¹ Masséna is said by some historians to have known of the ‘diversion in his favour,’ and to have attacked Ebersberg without orders. – Trans.

The right wing of the invading army was covered by the Italian contingent under Prince Eugene, who had against him the Austrian forces commanded by the Archduke John, whom he had beaten at Piava and Saeile.

Our forces were divided from that army by the mountains of the Tyrol, into which the Austrian Marquis von Chatter and the Count von Giulay had penetrated with their corps, each with a view to encouraging the revolt of the Tyrolese, and placing them once more under the domination of Austria.

Marshal Lefebvre with the French and two Bavarian divisions fortified Salzburg, and marched upon Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol. Our flanks on either side were therefore well covered. At Augsburg in our rear the Emperor had formed an army of all the troops which had not been able to arrive in Bohemia in time for the opening of the campaign. It was, therefore, with a sense of being secured on every side that we were about to begin our march on Vienna. We expected to give battle on a grand scale on the heights of Mölck or St. Pölten, where we supposed the enemy to be awaiting us in the best possible positions for the defence of Austria.

All the Emperor’s dispositions were made with that expectation, which, however, was not realised. The Archduke Charles did not try to recross the Danube to take up a position behind the Enns by way of the bridge of Mautern, of which he was still master; and General Hiller, who with 40,000 men in the advantageous position of Ebersberg had failed to defeat us, dared not await us alone on level ground, on plains where he would need to deploy far larger forces than he now had. Our troops, irritated at all the losses they had sustained, set out on the pursuit of General Hiller with feelings of irritation and indignation, which made things very unpleasant for the inhabitants of the Austrian province we were entering. The good Germans, whom we all liked on account of their hospitable ways, had been kindly treated during our first invasion, but they were not so fortunate this time, so they all fled before us, and we often had a good deal of trouble to prevent our men from being too exacting and revenging themselves on those compelled to entertain us. When we entered Enns, I was wounded by some of our own people in one of the scuffles which so often occur in which an officer feels obliged to interfere to prevent wrong-doing. Only ten days before the people of Enns had been talking of soon devastating France! and to-day their protectors had fled, and they themselves were experiencing all the horrors of war. One of the sad vicissitudes of fate which overtake monarchs and victors in the midst of their most brilliant successes was recalled to our minds a few days later, when about thirty leagues from Enns we came in sight of the towers of the castle of Dirnstein, rising from the summit of a huge rock, as if to defy from afar any approaching assailants, however victorious hitherto. On the day when we drew near Dirnstein, the Emperor, noticing its towers rising up into the sky a few miles off on our left, pointed them out to Prince Berthier and Marshal Lannes, who were riding near him, with the words, ‘It was there that Richard of England was treacherously seized on his way home from Palestine, where he had vanquished the Saracens, and was shut up for a year by order of the Emperor of Austria, who demanded a great ransom. King Richard had been more fortunate than any of us three at Saint Jean d’Acre, but not more courageous, although he did receive the nickname of Cœur de Lion, which I think I might also well bestow on you two. With the confidence and loyalty of a noble nature he was marching through a country at peace with him when he was betrayed by an Austrian Archduke, and sold to the Emperor Henry VI., who kept him captive. How far removed are we now from those barbarous times! I have had princes, kings, and emperors who were my enemies in my power, and far from tampering with their liberty, I have not exacted from them a single sacrifice of their honour. Will they do as much for me?’ After these words the Emperor remained silent, and as he rode on, kept his eyes fixed on the ruins of the castle. Six years later he was himself to be held captive on an arid rock in mid ocean, far from France and from all who were dear to him.

General Hiller had burnt the bridge over the Enns when he retreated, and our troops were compelled to spend the whole of the 4th in preparing for the passage of the river. The artillery set to work to construct a bridge on piles, and the engineers having succeeded in seizing several boats on the Danube which had belonged to the enemy, had them brought up to the Enns and made a bridge of boats which was ready before that on piles. Our army then rejoined us at Enns, Marshal Lannes having reached that place by way of Steyr on the right bank of the river. The Emperor waited at Enns till the bridges were finished, and the next day, May 6, I followed him to Amstetten, and on the 7th to St. Pölten.

