With a large part of the French Empire's forces now entangled in the bloody Peninsular War, the Austrian Empire believed that its best opportunity to avenge the humiliating defeat of 1805 had finally come. The Austrians were looking to defeat France and regain their former influence in Italy and Germany. In early 1809, the Austrian war preparations were so intense that Napoleon was forced to leave Spain and head back to Paris to reorganise his main army in Germany. In spring, Nansouty was therefore recalled to the command of 1st of the three heavy cavalry divisions of the Cavalry Reserve, placed this time under the command of Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières. As the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out, Nansouty's division was soon detached from the Reserve and temporarily attached to Marshal Louis Nicolas Davout's III Corps, the force that was assigned the most difficult tasks during the early military operations of this war. As Napoleon then ordered a concentration of the army at Ratisbon, Nansouty's division was once again put under the command of Bessières and sent to serve with the Bavarian army. After his initial victories at Abensberg and Landshut, Napoleon concentrated the bulk of his army, including Nansouty's men, at Eckmühl, where Davout was waiting.