La Bataille d' Eggmuhl 1809

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General Comte Vandamme -- Soldier and Art Curator

Perhaps the least political of Napoleon’s generals, Dominique Vandamme served Napoleon and the French people for nearly 25 years before being rudely treated by the Bourbon imposters and forced to exile himself to the United States after the collapse of the 100 Days Campaign. In a career filled with highlights and controversy, Vandamme excelled during the Eggmühl campaign, but had several other outstanding episodes in his long career. Vandamme was born in humble circumstances in Cassel in French Flanders, and at the age of 16 had volunteered for service in a French regiment in Martinique. He left that post in just a few years during the revolutionary turmoil and returned to France. Vandamme became a general of brigade at age 23 and fought with distinction on several fronts by 1796. He seemed to specialize in sieges. It was during these early campaigns that he was first accused of looting. He also was removed briefly from command due to “impolitical” remarks made about some foreign governments. He also had chronic problems with his commanding officers. He could never get along with any of them except Napoleon and Davout. However, his successes continued, and he managed to escape much of the growing criticisms by his growing number of victories. According to Frenchempire.net in 1799, Vandamme was accused of imposing contributions from the citizens of Württemberg for his own personal profit and tolerating the misappropriations of others under his command. This was just another tale of art collection gone awry in the Napoleonic wars. In the confusion of war, the administrative council assigned to conduct the hearings never met. Instead, Vandamme successfully defended the Batavian Republic under General Brune; took a brief leave before being assigned to the French Army of the Rhine, where he won several battles in 1800; before being recalled to Paris again to answer for “administrative irregularities.” In the 1805 campaign, Vandamme was assigned to Soult’s corps, where he served with distinction successfully storming the Pratzen Heights at Austerlitz. After the command, due to severe differences with Soult, he was removed from that corps and moved to Ney’s corps where he excelled at Magdeburg. Then he took over the Württemberg division at Glogau and served under Jerome with three more successful sieges.

The Storming of Eggmühl

When the 1809 campaign began in Germany, Vandamme was again given command of the Wurttemberg division. Vandamme used his large division and its excellent supporting troops to seize the bridge crossing the Isar River and successfully storm the chateau in Eggmühl causing the Austrians to pull back. This unhinged the Austrian defense of the Danube and led to the Austrian withdrawal. Later in the 1809 campaign, Vandamme’s command acted as the French garrison for the occupation of Vienna

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