Our columns had already crossed a portion of the Danube, down which boats laden with provisions for us were making their way, but at Mautern, opposite Krems, the enemy still occupied both banks and a bridge across the river. Marshal Lannes now received orders to go and take that position and to seize the boats forming the bridge, or if he could do no more at least to burn them. I was at the same time sent off to expedite as much as possible the landing of our provisions lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, and to get them conveyed to us by other routes. This task was promptly executed, and on the evening of the 8th I was able to enter Sigarskirchen with the Imperial staff, only some five leagues from Vienna.

As ordered by the Emperor, the position at Mautern was taken and the bridge burnt, but General Hiller had been able to use it the evening before to cross to the left bank. As the Archduke Charles would not now dream of attacking us on the right bank, and as there were no more obstacles for Marshal Lannes to overcome, he began his march that very night so as to arrive at Vienna at daybreak.

The suburbs of Vienna are completely enclosed within a huge entrenched camp, built in former days as a protection against the Turks and Hungarians. We expected to meet with a hot resistance, and I was told off to lead one of the assaults, but the fortifications were not defended at all, and a few discharges from our artillery were enough to win us possession of the whole of the suburbs, where part of the inhabitants quietly awaited our arrival in their homes. The Emperor took up his head quarters on the same evening (May 9) at Schönbrunn, the Saint-Cloud of the Emperors of Austria.

The town of Vienna, protected on the northern side by one of the minor arms of the Danube, is surrounded by a strong enceinte of twelve curtains relieved by bastions at the angles of the polygon; where these terminate are as many grand façades with demi-lunes, dry ditches, alarm-posts, and covered ways, the glacis of which forms a beautiful esplanade enclosing the whole city. This esplanade between the town and the suburbs is used as a promenade by the inhabitants. When debouching by way of the streets of the suburb known as that of Maria Hilf on to this promenade, we attempted to march into the town, the garrison, the greater part of which was looking down on us from the ramparts, poured out such a hail of bullets and grape shot that we were compelled to be careful. This showed us that Vienna meant to close her gates upon us, and that we need not count upon the passive obedience she had shown us in our first invasion in 1805.¹ The Archduke Maximilian found himself at the head of from fifteen to sixteen thousand men of proved valour, and in addition to that a numerous body of well-armed citizens, who gave proof of the greatest devotion to their princes. Public feeling, which was very bitter against us, urged the most stubborn resistance on the military chiefs, but most fortunately for us all this eager patriotism was entirely wanting in the skilful guidance necessary to turn it to really good account. During the fifteen days which had elapsed since the news must have reached him of the defeat of the Austrians at Landshut, Eckmühl, and Ratisbon, the Archduke Maximilian had failed to utilise either the inhabitants or the well-stocked arsenal for the organisation of a formidable defence. The approaches to the principal gates were not even palisaded. For all this, however, if the defence were only sustained for a few days it would give Prince Charles time to arrive at Vienna before we could take possession of it, so it behoved us to hasten its fall by every means in our power whilst his army was far enough off for our task, though still difficult, to be not altogether impossible. The Prince lost a good deal of time in Bohemia, whilst we wasted not a moment.

¹ Napoleon had then taken possession of Vienna without striking a single blow – Trans.

Marshal Lannes, no longer able to doubt that a stout resistance would be offered, now sent two officers with a flag of truce to ask that the gates of the town might be opened to us to avoid the horrors of an assault and a siege. No sooner had the envoys reached the promenade than they were assailed by the populace and charged by hussars with drawn swords, and M. de Saint-Mart, engaged though he was on a pacific mission, barely escaped with his life, and returned minus one cheek, which had been slashed off by a sword.

