page_title: Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
section_title: 1809 and 1812
hierarchical_section_title: Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy / Napoleonic Wars / 1809 and 1812
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Erasmus Graf von Deroy, Königlich Bayrischer General der Infantrie - Standbild von Johann Halbig in der Maximilianstraße in de:München English: Erasmus Graf von Deroy, Royal Bavarian General of Infantry - Statue by Johann Halbig (1814-1882)
context_page_description: Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy from the Electorate of the Palatinate became a noted general officer in the army of Bavaria. His military career began shortly after the start of the Seven Years' War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he first served on the side of the Coalition against the French revolutionaries, then fought as an ally of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. Deroy and his colleague, Karl Philipp von Wrede, were dominant personalities in the Bavarian military during the era of Napoleon Bonaparte.
  From a military family, Deroy entered the army as a junior officer at an early age. He rose in rank to become a general by the time the War of the First Coalition broke out. He defended his home city of Mannheim against the army of the First French Republic until its capture in 1795. In 1800, he again fought as an ally of Austria, leading a brigade of Bavarian troops in action. From the time Napoleon became the emperor of France, Bavaria became allied to France and Deroy capably led a division during the 1805, 1806–1807, 1809, and 1812 wars. He was mortally wounded in 1812 during Napoleon's campaign in Russia.
context_section_description: At the beginning of the War of the Fifth Coalition, Deroy relinquished command of the 1st Division to Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and took charge of the 3rd Division in the VII Corps. This unit consisted of the 5th, 9th, 10th, and 14th Infantry Regiments, the 5th and 7th Light Battalions, the Taxis Dragoons and Bubenhoven Chevau-légers, and 18 pieces of artillery. After the Austrian invasion, Deroy held the west bank of the Isar River opposite Landshut on 16 April 1809. In a brief action, each side lost 150 to 200 killed and wounded. After an Austrian column crossed upstream at Moosburg, he fell back through Pfeffenhausen to Siegenburg. Under the command of Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre, Deroy was present but not engaged in the Battle of Abensberg on 20 April.
  On 21 April, as Napoleon was winning the Battle of Landshut to the south, Deroy fought against Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini's Austrian IV Armeekorps. He advanced on the right flank of Louis Davout's French III Corps and captured the village of Schierling. The Bavarians got no farther that day and Davout's attacks were also stopped. Bavarian losses were about 150 and French casualties 1,500, while the Austrians lost 3,000.
  In the Battle of Eckmühl on 22 April, Davout and Deroy advanced from the west, while Napoleon fell on Rosenberg's position from the south. The Austrians held a key position called the Bettel Berg with 3,000 infantry and 16 cannons. Deroy's cavalry brigade under General-Major Seydewitz attacked first and was driven back by well-handled Austrian light cavalry. Deroy's infantry tried next. Raked by accurate artillery fire and counterattacked by cavalry, they too were defeated. Later in the day, three squadrons of Bavarian cavalry charged again and were mowed down by artillery fire. But as the survivors fell back from the deadly guns, a mass formation of French cuirassiers trotted forward. The heavy cavalrymen swept aside a last despairing Austrian cavalry charge and overran the Bettel Berg. Elements of Deroy's cavalry brigade participated in the famous moonlight cavalry action at Alteglofsheim that night.
  After Eckmühl and the minor Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit on 24 April, Napoleon urged Lefebvre to seize Salzburg and relieve the Bavarian garrison of the Kufstein Fortress. In early May, Austrians and Tyrolean irregulars defeated General-Major Vincenti's brigade of the 3rd Division in its attempt to reach Kufstein. At this, Napoleon demanded that Lefebvre mount a full-scale relief operation. On 11 May, Deroy relieved the 576-man garrison, which had held out for a month. With Wrede's and Deroy's divisions, Lefebvre routed Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles at the Battle of Wörgl on 13 May. Chasteler, who had been supporting the Tyrolean Rebellion, was soon after ordered to abandon the area.
  Innsbruck was occupied but Deroy's 3rd Division came under attack in the first of the Battles of Bergisel on 25 May 1809. Out of 4,000 soldiers and 12 guns, the Bavarians lost from 20 to 70 dead and from 100 to 150 wounded. The Austrians and Tyroleans under Andreas Hofer suffered 50 dead and 30 wounded. Discouraged by the lack of local support, the Tyroleans withdrew to the south. They returned to attack again on 29 May in the second battle. Deroy's 5,240 soldiers and 18 guns held their ground, losing 87 dead, 156 wounded, and 53 missing. The 1,200 Austrian regulars and 13,600 Tyroleans lost 90 dead and 160 wounded. Low on ammunition and food, Deroy evacuated Innsbruck on 30 May and retreated to Kufstein.
  After Napoleon's victory in the Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July, Lefebvre and Deroy reoccupied Innsbruck. In the third battle of Bergisel on 13 August, 18,000 Tyroleans sharply defeated Deroy's 3,000 troops. The Bavarians suffered 200 dead and 250 wounded while the irregulars lost 100 dead and 220 wounded. After taking hostages, Lefebvre ordered another retreat and the Tyrol was cleared of Bavarians by 18 August. On 17 October, the Tyroleans were surprised and badly beaten at Bodenbichl by General-Major Rechberg. After this, the three divisi
caption: Statue of Deroy at the Maximilianstraße in Munich by Johann Halbig
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