Battle of Linz - Urfahr The Battle of Linz - Urfahr on 17 May 1809 saw soldiers from the Austrian Empire fighting against troops from two of Emperor Napoleon ' s allies , the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Kingdom of Saxony . An Austrian corps led by Feldzeugmeister Johann Kollowrat attacked General of Division Dominique Vandamme ' s Württembergers who held a fortified bridgehead on the north bank of the Danube opposite the city of Linz . As the combat got underway , Saxons led by Marshal Jean - Baptiste Bernadotte began reinforcing the defenders . This prompted Kollowrat to order a retreat , which was followed up by Napoleon ' s German allies . The Austrian commander - in - chief , Generalissimo Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen detached Kollowrat ' s III Armeekorps from the main army to guard Bohemia . Later , Charles directed his subordinate to threaten Napoleon ' s long and vulnerable supply line which followed the Danube valley . Accordingly , Kollowrat descended upon the Linz bridgehead , but the presence of a strong defending force thwarted his plans . The action was fought during the War of the Fifth Coalition , part of the Napoleonic Wars . Urfahr is part of the modern city of Linz , on the north bank of the Danube . Background . After his defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl on 21 and 22 April 1809 , Archduke Charles withdrew to the north bank of the Danube with 92 , 000 troops . Of these , the I Armeekorps numbered 28 , 000 , the II counted 20 , 000 , the III had 13 , 000 , the IV included 15 , 000 , the I Reserve mustered 12 , 000 , and General - major Josef Mayer ' s V Armeekorps brigade had 4 , 000 . Charles regrouped his army at Cham , which is just west of the Bohemian frontier . Convinced that his army was demoralized by its defeat , Charles gave up any thought of counterattacking Napoleon . Instead , he intended to retreat from Cham to Vienna via České Budějovice ( Budweis ) . For his part , Napoleon made up his mind to plunge forward on the south bank toward Austria ' s capital , Vienna . Consequently , the French emperor called off the brief pursuit by Marshal Louis - Nicolas Davout ' s III Corps and allowed Charles an untroubled retreat . At the outbreak of the war , Napoleon ordered Bernadotte to march the Saxon army , known as the IX Corps , to the Danube at Regensburg ( Ratisbon ) . Because this left the Kingdom of Saxony unprotected , Bernadotte evacuated the Saxon royal family and the military stores from Saxony ' s capital Dresden . By 20 April the Saxon troops were at Gera on the way south . Jerome Bonaparte was ordered to march his Kingdom of Westphalia army , named the X Corps , to hold Saxony . With the Saxon army at large , Archduke Charles worried that Bohemia might be overrun and decided to leave one army corps to defend the province . For this task , he chose the III Armeekorps with its 23 battalions and 15 squadrons . To this were added 23 badly - organized battalions of Bohemian landwehr . Kollowrat was appointed to lead the III Armeekorps , while Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern - Hechingen exchanged his old corps for Kollowrat ' s former II Armeekorps . On the south bank of the Danube , Napoleon ' s forces relentlessly pressed back the outnumbered Austrian left wing of Feldmarschall - Leutnant Johann von Hiller , which consisted of the V , VI , and II Reserve Armeekorps . After brutal fighting at the Battle of Ebelsberg on 3 May , the Franco - Allied army appeared before Vienna . After a perfunctory resistance , Archduke Maximilian of Austria - Este abandoned the Austrian capital which was handed over to the French early on 13 May . On 4 May , Vandamme and his VIII Corps reached Linz . He found General - major Joseph von Richter and an Austrian landwehr brigade opposite Linz on the Danube ' s north bank . Earlier in the campaign , this unit had assisted in the blockade of the Bavarian garrison of Passau . After Passau was relieved , Richter fell back on the north bank to Linz . Aggressively , Vandamme lined up his artillery on the south bank and began to bombard Richter ' s men . Under cover of the cannonading , the Württembergers