Battle of Regensburg

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Archduke Karl, Generalissimo of the Austrian Army 1809, painting by Johann Peter Krafft (1780–1856)

The Battle of Regensburg is a comprehensive term for a series of interrelated skirmishes and battles between April 19 and 23, 1809. In the course of these battles at the beginning of the fifth coalition war (Austro-French war of 1809), the Austrian army was led by French troops of the states of the Rhine Confederation under the leadership of Emperor Napoleon I was decisively defeated and had to retreat to Austria. In the course of the fighting there were major skirmishes near Arnhofen and Offenstetten, Kirchdorf, Siegenburg, Rohr, Rottenburg, Pfeffenhausen, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Peising Langquaid, Thann, Teugn, Dünzling and Hausen (→ Battle of Teugn-Hausen ), Landshut , Eggmühl and Regensburg.

Since these battles were spatially widely distributed, but sometimes took place simultaneously, closely related and mutually conditioned and influenced, they cannot be described separately from one another. The French general Pelet, who took part in the fighting himself, described it as a "complicated five-day battle" south of the Danube. In the German-language literature, the battles are therefore usually presented as a coherent "campaign of Regensburg". The Battle of Abensberg on April 20, 1809 and the Battle of Eggmühl on April 22nd were the largest individual battles in the course of the campaign. The end of the mountain range was the storming of the city of Regensburg on the evening of April 23rd. The small Bavarian town of Stadtamhof was bombarded by Austrian artillery and street fights, as a result of which Stadtamhof was completely destroyed. In the representations that describe or list these battles separately, this final battle for the cities of Regensburg and Stadtamhof, as well as the battle for the Stone Bridge combined with the crossing over the Danube, is often referred to as the battle of Regensburg .

prehistory

Political history

After the Peace of Tilsit , only France and Great Britain were at war with each other. When the uprising against French rule in Spain in 1808 surprisingly made it clear to some that the French army was by no means invincible, Austria, which had by no means forgotten the defeat of 1805 and the painful peace conditions, tried to reestablish its almost broken contacts with England animate. As a result, diplomatic tensions between Austria and France soon escalated again, which were intensified in Paris by reports from agents that trade in English goods (→ continental barrier ) in the Adriatic was by no means as strictly restricted as Napoleon demanded, and even in the port of Trieste Ships with the Spanish flag were allowed to dock.

The tensions became publicly visible at the Erfurt congress . During a solemn audience on August 15, 1808, at which Emperor Napoleon actually wanted to demonstrate his “will for peace” to the whole of Europe, he declared his “displeasure” with Austria to the Austrian ambassador Metternich in an offensive manner. At the end of the congress, he presented the Austrian plenipotentiary, General Vincent, with a letter to Emperor Franz , in which he warned him urgently of any step that “could arouse his concern” or “look like a diversion in favor of Great Britain”. Shortly thereafter, Napoleon set out for Spain to put down the uprising against French rule with 300,000 men (→ Napoleonic Wars on the Iberian Peninsula ). When the hoped-for quick success did not materialize there, the signs of a renewed war also increased in Central Europe. Napoleon therefore returned to Paris early in January and asked the princes, who were militarily allied with him in the Rhine Confederation , to keep their troop contingents ready in accordance with the Rhine Confederation Act , which they had to provide in the event of war to support France. Regensburg was also affected by this demand, because with its then sovereign Karl Theodor von Dalberg , the Principality of Regensburg was also a member of the Rhine Confederation and thus Napoleon was obliged to assist.

Troop lineups

After the reorganization of the army, which the Austrian Archduke Karl carried out after the defeat of 1805, the Austrian army had a total strength of around 330,000 to 340,000 men in February 1809. The main Austrian army, with which Archduke Karl was to march into Bavaria as generalissimo, had a strength of around 200,000 men and was divided into six army corps. The Archduke's intention was to defeat the French “Army in Germany” (“Armée d'Allemagne” in French) under Marshal Davout before Napoleon could cross the Rhine with fresh troops. However, the preparation and deployment of the Austrian army, which had not yet been fully budgeted, took place so slowly that the French army, which had been warned about it, found sufficient time to concentrate in southern Germany. This in turn forced a change in the Austrian plans, so that it was almost mid-April until it was able to cross the Inn with almost 150,000 men under the leadership of Archduke Karl. Another 50,000 men marched into the Upper Palatinate under the leadership of General der Kavallerie Graf Bellegarde .

On the other hand, the French army in Germany (→ main article Grande Armée ) had a strength of around 140,000 men in March 1809. In addition, there were the troop contingents (115,000 men) which the federal states of the Rhine had to provide to Emperor Napoleon in the event of war. At this time, however, there were still other troops on the march to Bavaria, but they only reached their specified goals after the outbreak of war. During April a special army corps was assembled near Hanau, which shortly afterwards under General Junot took over the cover of the Kingdom of Westphalia against Prussia as the "Observation Corps on the Elbe" .

Since a large part of the French army was involved in the war in Spain in the spring of 1809, the army that Napoleon had assembled in southern Germany in April consisted to a large extent of troops from the states of the Rhine Confederation.

