Battle of Ebelsberg - Background

Background

On 10 April 1809, the Austrian army of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria, ally of Emperor Napoleon I of France. During the first week of war, Napoleon's deputy, Marshal Louis Alexandre Berthier mismanaged the deployment of the Franco-German army. Nevertheless, the archduke was unable to take advantage of his opportunities because of the slow marching speed of his troops. Napoleon soon arrived on the scene and, in the first major clash on 19 April, Marshal Louis Davout won the hard-fought Battle of Teugen-Hausen. Thanks to his victory, Davout was able to link up with the main body of Napoleon's army near Abensberg that evening.

At the Battle of Abensberg on 20 April 1809, Hiller arrived from the south to take command of Feldmarschall-Leutnant Archduke Louis of Austria's V Armeekorps and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Michael von Kienmayer's II Reserve Armeekorps, in addition to his own VI Armeekorps. Before the battle, Hiller's strength had been weakened by detaching Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Friedrich von Lindenau's division from V Armeekorps and General-Major Andreas Schneller's cuirassier brigade from II Reserve Armeekorps to the main army, plus Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Jellacic's division from VI Armeekorps to hold Munich. At Abensberg and at the Battle of Landshut on 21 April, Emperor Napoleon I of France's army roughly handled Hiller's command and forced the Austrian to withdraw to the southeast, away from Archduke Charles and the main army. Between the 19th and the 21st, Hiller lost 12,140 soldiers, 11 guns, and 328 wagons from the V and VI Armeekorps. His wing shrank from 42,000 troops to around 27,000 to 28,000 by the evening of 22 April.

On the 22nd, Napoleon marched north with major forces to deal Archduke Charles a defeat at the Battle of Eckmühl. Unaware that the main army retreated north of the Danube River, Hiller turned to face a weak pursuit force. He inflicted a sharp check on Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bessières at the Battle of Neumarkt-Sankt Veit on 24 April. Appraised of the fact that Charles suffered a defeat, the Austrian wing commander quickly pulled back to the southeast. On 24 April Charles sent a message to Hiller ordering him to retreat to Linz, cross to the Danube's north bank, and join the main army. Hoping to overtake and destroy Hiller, Napoleon sent two columns after his foe. The emperor directed Marshal Louis Davout's III Corps, Masséna's IV Corps, and General of Division Dominique Vandamme's VIII Corps along a northern route via Passau on the Inn River. The II Corps of Marshal Jean Lannes and Bessières' force took a more southerly route through Burghausen on the Salzach River.

On 26 April, General of Division Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand of Masséna's IV Corps clashed with Hiller's rear guard led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Josef von Dedovich at Schärding and seized the bridge over the Inn. That same day, another of Masséna's divisions occupied Passau, having captured 400 Austrians. Meanwhile, Hiller was enjoying his independence from Archduke Charles, who was far away in Bohemia. Also, he was in easy communication with Emperor Francis I of Austria who wished to exert his influence on the campaign. Encouraged, Hiller came up with a plan to counterattack Masséna on the 27th and ordered Feldmarschall-Leutnant Emmanuel von Schustekh-Herve to implement it. Nothing came of this scheme and the Austrian retreat continued toward Linz.

On 1 May, Legrand and 1,400 troops caught up with Schustekh's 850-man rear guard between Riedau and Kallham. The Dragoon Regiment of the Grand Duchy of Baden charged the 3rd battalion of the Jordis Infantry Regiment # 59, which was drawn up in square. Waiting until the foot soldiers fired a volley, the dragoons then charged and broke into the square. After their commander, Oberstleutnant Beck was cut down, 706 officers and men of the Jordis battalion laid down their weapons. Two squadrons of the Kienmayer Hussar Regiment # 8 suffered 10 killed, 50 wounded, and 23 captured. The Badeners reported losing only three killed and 10 wounded, though a large number of their horses were killed. There was a clash between General of Division Claude Carra Saint-Cyr's vanguard and General-Major Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza on 2 May at Räffelding, three kilometers southeast of Eferding. The Baden Dragoons lost 14 casualties, while Austrian losses were unreported.

After abandoning Regensburg, Archduke Charles first retreated to Cham on the border of Bohemia where he reorganized his army. From there he marched for České Budějovice (Budweis). Fearing Napoleon might follow him into Bohemia, Charles wrote to Archduke John of Austria on 3 May that he planned to fight at Budweis. As late as 6 May, the main army remained in the vicinity of that city. However, detachments under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Johann von Klenau and General-Major Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim operated closer to Linz on the north side of the Danube.

On the night of 2 May, Emperor Francis left Linz, crossed the Danube, and hastened to join the army of his brother Charles. He left instructions for Hiller to delay Napoleon's advance by taking up positions behind the Traun at Ebelsberg and Lambach. If this failed, Hiller could defend the line of the Enns River farther east. Hiller posted General-Major Armand von Nordmann's 3,000-man brigade near Lambach to guard his south flank. Francis appointed his brother-in-law Archduke Maximilian of Austria-Este to command Vienna, but most of the garrison was poorly trained.

On 2 May, Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre's Bavarian VII Corps reported sparring with Jellacic at Golling an der Salzach south of Salzburg. Bessières with his cavalry and Lannes with General of Division Nicolas Oudinot's II Corps infantry division reached Wels on the Traun to find the bridge burned. Generals of Division Louis Vincent Le Blond de Saint-Hilaire (III Corps), Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor (IV Corps), and Joseph Laurent Demont (III Corps) were nearby with their divisions and Napoleon arrived at Lambach. Vandamme's Württemberg VIII Corps marched in the vicinity of Riedau. Davout's III Corps was due to arrive in Passau on 3 May, while Napoleon ordered General of Division Marie François Rouyer to leave Regensburg and march to Passau. The 12,000-man Imperial Guard under General of Division Frédéric Henri Walther reached the vicinity of Braunau am Inn at the beginning of May.