Battle of Günzburg The Battle of Günzburg on 9 October 1805 saw General of Division Jean - Pierre Firmin Malher ' s French division attempt to seize a crossing over the Danube River at Günzburg in the face of a Habsburg Austrian army led by Feldmarschall - Leutnant Karl Mack von Lieberich . Malher ' s division managed to capture a bridge and hold it against Austrian counterattacks . The battle occurred during the War of the Third Coalition , part of the larger Napoleonic Wars . After Mack ' s Austrian army invaded Bavaria , it found itself the target of a powerful offensive by the army of Emperor Napoleon I of France . When Napoleon ' s corps threatened to envelop Mack ' s army , the Austrian general unwisely held his ground near the city of Ulm . As the French armies blocked the Austrian retreat routes to the east , Mack attempted to move his army to the south bank of the Danube . After receiving orders to seize the Danube bridges , Marshal Michel Ney sent Malher to capture the crossing at Günzburg . Malher ' s main attack on two bridges failed in the face of a vigorous Austrian defense . However , a late - arriving French unit captured the eastern bridge that had just been rebuilt by the Austrians and was able to hold on to it until evening . Discouraged by the encounter , Mack ordered his soldiers to march back to Ulm which is 22 kilometers west - southwest of Günzburg . Background . War plans . Austria , defeated by France in the War of the Second Coalition and forced to accept a French client state in Italy , planned to take revenge . In November 1804 , Austria made a secret alliance with the Russian Empire whereby Austria ' s 235 , 000 soldiers would be supported by 115 , 000 Russian troops and financial backing from Great Britain . The head of the Austrian army , Feldmarschall Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen believed his soldiers were not ready for war , but the pro - war faction at the court of Emperor Francis I of Austria outmaneuvered him . Feldmarschall - Leutnant Karl Mack von Lieberich , who had the full confidence of the emperor , became largely responsible for developing Austria ' s war plan . Mack ' s strategy called for 120 , 000 troops in Italy commanded by Charles , 25 , 000 in the County of Tyrol under Archduke John of Austria , 70 , 000 in Bavaria under Feldmarschall - Leutnant Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria - Este , and 20 , 000 in reserve . Mack would accompany Ferdinand ' s force , which would be joined by a Russian army and attack across the Rhine River into France . Charles would sweep across Italy and invade southern France . It was hoped that the Kingdom of Prussia could be induced to join the coalition . Mack convinced Emperor Francis I that he should invade Bavaria first , while Charles marked time in Italy . The general believed that by the time Napoleon intervened in Bavaria , the Russian army would have arrived to help the Austrians . This erroneous assumption caused Mack and the war hawks to fall into " a comedy of errors " . Foreseeing trouble with Mack ' s plan , Charles talked the emperor into transferring 30 , 000 soldiers from Italy to Germany , but these troops would arrive too late to remedy the situation . Napoleon ' s Grande Armee numbered 219 , 000 soldiers and consisted of seven corps , the Reserve Cavalry , and the Imperial Guard . Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières led the 7 , 000 - strong Imperial Guard ; Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte commanded the 17 , 000 - man I Corps ; General of Division Auguste Marmont directed the 20 , 000 troops of the II Corps ; Marshal Louis Davout controlled 26 , 000 soldiers of the III Corps ; Marshal Soult led the 40 , 000 - strong IV Corps ; Marshal Jean Lannes had 18 , 000 men in the V Corps ; Marshal Michel Ney commanded the 24 , 000 soldiers of the VI Corps ; Marshal Pierre Augereau directed the 14 , 000 - man VII Corps . Marshal Joachim Murat led the Cavalry Reserve with 22 , 000 troopers in seven divisions , while the Artillery Reserve had 5 , 000 gunners . In the summer of 1805 , the Grande Armee lay in its camps on the English Channel . Napoleon planned for the Grand Armee to march to the Rhine , then execute a vast right wheel from the Rhine to the Danube , picking up his 25 , 000 Bavarian allies on the way . Meanwhile , Marshal Andre Massena with 50 , 000 troops would hold Archduke Charles in northern Italy , assisted by 20 , 000 reinforcements from central Italy led by General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr . Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune would remain on the northern coast of France with 30 , 000 soldiers . Napoleon issued his marching orders on 26 August . Operations . On 8 September , the army of Archduke Ferdinand invaded the Electorate of Bavaria , with a plan to defend the line of the Lech River . The Bavarian army acted according to its secret treaty with France and marched north to the Main River . Mack changed the plan on 12 September and insisted that the army continue to advance farther west to the Iller River . Ferdinand and the army chief of staff General - Major Anton Mayer von Heldensfeld both opposed the move and appealed to the emperor . Francis , however , upheld his favorite Mack and dismissed Mayer from his position . Relations between the archduke and Mack deteriorated to the point where the two communicated only in writing . On 24 September , Napoleon ' s corps began crossing the Rhine . Lannes corps and part of Murat ' s cavalry advanced directly east into the Black Forest to trick the Austrians into believing it to be the main attack . But the real attack was coming from the northwest , and on 2 October the line of corps acted like " a door swinging on its hinges " as the corps angled south , aiming for Ingolstadt and Donauwörth on the Danube . By 7 October , Napoleon ' s corps had reached the Danube and secured crossing points . When he became aware of the French threat , Mack made the questionable decision to stand at Ulm . To oppose the French , Mack organized his army into four corps under Feldmarschall - Leutnant Karl Philipp , Prince of Schwarzenberg with 28 infantry battalions and 30 cavalry squadrons , Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz von Werneck with 30 battalions and 24 squadrons , Feldmarschall - Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer with 19 battalions and 34 squadrons , and Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Jellacic with 15 , 000 in 16 battalions , six Jäger companies , and six squadrons . Schwarzenberg massed at Ulm , Werneck defended Günzburg , and Kienmayer held Ingolstadt . Meanwhile , Jellacic ' s troops held a line farther south near Biberach an der Riß where they were watching the Black Forest . Mack apparently made no preparations to defend the line of the Danube . Instead , he planned to strike at Napoleon ' s lines of communication stretching back to France . The French easily penetrated Kienmayer ' s outnumbered cordon defense of the Danube at Donauwörth . After a series of minor clashes , Kienmayer retreated southwest toward Munich via Aichach . Lannes , Murat , and Soult crossed the Danube near Donauworth . On 8 October , Lannes and Murat marched southwest and collided with Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Xavier Auffenberg ' s division in the Battle of Wertingen . The French crushed Auffenberg ' s isolated force and forced it back toward Ulm . On this day , Soult marched toward Aichach and Davout reached the Danube at Neuburg an der Donau , while Bernadotte and Marmont arrived at Ingolstadt . Ney marched to Donauwörth , but he never crossed the Danube and instead moved west to Giengen while following orders to proceed to Ulm . Napoleon judged that Mack would try to retreat through Augsburg or Landsberg am Lech and sent his corps to block those routes . He rejected the idea that the Austrians would cross to the Danube ' s north bank and attack his supply lines . In fact , that what exactly what Mack was contemplating . Battle . After the debacle at Wertingen , Mack gave up the idea of striking east along the south bank of the Danube . He instead decided to cross at Günzburg and march east on the north bank . At this time , Mack and Ferdinand deployed a significant part of their army on a line from Reisensburg , just east of Günzburg on the Danube , to Limbach which lies five kilometers to the southeast . General - Major Konstantin Ghilian Karl d ' Aspré commanded a force on the north bank designed to watch for the French and protect the bridges . Unknown to Mack , Ney ' s VI Corps received new instructions to seize a crossing at Günzburg . Ney told off Malher ' s 3rd Division to capture the bridges . Malher ' s 8 , 000 - man division included six battalions of the 27th , 50th , and 59th Line Infantry Regiments , three