Dalmatian Campaign ( 1809 ) The Dalmatian Campaign saw several battles fought between 30 April and 21 May 1809 by Auguste Marmont ' s First French Empire soldiers and Andreas von Stoichevich ' s Austrian Empire troops . The Austrians drove the French from their positions on the Zrmanja River at the end of April . But in mid - May , the French counterattack forced back the Austrians . The defenders offered stout resistance , but ultimately Marmont broke out of Dalmatia and joined Emperor Napoleon ' s army near Vienna with over 10 , 000 men . The campaign was fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition , part of the Napoleonic Wars . Dalmatia is part of the modern - day nation of Croatia . At the beginning of the conflict , the Austrians thrust across the Zrmanja and forced the French back to the fortified cities . After the Austrian defeat and subsequent retreat from Italy of the army of Archduke John of Austria , Marmont launched his own offensive . The French beat the Austrians at Pribudić , capturing Stoichevich , and moved north . Two more actions were fought at Gračac on 17 May and Gospić on 21 May before Marmont reached Ljubljana ( Laibach ) in Carniola . Continuing north , the French general fought in the Battle of Graz on 25 and 26 June and in the decisive Battle of Wagram on 5 and 6 July . Background . On the outbreak of war in April 1809 , the major forces in the Italian theater were the Franco - Italian army of the Viceroy of Italy , Eugène de Beauharnais and the Austrian army of " General der Kavallerie " Archduke John of Austria . In addition , General of Division Marmont commanded a French corps in occupation of Dalmatia . At the end of the War of the Third Coalition on 26 December 1805 , the Treaty of Pressburg awarded the former Austrian provinces of Istria and Dalmatia to the French puppet Kingdom of Italy . Since that time , Marmont had administered the region . Because Marmont ' s troops had trained with the " Grande Armée " at the " Camp de Boulogne " ( as the old II Corps ) and missed the bloody battles of the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon considered the unit his " finest corps " . Marmont ' s so - called Army of Dalmatia consisted of two infantry divisions commanded by Generals of Division Joseph Hélie Désiré Perruquet de Montrichard and Bertrand Clausel . Montrichand ' s 1st Division consisted of the brigades of Colonel Jean Louis Soye and General of Brigade Jean Marie Auguste Aulnay de Launay , plus the 9th company of the 2nd Foot Artillery Regiment , with six 6 - pound cannons . Soye ' s brigade included the 18th Light and 5th Line Infantry Regiments . De Launay ' s brigade was made up of the 79th and 81st Line Infantry Regiments . Clausel ' s 2nd Division comprised the brigades of Generals of Brigade Alexis Joseph Delzons and Gilbert Désiré Joseph Bachelu . The divisional artillery included the 3rd and 9th companies of the 8th Foot Artillery Regiment , with six 6 - pound cannons and two 5 - inch howitzers in each company for a total of 16 guns . Delzons led the 8th Light and 23rd Line Infantry Regiments and Bachelu directed the 11th Line Infantry Regiment . The 11th Line had three battalions , while the other regiments only had two battalions each . Average battalion strength was approximately 700 . The Army of Dalmatia was provided with an especially powerful artillery contingent of 78 guns led by General of Brigade Louis Tirlet . The large corps artillery reserve included the 7th , 8th , 9th , 14th , and 15th companies of the 1st Italian Artillery Regiment , six 6 - pound cannons each . The 10th company of the 7th Foot Artillery Regiment had six 12 - pound cannons and the 2nd company of the 2nd Foot Artillery Regiment had six 12 - pound cannons and two 5 - inch howitzers . The 14th and 15th companies of the 2nd Foot Artillery Regiment each consisted of six 6 - pound cannons . The 3rd squadron of the 24th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment completed the corps . Marmont ' s chief of staff was General of Brigade Jacques - Antoine - Adrien Delort . To oppose Marmont , Archduke John detached " General - Major " Stoichevich ' s brigade from its original place in " Feldmarschallleutnant " Vinzenz Knežević von Szent - Helena ' s 3rd Division of " Feldmarschallleutnant " Ignaz Gyulai ' s IX Armeekorps . On 15 May , Stoichevich commanded about 8 , 100 troops , including roughly 7 , 740 infantry , 120 infantry , and 240 artillerists . The Austrian regular infantry consisted of two battalions each of the " Liccaner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 1 , two battalions of the " Warasdiner Szent - George " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 6 , one battalion of the 1st " Deutsch Banat " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 12 , and the 4th Garrison Battalion . Other troops included one squadron of the " Hohenzollern " Chevau - léger Regiment , four battalions of the " Karlstadt " Landwehr , a 3 - pound Grenz brigade battery of eight cannons , and a 6 - pound position battery of six guns . An alternate order of battle for the Austrians lists three battalions of the " Liccaner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 1 , one battalion of the " Ottocaner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 2 , one battalion of the " Oguliner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 3 , one battalion of the " Szluiner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 4 , two battalions of the " 1st Banal " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 10 , one squadron of the " Hohenzollern " Chevau - léger Regiment , one squadron of the " Serezaner " cavalry , one position battery of six guns , and one brigade battery of 12 3 - pound cannons . Campaign . Combat of Zrmanja River . Though outnumbered by their