crossed over in boats and attacked . Richter ' s poorly trained landwehr were overrun and most were captured . On the 6th , Bernadotte ' s Saxons reached Rötz near Cham in their march around the west side of Bohemia . Napoleon wanted the IX Corps to be at Passau on the 9th , with the possibility of being ordered from there to Linz . On 7 May , Archduke Charles left Budweis with his main army . He ordered Kollowrat to move from Plzeň ( Pilsen ) and guard his southern flank . On the 8th , the Austrian army commander ordered Kollowrat to menace the French supply line near Linz . Charles reunited with Hiller ' s wing on the north bank of the Danube on 16 May . Battle . Allied forces . Marshal Bernadotte was in overall command of the forces of Napoleon ' s German allies . The 12 , 000 - strong VIII Corps was composed of Württemberg troops and commanded by Vandamme . The corps was made up of one infantry division under General - Leutnant von Neubronn and one cavalry division led by General - Leutnant von Wöllworth . General - major von Franquemont ' s 1st Infantry Brigade included two battalions each of the " Crown Prince " and " Duke Wilhelm " Line Infantry Regiments and the 1st Battalion of the " Neubronn " Fusilier Regiment . The 2nd Infantry Brigade of General - major von Scharffenstein had two battalions each of the " Phull " and " Cammerer " Line Infantry Regiments and the 2nd Battalion of the " Neubronn " Fusiliers . General - major von Hügel ' s 3rd Brigade comprised the 1st " König " Jäger Battalion , 2nd " Neuffer " Jäger Battalion , 1st " Wolff " Light Battalion , and 2nd " Brüselle " Light Battalion . The 1st Cavalry Brigade of General - major von Röder included four squadrons each of the " Leib " and " Duke Heinrich " Chevau - léger Regiments . General - major von Stettner ' s 2nd Cavalry Brigade was made up four squadrons each of the " König " and " Duke Louis " Jäger zu Pferde Regiments . Oberst ( Colonel ) von Schnadow ' s corps artillery had 22 guns in three companies . The 1st Foot Company consisted of eight 6 - pound cannons and two 7 - inch howitzers . The 1st and 2nd Horse Companies each had four 6 - pound cannons and two 7 - inch howitzers . Of the Saxon IX Corps , only the 1st Division of General - Leutnant von Zeschwitz was engaged in the battle . General - major von Hartitsch ' s 1st Brigade included the " Leib " Grenadier Guard Battalion , " Bose " Grenadier Battalion , two battalions of the " König " Line Infantry Regiment , the 1st Battalion of the " Dyherrn " Line Infantry Regiment , and the " Metzsch " Light Infantry Battalion . The 2nd Brigade of General - major von Boxberg was made up of two battalions each of the " Prince Maximilien " , " Prince Frederick August " , and " Prince Anton " Line Infantry Regiments . General - major von Gutschmid ' s Cavalry Brigade consisted of one squadron of the " Prince Albert " Chevau - léger Regiment , three squadrons of the Hussar Regiment , four squadrons of the " Prince Clement " Chevau - léger Regiment , and two squadrons each of the " Garde du Corps " and Carabinier Regiments . Of these units , the " Metzsch " , " Prince Anton " , " Prince Clement " , " Garde du Corps " , and Carabiniers were not engaged . Also arriving too late was the 2nd Division of General - Leutnant von Polenz . Action . Carrying out his orders of 8 May , Kollowrat concentrated the III Armeekorps at Budweis on 13 May . To guard the city of Cheb ( Eger ) in western Bohemia , Kollowrat detached two line ( regular ) and 12 landwehr battalions . Moving south , the Austrians reached Neumarkt im Mühlkreis on the 16th . Kollowrat divided the III Armeekorps into three columns for the assault on the Linz bridgehead . He ordered two columns under Feldmarschall - Leutnants Hannibal Sommariva and Josef Philipp Vukassovich to attack the bridgehead from either side . He sent Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Xaver Saint - Julien with the third column toward Mauthausen in a feint attack to divert attention from the main blow . Kollowrat held back a powerful reserve force . Sommariva ' s Right Column consisted of three battalions of the " Wenzel Colloredo " Infantry Regiment Nr . 