La Bataille de Aspern-Essling 1809

Rapp Resolute: Reflections of French Leadership at Aspern Essling During the crucial point in the battle over Aspern Essling, at around 4 pm on May 22, 1809, two French generals met near the village of Essling to decide how they might conduct the remainder of this bloody affair, which already had resulted in the deaths of thousands on both sides, as well as threatening the French Grand Armee d’Allemagne with destruction on the north side of the Danube just a few miles from Vienna. This potential destruction of the French forces would necessarily shatter the fragile hold the French held over central Europe and perhaps even open the way to other forces joining the Fourth Coalition and send the upstart emperor Napoleon scurrying from the throne of his five- year old Empire.

The two generals, Jean Rapp and Georges Mouton, were aides de camp assigned to Napoleon’s senior headquarters staff. These and other senior aides would serve at the Emperor’s pleasure to fit whatever role Napoleon decided he needed to have these experienced generals fill at a moment’s notice. Another of these aides,

Henri Bertrand, was at that moment, directing the building and defense of a boat bridge over the Danube. Both Rapp and Mouton, along with Bertrand, would have important roles in the Napoleonic saga in future years, but at that moment, the fate of the French army in Austria hung in the balance with the performance of these three men. The battle was nearing the conclusion of its second day. Both Aspern and Essling had been taken and lost by both sides on both days. In the broad open space between both villages, the French and Austrians had traded taking the initiative from the other side. The first day ended with Lannes and a single division holding on to Essling. When morning came, the battle resumed with Rosenberg’s Austrians pushing the French out of the village. But again, by late morning, a single French division under Boudet had managed to fight its way back into the village and was holding onto Essling. Then the Austrians came with Riese’s division followed by D’Aspre’s Hungarian grenadiers to almost push the French out of Essling. Mouton had been given several battalions of the Young Guard in what had been the last French failed attempt to take and hold the Austrian town of Essling back from the Austrians in that see- saw all-day battle to control the village. Earlier that afternoon, Mouton had been unable to retake the town completely after the Austrians had sent in their elite Hungarian grenadiers, and

Marshal Enterprises

Page 1 of 4