  • The 7th Army Corps under Marshal Lefebvre was recruited from the three Bavarian divisions (32,000 men) and the 8th Army Corps under Marshal Augereau consisted only of the Württemberg division (13,000 men) under General Vandamme at the beginning of the war .
  • The 4th Army Corps under Marshal Massena , which had four divisions, was made up to a considerable extent from the Baden, Nassau and Hessian contingents.
  • Marshal Davout's 3rd Army Corps, the previous core of the “Armée d'Allemagne”, had three French divisions as well as a division made up of troops from the small Princes of the Rhine.
  • On April 9, 1809, the day Austria declared war, Emperor Napoleon had an operational army of 198,000 men with 330 guns in Bavaria between Augsburg and Amberg.
  • The French and Rhine Confederation troops in Northern Germany, Saxony, the Prussian fortresses or the Duchy of Warsaw are not included in this total.

Military history

Deployment of the Austrian and French armies until mid-April 1809

When the Austrian army crossed the Inn on April 10, 1809, the war between Austria and France began. Shortly afterwards, on April 16, there was the first major battle of the war near Landshut (→ Battle of Landshut ) with the Bavarian Deroy division. After the battle of Landshut, the Austrian generalissimo sent his army to the northwest in order to cross the Danube between Vohburg and Kelheim. He wanted not only to prevent the unification of the French army corps on his flank, but also to unite north of the Danube with the Austrian troops under Feldmarschalleutnant (FML) Bellegarde, who had advanced from Bohemia into the Upper Palatinate.

In the meantime, Emperor Napoleon had rushed over from Paris and on April 16 personally assumed supreme command of the "Army of Germany". By intercepted dispatches, the French headquarters knew in the meantime that Archduke Karl intended to cross the Danube between Ingolstadt and Regensburg and then advance in the direction of Franconia or Württemberg. Emperor Napoleon, alarmed by this to the utmost, now coordinated the somewhat uncertain movements of his army corps under the leadership of Marshal Berthier , which had enabled the enemy to cross the Danube at Kelheim and from there perhaps even up to to advance to the Rhine. Within a short time Napoleon, who set up his headquarters in Ingolstadt, managed to assemble a large part of his army between Kelheim and Neustadt an der Donau. At the same time he sent the army corps from Massena to Freising and that from Oudinot to Pfaffenhofen, with the task of moving the Austrians to retreat as close as possible to Landshut.

While Napoleon began to assemble his army on the Abens after his arrival, the Austrian army gave up the concentration it had previously possessed. So it was still planned on April 18 that the army standing around Rohr (between Abensberg and Rottenburg) should attack the Bavarian and Württemberg troops near Neustadt an der Donau, when it became known in the Austrian headquarters that Marshal Davout would be standing with his (with him Point in time) about 60,000 strong army corps near Regensburg. He would not only be between the Austrian main army and the two army corps in the Upper Palatinate, but also isolated from the French main army. Although this message was no longer true when it arrived at the Austrian headquarters, it caused Archduke Karl to forego the immediate attack on the Bavarian army on the Abens and instead march to Regensburg to cut off Davout's retreat and contact with the Austrian Establish troops in the Upper Palatinate north of the Danube.

The fights between April 19th and April 23rd

Since the fighting between Landshut and Regensburg is not a single, deliberately brought about battle, but initially only an unexpected encounter between two large armies marching in different directions, there were subsequently numerous individual skirmishes that ended up engaging sometimes played at different locations simultaneously and could therefore only be controlled to a very limited extent by the respective general commanders. The first battle of the five-day fighting took place in the late afternoon of April 18 near Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, where General Oudinot's vanguard fought against the rearguard of Lieutenant Field Marshal (FML) Hiller .

April 19: Hausen

On the morning of April 19, two Austrian army corps and their reserves marched in three separate columns towards Regensburg (together about 55,000 men). To secure the left flank, that is, against the Bavarians and the advancing Württemberger , two army corps remained, which were separated more and more from the "main army". Archduke Ludwig stood with his weak army corps at Siegenburg and waited for FML Hiller's army corps, who was still on the march from Moosburg an der Isar to Mainburg, where it arrived late in the evening. The command of the left wing army corps was entrusted to FML Hiller. In the meantime Napoleon was concentrating his army more and more in the area of ​​Neustadt an der Donau, because he still expected that the Austrians would force the crossing over the Danube there.

Situation before the fighting at Hausen on April 19
Marshal Davout, Duke of Auerstedt, leader of the left French wing between April 19 and 23, 1809, steel engraving by Paul Girardet (1837)
View through the northern city gate of Stadtamhof to the Stone Bridge

On the morning of that day the first fighting began almost simultaneously at Peising above Bad Abbach and at Dünzling (about 16 km south of Regensburg), where Austrian patrols sent ahead unexpectedly encountered French columns. These were parts of Davout's army corps, which Napoleon had ordered to Neustadt an der Donau. A little later a lively battle developed near Schneidhart (north of Langquaid), where the Austrian IV Army Corps under FML Fürst Rosenberg met the reinforced division of General Montbrun and threw them back to Dünzling after a short battle. Warned in good time by his vanguard, Marshal Davout and two of his divisions positioned himself further west on the wooded ridge north of Hausen (the Kühberg) and also had the outlying village occupied, whereby he was in a secure position the arrival of the Austrian III. Army corps under Prince Hohenzollern , which had left a strong rearguard at Abensberg that morning. In the meantime the remaining troops from Davout could march along the Danube to Abensberg, where they united with the Bavarian divisions. At around 11 a.m. FML Prince Hohenzollern arrived with four brigades near Hausen and attacked the place that the Austrians soon took. Subsequently, however, three attempts to storm the wooded ridge north of the village failed, especially since the artillery could hardly be used in the dense forest. Although some of the Austrians had already reached the edge of the forest on the other side, they then got no further. Davout, however, brought more and more fresh troops to use, which he called back from the march to Abensberg. Archduke Karl also had to call in additional reinforcements, including troops from Prince Rosenberg's corps, who therefore not only had to stop his attacks on Dünzling, but in the evening also had to vacate the village that he had "taken" from General Montbrun.