battalions of the 25th Light Infantry Regiment , and six artillery pieces . One of his brigade commanders was General of Brigade Mathieu Delabassé . For the attack , Malher split his force into three columns . The western column under Colonel Étienne Nicolas Lefol moved toward Leipheim but he abandoned the effort when the road led into a marsh ( now the Badesee Günzburg and Mooswaldsee ) . The central column led by General of Brigade Pierre - Louis Binet de Marcognet moved directly south toward the two main Günzburg bridges . Led by Delabassé , the 59th Regiment made up the eastern column which moved toward a bridge just east of the town . The bridge at Reisenburg was ignored . Marcognet ' s central column bumped into d ' Aspré ' s picket line . Alerted , the Austrians in Günzburg immediately destroyed the bridges . Trapped between the French and the now - unbridged river , d ' Aspré surrendered with 200 Tyrolean jägers and two cannons . Malher pressed on and attacked the town . Günzburg sits on high ground overlooking the Danube and an island in the stream . The island was crossed by two bridges . From the south bank , positions suitable for artillery dominate the low banks and the island . The soldiers of the " Archduke Charles " Infantry Regiment # 3 and 20 cannons laid down a deadly curtain of fire . Malher brought forward four cannons , but they were overwhelmed by Austrian counter - battery fire . After a futile effort to rebuild the bridges under fire , the French gave up and took cover . Despite the previous fighting , Mack persisted in his idea to cross to the north bank . Accordingly , he ordered Feldmarschall - Leutnant Ignaz Gyulai to take seven battalions and 14 squadrons to the eastern bridge . Mack directed Gyulai to repair the span , cross over , and form a bridgehead on the north bank . He intended that the army would cross to the north bank that night and operate there . The 7 , 000 - man Austrian force included four battalions of the " Kaunitz " Infantry Regiment # 20 , three battalions of the " Württemberg " Infantry Regiment # 38 , one battalion of the " Franz Jellacic " Infantry Regiment # 62 , one Jäger battalion , the Grenadier battalions of the " Stuart " , " Colloredo " , " Erbach " , and " Kaunitz " Infantry Regiments , four squadrons of the " Archduke Palatine " Hussar Regiment # 12 , two squadrons of the " Rosenberg " Chevau - léger Regiment # 6 , two squadrons of the " Schwarzenberg " Uhlan Regiment # 2 , and six artillery pieces . No sooner had Gyulai ' s men repaired the bridge , then the 59th Regiment appeared , hours behind schedule . In close order column , the French smashed through the Austrian defenders and seized the span . Austrian cavalry appeared and charged the 59th three times but the French formed square and drove off each attack . Malher concentrated his division to defend his newly acquired river crossing . As night fell , the French controlled both ends of the span . Ney ' s other two divisions were also busy on 9 October . General of Division Louis Henri Loison ' s 2nd Division of VI Corps captured the bridge at Elchingen , defeating the single Austrian regiment defending it . General of Division Pierre Dupont de l ' Etang ' s 1st Division advanced toward Ulm . Result . The Austrians lost six guns and 2 , 000 casualties including d ' Aspré captured and Major Franz Muller of the " Kaunitz " Regiment killed . Their losses fell heavily on the " Württemberg " Regiment . The French suffered 700 casualties including Colonel Gérard Lacuée of the 59th killed . With crossings at Günzburg and Elchingen controlled by the French , Mack gave up his plan to cross at Günzburg and ordered the army to retreat to Ulm . Mack later excused his mistake in instructing Gyulai to rebuild the bridge . He claimed that he was so aborbed in writing orders on the 9th that he did not notice the cannon fire . Ney reported to Napoleon that both Mack and Ferdinand had been at Günzburg on the 9th and suggested that a strong enemy force lay at Ulm . However , after interviewing his prisoner d ' Aspré , Ney concluded that the Austrians were retreating to Biberach . Napoleon then ordered Ney to attack Ulm , not understanding that he was sending a single corps against the entire Austrian army . The next action was the Battle of Haslach - Jungingen on 11 October . External references . " These are excellent sources for the full names and ranks of Austrian and French generals . "