was not because the position of the French army was not a very floe one at Vienna. Master of the whole right bank of the Danube, having in his power Austria, and a considerable portiOn of Hungary, he enjoyed the greatest plenty. If some ditlicnlties had been experienced in providing sustenance for the people of Vienna, this arose from an ill-organized administration, from embarrassments which were every day di. minishiug, and from difficulties which were natu. rally produced by the situation in which the coon. try was placed, in a land in which the trade in corn is an exclusive privilege of the government. But how could the troops continue to be separated from the hostile army, by a canal of three or four hundred toises in breadth, when the means of passing over had been prepared and secured ? This would have given credibility to the impostures which the enemy had scattered with so great pro. fusion throughout his own and neighbouring coun. tries : this would have cut a doubt over the oc. currences at Euliug, and would, finally, have authorised the supposition of there being, in fact, a substantial equality between armies so different, of which one was animated, and, in some measure, reinforced, by multiplied successes and victories, while the other was dispirited by the most striking reverses. " All the intelligence collected concerning the Austrian army :hewed that it was considerable; that it had been recruited by numerous bodies of reserve, by the levies from Moravia and Hungary, :end by all the landasehrs (funcibles) of the pro knees ; that its cavalry bad been remounted by req thitions in all the Circles, and its draughts of artillery tripled by immense levies of hones and carriages in Moravia, Hungary, and Bohemia. To add new chances in their favour, the Austrian Generals had raised military works ; of which the right was protected by Gros-Aspern, and the left by Enzersdorf. The villages of Aspen, Esslitig, and Enzerstiorf, and the intervals between them were• covered by redoubts, surrounded by pall. wades and frizes, and defended by more than 150 f pieces of battering cannon, taken from the fur_ ),tresses of Bohemia and Moravia. •• " was inconceivable how the Emperor, with Its experience in war, could think of attacking • Works so powerfully defended, backed by an army estimated at 200,000 men, as well troops of the line as militia and new raised levies, and who were supported by 800 or 800 pieces of fieltartil lery. It appeared more simple to throw somefresh bridges over the Danube, a few leagues lower down, anti thus render useless the field of battle • prepared, by the twiny. But in this latter case it was not thought practicable to avert the itteon. venieueies which had already nearly proved fatal to the army, and succeed in the course of twu or three days in protecting these new bridges from the machines of the enemy. "On the other side the Emperor was tranquil. Works were raised upon works hi the Island of Lobati and several bridges ua piles, and several rows r 4 stoceadoes, were fixed at the same place. " This situation of the French army, placed between these two . great difficulties, had not -escaped the enemy. He was aware that his army, too numerous and unwieldly, would be exposed to certain destruction if he acted on the offensive; but, at the same time, he believed that it was im. possible to dialodge him from the central position in which he covered Bohemia, Moravia, and a part of Hungary. It is true that this position dIII not cover Vienna, and that the French were possession of this Capital. But this possession was, in a certain degree, disputed, since the Ara. trians remained masters of one bank of the Da. !tube, and prevented the arrival of the articles most indisprnsihlr to the subsistence of so great a cif). These were the reasons of hope and fear, sad the subject of conversation in the two armies. " On the lit of July, at four o'clock of the morning, the Emperor removed his head-quarters t o th e Wand Lobel', which had been already named by the engineers, the Island Napoleon. A small island to which had been given the name of the Duke of Niontebello, and which bore upon Enzersdorf, had been furnished with tee mortars and twepty 18-pounders. Another island, called Island Estragne, had been supplied with eis pieces of battering cannon (14-pounders), and four mor tars. Between these two islands, a battery bad been raised equal in force to that of the `island Montebello, a.id in like planner bearing upon En z •rsdorf. These IV! pieces of battering artillery bad the same object, were in two hours to destroy the little town of Eitsersdurf, drive away the ene. my, and demolish the works. On the right, the island Alexander, with four mortars, two too • TRH STATISM pounders, sad twelve six-pountlen (ballsllll6 Ca. non), were to bear upon the plain, ankreeet the operations of the bridges. " On the 2d the the Duke de Riven passed over to the Mill Island with 300 Voltigeura, and took pageant's' of it. This island was also furnished Wilt cantata. It wee joined to the Continent, on the left Ade, by a wall bridge. In the front a litte "eche was raised, and this redoubt was called Petit. 