When a violent thunderstorm and a downpour ended the fighting north of Hausen around 6 p.m., the Austrians owned the south side of the ridge, the French stood on its north side, only separated from each other by a narrow strip of forest "about 500 paces". During the night, however, Prince Hohenzollern had the village of Hausen evacuated and withdrew to the heights near Grub (southeast of Hausen, north of Langquaid an der Große Laaber) south of the village. The battle for Hausen, in which around 25,000 French and 17,000 Austrians faced each other, claimed around 520 dead and 2,400 wounded on the Austrian side, and 680 men were taken prisoner by the French. The voluntary retreat to the heights above the Große Laaber was well founded for the safety of his troops, but Prince Hohenzollern unknowingly initiated the first step towards the separation of the two wings of the Austrian army. Because of Austria's nocturnal retreat, the fight near Hausen is consistently rated in French literature as a “great victory” by Marshal Davout.

When he withdrew from Regensburg, Marshal Davout had left an infantry regiment behind in Regensburg in order to block the city and the stone bridge over the Danube for as long as possible. On the afternoon of April 19, the Austrian II Army Corps under Feldzeugmeister Count Kollowrat, which had advanced from the north through the Bohemian Forest into the Upper Palatinate, reached the town of Stadt am Hof on the northern bank of the Danube opposite Regensburg on the southern bank of the Danube. An Austrian vanguard under FML Klenau stormed the French entrenchments on the Dreifaltigkeitsberg above Stadt am Hof after a short time and almost simultaneously with the French troops fleeing down they reached the northern city gate of Stadt am Hof which made the way through the city to the stone bridge over the Danube blocked. After heavy fire, the Austrian attackers were able to penetrate the city through the gate, but had to retreat after a bitter street fight with the French troops. As a result, the village on the north bank of the Danube remained in the possession of the French.

On the same day around noon, French-Bavarian troops under Marshal Lefebvre marched through Abensberg south of Regensburg an der Abens , where they met shortly afterwards near Arnhofen with the first French troops of Marshal Davout arriving from Regensburg. The Austrian battalions remaining on the heights east of Abensberg, which belonged to Prince Hohenzollern's army corps, first tried their best to "mask" the march of their army to Regensburg. At first they succeeded well until they were gradually pushed back to Kirchdorf via Offenstetten towards evening . There troops of Archduke Ludwig's army corps came to their aid, which threw the French-Bavarian troops back north to Biburg . The result of the day was that the headquarters of the two armies still did not know exactly where the enemy "main army" was. However, Marshal Davout and the French troops had now reconnected with the main French army.

April 20: Abensberg

Napoleon I before Regensburg by Albrecht Adam Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover

Early in the morning of April 20, Emperor Napoleon ordered Marshal Lannes, who had just arrived from Spain, to attack the right Austrian wing near Abensberg in the direction of Rohr and subordinated the three divisions of Davout to him as a new army corps, those from Regensburg near Arnhofen the day before arrived. As a diversion, Marshal Davout and the remaining troops were supposed to "hold onto" the Austrians at the Great Laaber near Hausen and Dünzling until the main army's attack on Rohr was completed. Marshal Massena, who was still at Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, he ordered to reach Landshut as quickly as possible in order to cut off the Austrians' retreat there. Napoleon therefore planned a repetition of the Ulm campaign in 1805 (→ Battle of Ulm ) on an even larger scale.

Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1807). During the Regensburg campaign in 1809 as a division general in command of the Bavarian 1st Army Division. Painting by an unknown Bavarian court painter 1807.

At 9 o'clock Napoleon gave the signal for the general attack (→ Battle of Abensberg ) for the approximately 60,000 soldiers standing by at Abensberg . On the far left, Marshal Lannes attacked from Arnhofen in the direction of Rohr, next to him Napoleon personally led the Württemberg division via Offenstetten also in the direction of Rohr. The right wing was formed by the three Bavarian divisions that were to storm towards Kirchdorf and Siegenburg under Marshal Lefebvre. Opposite them, there were only around 24,000 Austrians, widely distributed in individual detachments between Bachl, Siegenburg and Schweinsbach, who mainly belonged to Archduke Ludwig's V Army Corps. The VI. Army corps of FML Hiller (a little over 20,000 men) was on the march from Mainburg to Pfeffenhausen. The five battalions that were holding Offenstetten had to give way quickly to the overwhelming odds and the Bianchi brigade in Kirchdorf could only hold out for a while. At two in the afternoon the Bavarians reached Siegenburg, where a fierce battle soon developed. When Archduke Ludwig was informed that the French had already passed Rohr and were already heading for Rottenburg an der Laaber, he ordered the retreat first to the 2nd Reserve Corps near Schweinbach and from there to the heights behind Pfeffenhausen, where he arrived shortly after 10 p.m.

