Background
After his humiliating defeat of the Austrian Empire in the War of the Third Coalition, Napoleon transferred the County of Tyrol to Bavaria. When the new rulers imposed conscription and Bavarian legal codes on the territory, they flouted ancient Tyrolean social and religious rights. Before the outbreak of the War of the Fifth Coalition, Austrian agents circulated the Tyrol to take advantage of the existing tensions. When Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen invaded Bavaria on 10 April 1809, the Tyrol exploded in revolt. On 11 April Hofer and 5,000 armed peasants scored a victory at Sterzing in the South Tyrol when they captured 420 Bavarians of the 4th Light Infantry Battalion.
Under Teimer and other leaders, the Tyroleans irregulars won a brilliant initial success. Attacked incessantly for 48 hours, Lieutenant General Baron Kinkel surrendered his Innsbruck garrison of 3,860 Bavarian soldiers on 13 April. A body of 2,050 French conscripts under hard-drinking General of Division Baptiste Pierre Bisson unwittingly marched into the trap. After an ineffectual defense, the French also put up the white flag. The rebels seized five cannon, two mortars, considerable equipment, and many muskets. The captured material would keep the rebellion supplied with weapons for months. Soon reinforced by a regular Austrian division under Feldmarschallleutnant Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles, the Tyrolese posed a threat to the rear areas of Napoleon's armies in northern Italy and Bavaria. One column of irregulars stiffened by a few regulars under General-Major Franz Fenner raided the area of Lake Garda in Italy. In consequence, Viceroy of Italy Eugene de Beauharnais was forced to provide substantial Franco-Italian garrisons to guard the area.
In early May, Napoleon directed Marshal Francois Joseph Lefebvre and the VII Corps (made up of Bavarians) to move against the Tyrol. The Bavarian garrison of Kufstein Fortress was relieved on 11 May. Lefebvre routed Chasteler at the Battle of Wörgl on 13 May. After several more actions, Lefebvre occupied Innsbruck around 19 May.
Read more about this topic: Battles Of Bergisel
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