At the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition, the 1st Cuirassiers (793-strong) formed part of the 2nd Heavy Cavalry Division of Raymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice. At first, the division was attached to III Corps, but Emperor Napoleon soon assigned it to a provisional corps led by Marshal Jean Lannes along with another heavy cavalry division under Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty, a cavalry brigade led by Charles Claude Jacquinot and two infantry divisions borrowed from III Corps. At the Battle of Abensberg on 20 April 1809, Lannes' corps and the Bavarian VII Corps smashed the Austrian left flank, killing and wounding 2,700 enemies and capturing 4,000 more. However, one brigade from Saint-Sulpice's division was assigned to guard the defile at Saal an der Donau. The battle honors of the 1st Cuirassiers do not include Abensberg, but they do include the next four major actions in 1809.