The top of the VI. Army corps from FML Hiller reached Niederhornbach near Pfeffenhausen at eight in the morning. When he learned that the French were already on their way to Rohr, he sent some of his troops to Rottenburg. No sooner had FML Vincent occupied the city with two brigades in the afternoon than Marshal Lannes and his two divisions appeared in front of the city. Despite the considerable French majority, the Austrians were able to hold their own in the battle for Rottenburg until after dark. During the night FML Hiller then withdrew with his entire army corps via Türkenfeld to Landshut. In the fighting between Abensberg and Rottenburg, the Austrian losses suffered amounted to around 7,000 men. The troops with which Emperor Napoleon had started his attack near Abensberg that night bivouacked on the Große Laaber between Alzhausen and Pfeffenhausen, but the Bavarian troops (the Wrede division) occupied the Bavarian troops (the Wrede division) after a short battle after dark. Marshal Massena reached Freising that night with his corps, so that the way for FML Hiller across the Isar bridges at Landshut remained open. However, due to its retreat to the southeast to the Isar, the Austrian army was divided into two parts.

According to the instructions of Emperor Napoleon, Marshal Davout renewed the attack on the Austrian positions in the morning near east of Hausen. But shortly after the start of the French attacks on the heights near Dietenhofen, on the orders of the Archduke Generalissimo, part of Prince Hohenzollern's army corps withdrew after a brief battle near Liegendorf via the Große Laaber and moved to a new one on heights east of the river Position. Another part withdrew to the heights west of Langquaid and did not go back over the Great Laaber until evening, when French troops appeared from Rohr. During the whole day the Austrians made no serious attempt to attack Davout's troops.

Archduke Karl, who had no precise knowledge of the difficult situation near Abensberg, had moved into his quarters in Eglofsheim (Alteglofsheim) south of Regensburg during the night and during that day (April 20) directed his main interest to Regensburg, as the property of the City was crucial for him for the contact with the two army corps north of the Danube. Therefore, in the morning he ordered the (reinforced) I. Reserve Corps under Prince Lichtenstein to Regensburg, which completely enclosed the large walled city on the right bank of the Danube. Subsequently, the French commandant of the city, Colonel Coutard, was asked to surrender, which he accepted after the four-hour reflection period granted to him and handed over Regensburg and the city at court to the Austrians. This finally established a free connection between the two army corps in the Upper Palatinate and Archduke Karl's main Austrian army.

Position of the two armies on April 21

April 21: Landshut

On the morning of April 21, Emperor Napoleon did not know exactly where the enemy's main army actually stood and he suspected it was in Regensburg, Straubing or Landshut. Since the enemy at Abensberg was ultimately much weaker than expected, he ordered Marshal Lefebvre's army corps (that is, the Bavarian troops) to see Marshal Davout, who was still at Hausen. With the rest, he took up the pursuit of the two Austrian army corps retreating towards Landshut. At this point in time the Austrian generalissimo did not yet know anything about the fate of his two army corps near Abensberg and therefore ordered the resumption of the planned operation in the direction of Eichstätt.

In the early hours of the morning, von Hiller's Austrian army corps, which had marched all night, reached Landshut. Unfortunately, Archduke Ludwig from Pfeffenhausen also arrived there a little later. As usual, the fighting troops marching ahead were followed by long columns of horse-drawn carts with ammunition, food and other supplies and wanted to drive across the Isar bridge and through the city practically at the same time. But shortly afterwards, Emperor Napoleon appeared with four infantry divisions north of the city and their artillery turned the numerous carts and through-going horses that wanted to cross the river into a burning heap of rubble, through which the Austrian troops who were already passing through the city had, could hardly find a way to return and build a line of defense along the Isar. After a violent cannonade and a long fight, the French finally stormed the suburb to the left of the Isar and the bridge over the river. Then there was a fierce battle in the streets of Landshut, in which the Austrians stubbornly held out, despite being outnumbered, until their artillery and the rest of the wagons had reached the heights south of the city. Then FML Hiller ordered the evacuation of the city, in which the Austrians had to leave around 5000 dead, wounded and prisoners (→ Battle of Landshut ). Since the army corps of Massena from Moosburg reached Landshut almost at the same time on the right bank (also with four divisions), Hiller was forced to withdraw directly across the Inn near Alt-Ötting.

April 22nd: Eggmühl

After Napoleon had repulsed the left wing of the Austrians, he was able to turn his full attention to Archduke Karl's army. Therefore, before dawn he ordered his troops to march from Landshut via Ergoldsbach to Eggmühl an der Große Laaber. There the troops of Marshals Davout and Lefebvre stood closely concentrated between Schierling an der Große Laaber to Dünzling. Opposite them, the two Austrian army corps Prince Hohenzollern and Prince Rosenberg were deployed. On the afternoon of April 21, the Austrian generalissimo, Archduke Karl, had sent Prince Lichtenstein's corps to Weillohe, where it arrived late in the evening. To the right of it (from an Austrian point of view) the next morning Kollowrat's army corps, which he had summoned over the Danube bridge from Regensburg, was supposed to march along the Danube to (Bad) Abbach. The Archduke thus began to surround the French troops south of Regensburg on the morning of April 22nd. He reinforced this embracing movement by allowing part of Prince Hohenzollern's army corps to advance further west. After the start of this maneuver, however, only Prince Rosenberg's corps remained on the Große Laaber near Eggmühl. After the arrival of the Kollowrat Army Corps, the Austrian army south of Regensburg had a strength of 72,000 infantry and 8,500 cavalry.

