Battle of Ratisbon The Battle of Ratisbon , also called the Battle of Regensburg , of the Napoleonic Wars was fought on the 23 April 1809 between the army of the First French Empire , led by Napoleon I , and that of the Austrian Empire , led by Archduke Charles . Scene of the last engagement of the Bavaria phase of the campaign of 1809 , the brief defense of the city and installation of a pontoon bridge to the east enabled the retreating Austrian army to escape into Bohemia . During the assault , Marshal Jean Lannes led his troops up ladders onto the walls , and Napoleon was wounded in his ankle by a small artillery round . The shot had been fired at great distance and did not severely hurt the Emperor , but caused a contusion . Prelude . Following his victory at Eckmühl on 22 April Napoleon summoned his first ever council of war , which decided to halt the army about 18 kilometers south of the city of Ratisbon ( which the Austrians had captured two days earlier ) . That night , the main Austrian army ( I – IV Korps and I Reserve Korps ) began moving its heavy equipment over the city ’ s vital stone bridge over the Danube , while a pontoon bridge was thrown 2 kilometers downstream to the east for the troops . Five battalions from II Korps defended the city , while 6 , 000 cavalry and some infantry battalions held the hilly ground outside . The battle . At dawn on 23 April the French advance continued in a pincer movement toward Ratisbon , with General Louis - Pierre Montbrun coming from the southwest and Napoleon moving up from the south . Around 9 : 00 A . M . 10 , 000 French cavalry , led by General Étienne Nansouty ’ s two cuirassier divisions , began to engage the Austrian cavalry , who despite poorly coordinated charges were able to hold them for almost three hours to facilitate the army ’ s escape , before they slipped away . Only then did the French discover the pontoon bridge , but its last defenders were able to hold on and cut the securing ropes to prevent the French from using it . By noon the French infantry had arrived and formed up around the city ’ s medieval defenses . Lannes was given charge of its capture and opened up an artillery bombardment , while light infantry engaged the Austrian troops in the suburbs . Two infantry assaults on the main gates had already failed with heavy losses , when at 3 : 00 P . M . General Henri Gatien Bertrand , head of the engineers , smashed a breach in the wall with heavy artillery near the Straubing gate . Walking to observe the gap , Napoleon was struck by a small canister round in the left foot but was able to mount his horse and ride around , reassuring his anxious troops . Three small parties with siege ladders failed to scale the damaged wall . Lannes ' men could not bring themselves to advance into the maelstrom a fourth time and so , exasperated , Lannes grabbed a scaling ladder and renewed his appeal . Then , amid an embarrassed silence , he angrily shouted : " I will let you see that I was a grenadier before I was a marshal and still am one . " He took the ladder and moved forwards , but was physically restrained by his aides . His troops , shamed into action by the despair of their leader , rushed forward . The fourth assault party carried the walls and within minutes French troops were pouring into the now - doomed Ratisbon . A street - by - street battle raged for several hours until the French could secure and begin looting the southern part of the city . The bridge was determinedly defended by the 1st battalion of Infanterie Regiment 15 from the northern gatehouse until around 9 : 00 P . M . , when they abandoned their positions and the French could reach the northern suburb of Stadt - am - Hof . The last 300 defenders surrendered soon after . Consequences . French casualties , including a wounded - in - the - ankle Bonaparte , were between 1 , 500 and 2 , 000 while the Austrians lost at least 6 , 000 men killed , injured or captured . Sending Marshal Louis Davout to guard the north bank across the Danube , Bonaparte was now free to move on Vienna . In literature . Robert Browning ' s poem " Incident of the French Camp " is set during the Napoleonic Wars Battle Of Ratisbon / Regensburg .