The National Register.
London, England, 1809-07-16 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. •

ftircini to' retreat- tiso,e Anor;ln corps that were posted on the
bright* Leikepoint and Ta!messing, the Archduke on the 23,:
ott April crossed the Danube near Ratishon, and joined the corps
of itelletrardr, wh openell the eamphignbv several btleCes-
- affair, in the Upper Palatinate, had reached A mherg, yie
enirkl, and ileitau, and had by this time appr.meited B;akii-
itn.Ht.f, in order to execute its immediate junction with the
A rehdctke.

The Emperor. Napoleon ordered the bomb:min...l of Ratis.
bon, oectipied a few battalions, who sere to cover the pas-
sage of the Danube. Mt the 23d. in the eveniox he beeatne
master of it, and iminediately hastened alooig the right bank of
the Danube to enter the Atistri.in gates in order as he opcuiy
declared, to dictate p.:OCC-at Vienna.
The Austria') arm. had taken a po-itimi ne:.r Gharn, behind
the river Ilcg •n, s hick way natilvd by some ,•f the enetwf's
divisions, yr bile the Emperor Napolcou c.Llled ail d'.;)97.(%1b1e
troops, in forced ot.i.rehe:s, from the North of Germany to
D'utulte, and consilerahly reinforced hi,. army n ith the troop,
of Wurtentberg, limits, Baden, and awake ti.ae After with
those ofKrtY,nv.
Near Kira and Nittennu, some nifitirs hni hnpened between
the, outliosts, %I WO), hoo ever, had no hilluence up.th the ar-
mies.

we're!. easy it would have beet, for the Archduke to Conti-
nue his oTersive operations on the left baak
.of the Danube, with-
out aoy mne terLl resi,tonce, and -Ito-,s ever gratifying it might
have been to ieiieve provinces w hich weecgrouning beneath the
pressure of foreign • dominion. the Iffesecvation of his native
I:tnd did cot permit him to sutler the enemy' to Hot with littpu-
nity in the entcallq of the mOuarchy; to give op the rich source*
of it. inaependence, ROci expose the welfare of the subject to the
devastations of foreizo conqueror..
There mitt ive6 induced- the Archriutte to ciiroldct Ws army to
Bohemia, by the way of Klentsch and Netunarkti, to occupy
the Bohemian forest with light trop. and part of the militia,
and to direct his march towards rudn Pi!, ',here he arrived on
the St: :)f May, hoping to join, near Lint. his left wing, which.
had been separated from him, a 4.1 which was under the corautetnd
of Lieutenant-General Baron 1l titer.

But the latter had been so closely pressed hr esr united force
of the French armies, that, after several spirited engagements.
and even after a brilliant Aftait, in which he had the advantnee,
near Neumarkt, and in which the troops arhieved all that was
pir:,ible against the disproportionate superiority Of the enent:.,
he indeed was able to reach Lin*,, lett was incarthle of ern,ts
ing the Danube, and obliged to content himself ith destroying
the comnetnicatian a ith I tte left hank. and taking up a po it sun
behind the Traen. near Ehersherg. This was the occtsion of
an extremely murderous engagement, during which Ow enemy,
in stunning the bridge, lost near four thousand awn ; Ebersherg
was set on fire,tnd Lieutenant-fiei.eral Hiller continues! bis re
treat, till he got so much the start as to pass the Danube near
Stain, without being disturbed by the enemy, and to wait the
approach of the Archduke, who, after having in vain attempted
thejunction of the.urtny near Linz, ftr.d marched from Btid wet,
to Zweite! ; still hopirig, by a quirk 071°!•:irti of the Danube, to
arrest the enemy's progress towards Ow metropolis.
• Meanwhile a corps of Wurtembergers had sttivnnced from
Passau, along both the shores of the Danube, hart occupied
Lines and the hank opposite twit; had restored the bride, and
bittnalized itself by ileStroying the defenceleFs •i lines and cas-
tles which could- not he-protected by the small advanced guard
proceeding by theside or the main army.
The enemy, hy marehing- throngh.the valley of the Danube
in the straightest line, had-got so mach a-head, thut.all hopes of
coming up tbith him in front of Vienna vanished ; still, however,
if that city hart been able to hold out fur five day!, it might
have been relioved ; anathe'Archduke resolved on Venturing the
utmost to re.scne that good city, which, by the excellent olilinsi-
tian of itS'citize-ns, the faithful attachment to its Sovereign, and
its noble:devotion, has raised tit itself an eternal innnument, iu
the ann:rh of Ate aria. All his plans were now directed toward,
gaining the bridg,es aceos, the Datiat., near Vienna, and endea-
vouring to sabe the' Imperial residence, by a combat under its
very walls. • _ •