Battle of Eckmühl around six o'clock in the evening. Painting by Bagetti Giuseppe Pietro (1764–1831)

Although the soldiers of Kollowrat had marched all night, their march across the bridge through Regensburg and then along the Danube lasted until noon. Before the extensive Austrian deployment finally came into its own, shortly after noon near Buchhausen, on the Chaussee to Landshut south of Eggmühl, Emperor Napoleon surprisingly appeared with an army of 65,000 men. General Oudinot's army corps had joined the troops brought by the Kaiser from Landshut. Together with Napoleon, the Army Corps of Lannes, Massena and Oudinot, part of the heavy cavalry reserve under Marshal Bessières, most of the Württembergians under Vandamme, a large part of the Bavarian cavalry and part of the Bavarian division Wrede came to the Große Laaber. Prince Rosenberg, who only had 16,000 men at Eggmühl, suddenly found himself facing a four times stronger opponent and therefore slowly retreated to the heights (the Laimberg) north of Laichling, from where the road to Regensburg was barely under fire could take. There he then successfully defended his key position for more than three hours on two sides at the same time and thereby tried to delay the advance of the French army as long as possible (→ Battle of Eggmühl ).

The deployment of the Austrian right wing had reached a line between twelve and one o'clock, which stretched from Peising via Weillohe to Luckenpaint, when Archduke Karl received news of the arrival of the French Emperor. The Austrian generalissimo, who had previously suspected Napoleon at Landshut, immediately broke off his advance, as he knew that Napoleon was about to stab him in the back. For this reason, shortly afterwards he ordered his entire army to retreat to the heights south of Regensburg (about a line between Burgweinting and Pentling). Prince Rosenberg received the order to withdraw immediately via (Alt-) Eglofsheim without a fight, but this was no longer so easy for him because he was already involved in a difficult fight. When Marshal Davout noticed the first retreat movements of the Austrian troops near Luckenpaint, he immediately let his troops advance to attack, but was thrown back again by an attack by the Austrian cavalry. By evening the Austrian army corps, covered by their rearguard, slowly withdrew to the positions they had been given on the heights south of Regensburg.

Meanwhile, after a relatively short bypassing of the Austrian positions at Oberlaichling, the French vanguard marched east of Eggmühl behind the Archduke's army, initially unhindered on the large road in the direction of Regensburg, until they met there at Köfering (about 12 km southeast of Regensburg) Austrian reserves waiting to be met, who accepted the fight, although they were considerably weaker than the approaching French divisions. When they finally had to give way after some time, the French cavalry hurried on to Obertraubling, where they were surprisingly attacked and thrown back by Prince Lichtenstein's heavy cavalry, which had meanwhile returned from Weillohe. The subsequent fighting south of Regensburg only ended after nightfall.

In the morning, Archduke Karl was deployed to battle with 78 battalions and 85 squadrons. Due to the surprise attack by Emperor Napoleon near Eggmühl, which practically hit the surprised Austrians in the back, only the 10 ½ battalions of Prince Rosenberg's army corps and a total of 29 squadrons were used. In total, the Austrians lost about 6000 dead, wounded and prisoners south of Regensburg that day. However, the French losses were only marginally lower.

April 23: Regensburg

Storming of Regensburg. Care for the slightly injured Emperor Napoleon. Lithograph by Antoine Antoine Charles Horace Vernet (1758–1836) and Jacques François Swebach (1769–1823)

On the night of April 22nd to April 23rd, Archduke Karl ordered the retreat across the Danube in Regensburg and had all the necessary preparations made. The exact sequence of the withdrawal was determined in order to make the crossing of the only bridge, the Stone Bridge , over the Danube as smooth as possible. In order to accelerate the passage of the army across the Danube, Austrian pioneers outside the city began at dawn to build an additional pontoon bridge from the boats and barges that could be found in Regensburg and the surrounding area. For the same reason, but with the declared intention of letting the expected withdrawal of the Austrians end in chaos, Emperor Napoleon had his troops attack the Austrian positions south of the city early in the morning.

For the Austrian side it was a matter of covering the crossing over the Danube on that day, for the French side of preventing it as far as possible. Therefore, shortly before nine o'clock, when the French cavalry tried for the first time to break through the Austrian positions between Obertraubling and Burgweinting, Prince Lichtenstein's I. Reserve Corps crossed the pontoon bridge over the Danube in tightly packed columns. In the course of the next hour the fighting spread over the entire "southern front" of Regensburg. With the help of their excellent cavalry, the Austrian army persistently tried for the next three hours to keep the French away from the gates of Regensburg as long and as far as possible. This worked very well for a long time, although the French cavalry had three times as many riders. During this time the III. and IV. Austrian Army Corps ordered the two bridges over the Danube. Finally, the II Army Corps left its positions and marched to the bridges over the river. Only now did the Austrian cavalry withdraw behind the protection of the southern city ​​walls of Regensburg . Only a few battalions and batteries of the rear guard remained on the battlements of the city wall to cover the retreat until the rest of the army had reached the north bank and the heights there. In the more than three hours of fighting southeast of the city, both sides lost around 1,000 dead and wounded.

