Battle of Neumarkt - Sankt Veit The Battle of Neumarkt - Sankt Veit on 24 April 1809 saw a Franco - Bavarian force led by Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières face an Austrian Empire army commanded by Johann von Hiller . Hiller ' s numerically superior force won a victory over the Allied troops , forcing Bessières to retreat to the west . Neumarkt - Sankt Veit is located ten kilometers north of Mühldorf and 33 kilometers southest of Landshut in Bavaria . On 10 April 1809 , Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen ' s surprise invasion of the Kingdom of Bavaria put the Grande Armée of Emperor Napoleon I of France at a disadvantage . On 19 April , Charles failed to take advantage of his opportunities and Napoleon struck back with savage force against the Austrian left wing under Hiller . After battles on 20 and 21 April , Hiller ' s troops were driven into a headlong retreat to the southeast . Having temporarily disposed of Hiller , Napoleon turned north with his main army against Archduke Charles . On 22 and 23 April , the Franco - Germans defeated Charles ' army and forced it to withdraw to the north bank of the Danube . Meanwhile , Napoleon sent Bessières to pursue the Austrian left wing with minor forces . Not knowing that Charles had been defeated , Hiller turned back upon his pursuer , defeating Bessières near Neumarkt - Sankt Veit . Once he found that he was alone on the south bank facing Napoleon ' s main army , Hiller retreated rapidly to the east in the direction of Vienna . Background . On 10 April 1809 , Archduke Charles invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria with 209 , 000 Austrian soldiers and 500 artillery pieces . A set of orders from Emperor Napoleon in Paris was transmitted poorly and misunderstood by Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier . By the time Napoleon arrived at the front on the 17th , his Franco - German army invited defeat in detail . On the morning of the 19th , Charles gained a position in which he might have severely punished Marshal Louis Davout ' s isolated III Corps . Instead , Davout escaped defeat in the hard - fought Battle of Teugen - Hausen . On 20 April , the Austrian left wing was strung - out on a 13 kilometer front behind the Abens River from Mainburg in the south to Biburg in the north . The left wing consisted of the V Armeekorps under Feldmarschall - Leutnant Archduke Louis of Austria , the VI Armeekorps led by Feldmarschall - Leutnant Hiller , the small II Reserve Armeekorps commanded by Feldmarschall - Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer , and a detachment from the III Armeekorps . In total , there were about 42 , 000 Austrians . Napoleon launched 55 , 000 troops at his enemies in the Battle of Abensberg , inflicting 6 , 710 casualties , and forcing them to retreat . In command of the left wing since his arrival that morning , Hiller elected to continue withdrawing southeast toward Landshut , thus separating Hiller ' s three corps from Archduke Charles ' main body near Regensburg . Napoleon beat Hiller again in the Battle of Landshut on 21 April , seizing a crossing over the Isar River and driving the Austrians farther to the southeast . Until 2 : 30 am on 22 April , Napoleon mistakenly believed that Hiller ' s three corps represented the main Austrian army . When he realized his error , he sent most of his troops marching north to crush Archduke Charles . On 22 April , the Franco - Germans defeated Charles at the Battle of Eckmühl and forced him to withdraw through Regensburg to the north bank of the Danube the following day . Napoleon instructed Bessières to pursue Hiller and placed him in charge of one reinforced cavalry division and two infantry divisions . The bulk of Hiller ' s force , numbering 27 , 000 to 28 , 000 troops , lay near Mühldorf and Neuötting on the Inn River at noon on 23 April . A 10 , 000 - strong division under Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Jellacic held Munich . Feldmarschall - Leutnant Dedovich ' s brigade from the IV Armeekorps , which had been blockading Passau , was assigned to Hiller ' s command and moved to Braunau am Inn . Hiller noticed that the French pursuit had slackened on the 22nd and 23rd and decided to counterattack . A letter from Emperor Francis I urging him to help defend Archduke Charles ' south flank strengthened the left wing commander ' s resolve . Neither the emperor nor Hiller realized that Charles had withdrawn to the north bank of the Danube . Battle . On the night of 22 April , Napoleon instructed Bessières to advance with Lieutenant General Karl Philipp von Wrede ' s Bavarian division from the VII Corps , General of Division Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor ' s French infantry division from the IV Corps , and General of Brigade Jacob François Marulaz ' s IV Corps cavalry division . The emperor planned for the pursuit to cross the Inn and capture Braunau am Inn . On the 24th , Napoleon ordered Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre , the commander of VII Corps , to take the division of Lieutenant General the Crown Prince of Bavaria to recapture Munich from Jellacic . If necessary , he could call on Lieutenant General Deroy ' s Bavarian division also . Bessières , with Wrede ' s division , reached Neumarkt - Sankt Veit on 22 April . From there he sent Marulaz to probe toward the Inn River . Late on 23 April , Hiller recrossed the Inn at Mühldorf and ordered Jellacic to advance from Munich toward Landshut . That day , Marulaz ' s advance guard marched southeast toward the Inn . A short distance north of Mühldorf at the village of Erharting , the 3rd Chasseurs à Cheval Regiment collided with Hiller ' s advance elements . The French horsemen were quickly driven back on two supporting units , the 19th Chasseurs à Cheval and an infantry battalion . Marulaz pulled back in the direction of Neumarkt - Sankt Veit . On the morning of 24 April , Hiller advanced in three columns . His right column of 12 infantry battalions and nine cavalry squadrons attacked Wrede at 8 : 00 am . The Bavarian general held high ground to the southeast of Neumarkt with 10 battalions and eight squadrons . On the far right , an advance guard under Joseph Radetzky von Radetz felt its way to the north toward Landau an der Isar . Hiller ' s center column struck Marulaz ' s position and drove the cavalry back . In addition to his own division , Marulaz had General of Brigade Charles Claude Jacquinot ' s light cavalry brigade from the III Corps attached . In the face of Austrian assaults , Wrede held his ground until noon . Seeing that the opposing flanking columns threatened to envelop his Bavarians , Bessières ordered a retreat about 1 : 00 pm . By this time , Molitor had arrived from Vilsbiburg and sent two regiments to cover Wrede ' s retreat while holding his other two regiments in reserve . Nevertheless , the Austrians continued to press the Bavarians hard and captured Neumarkt at about 3 : 00 pm . Wrede ' s soldiers suffered significant losses as they struggled across the Rott River . Once his enemies got across the Rott , which runs eastward into the Inn near Schärding , Hiller called off the battle . Bessières conducted an orderly retreat to Vilsbiburg . Result . Francis Loraine Petre gives Austrian casualties as 776 killed and wounded , plus 122 captured . He writes that Wrede lost 586 killed and wounded . Digby Smith lists 1 , 692 Bavarians killed and wounded , plus another 910 missing or captured . Smith notes that the Austrians lost 800 casualties . To Smith ' s total must be added Bessières ' reported losses of 200 among the cavalry . On the night of 24 April , Hiller got word of the defeat of Archduke Charles and immediately pulled back to Neuötting . Jellacic was unable to carry out his orders to threaten Landshut . He found out about Archduke Charles ' defeat and evacuated Munich on the evening of the 23rd . When Jellacic got Hiller ' s orders of the 23rd , he tried to reoccupy Munich . Before he reached the Bavarian capital , he received new orders from Hiller instructing him to retreat to Salzburg . Eventually , General of Division Paul Grenier ' s corps from the Army of Italy crushed Jellacic ' s wandering division on 25 May at the Battle of Sankt Michael in Styria . When Napoleon received news of the Battle of Neumarkt , he sent Marshal Jean Lannes with a corps of 25 , 000 to support Bessières . By this time Hiller was in full retreat to the east . The French emperor directed André Masséna and the IV Corps to take the road to Passau , while Bessières and Lannes ( who now led the II Corps ) took a route farther south . The next major action was the Battle of Ebelsberg on 3 May . Order of Battle . Austrian forces . " Returns from 20 March 1809 , less detachments " < br > Left Wing : Feldmarschall - Leutnant Johann von Hiller French - Allied forces . " Returns from 16 April 1809 " < br > Provisional Corps : Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bessières