21 May 1809
The first day
The Austrian attack begins in the early afternoon of 21 May, at about 1 pm by one account and 2:30 pm by another. Hiller’s leading troops drive Gabriel Molitor’s outposts back into Aspern, where Molitor brings all four of his regiments into the village and repels the first attacks. By 5 pm the first three columns stand in a half circle around Aspern and Charles orders a general assault. The village changes hands six times before Masséna reinforces it with the divisions of Claude Legrand and Jean Carra Saint-Cyr.
French troops in the battle of Aspern-Essling, painting by Fernand CormonWikimedia Commons, Fernand Cormon, Public domain (Fernand Cormon 005.jpg)
Between the villages Jean-Baptiste Bessières’s 7,000 cavalry charge the Austrian centre and Liechtenstein’s horsemen several times without a decision. Rosenberg’s two columns, which have the longest march, reach Essling only at about 6 pm. Lannes holds the village with Jean Boudet’s division and repels three attacks.
At nightfall the Austrians hold the western part of Aspern, and both sides stay in contact there through the night. Charles plans the next day’s attack from his headquarters at Breitenlee, while Napoleon on the Lobau calls every available unit to the bridges.
Sources
- John H. Gill, 1809: Thunder on the Danube, volume II: The Fall of Vienna and the Battle of Aspern (2009).
- Gunther E. Rothenberg, Napoleon’s Great Adversary: Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army, 1792–1814 (1995).
- Ian Castle, Aspern and Wagram 1809 (1990).
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