page_title: Battle of Wagram
section_title: The French reaction
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Wagram / The second day / The French reaction
caption_attribution_description: English: "Napoléon pendant la bataille de Wagram" - Napoleon at the battle of Wagram and cuirassiers cheering as they are passing by during a cavalry charge.
context_page_description: The Battle of Wagram was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte's French and allied army against the Austrian army under the command of Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen. The battle led to the breakup of the Fifth Coalition, the Austrian and British-led alliance against France.
  In 1809, the French military presence in Germany was diminished as Napoleon transferred a number of soldiers to fight in the Peninsular War. As a result, the Austrian Empire saw its chance to recover some of its former sphere of influence and invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria, a French ally. Recovering from his initial surprise, Napoleon beat the Austrian forces and occupied Vienna at the beginning of May 1809. Despite the string of sharp defeats and the loss of the empire's capital, Archduke Charles salvaged an army, with which he retreated north of the Danube. This allowed the Austrians to continue the war. Towards the end of May, Napoleon resumed the offensive, suffering a surprise defeat at the Battle of Aspern-Essling.
context_section_description: With the situation looking increasingly dangerous for his army, Napoleon reassessed the developments and probably noted that he was holding the central position of an increasingly curved battlefront. He first sent word to Davout to hasten his attack preparations against the Austrian left, but the most urgent matter was to stabilise his own battered left wing. The Emperor did not want to commit his valuable, fresh infantry reserves just yet, so he ordered Masséna to break contact with the enemy and take his IV Corps southwards and attack the Austrian VI Korps. Executing such a manoeuvre required great skill and incurred high risks, as it meant that Masséna's men would have to move in vulnerable march column formations, through a sector with numerous enemy infantry, cavalry and artillery. The departure of these troops also meant that an enormous gap would open up in the French line, which the Emperor ingeniously intended to fill by forming an enormous grand battery, which would check enemy advance in this sector through a sustained artillery barrage. This required time and, with the Austrians from III Korps menacingly moving forward, Napoleon counted on Maréchal Bessières's cavalry to allow Masséna to disengage and the grand battery to deploy.
  Towards 11:00, Bessières received his orders, which provided for an immediate attack at the weak point of the enemy line, the seam between Austrian III Korps and the Reserve Korps, where only Feldmarshalleutnant Prochaska's thinly spread division was covering the wide position between Süssenbrunn and Aderklaa.  With the division of Arrighi sent in support of Davout, far on the right flank and the division of Saint-Sulpice detailed to protect Masséna's IV Corps, Bessières brought forward his only remaining unit, the mighty 1st heavy cavalry division, under the skilled 41-year-old general Nansouty. Napoleon also sent orders for the Guard cavalry to come in support, but his orders seem not to have reached them at all. Circumstances were so dire on the French left that Bessières opted not to wait for the Guard cavalry and sent orders for an immediate charge.
  It seems that Saint-Germain's brigade was left behind in reserve and out of the actual attack, so Bessières took Nansouty's remaining 16 squadrons, some 2,800 men, including Defrance's 1st and 2nd Carabiniers-à-Cheval and Doumerc's 2nd and 9th Cuirassiers. The hastily formed squadrons rode forth, but the flat terrain of the Marchfeld provided them with little cover from the devastating fire unleashed upon them by Austrian artillery. The heavy horsemen eventually made contact with the enemy near the village of Süssenbrunn, but found the infantry prepared to receive them and their first charge failed altogether. Rallying the men for a second attempt, with the elite carabiniers-à-cheval leading the way, Nansouty pushed through, but many of his troopers were unable to follow, leaving many of the squadrons reduced to just a handful of men. It seemed at first that the charge would do some serious damage, especially when the Frenchmen managed to break and sabre the Grenz Georger battalion, thus creating a breach between the two Austrian Corps. In the end however, the effects of a cavalry charge against prepared infantry were always set to be limited and the cavalrymen made little further impression on the grenadier battalions, which were by now formed in tight, solid squares. Displaying some great tactical skill, Nansouty wheeled right with his men and fell upon the Austrian artillery line near Aderklaa. Meanwhile, Bessières was busy fetching the Guard cavalry, which was only just beginning to arrive and with which he was intending to launch a second charge. Virtually under Napoleon's eyes, a cannonball brushed Bessières's thigh, unhorsing the Marshal, who violently hit the ground and lost consciousness. While Bessières was being carried away from the battlefield, Nansouty and his  Carabiniers-à-Cheval managed to capture an Austrian artillery battery but Liechtenstein duly sent his fresh cavalry, the 6th Rosenberg Chevaulegers and 4th Kronp
caption: French cuirassiers cheering while charging past Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram. The Emperor committed Nansouty's heavy cavalry division, in a bid to stop the Austrian menace on his left.
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