Battle of Hollabrunn ( 1809 ) The Battle of Hollabrunn was a rearguard action fought on 9 July 1809 by Austrian VI Korps of the " Kaiserlich - königliche Hauptarmee Hauptarmee " under Johann von Klenau against elements of the French IV Corps of the " Grande Armée d ' Allemagne " , under the command of André Masséna . The battle ended in favour of the Austrians , with Masséna forced to break off the combat and wait for his remaining divisions to reinforce him , but the French Marshal was able to gather crucial intelligence about the intentions of his enemy . Context and battle . The French victory at the Battle of Wagram on 6 July forced the commander of the " Kaiserlich - königliche Hauptarmee Hauptarmee " , the main Austrian army , Archduke Charles of Austria - Teschen , to retreat . In spite of the defeat , the retreat was orderly and very well handled . The French , commanded by Napoleon I , were initially unsure about the exact direction , with reports saying that the Austrians were retreating towards Bohemia , but it was still unclear whether they would retreat using the road to Brünn or the road to Znaim . Other reports from , sent by General Louis - Pierre Montbrun were indicating that the Austrians were actually retreating towards Moravia . Masséna sent scouts towards Krems and the district of Horn and was able to ascertain that the enemy was not retreating in that direction , but he was unable to conclude where they would retreat . It thus took the French a few days after the battle of Wagram , before they could gather enough intelligence to really understand where the Austrians were going . However , by 8 July , things began to calrify for Napoleon , mainly due to intelligence sent by Auguste de Marmont , commander of XI Corps and the significance of a series of combats fought by elements of Masséna ' s Corps against the VI Korps under Klenau . These combats , fought at Korneuburg and Stocerau allowed Masséna to inform Napoleon that a large Austrian force was indeed retreating towards Bohemia . Austrian commander Klenau , with an initial force of 18 , 000 men and 64 cannons had orders to delay the French pursuit . On 9 July , Klenau decided to make another stand , this time near Hollabrunn , around 55 kilometers northwest of Vienna . Following the initial skirmishes , Klenau ' s force was still 17 , 000 men strong and it now occupied a strong position . Opposite to him , Masséna only had under his immediate control General Claude Legrand ' s 1st division of IV Corps , the Corps cavalry under General Jacob François Marulaz and the cuirassier s from the 2nd heavy cavalry division of General Raymond - Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint - Sulpice . Masséna promptly engaged Klenau , while at the same time conducting a full reconnaissance of the battlefield , which enabled him to write to the Emperor and reconfirm that no Austrian regiments were heading towards Krems . Masséna ' s attacks were at first successful , but Klenau counterattacked and repulsed the French and then opposed staunch resistance to any further attacks . The outnumbered Masséna was forced to break off the combat and wait for his other three infantry divisions , knowing that Claude Carra Saint - Cyr ' s division would be able to rejoin him shortly , but that Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor ' s and Jean Boudet ' s were much too far off to be of any assistance . Aftermath . Battle losses are unknown and , although an Austrian victory , the battle of Hollabrunn did allow Masséna to write to Napoleon and report that he was on the right track following the Austrians , whose main body was retreating along the river Laa , a tributary of the Thaya . Johann von Klenau would later be awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa for his actions at the battle of Wagram and gallant rearguard actions after that battle . Meanwhile , Archduke Charles of Austria - Teschen regrouped a large force at Jetzeldorf , on the river Pulka river , but he later evacuated this position , after receiving intelligence that a French force was approaching Znaim from the east . The next major combat would be the one at Znaim , where the Austrians demanded an armistice .