64 In the evening, the redoubts of It:sating ap peared to be jealous of these works : not doubt. ing that they were a first battery, formed to act against themselves, they fired upon them with great activity. This was precisely the intention in having seized this island. The attention of the enemy was to be &sou to this-pad, in order to conceal from him the Iv:ratios* many proposed. Passage across the min of the Danube from the . Island Lobau. " On the 4th, at ten in the evening, General Ondinot wand 1500 ♦oltigeurs to be embarked on the great arnt of the Dattebe, commanded by General Conrouz. Colonel Baste, with ten goo. boats, convoyed them, and disembarked them be. yond the little arm of the Island Loban, io the Danube. The batteries of the enemy were soon silenced, and he was driven from the woods to the village of Muhleuten. " At eleven in the evening the batteries raised against Enzeradort received orders to begin their firing. The howifters set this unfortunate little town on fire, and in less than half an hour the enemy's batteries had ceased to operate. " The Chief of Battalion Dessales, Director of the Bridges, and . . . Engineer of the Marine, had prepared in the Island Alexander, a bridge of 80 toises, of a single piece, and tve great ferry-boats. Cel. Sainte Croix, Aide-de-camp of the Duke de Rivoli, embarked in barges with 2500 men, and landed on the left bank. " The bridge of a single piece, the first of the kind which has hitherto been made, was fixed in less than five minutes, and the infantry passed user it with great rapidity. " Capt. Razelle fixed a bridge of boats in an hour and a half. 44 Capt. Payeritooffe formed a bridge of rafts in two hours. " Thus, at two o'clock of the morning, the army lad four bridges, and had debouched on the left 1500 tuises below Enzersdorf, protected by the batteries, and the right upon Vittee. The corps of the Duke de Rivoli formed the left; that of Count Oudioot, the centre; and that of the Duke of Anerstsdt, the right; the corps of the Prince de Ponte.Corvn, the Viceroy, and the Duke of Ragusa, the guard ; and the cuirassiers formed the second line, and the bodies of reserve. Utter darkness, a violent storm, and rain, w bicb fell in torrents, rendered this night as frightful, as it was propitious to the French army ) and was about to be glorious to it. " On the sth, at daybreak, every one per. crived what had been the project or the Emperor, who was then, with his whole army, arranged in order of battle at the extremity of the enemy's left, having turned all his entrenched camps, hay. ing rendered his works useless, and thus obliging the Austrians to abandon their positions, and come and offer him battle on the spot that was convenient to him. The great problem was thus resolved, and without passing the Danube on other points—without receiving any protection from the works he had raised, he forced the enemy to fight three quarters of a league from his redoubts. From that moment the greatest and happiest results were presaged. 66 At eight in the morning, the batteries which ' had played upon Enzersdorf had produced such an effect, that the enemy was obliged to let that town be occupied by no more than four Nitta. lions. The Duke of Rivoli dispatched his first Al& de Camp ) Sainte Croiy„ against itrwittr did nut meet with a great resistance, and took pti. loners all who remained in it. " Count Oudiaot surrounded the Castle of Sachsvngang, which the enemy bad fortified, forced 900 men, who defended it, to capitulate, and took 12 pieces of cannon. " Thi Emperor then caused the whole army to spread itself along the immense plain of Enters. duff. BATTLE OF ENZERSDORF. - . " In the moan wkne, the enemy, confounded in all his projects, gradually recovered from bis as. tonishment, and endeavoured to regain some ad vantages in this new field of battle. For this pur. pose he detached several columns of infantry, a considerable number of pieces of artillery, and all, his cavalry, as well of the line as the new levies, in order to attempt to out-flank the right of the French army. In consequence, he occupied the village of Rotzendorf. The Emperor ordered G. Oodioot to carry this village, to the right of width ha sent the Duke of Auerstadt, is order to pro. coed to the head-quarters of Prince Charles, goir always from tha'right to the left. 1 Jawing. N. .1 " From noon till nine in the evening, the French armies manoeuvred on this immense plain. All the villages were occupied, and when the French had reached the heights of the entrenched camps of the enemy, they fell of their own ac cord, aid uif by enchantment. The