Battle of Raab The Battle of Raab ( in Hungarian " Győri csata " ) was fought on 14 June 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars , between Franco - Italian forces and Austrian forces . The battle was fought near Győr ( Raab ) in Hungary and ended in a Franco - Italian victory . The victory prevented Archduke John of Austria from bringing any significant force to the Battle of Wagram , while Prince Eugène de Beauharnais ’ s force was able to link up with Emperor Napoleon at Vienna in time to fight at Wagram . Napoleon referred to the battle as " a granddaughter of Marengo and Friedland , " as it fell on the anniversary of those two battles . Campaign . Early moves . During the 1809 campaign in Italy , Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais led the Franco - Italian army while General der Kavallerie Archduke John of Austria commanded the Austrian army . At the outbreak of war , John moved rapidly to defeat his opponent at the Battle of Sacile on 16 April . This victory drove Eugène back to the Adige River . The front remained static for a few weeks despite attacks by Eugène in the Battle of Caldiero . Meanwhile , an Austrian force bottled up the corps of General of Division Auguste Marmont in Dalmatia . After the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl , John received orders to retreat in order to cover the strategic left flank of the army in southern Germany . Austrian retreat . John fought Eugène in a tough rearguard action at the Battle of Piave River on 8 May . Up to this moment , John and his soldiers had fought well . Now , John probably committed a serious blunder by splitting up his command . With the main army he fell back to the northeast . By the second week of May , John and Feldmarschallleutnant Albert Gyulai stood at Tarvisio with 8 , 340 troops . Feldmarschallleutnant Johann Maria Philipp Frimont ' s 13 , 060 - man Mobile Force lay at nearby Villach . Feldmarschallleutnant Ignaz Gyulai with 14 , 880 men of the IX Armeekorps defended the Ljubljana ( Laibach ) area to the southeast of Villach . Far to the west - northwest , Feldmarschallleutnant Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles and 17 , 460 soldiers of the VIII Armeekorps held the region around Innsbruck . Feldmarschallleutnant Franjo Jelačić and the 10 , 200 - strong Northern Division was stationed at Salzburg to the northwest . Finally , General - major Andreas von Stoichewich ' s 8 , 100 men continued to pin Marmont in Dalmatia to the south of Ljubljana . By this time a large proportion of John ' s forces was made up of hastily raised landwehr infantry . On 13 May , Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre and a Bavarian army wrecked part of Chasteler ' s corps at the Battle of Wörgl near Innsbruck . On 17 May , John received orders to cut the communications of Emperor Napoleon ' s Grand Army by moving north . However , the archduke delayed too long in carrying out this assignment . Though badly isolated , Jelačić remained near Salzburg until 19 May . When he finally got moving it was too late . A French corps under General of Division Paul Grenier cut the Northern Division to pieces at the Battle of Sankt Michael on 25 May . John pulled back to Graz , but when he heard of Jelačić ' s disaster , he decided to retreat east into Hungary . During May , small Grenz infantry forces heroically defended the mountain passes during the Battle of Tarvis . At Malborghetto Valbruna , 400 soldiers held a blockhouse against 15 , 000 Frenchmen between 15 and 17 May and only 50 men survived . The French admitted only 80 casualties . At the Predil Pass blockhouse , 250 Austrians and 8 cannon held off 8 , 500 French soldiers for three days . On 18 May , when the position was finally overrun , the Grenzers were killed to a man . The French admitted suffering 450 casualties . At Tarvisio ( Tarvis ) itself , Eugène inflicted a serious defeat on Albert Gyulai ' s outnumbered division . In mid - May , Marmont defeated Stoichewich ' s forces in the Dalmatian Campaign . He moved north in a fighting advance , arriving at Ljubljana on 3 June . Marmont then combined with General of Division Jean - Baptiste Broussier and fought Ignaz Gyulai ' s Austrians in the Battle of Graz from 24 to 26 June . His 11 , 000 XI Corps soldiers , plus Broussier , force - marched to join Napoleon near Vienna and fought at the Battle of Wagram . John joined with the Hungarian Insurrection forces ( militia ) at Győr ( Raab ) . He intended to cross to the north bank of the Danube and move northwest through Bratislava ( Pressburg ) to unite with the main army , which was commanded by his brother Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen , Generalissimo of the Austrian armies . Napoleon ordered Eugène to pursue and destroy John ' s army . The Franco - Italian troops caught up with the Austrians in mid - June and forced John to give battle . Battle . Franco - Italian Army . Army of Italy : Prince Eugène de Beauharnais ( 39 , 902 , 42 guns ) Key Plans . Though John ' s 35 , 000 - man army was only a little less numerous than Eugène ' s 40 , 000 soldiers , the quality of his soldiers was markedly inferior . Many thousands of the Habsburg troops were poorly trained