adversaries , the Austrians won the opening round of the campaign . Between 26 and 30 April , Stoichevich mounted a series of attacks on the Zrmanja River crossings of Ervenik , Kaštel Žegarski , Obrovac , Vagic , and Kravli Most . Fighting in a rainstorm , the Austrian grenzers drove the French from a mountaintop position on 30 April . During the retreat , the civilian population joined in harassing the French . The widely dispersed French forces were driven back to Knin ( Kürn ) and Zadar ( Zara ) . For a loss of 250 casualties , Stoichevich inflicted losses of 1 , 000 dead and wounded on the French , while capturing 200 enemy soldiers . For two weeks the front line stabilized , with the Austrians unable to capture Knin . Meanwhile , Bosnian and Ottoman Turk irregulars began attacking the Austrians . Hearing of the defeat of Archduke John at the Battle of Piave River on 8 May and the French eastward advance toward Laibach , Stoichevich prepared to withdraw . On 15 May , " Hauptmann " ( captain ) Hrabovszky led 150 men from the " Szluiner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 4 and the " Dalmatian " Freikorps in a highly successful night raid against Delzons ' brigade . For negligible losses , the Austrians claimed to have killed 100 Frenchmen in an attack on the village of Stara Straza , northwest of Knin . In addition , they captured 200 enemy soldiers , 700 sheep , and 34 oxen . Combat of Pribudić . On 16 May , Marmont inflicted a sharp defeat on the Austrians at Pribudić , which is northwest of Knin . While a holding force of French skirmishers and artillery probed at a well - defended mountaintop position , Marmont sent the 23rd Line to strike the Austrian flank . The attack succeeded in overrunning the Austrian defenses . Of 13 , 000 soldiers on the field , the French suffered few casualties . Out of 9 , 000 men , the Austrians suffered losses of 200 dead , 500 wounded , and between 300 and 600 captured , including Stoichevich . Two sources located the battle at Pribudić , while a third associated the battle with both Mount Kita , south of Gračac , and Golubić , north of Knin . The next day , the two sides clashed at Gračac . In this action , Marmont admitted losing 300 dead , without reporting other losses . The Austrians , now commanded by " Oberst " ( colonel ) Matthias Rebrovich , reported losing 300 killed and wounded before retreating toward Gospić . Gračac is about northwest of Knin . Combat of Gospić . On 21 May , Marmont located Rebrovich ' s forces deployed behind the Lika River near Gospić . Holding back one of his divisions as a reserve , he sent the other into a trans - riverine attack . To open the action , the French " voltiguer " ( light infantry ) companies waded across the river at a ford under fire . Taking possession of the bluffs on the far side , they fought off repeated Austrian assaults . The French fed reinforcements into a bridgehead that was commanded by 12 Austrian guns . To counter the enemy ' s local superiority in artillery , the French formed in a single line with three - pace gaps between men . The skirmish line was backed by groups of ten men , each led by an officer . Mule - carried mountain howitzers were brought up to provide fire support . Noting that the Austrians fought in three disconnected forces , Marmont hurled his main blow at Rebrovich ' s center . Although , one battalion of the 81st Line suffered heavy losses from the Austrian bombardment , the French began to prevail . An attack by the 18th Light stormed the enemy battery , capturing five cannons . As the Austrian center retreated hastily , Marmont turned against the enemy wings and threw them back also . The French lost 134 dead , 600 wounded , and 270 captured out of the 11 , 000 men engaged in this tough fight . Both Soye and de Launay were wounded . The Austrians admitted losing 64 dead , 500 wounded , 200 captured , and two guns . Historian Digby Smith called the action an Austrian victory , though this appears to contradict the narrative of James R . Arnold , which strongly implied a French triumph . Result . Historian Francis Loraine Petre suggested that only " remnants " of Rebrovich ' s command joined with Ignaz Gyulai near Zagreb ( Agram ) at the beginning of June 1809 . Robert M . Epstein stated that Stoichevich ' s command was badly mauled in the campaign . After taking Gospić , Marmont continued northward and reached Trieste on 28 May and Ljubljana ( Laibach ) on 3 June . On 26 June , Marmont ' s corps intervened in the Battle of Graz , joining with General of Division Jean - Baptiste Broussier to drive Gyulai ' s men to the east . After pursuing the Austrians for two days , he received orders on the 29th to proceed to Vienna at once by forced marches . Despite the victory , Napoleon remarked to Eugene , " Marmont has manouvered badly enough ; Broussier still worse . " He believed that Marmont should have been at Graz by 23 or 24 June . Not only Marmont , but Broussier , Eugene and other outlying elements of the French emperor ' s armies were called upon to march to Vienna . The climactic Battle of Wagram was fought on 5 and 6 July 1809 . By the time of Wagram , Marmont ' s Army of Dalmatia was renamed the XI Corps . After Wagram , Napoleon cross - examined Marmont about the Dalmatian campaign . He then criticized the general ' s actions for two hours . Wrung out by the experience , Marmont returned to his tent . To his surprise , he later found that he had been nominated for promotion to Marshal of France . But Napoleon also sent him a letter noting that , " Between ourselves , you have not yet done enough to justify entirely my choice . " Three men became marshal after Wagram . Of the three , the soldiers composed a ditty , MacDonald is France ' s choice < br > Oudinot is the army ' s choice < br > Marmont is friendship ' s choice .