56 , one battalion of the " Peterwardeiner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 9 , the 5th Jäger Battalion , three battalions of the " Pilsen " Landwehr , two squadrons of the " Merveldt " Uhlan Regiment Nr . 1 , and 12 guns in two foot artillery batteries . Vukassovich commanded the Center Column . This body included three battalions each of the " Manfreddini " Infantry Regiment Nr . 12 and the " Schröder " Infantry Regiment Nr . 7 , two battalions of the " Wurzburg " Infantry Regiment Nr . 23 , one battalion of the " Peterwardeiner " Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr . 9 , the 6th Jäger Battalion , four squadrons each of the " Merveldt " Uhlan Regiment Nr . 1 and the " Hessen - Homburg " Hussar Regiment Nr . 4 , and 24 guns in four foot artillery batteries . Saint - Julien directed the Left Column . Of this force , only two squadrons of the " Hessen - Homburg " Hussar Regiment Nr . 4 were engaged . At 2 : 00 PM on 17 May , Kollowrat ' s attacks began . At that time , intelligence was received that Bernadotte ' s Saxons had arrived in Linz , having marched from Passau . Kollowrat immediately suspended the assault and determined to retreat . In fact , Bernadotte reached Linz at 7 : 00 AM that morning with his leading infantry and cavalry brigades . He crossed into the bridgehead in the afternoon and attacked the Austrian column on the east side , pushing it back with loss . Having disposed of Vukassovich , he turned on Sommariva on the west side and defeated his force as well . One notable feature of the fighting was a successful allied cavalry charge against an Austrian artillery battery on the Pfennigberg hill . The Württemberg " Duke Louis " Jäger zu Pferde Regiment and the Saxon Hussars overran the battery , capturing six guns . The Jägers were allowed to claim four of the captured pieces as prizes while the Hussars got the other two . One authority wrote that Bernadotte had no more than 10 , 000 troops available , while Kollowrat commanded over 20 , 000 . Historian Digby Smith stated that 15 , 000 Austrians and 36 guns were engaged against 6 , 000 Saxons and 12 , 000 Württembergers with 22 guns . Result . The Württembergers lost 35 killed , 228 wounded , and 40 missing , for a total of 303 . Saxon casualties numbered 88 , with seven killed , 74 wounded , and seven captured . The Austrians counted 49 killed , 263 wounded , 455 captured , and 124 missing , for a total of 891 . They also lost six guns and two ammunition wagons . Another authority lists Austrian losses as 883 and four guns . After his defeat , Kollowrat fell back first to Gallneukirchen to the northeast of Linz . Later his corps marched north to Freistadt . Archduke Charles failed to call the III Armeekorps to return to the main army north of Vienna and it missed the Battle of Aspern - Essling on 21 and 22 May . Around 26 May , Archduke Charles recalled the III Armeekorps to join the main army opposite Vienna . Following his instructions , Kollowrat left Sommariva ' s division at Freistadt to observe Linz while bringing his other two divisions to link up with Charles . To insure the safety of his communications , Napoleon ordered the fortifications at the Linz bridgehead to be improved . Leaving Vandamme ' s Württembergers behind , Bernadotte hurried to join Napoleon with his Saxons . In addition to Sommariva ' s force , Feldmarschall - Leutnant Emmanuel von Schustekh - Herve with 9 , 000 men and 13 guns had been hovering near Krems an der Donau since 10 May . At Villach on 17 May , Archduke John received orders to move against Napoleon ' s communications from the south . These instructions proved impossible to execute because Marshal Francois Joseph Lefebvre defeated Feldmarschall - Leutnant Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles on 13 May at the Battle of Wörgl . Instead , John recalled Chasteler and Feldmarschall - Leutnant Franz Jellacic from the Tyrol in the hope of adding their forces to his weakened army . As it happened , Jellacic ' s division was crushed at the Battle of Sankt Michael on 25 May and only remnants joined John . Chasteler escaped but never caught up with John ' s army in its operations against Eugene de Beauharnais ' French Army of Italy .