Doke de Riven caused them to be occupied without moist. since. It was thus we seised the works of Essling and Gros.Aspern, and the labour of 40 days was of no use to the enemy. Ile made some mist. ante in the village of Itiechdorf, which tae Prince de Poole Corvo caused to be attacked and carried by the Saxons. The enemy was every where over. whelmed by the superiority of our fire. This im. mense field of battle was covered with his re mains. ........00 BArrur. OF WAGRAM. " Strongly alarmed by the progress of the French army, and the great success which it ob . - tained, with scarcely any effort, the enemy put all his troops in motion, and at six in the evening be occupied the following position:—his right from Stadelau to Gerasdorf, his centre from Cc.- rasdorf to Wagram, and his left from Wagram to Neusiedel. The French army had its left at Gros. Aspern, its centre at Itaschdorf, and its right at Glenxindorf. In this position, the day was nearly at a close, and we had necessarily to expect a great bat tle on the morrow ; but this was to be avoided, and the position of the enemy to be intersected, so as to prevent him from forming any plan, by taking possession, in the night, of the village of Wagram. In this case his line, already of an immense length, being suddenly assailed, and exposed to the chances of combat, the different bodies of his army would be dispersed without order or direction, and we should succeed at an easy rate, and without any serious engagement. The attack on Wagram took place, and our troops took possession of the vil. lage ; but a column of Saxons and a column of French mistook each other in the dark fur ene mies, and this operation failed. 66 We then prepared fur the battle of Wagram. It appears that the dispositions of the French General and the Austrian General were inverted. The Emperor passed the night in accumulating his forces towards his centre, where he was In person, within cannon shot of Wagram. Witt. this view, the Duke de Rivoll moved Open the left of Aderklau, leaving at Aspern a single divi sion, with orders fur it to fall back, in case of ne. cessity, open the Isle of Lobau. The Duke of Auerstadt received orders to leave unoccupied the village of Grosshoffen that eight, to approach the centre. The Austrian GrOWILii on the contrary, weakened his centre to secure anti augment his ea tremities, which he still farthee-extended. " On the 6th, at day-break, the Prince de Polite Corvo occupied the left, bating the Duke of Rivoli in a second line. The Viceroy ion. netted him with the centre, where the • corps of Count Oudinot, that of the Duke of Ragusa, those of the Imperial Guards, and the divisions of Cuirassiers, formed seven or eight hues. " The Duke of Auerstadt marched from the right to reach the centre. The enemy, en the contrary, put Bellegarde's corps in motion fur Stadelau. The corps of Collowrath, Lichten. stein, and Hiller, connected their right with the position of Wagram, where Prince Hohenzollern was, and with the extremity of the left at Neusie del, where the corps of Rosenberg debauched, in order also to out-dank that of the Duke of Au. erstadt. The corps of Rosenberg, and that of the Duke of Auerstadt, moving in opposite directions, 'encountered each other, with the first rays of the I sun, and gave the signal of battle. The Emperor instantly repaired to this point, ordered the Duke of Auerstadt to be reinforced by the division of the Duke of Padua's Cuirassiers, and the corps of Rosenberg to be attacked in flank by a battery of I PI guns, of the division of Count de Nansouty. In less than three quarters of an hour, the fine corps of the Dike of Auerstadt gave a good ac count of the . corps .of,Rosenberg, defeating it, and driving it beyond Ncu'itidel with considerable loss. " In the mean time, a cannonade commenced along the whole of the line, and the enemy's dis positions were every moment discovering them. selves. The whole of his left was secured with artillery. One might have said, that the Antrim' General was not fighting for victory, but was looking only to the means of improving it. This disposition of the enemy seemed so ahsard, that some snare was apprehended, and the Emperor delayed some time before he ordered those easy dispositions which he had to make to disconcert those of the enemy, and render them fatal to him. He ordered the Duke of Rivuli to make an attack on the village occupied by the enemy, and which somewhat straitened the extremity of the centre of the army. He ordered the Duke of Auerstadt to turn the position of - Nensioilid, and thence to push on upon Wagram ; and he formed the Duke of Ragusa's troops, and those of General' Macdonald in colamo, to carry Wagram at the moment the Duke of Auerstadt should debauch,. " While these proceedings were taking piaci, latomatiou was received that the enemy was making a furious attack upon the village cerise 