Battle of Graz The Battle of Graz took place on 24 – 26 June 1809 between an Austrian corps commanded by Ignaz Gyulai and a French division led by Jean - Baptiste Broussier . The French were soon reinforced by a corps under Auguste Marmont . The battle is considered a French victory though Gyulai was successful in getting supplies to the Austrian garrison of Graz before the two French forces drove him away from the city . Graz , Austria is located 145 kilometers south - southwest of Vienna at the intersection of the modern A2 and A9 highways . Before the Battle of Raab on 14 June , the Franco - Italian army left Broussier ' s division in its rear to besiege an Austrian garrison in the Graz citadel . When Gyulai ' s force appeared before the town in late June , Broussier retreated , allowing the Austrians to resupply the garrison . On the night of 25 June , Broussier sent two unsupported battalions of the 84th Line Infantry Regiment against the town . Surrounded by a greatly superior force of Austrians , the French stubbornly defended their position until the next afternoon , then broke out of the encirclement . The 84th was soon joined by Auguste Marmont ' s newly arrived French corps . Marmont then attacked and forced Gyulai to retreat from Graz . The castle hill , however , remained in possession of its Austrian garrison . Shortly afterward , Emperor Napoleon I summoned both Marmont and Broussier to march to Vienna where both participated in the climactic Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July . In recognition of its heroic action , the 84th was allowed to inscribe UN CONTRE DIX ( " One Against Ten " ) on its colors . Background . Situation after Piave River . On 8 May 1809 , the Viceroy of Italy , Eugène de Beauharnais and his Franco - Italian army defeated General der Kavallerie Archduke John of Austria at the Battle of Piave River . After the battle , John made the decision to split his army into two parts . He took the troops of Feldmarschall - Leutnants Albert Gyulai and Johann Frimont northeast to Villach and sent Ignaz Gyulai and the IX Armeekorps east toward Ljubljana ( Laibach ) . This dispersal of the available Austrian military units made Eugène ' s subsequent invasion of Inner Austria considerably easier . John ' s purpose in sending Ignaz Gyulai to Carniola was to raise the Croatian Feudal Ban , which Gyulai in his capacity as the Ban of Croatia , had the authority to call . On 15 May , the troops reporting to Archduke John were distributed as follows . On the left flank , Eugène retained the 25 , 000 soldiers from the corps of Generals of Division Paul Grenier and Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers , the Royal Italian Guard , and the cavalry of Generals of Division Emmanuel Grouchy and Louis - Michel Sahuc . On the right flank , General of Division Jacques MacDonald led two infantry divisions and General of Division Charles Randon de Pully ' s cavalry , altogether 14 , 000 troops . General of Division Jean - Baptiste Rusca commanded a flank guard that marched on Eugène ' s left . Operations . Eugène captured two border forts and defeated Albert Gyulai at the Battle of Tarvis from 15 to 18 May . Archduke John retreated from Villach toward Graz where he arrived on 24 May . The next day , Grenier ' s two divisions crushed Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Jellacic ' s division in the Battle of Sankt Michael . Only 2 , 000 of Jellacic ' s troops managed to join John at Graz . The rest were killed or captured . On 26 May , Eugène reached Bruck an der Mur and established contact with Napoleon ' s main army which had occupied Vienna on 13 May . MacDonald occupied Ljubljana on 23 May , capturing 7 , 000 muskets , 71 artillery pieces , and large supplies of food and munitions . Another French column occupied Trieste , seizing 22 , 000 British - supplied muskets intended for the use of the Hungarian and Croatian militia . Ordered to move closer to Eugène , MacDonald marched northeast to Maribor ( Marburg an der Drau ) where he met Grouchy and a cavalry - infantry force . The two then moved north to Graz , arriving on 29 May . As MacDonald and Grouchy approached Graz , Archduke John withdrew to Körmend in Hungary , leaving a garrison on the Graz Schlossberg ( castle hill ) . At this time Ignaz Gyulai ' s corps lay at Zagreb ( Agram ) while Archduke Joseph , Palatine of Hungary collected about 10 , 000 Hungarian " Insurrections " militia at Győr ( Raab ) . MacDonald came to an understanding with Graz ' s Austrian commander . According to the terms , the Austrians evacuated Graz and pulled back into the citadel , allowing the French to occupy the city . If the French wished to attack the fortress , they would do so from outside the city . On the city side of the fortress , a truce prevailed . In a series of clashes in mid - May , Marmont ' s XI Corps fought its way north in the Dalmatian Campaign , capturing Stoichevich and mauling his command . The XI Corps reached Fiume on 28 May and Ljubljana on 3 June . At the latter place , Marmont paused because Gyulai ' s force was located to the east at Zagreb while Chasteler ' s force from the Tyrol was at large to the north . The survivors of Stoichevich ' s column joined Gyulai at Zagreb . Fearful that Chasteler and Gyulai would combine with Archduke John , Eugène ordered a concentration so that he might defeat John before the other two columns could arrive . Accordingly , he drew together forces under Grenier , Baraguey d ' Hilliers , and Grouchy . MacDonald left Broussier ' s division to continue the siege of Graz and hurried to join Eugène . Aware that Eugène ' s forces were becoming a danger , Archduke John fell back to the northeast toward Győr to join Archduke Joseph ' s Hungarian levies . Retreating from the Tyrol with 4 , 000 to 5 , 000 troops , Chasteler appeared at Klagenfurt on 9 June . After being repulsed by Rusca , Chasteler slipped past the French and continued on to Maribor . Napoleon ordered Marmont to march to Graz in case Gyulai and Chasteler moved against Broussier . Chasteler briefly joined Gyulai before separating again in a futile effort to catch up with John ' s army . On 14 June , Eugène defeated Archduke John ' s army at the Battle of Raab . John retreated to Komárno on the north bank of the Danube . Covered by Eugène ' s army , General of Division Jacques Lauriston besieged the fortress of Győr and captured it on 23 June . Battle . Ignaz Gyulai marched north from Zagreb , reaching Maibor on 15 June . His goal was to bring food and munitions to the besieged garrison of Graz . Marmont arrived at Celje ( Cilly ) on 19 June . Gyulai feinted to the west , then took the direct road north to Graz via the Mur River valley . Reacting to his opponent ' s move , Marmont bent his march to the west through Dravograd ( Unterdrauberg ) . On 24 June , Gyulai ' s advance guard clashed with Broussier at Karlsdorf south of Graz . A battalion of the " Franz Karl " Infantry Regiment , a landwehr battalion , two companies of Grenzers , and four squadrons of cavalry confronted five French battalions supported by six artillery pieces . The " Frimont " Hussars drove back one battalion of the 9th Line Infantry Regiment . The French had the better of the encounter when the untried soldiers of the " Massal " Austrian landwehr took to their heels . Broussier raised the blockade of the citadel on the 24th and fell back toward Marmont . On 25 June , Gyulai resupplied the garrison of the castle . That day , Broussier sent two battalions of the 84th Line Infantry Regiment into Graz . The column was without support from the rest of his division . At 10 pm Colonel Jean Hugues Gambin led 1 , 200 soldiers and two cannons into Graz ' s outskirts and rapidly seized 450 surprised Austrian as prisoners . Continuing into Graz , the 84th bumped into an Austrian strongpoint at the Saint Leonhard Church and its nearby cemetery . The French bagged another 125 captives by attacking the place from both front and rear . Becoming aware that he was surrounded by greatly superior forces , Gambin organized a defensive position in the walled cemetery while his " voltiguer " ( light ) companies picketed the nearby streets . At first light , the Austrians began assaulting the trapped Frenchmen , sending attack after attack against the cemetery . One charge broke into the church and liberated all the prisoners . Another thrust by the " Simbschen " Infantry managed to force its way into the cemetery and haul away one of the two cannons before being driven off . When the attackers seized an eagle , a much - decorated French sergeant waded into a group of Austrians and retook it . There were many other acts of heroism during the 16 - hour defense of the position . Finally , the 84th began to run low on ammunition . Sometime after 1 : 00 pm on 26 June , Gambin organized and led a last - gasp charge which burst out of the encirclement . The French managed to save their eagles and their one remaining cannon . As they withdrew , they met Marmont ' s relief column which was marching toward the sound of battle . Immediately , the XI Corps stormed into Graz , smashing down Austrian resistance and ejecting Gyulai ' s corps from the town . The attackers then ran amok , killing numbers of Austrian wounded and prisoners . Aftermath . During its inspired defense , the 84th Line lost three officers and 31 men killed , 12 officers and 192 men wounded , and 40 captured . Their attackers suffered an estimated 500 killed and wounded . Altogether , Gyulai ' s corps lost 2 , 000 casualties before retreating southeast to Gnas . Marmont set off after Gyulai until 29 May , when he received new orders to join Napoleon at Vienna . Digby Smith gives French losses as 400 killed and wounded , and 500 captured , while numbering Austrian casualties as 164 dead and 816 wounded , captured , and missing . Despite the victory , Napoleon remarked to Eugène , " Marmont has manouvered badly enough ; Broussier still worse . " He believed that Marmont should have been at Graz by 23 or 24 July and that Gyulai had scared Broussier away from the city . Not only Marmont , but Broussier , Eugene , and other outlying elements of the French emperor ' s armies were called upon to march immediately to Vienna where they fought in the climactic Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July 1809 . Napoleon was angry with Broussier for sending two battalions against an entire corps . However , the 84th Line ' s epic defense pleased him and when Broussier ' s division arrived at Vienna , the emperor awarded 84 crosses of the Legion d ' honneur to deserving officers and soldiers of the regiment . Napoleon made Colonel Gambin a Count of the Empire and allowed the 84th Line Infantry Regiment to inscribe UN CONTRE DIX ( " One Against Ten " ) on its colors . Order of Battle . French forces . The French forces that fought at Graz were organized on 5 July 1809 as follows . Austrian forces . On 15 May , Gyulai ' s and Stoichevich ' s forces were organized as follows .