page_title: Battle of Ebelsberg
section_title: Rear guard action
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Ebelsberg / Battle / Rear guard action
caption_attribution_description: English: was a French soldier in the armies of Napoleon and a Marshal of France.
context_page_description: The Battle of Ebelsberg, known in French accounts as the Battle of Ebersberg, was fought on 3 May 1809 during the War of the Fifth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. The Austrian left wing under the command of Johann von Hiller took up positions at Ebersberg on the Traun river. The French under André Masséna attacked, crossing a heavily defended 550-meter-long bridge and subsequently conquering the local castle, thus forcing Hiller to withdraw. Ebelsberg is now a southern suburb of Linz, situated on the south bank of the Traun, a short distance above the place where that stream flows into the Danube River.
  Separated from the main Austrian army by the battles of Abensberg and Landshut, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Hiller retreated east to Linz by 2 May with the three left wing corps. The Austrians hoped to slow the French advance towards Vienna. The leading elements of Marshal Masséna's corps overran Hiller's rear guard on the west bank of the Traun on the morning of 3 May. In the rout that followed, the first French infantry brigade rushed the bridge and got into the streets of Ebelsberg. At this point, the Austrians began to fight back effectively.
context_section_description: Early on 3 May, General of Brigade Jacob François Marulaz set out from near Eferding with Masséna's IV Corps cavalry division. Following the mounted troopers, in order, were the infantry divisions of Generals of Division Michel Marie Claparède (on loan from II Corps), Claude Legrand, Carra Saint-Cyr, and Jean Boudet. The French cavalry ran into a small infantry ambush at Wilhering, which is on the Danube about halfway from Alkoven and Linz. At 9:00 AM, the column marched into Linz and took the road south toward Ebelsberg. 
  At 3:00 AM, Hiller put his soldiers on the road. He directed Kienmayer's small II Reserve Armeekorps to lead the march, while the main bodies of the V and VI Armeekorps followed. That morning, the Austrian wing commander deployed four of his eight brigades as rear guards under Bianchi, Schustekh, General-Major Josef Radetzky, and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Vincent. As the Austrian wagon train filed across the bridge at Ebelsberg, Hiller's staff lost control of the situation, the drivers panicked, and the roadway became jammed with retreating vehicles and troops. Eventually, the mob of troops and wagons squeezed across the span and even Bianchi was across the Traun by 9:00 AM with the Duka Infantry Regiment # 39 and Ignaz Gyulai Infantry Regiment # 60. 
  However, Schustekh was still somewhere to the southwest so Vincent and Radetzky drew up their forces on the west bank and waited for their colleague to make his appearance. Vincent had the Benjowsky Infantry Regiment # 31 and Splenyi Infantry Regiment # 51 of General-Major Josef Hoffmeister's brigade under his orders. He placed one battalion in the village of Klein München and the other five between there and Scharlinz. He screened the infantry with the Rosenberg Chevau-léger Regiment # 6. Radetzky, with two battalions and six squadrons, deployed on Vincent's left, watching for Schustekh. Radetzky's brigade included the Gradiskaner Grenz Infantry Regiment # 8, Merveldt Uhlan Regiment # 1, and Archduke Charles Uhlan Regiment # 3. 
  Schustekh finally appeared with the Kienmayer Hussar Regiment # 8 and General-Major Otto Hohenfeld's brigade, the Klebeck Infantry Regiment # 14 and Jordis Infantry Regiment # 59 and began crossing the bridge. At about 10 AM, Marulaz's troopers came under fire from the woods north of Scharlinz. While waiting for infantry support, he drew up the French 3rd, 14th, 19th, and 23rd Chasseurs à cheval in the first line, the Baden Light Dragoons, Grand Duchy of Hesse Garde Chevau-léger, and Württemberg Chevau-léger Regiments in the second line. Soon, General of Brigade Louis-Jacques Coëhorn's troops appeared and, at Masséna's personal command, attacked Klein München with the bayonet. Coëhorn's brigade included the 4th battalions of the 17th, 21st, 26th, and 28th Light Infantry Regiments, the Tirailleurs du Po, and the Tirailleurs Corses.
  By this time the Rosenberg Chevau-légers had withdrawn across the bridge at Vincent's orders. The Austrian defenders of the village put up a poor fight and Coëhorn's men drove them from their positions. From the direction of Wels, Bessières showed up with General of Brigade Hippolyte Piré's brigade, a hussar and a chasseurs à cheval regiment, and attacked Radetzky who covered Schustekh's retreat. Radetzky put up a gallant resistance, for which he later earned the Commander's Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. Meanwhile, Hoffmeister made a stand behind the millstream on the west bank. His efforts were futile as French infantry and cavalry charged forward. Seeing that the situation was critical, Vincent ordered a retreat and soon the Austrians were stampeding across the bridge in panic. 
  At about 11:00 AM, French troops reached the 550-meter-long (1,800 ft) bridge. The men of the two brown-coated Tirailleur battalions burst through the gate at the west end and raced across the span. The Austrian artillery took the bridge under furious fire, killing friend and foe alike, but its fire was unable to stop the French advance. The bridge had been prepared for burning by Captain Simbschen of Hil
caption: André Masséna ordered Louis Coëhorn to attack.
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