The storming of Regensburg on April 23, painting by Charles Thévenin (1764–1838)

Only shortly after noon did the French troops pushing towards the city wall notice the pontoon bridge over the Danube and immediately took the pontoon bridge under heavy artillery fire in order to prevent the Austrians from crossing the bridge again. Nevertheless, almost all of the troops still standing south of the bridge managed to cross it before the pioneers set fire to the bridge and cut the anchor ropes. In the meantime, Emperor Napoleon had the southeastern city walls and the buildings behind them bombarded with all of his artillery. After a short time, numerous houses in the south-east of the city went up in flames as a result of the bombardment. By the next morning several churches, the military hospital and 150 residential buildings had burned down completely and many more were badly damaged. The city wall and the Peterstor withstood the fire of the French artillery until 6 p.m. and all attempts to cross the deep city moat failed. Napoleon became more and more impatient and came closer and closer to the contested city walls. He was hit by a "dull" bullet, ie a bullet that had been fired at a great distance and therefore only had a low speed. Soldiers rushed from all sides and shouted their sympathy. After doctors of the guard bandaged the bruises on his foot, he mounted his horse again to the cheers of the soldiers. The incident described took place not far from the current location of the Kepler Monument .

Marshal Lannes made several attempts to climb the city walls with ladders, but all attempts failed in the fire of the defenders. At around 7 p.m., a large house standing directly behind the wall collapsed under the artillery fire near the Peterstor, the ruins of which fell into the trench. Shortly afterwards, the French attackers rushed into the city via this rubble, which half filled the trench. The remaining Austrian crew of around 2,000 men, which had spread out over the walls, was cut off from retreating over the Stone Bridge and had to surrender. Subsequently, the following French tried to cross the Danube over the Stone Bridge to prevent the Austrian army from being able to establish themselves again on the north bank of the river. Together with retreating Austrian troops, they stormed into the streets of Stadt am Hof, where fierce fighting broke out with the Austrian rearguard, which was supported by the Austrian artillery on Trinity Mountain, especially along the main street. A few houses caught fire near the stone bridge, which shortly afterwards set fire to several powder wagons that had been standing in the streets. Fanned by a strong wind, numerous houses on both sides of the main street were in flames in a short time and destroyed 95 houses and a brewery by midnight, whereby many residents of the city also lost their lives. Regensburg itself was "released for looting" by the French leadership in the evening. Although the city was ruled by Napoleon's ally Karl Theodor von Dalberg , it was taken "by storm". The looting soldiers not only hindered the extinguishing work, but probably started their own fires and snatched their last belongings from the people, which they had just saved from the flames. Many residents of the city lost their lives as a result of the bombing and the marauding soldiers.

consequences

Military consequences

With the help of an improvised sequence of battles, Napoleon not only succeeded in stopping the advance of the Austrian army in a short time, but also succeeded in splitting the Austrian army into two parts and driving both parts of the army apart in two different directions. Subsequently, both armies were too weak to withstand the French-led army of the Rhine Confederation states standing in between. Therefore the Austrian army was forced to withdraw to Austria in different ways. The skirmishes and battles south of and in Regensburg were an essential preliminary decision for the outcome of the war of 1809. They threw the Austrian army back to its starting positions within a few days. With Bavaria, Austria not only lost an upstream base of operations, but also suffered a political defeat that robbed Vienna of any hope for additional allies. The defeat led to the withdrawal of the Austrian troops to Vienna. The final defeat in this war then followed in the Battle of Wagram .

Consequences for Regensburg and Stadtamhof

During the bombardment of the southern city ​​walls occupied by Austrian troops between today's Dachauplatz in the east and the Peterstor in the west, the artillery of the French-led Rheinbund troops destroyed all the houses in this area of ​​the city. This loss comprised almost a fifth of the entire stock of houses in Regensburg. In addition, several church buildings were destroyed and damaged by the bombardment of French batteries, looting and conflagration. The Poor Clare Monastery and the former Central Minster , which was used as a Jesuit monastery from the end of the 17th century and as a Catholic seminary from the end of the 18th century, were completely lost.

In Stadtamhof, almost all houses including St. Mang's Church were completely destroyed in street fighting and artillery shelling by Austrian troops . The Katharinenspital was badly damaged, as was the defense tower known as the Black Tower at the northern end of the Stone Bridge, which was then demolished the following year. Napoleon, who was confronted with the damage in Regensburg and also in Stadtamhof on the afternoon of April 24, 1809, promised compensation with the words " The war brings with it; calm down, I will compensate you ." Napoleon wanted to impose the compensation sum of 2 million francs on the Austrians in the Schönbrunn Peace Treaty , but payments were not made. A letter of appeal from the Regensburg sovereign Karl Theodor von Dalberg to Napoleon's headquarters in Vienna remained unanswered, but led to the fact that the sum had to be taken over by the Kingdom of Bavaria when Regensburg was annexed to Bavaria in 1810. The money was paid out so hesitantly that Prince-Bishop Dalberg donated large sums of money from his private fortune and even had church silver melted down to finance the reconstruction of destroyed houses.

In the following years, with the help of this money, Maximilianstrasse , which is unusually straight for Regensburg, was built in the south-eastern part of Regensburg.