Vienna, formerly an important fortress, was in vain besieged
lfly the Turks, and would,. even now, from , the solidity of its
ramparts, the shoo;; rrotiles of its nork4, anilthe extensive s-
tem of its mines, be capable of mak in 4. as pr' t;arted resistance,
had not, for itpwardsci a femur, hark, the luiory of a large
metropolis, the.wants of rinse, the rontlnx of 101 l the magnates
an the empires and tit poop tit a ipleadite tours, totally effaced

every consideration of military defence.. Palaces adorn the
i•ampart, tlse casamates siad ditches were converted ,into work.
4:tops of tradesmen, Omuta tins mat k the counter-scarpes of the
Fortress, and avenues of trees traver:e the theis, milting the
oast beautiful suburbs in the world to the corps de la place.
Although under such circumstances nu obstioite Tesicance
;he capital was to be-expected, yet from the unexampled toy.
ilty of the inhabitant's it was confidently hopel-thtt Vienna
ought for a few days serve as a tete de p ^f to over the paoin.go
11 the river ; w hence. all preparations ananaated la no more than
to secure the place against a coup-de-main; and for rensna
:he A rcioloke had sot,l.:e time before directed Field-Mat:dud i il-
let to send part of i» 3 corps along the right bank towards the
Ipital, in the event of :;;s (the Archduke's) passage to the left
shore. field-Marshal Hiller now received orders to bun, the
kridge near Stain, in his rear, and to leave a small corps of C. ha
nervation near Krems, to hasten hy forced marches with the bulk
:if hit; army to the environs of Vienna, and, as circumstances
‘yould permit, by occupying the small islands, to keep op the
'cominu,:icailon with the city and the delmtvhe acrass t lw bridge;.
The Amy of the Archdake now advanced, without bacilli))-
. ion, I.y Yeupolia, Horn, and Wellcadorf upon Stockerau ; and
In order to overawe such enterprizes as the enemy might project
from theenvirpos of Linz, part of the corps of the Genera of •
Aetipery "Count Kollovvrall:, iltich till then had remained near
withlt view to iecureihe north and west frontier of Bo •
hernia, .vras ordered to march to Budwies,
'Napoleon hail used its much expedition on his march to
Vitiona, that on the 9itt of May his advanced troops apeeared
On the giaels Of the fortress, whence they were driven by some
cannon shot. From three to four thousand regular troops, as •
many armed citizens, and some haft:Mow of country militia, de-
:ended tie city; ordnance of various calibre was placed upon
the ranarts; the stibrbs were abandoned on account of Itte:e
great event ; and )hr ouincrous .sia Ids and I ov ho9hy ground
aeland the town were occupied by some light troops -of the,
corps of filler as by The corps itself eras post-
ed on !what is termed " the Point," en the left ,hots of the riser,
waiting the arrival of the army, which was advancing in haste.
The 4iecipation of Vienna to/lord too essential a part in t' e
estensi'e piens of the •French Emperor; its conquest had !wen
aaaounced by him with too much t ootideoce. and %%as of too
great importance. towards. confirming the pra:ultre of his ire..
sistibte power, for him not to employ every method of taking
it before theassistance which was so mow could arrive. For
the space of twenty-four hours the howitzers played upon the.
town ; and though several houses 'sere set on fire, the courage
of the inhabitants remained unshaken But a general devasta-
tion tbreateued their valuable Oroperty, and o hio at length the
mean', availing himself of the numerous craft which he found
here, crossed thasmaller brooches of the Danube, dislodged the
troops from the nearest Islands, and meuraed their c itainuttiets-
lion s the left hank, the city .was justified in capiodating„
• while the troops retreated by the )(teat bridge of fabor, whien
they afterwards set on fire. The Arclidake received thi•
Bence in his head-quarters. between !torn and alasslatt, and
taought it was scarcely to be expected that this city, surrounded
as it was, should coot inue its resistatace; Ore Archduke proceeded
on his march withitut iutorruption, flattering lions, If that ho
might he able to execute his favourite project by a Is:aa attempt
to pmts the Danube near Vienna. This city capitu!ated on the
tact; of Ma', so that there %vas no farther occasi n to expose
tile army to hazard by crossing the Danube, fur which no sista.
tient preparation had been made, and who.h st tsave !wen
etre. ted in the face of the enemy, and under local eircnartances
o' the greatest disadvantage. By the sit, yenticr of Yi. Lica ;;;e1
army had also lost a point of support on which to rest its mit i-
tary operations. In this situation of alf:ars the Archduke re-
st !tett 'to collect his army at the foot of the hill Bisanitherg. rood
'allow it a few daN s of rest, which, after so mars forced toarclics,
it urgently wanted. The cavalry, for the convenience of vv,itcr,
was posted along the toss, a small rivulet, which is concealoil by
ground covered by htivhes, and the advanced guards pushe.! for-
ward to the Danube, in order to observe the movements rf the
enoxv, and prevent his passing the river, which he had already
aiaetnpled to do from at tasstiorf, t what is railed the kilack
I,4geke, but with so little success, that a battalion of his advanced
guard was taken. The chain of the outposts extended .111 the
left side as far as the March, and on the right to Krems ; this
place and Preshurg were occupied by some boo:tibias ; and the
Itad quarterS of the Vrelulttlie ."err, on the 16th of May, et
Etberstlibrf, near the high road leading to Brow,. On the 13th
ss
the outposts reported,' t oat the enemy haul taken po essiom of tke
Greet Weed of Lobae, within about six t. ink 2