1 by the Duke of Rivoli ; that our left ass out. flanked by 3000 toises, that a brisk cannonade was already heard at Gros.Aspern, and that the spac►► between Gros- A spern and Wagram seemed to be covered with an immense line of artillery. There was no hanger any fount for doubt. The enemy had committed an enormous fault, and we had only to profit by it. The Emperor instantly or. dered General Macdonald to form the divisions l of Bruuuier and lAinarque in columns of at tack. He ordered the di►ision of Nansouty to be supported by the horse-guards, and a battery of silty guns belonging to the guards, and forty of different other corps. General Count Lauriston, at the bend of his battery of 100 pieces of artillery, marched at a trot against the enemy, advanced without firing to within half gun-shot distance, and there opened a prodigioes fire, which silenced that If the enemy, and spread death among his ranks. General Macdonald thee! advanced at the pus de charge. The General of Division Reille, with the brigade of f►tsileeh and sharp-shooters of the guards, supported General Macdonald. The guards lade a change of front, in order to reader this attack infallible. In an instant the enemy's centre lust a league of ground ; his right became alarmed, and perceiving the don. gerous position in which it was placed, rapidly fell back. The Duke of tivoli, at that moment, attacked it in front. Whilst the rout of the cen. ere struck consternation into the right of the enemy, and precipitated its moresneets, the left was attacked and out-flanked by the Duke of Anerstadt, who had carried Neuaiedel, aged who having gained the elevated plain, was marchi ng upon Wagram. The divisions of Broussier and Gudin covered themselves with glory. " It was then only ton o'clock in the morning ; and those is ho bad the least p wetritiwn sow that the fate of the day was decided, and that the vic. tory was ours. " At noon, Count Oudinot marched upon Wagram, to assist the attack of the Duke of Aucrstadt. lie was successful, and carried that important position. After ten o'clock, the ene. my fought only to effect his retreat ; at twelve this was manifest; it was conducted in disorder; and long before dark, the enemy was out of sight.— Our left was posted at Jetelsee and Ebersdorf ; our centre upon Obersdorf ; and the cavalry of our right extended their posts as far u Shoakir. chen. 46 On the 7th, at day break, the army was in motion, and marching anon Korneabourg Walkersdorf, and had some posts neat N►cola. bourg. The enemy, cot off' from Hungary and Moravia, had been forced to fall back upon 80. hernia. " Such is the narrative of the battle of Wa. gram, a battle decisive and ever memorable, in whicle from three to four hundred thousand men, and from twelve to fifteen hundred pieces of can. non, contended for great interests, upon a field of battle, studied, planned, and fortified by the enemy for several months. Ten pair of colours, 40 pieces of cannon, 20,000 prisoners, including between 3 and 400 Officers, and a considerable number of Generals, Colonels, and Majors, are the trophies of this victory. The fields of battle are covered with the slain ; among whom are the bodies of several Generals, among others, one called Norman, a Frenchman, a traitor to his country, who prostituted his talents against her. " All the enemy's wounded have fatten into our hands. Those whom lie abandoned at the row mencement 'of the action, were found in the adja cent villages. It may be calculated that the result of this battle, will be that of reducing the Austrian army to Ills than 60,000 men. " Our loss has been considerable ; it is es.ii► mated at 1500 in killed, and (rain three to 4000 wounded. " The Duke of Istria, at the moment when be was preparing for an attack with the cavalry, had his horse shot dead by a cannon-ball, which fell upon his saddle, and slightly grazed his thigh. " The General of Division Lasalle was killed by a musket ball. He was an officer of the greatest merit, and one of our beet light cavalry Generals. 66 The Bavarian General Wrede, and Genitals Sera., Greoitr, Vignolle, Sahuc, Frere, and De frames, were wounded. " Colonel Prince Aldobrandini was wounded in the arm by a mutket-ball ; the Majors of the Guard, Dausmenil and Carbines°, were also wounded ; the Adjutant-Commandant Duprat was killed ; the Colonel of the gth infantry of the line fell on the field of battle. That regiment has co vered itself with glory. " The Officers of the Staff arc preparing a re. turn of our loples. " A particular circumstance incident to this grand battle is, that the columns nearest to Vien. na were only about 1200 Wises from it. The nu. merous population of that capital covered the turrets, the steeples, the roofs of houses, and every elevated situation, to witness this spectacle. " The Emperor of Austria Itft Wolkersderf on the 6th, at be La the morning, sad asosided