Austrian landwehr ( 19 , 000 men ) and Hungarian insurrection militia ( 16 , 000 men ) . The archduke knew this and planned to fight a defensive battle in a strong position . Feldmarschall Archduke Joseph , Palatine of Hungary outranked John and was present on the field , but John exercised effective command of the army . John drew up his army behind the Pándzsa stream , facing generally west . The Pándzsa ran roughly from south to north across his front , emptying into the Raab River to the north . In the vicinity of the battlefield , the Raab ran from west to east , protecting John ' s north flank . The fortress of Győr was on the south side of the river a short distance to the northeast . John hoped the marshy banks of the Páncza to the south would discourage a French envelopment from that direction . The enclosed and stoutly - built Kis - Megyer farm stood on the east bank of the Páncza . Just east of Kis - Megyer farm rose Szabadhegy hill . On the hill ' s north side lay Szabadhegy hamlet . John deployed FML Mécsery ' s 5 , 947 cavalry to defend his left flank behind the Pándzsa . He turned Kis - Megyer into a major strongpoint by packing FML Colloredo ' s 7 , 778 infantry into the farm and its environs . Jelačić ' s 7 , 517 soldiers defended the right flank in front of Szabadhegy hamlet . FML Frimont ' s 7 , 863 - man reserve stood on Szabadhegy hill . Oberst Bésán ' s 1 , 546 horsemen held the ground between Jelačić ' s right and the Raab River . FZM Davidovich held some field works on the north side of the river with about 4 , 000 Hungarian militia . Eugène took MG Grouchy from his corps command and reassigned him to command the 5 , 371 troopers in the cavalry divisions of MG Montbrun , BG Guèrin , and BG Colbert . These were posted on the right ( south ) flank with the intention of turning John ' s left flank . Eugène ordered Grenier to assault the Austrian center with the 15 , 662 men of his two divisions . MG d ' Hilliers was instructed to attack the Austrian right with his single division of 8 , 315 soldiers . Eugène held the troops from Grouchy ' s corps in reserve , MG Pacthod ' s 5 , 166 - foot soldiers and MG Sahuc ' s 1 , 280 cavalry . He also kept back MG Pully ' s 1 , 470 dragoons and MG Lechi ' s 2 , 438 Italian Guards . Fighting . In the first rush , MG Durutte ' s troops stormed across the Pándzsa and seized Kis - Megyer farm , but the Austrians quickly took it back . In bitter fighting , the farm changed hands five times . Finally , John committed GM Kleinmeyer ' s powerful brigade . Four grenadier battalions and the soldiers of the " Alvinczi " Infantry Regiment # 19 pushed back MG Seras ' troops , then fell upon Durutte ' s division near the farm . Meanwhile , MG Severoli ' s division pushed back Jelačić and took part of Szabadhegy hamlet . John sent GM Gajoli ' s brigade from the reserve to deal with this threat . The Austrian counterattack succeeded in panicking the soldiers of Grenier and d ' Hilliers . They abandoned their gains and ran back to the west side of the Pándzsa and safety . Deducing that the three Austrian cannon defended the best crossing point over the Pándzsa , Grouchy ordered up his 12 guns . French cannon fire soon silenced the opposing artillery pieces , allowing Grouchy ' s horsemen to begin fording the stream . When the French cavalry charged , covered by a cannonade , the Insurrections Hussars soon took flight . Only the " Ott " Hussar Regiment # 7 and the " Archduke Joseph " Hussar Regiment # 2 put up serious resistance and both units suffered heavy losses . Grouchy wheeled his troopers to the left to roll up John ' s left flank . Faced with a crisis , John redeployed his units in an L - shaped line . His right flank still ran along the Pándzsa , but at Kis - Megyer farm , the line bent to face south along the Szabadhegy hill . John sent Bésán ' s horsemen from the right flank to cover the new left flank on the east side of Szabadhegy hill . For his second assault , Eugène sent in Pacthod ' s division and Lechi ' s Italian Guards from his reserve . The second infantry attack slowly made headway . Finally , the Italian Guard cleared Kis - Megyer farm . John , fearing envelopment from Grouchy ' s cavalry , ordered a retreat northeast into Győr fortress . Results . The Franco - Italians suffered 4 , 000 killed and wounded . The Austrians lost 747 killed , 1 , 758 wounded , and 2 , 408 captured for a total of 4 , 913 casualties . There were also 1 , 322 soldiers reported missing , giving a total of 6 , 235 men subtracted from John ' s army . John ' s army retreated northeast to Komárno , leaving a garrison in Győr . The fortress surrendered on 22 June with 2 , 500 soldiers after a weak resistance . One historian writes , Archduke John now reaped the dubious fruits of his incredibly ill - advised policy of breaking up his army after the Battle of Piave River . This defeat foiled any hopes that Archduke John would be able to bring any significant forces to help in the epic struggle against Napoleon at Wagram on 5 and 6 July . Eugène soon joined Napoleon with 23 , 000 soldiers . While these men fought at the Battle of Wagram , John was only able to bring 12 , 000 men to that field and he intervened too late to have any effect .