La Bataille de Aspern-Essling 1809

Rapp, upon Napoleon’s direct orders, had been given the last two battalions of the Young Guard to cover what would be the evacuation of the French and their retreat back to the Danube River. However, Rapp had other ideas. In his memoirs, Rapp explained that Napoleon had made the decision to leave Essling when Rapp arrived for his meeting with Mouton. Rapp Reflects In His Memoirs Rapp explained what happened…”I drew up my troops in the rear of General Mouton and went to deliver to him the Emperor’s orders; but the whole of the enemy’s reserve, under the command of the Archduke Charles, deployed at some distance. ‘You have,’ said I to General Mouton, ‘astonished those masses by your resistance; let us charge them back with the bayonet, and drive them back upon the columns that are advancing: if we succeed, the Emperor and the army will give us credit for our success; if we fail, the responsibility will rest with me.’—“With both of us,” replied the General. Our five battalions moved forward, charged, repulsed, and dispersed the enemy at the point of the bayonet. We were masters of the village. The Archduke endeavored in vain to recover it: five times he led his troops to the charge and five times he was defeated….Napoleon was delighted with this affair; he complimented me very highly and added, ‘If ever you did well in not executing my orders, you have done so today; for the safety of the army depended on the taking of Essling.” Rapp almost is dismissive of his accomplishment, which was his natural temperament, but with this modest three line statement, he captures the essence of the French success in that last portion of the battle. While the French did not prevail at Aspern Essling, the resolute Rapp, along with Mouton, had been able to hold Essling while the rest of the army was able to withdraw safely from the battlefield to the protective cover of Bertrand’s Lobau sanctuary. Napoleon was able to nurse his battered army back to strength, and with reinforcements from Italy and other parts of the French Empire, he was able to soundly defeat the Austrians six weeks later at the Wagram battlefield just a few miles away Rapp; Mouton; Bertrand and the other men who served as the Emperor’s aides de camp were remarkable men. First, they often came from humble backgrounds. Rapp’s father was a janitor from Alsace, and Mouton was the son of a baker from Lorraine. These were men made by the revolution, rising quickly in the intense Wars of the Revolution. They proved that talent and performance should determine who should assume leadership in the modern nation state. Certainly no Austrian leader could claim a similar background or similar accomplishments to Rapp; Mouton and Bertrand. The Multiple Skills of the French Aides French leadership was crucial to the successes Napoleon had throughout the years of his Empire. In addition to Napoleon’s own breathtaking leadership skills and the skills of his Marshalate; the talents of those men who were his aides de camp were significant. Not only were such generals as Rapp; Mouton; and Bertrand militarily proficient, but they had other skills important to the administration of the far-flung Empire of the French. Bertrand, who would show his engineering skills at Aspern-Essling, also became Governor of the Illyrian

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