Remarks

  1. ↑ today districts of Abensberg
  2. ↑ near Bad Abbach
  3. ↑ "Langwied" or "Langwaid" was often written in contemporary reports
  4. ↑ present name Herrnwahlthann
  5. ↑ In German-language literature, the term "Battle of Teugn-Hausen" is not used for the battles on April 19, 1805 at these locations.
  6. ↑ what often happens in lexicons
  7. ↑ In the autumn of 1809 Austria endeavored by indirect explorations at the English court to conclude a "peace at sea" ("Alethinos": The war in Teutschland in 1809 and its results. 1810, p. 24)
  8. ↑ ie ships which showed the flag of the Bourbon kings of Spain (Alison: History of Europe 1789–1815. 1839, vol. VII, p. 224)
  9. ↑ including the troops in Tyrol, Italy, Galicia and the Balkans, etc .; Schneidawind: The Austrian War in 1809. 1842, p. 24; Groß-Hoffinger: Archduke Karl of Austria. 1846, p. 340; Rothenburg: The weapons deeds of the Austrians 1809. 1838, p. 7; Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, p. 9; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 167ff
  10. ↑ The structure of the corps roughly corresponded to the French army corps of the time. The grenadiers and cuirassiers, considered to be the elite, were grouped into two special “reserve corps”. These thus had roughly the function of the French "Guard", but each only had the strength of large divisions (Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, vol. 2, p. 83)
  11. ↑ in some representations also called "Armée de Rhin" (Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaigns in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 1, p. 132)
  12. ↑ Rank uncertain. According to the New German Biography , he was only promoted to field marshal lieutenant in 1809. In the rest of the literature he is referred to as both an FML and a "General of the Cavalry". Since Bellegarde was supreme commander of the Austrian troops in the Upper Palatinate, but the commanding general of the II Army Corps had the rank of Feldzeugmeister, he probably had a higher rank.
  13. ↑ also written "Feldmarschall-Lieutenant"; Second level of the general rank and thus the third highest rank in the Austrian army in 1809. The rank thus corresponds to the "Lieutenant General" according to the Franco-Prussian or "Major General" according to the Anglo-American ranking, which is also used in the Bundeswehr.
  14. ↑ the attack by a brigade of the Morand Division, which Davout had called back from the march to Arnhofen, into the left flank of the Austrians near Hausen, however, forced them to retreat to the hill near Buch (southwest of Hausen) Lossau: Characteristics the wars of Napoleon. 1847, vol. 3, p. 50
  15. ↑ Second highest rank after field marshal in the Austrian army during the Napoleonic era. It was awarded to a general who had emerged from the artillery or from the infantry. This rank corresponds to a Prussian "General of the Artillery" or a "General of the Infantry".
  16. ↑ Stadt am Hof ​​was then a Bavarian city that was not incorporated into Regensburg until 1924. The usual spelling of the name at that time was "die Stadt am Hof" or "das Bayerischer Hof". Today, however, the district of Regensburg is written in one word, Stadtamhof .
  17. ^ The Crown Prince Ludwig and Deroy divisions; Wrede stood in front of Siegenburg
  18. ^ The Morand, Saint-Sulpice and Gudin divisions
  19. ↑ d. H. they tried to appear stronger than they were through a diversified march and much noise
  20. ↑ the first division, which, however, had not fought in Landshut, set out at four o'clock in the morning (Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 2, p. 51f)
  21. ↑ at that time continuously written "Eckmühl"
  22. ↑ in Landshut the Bavarian division Wrede and part of the Württemberger remained
  23. ↑ The day before, Marshal Davout had tried to advance to Regensburg via Dünzling, but had been repulsed by the Austrians
  24. ↑ to cover the flank and to observe the road to Landshut, he had posted a brigade south of the Große Laaber on the heights near Buchausen
  25. ↑ > according to the Austrian representations; According to the French reports, the Davouts regiments achieved "a glorious victory" (Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 2, p. 63). Since the ordered retreat of the Austrians and the advance of the French and Bavarians “went hand in hand”, it appeared to one side as an “orderly retreat”, while to the other side it appeared to be a “victorious advance” in battle. This is how Völderndorff describes it in the semi-official war history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I. 1826, vol. 2, p. 99ff.
  26. ^ The reserve grenadier battalions that the Archduke had posted there that morning
  27. ↑ near Weichs, east of the mouth of the Regen, where the islands in the river could be used
  28. ↑ in French sources a "contusion", i.e. a crush or blow wound (Pelet: Kaiser Napoleons Feldzug in Deutschland 1809. 1824, vol. 2, p. 80)
  29. ↑ After the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803, among other things, the independent Principality of Regensburg was created under Prince-Bishop Karl Theodor von Dalberg , which became a member of the Rhine Confederation in 1806 and was not transferred to Bavaria until 1810.
  30. ↑ Both Mußinan and Wackenreiter were Bavarian officers. The French General Pelet, from whom Wackenreiter took entire passages word for word, does not mention the looting, nor does the semi-official war history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I (1826) von Völderndorff, who mentioned the storming in vol. 2 on p. 109 Regensburg's reduced to a single sentence. However, above all Austrian soldiers report in detail about the looting of Regensburg, in which many of the prisoners were mistreated, with soldiers of the Rhine Confederation also taking part (KK Generalstab: The campaign of the year 1809 in Southern Germany. 1865, vol. 1., p. 132 , Footnote).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ General Pelet: Emperor Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, Bd. 2, P. 90f
  2. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1843, vol. 3; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1; Schneidawind : The war of Austria against France in 1809. 1842, vol. 1; Welden: The war of 1809. 1872.
  3. ^ "Alethinos" (ie JG Pahl): The war in Teutschland in 1809 and its results. 1810, p. 27f
  4. ↑ Häusser: German History 1786-1815. 1856, Vol. 3, pp. 247, 315ff; the letter is printed in Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 1, p. 272ff
  5. ^ Konrad Maria Färber: An Intermezzo, The Principality of Regensburg between 1802 and 1810 . In: Hans Jürgen Becker, Konrad Maria Färber (Hrsg.): Regensburg becomes Bavarian. A reader . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2218-4 , pp. 51, 52 .
  6. ↑ Häusser: German History 1786-1815. 1856, Vol. 3, pp. 319-326
  7. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 10
  8. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, p. 96; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 229
  9. ^ I. and II. Army Corps; Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 14ff
  10. ↑ Groß-Hoffinger: Archduke Karl of Austria. 1846, p. 340
  11. ^ KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 233; Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1843, vol. 3., p. 8ff
  12. ^ KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 232
  13. ^ A b Pelet: Emperor Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 2, p. 296ff; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 233
  14. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 8ff and 16; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 233
  15. ↑ Groß-Hoffinger: Archduke Karl of Austria. 1846, p. 342
  16. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 30-39
  17. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 28-38; Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, p. 102
  18. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 51
  19. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, p. 103
  20. ^ KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 212
  21. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 40. Both Hiller and Archduke Ludwig were only given the task of “observing” the movements of the French army south of the Danube, ie they should not engage in a major battle (Schneidawind: Carl, Erzherzog von Österreich. 1840, vol. 2, p. 103).
  22. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, p. 106
  23. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, p. 107
  24. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, 50; Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, vol. 2, p. 108; Smola: The life of Prince Friedrich zu Hohenzollern-Hechingen. 1845, pp. 159-164
  25. ^ Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaigns in Germany 1809. 1824, Vol. 1, pp. 221-231
  26. ↑ Rothenburg: feats of arms of the Austrians in the War of 1809. 1838, 41ff; Marcus Junkelmann: THE BOLDEST CAMPAIGN. Bauer-Verlag Schierling, 2009, p. 48; see. also below “20. April “Abensberg: Surrender of Regensburg.
  27. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, Vol. 2, pp. 109-112
  28. ^ Two infantry (Morand, Gudin) and one cavalry division (Nansouty); KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 67 (VI.367)
  29. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 59
  30. ↑ other sources give eight o'clock (so Völderndorff: War history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I. 1826, vol. 2, p. 79)
  31. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 60f; KK Generalstab (ed.): The campaign of 1809 in southern Germany. ÖMZ 1862/63 (1865), vol. 1, p. 221 (VI.267)
  32. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 59-64
  33. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 64
  34. ↑ MAENDLER: memories of my campaigns in the years 1809 to 1815. 1854 S. 9ff; Völderndorff: War history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I. 1826, vol. 2, p. 83
  35. ↑ Smola: The life of Prince Friedrich zu Hohenzollern-Hechingen. 1845, p. 164; Völderndorff: War history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I. 1826, vol. 2, p. 85
  36. ^ Schneidawind: Carl, Archduke of Austria. 1840, vol. 2, p. 113
  37. ^ Prince Johann Lichtenstein
  38. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 67 (the city was already enclosed on the left bank, see above "April 19")
  39. ^ Wackenreiter: The storming of Regensburg 1809. 1865, p. 12ff; Marcus Junkelmann: THE BOLDEST CAMPAIGN. Bauer-Verlag Schierling, 2009, p. 48.
  40. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 69
  41. ^ Marshal Lannes as well as the Bavarian division Wrede and the Württemberger
  42. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 73f
  43. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, vol. 3, p. 80
  44. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, p. 82
  45. ^ Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, Vol. 2, p. 56ff; Völderndorff: War history of Bavaria under King Maximilian Joseph I. 1826, vol. 2, p. 95ff
  46. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 86f
  47. ^ Lossau: Characteristics of Napoleon's wars. 1847, Vol. 3, pp. 89ff; Pelet claims, however, that the French took 15,000 prisoners that day (Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, vol. 2, p. 75), but apparently at this point he sums up the prisoners from 22nd and 23rd April (KK General Staff: The campaign of 1909 in southern Germany. 1865, vol. 1., p. 130ff)
  48. ^ Wackenreiter: The storming of Regensburg 1809. 1865, p. 20ff
  49. ^ Wackenreiter: The storming of Regensburg 1809. 1865, p. 27
  50. ^ Wackenreiter: The storming of Regensburg 1809. 1865, p. 30
  51. ↑ Pelet: Kaiser Napoleon's campaign in Germany 1809. 1824, Vol. 2, p. 79; KK General Staff: The 1909 campaign in southern Germany. 1865, vol. 1., p. 130 (VI.490)
  52. ↑ Ritter von Mußinan: History of the French Wars in Germany especially in Bavaria. 1829, Vol. IV (1809), pp. 169-175
  53. ↑ Where Napoleon was really bleeding. Retrieved September 12, 2019 (German).
  54. ↑ Ritter von Mußinan: History of the French Wars in Germany especially in Bavaria. 1829, Vol. IV (1809), pp. 174-177
  55. ↑ On the plunder: Knight of Mußinan: History of the French wars in Germany, especially in Bavaria. 1829, Vol. IV (1809), pp. 168-175; Wackenreiter: The storming of Regensburg 1809. 1865, p. 40f.
  56. ↑ a b Konrad Maria Färber: An Intermezzo, The Principality of Regensburg between 1802 and 1810 . In: Hans Jürgen Becker, Konrad Maria Färber (Hrsg.): Regensburg becomes Bavarian. A reader . Friedrich Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2218-4 , pp. 51, 52 .
  57. ^ Karl Bauer: Regensburg Art, Culture and Everyday History . 6th edition. MZ-Buchverlag in H. Gietl Verlag & Publication Service, Regenstauf 2014, ISBN 978-3-86646-300-4 , p. 697-699 .