The Emperor, hearing of this treatment of a messenger bearing a flag of truce, ordered a regular attack to be made at once with a view to forcing the enemy to abandon the town, or at least to prevent the Austrians from shutting themselves up in it. Whilst our preparations were being made, a continuous fire was kept up from the ramparts on the suburbs with a view to dislodging us. The inhabitants of these suburbs, finding themselves deserted by their natural protectors, sent a deputation to the Emperor to beg him to intercede in their favour. The Emperor received the messengers graciously, and had a letter from Prince Berthier to the Archduke Maximilian given to them, charging them to deliver it themselves, as after the incident of the morning he could not send one of his own officers. Instead of receiving a favourable answer to this letter, the people of the suburbs only found the firing redoubled, absolutely no consideration being shown even for the numerous women and children.

We therefore set to work to place some twenty howitzers in the houses overlooking the esplanade, keeping them masked until nightfall, when we meant to sweep the ramparts and deal out death with the shells from them. Whilst we were preparing this attack, the troops under Marshal Masséna broke into the town on the north-east, took possession of the Prater, and held themselves ready to bar the passage of all who attempted to leave the town and escape by the way of the bridge over the Danube, or of any Austrians who should attempt to come to the aid of the town.

The day of the 10th passed in a cannonade from both sides, one to check our preparations, the other to protect them. Meanwhile, the Emperor having learnt that one of the young Archduchesses had been unable to leave on account of illness, issued orders that we were to avoid pointing our cannon in the direction of the Imperial palace.

At nine o’clock in the evening a hot fire was poured out from all our howitzers, to the great surprise of the inhabitants. The sky above the esplanade was immediately lit up by numerous far-reaching streaks of vivid light, resembling a brilliant display of fireworks, and ere long the flames of some eight or ten conflagrations, which continued to burn in different quarters of the town throughout the night, revealed many a terrible scene of desolation. The Archduke Maximilian, having learnt before daybreak that we were so placed as to cut off his retreat by way of the main bridge, sent some battalions to attack us, but they were beaten and pursued. The Prince then lost hope of being able to defend the burning town, and fearing to be made prisoner in it, he spent the whole morning in sending out all his troops, and every one who could escape, before the passage was completely closed to them. He resigned all his power to the Count von Urbria, Grand Chamberlain of the Emperor of Austria, and as soon as further retreat had become impossible without risking the great danger of running the gauntlet of Masséna’s artillery, the few troops still remaining in the town hoisted a white flag. It was at noon on May 11 that this signal appeared, and messengers were sent to our outposts with proposals for capitulation.

Marshal Lannes at once ordered the firing to cease, and a parley was begun. A deputation of superior officers, clergy, nobles, and chief functionaries of the town waited on the Emperor at Schönbrunn, and demanded of him oblivion of the past, security of life and property, and the restoration of order in the town, where the populace had given themselves up to anarchy and pillage. The capitulation was accepted, the terms were drawn up in accordance with the wishes of the deputies, and our troops took possession of the town. At nine o’clock on the 12th, our battalions entered Vienna in good order, where they at once assumed the idle of protectors against the populace rather than that of conquerors of a taken city. The Emperor then issued an order of the day to the army, in which the following passages occur:

Soldiers! the people of Vienna, widowed and forsaken, will be treated with respect by you; I take them under my special protection. Be good to the unfortunate peasants, and to the good citizens who are so worthy of your esteem; do not be proud of your success, but see in it only the result of the Divine justice, which has made you the instruments for the punishment of the ungrateful and the perjured.’

The Emperor had not forgotten that in the former invasion of 1805 the civic guard of Vienna had behaved with admirable loyalty and self-control, and he therefore now again allowed them to retain their arms, and aid us in protecting their fellow-citizens. General Andrassy, who a month before had still been ambassador at Vienna, was named governor of the town, where his generous and upright character had won him the esteem of all, and this choice was a proof to the Viennese of the Emperor’s friendly sentiments towards them.

Thirty days only had elapsed since the Emperor was called from the peaceful festivities of Paris to place himself at the head of his army, and during this brief space of time he had conquered and dispersed 300,000 enemies and taken possession of their capital.

Chance and lick had really nothing whatever to do with all these miraculous successes, which were entirely the result of the genius of Napoleon, whose wisdom and foresight, with his patient unwearying activity, prepared everything and settled every combination beforehand, and who, though he was well able to insure prompt obedience, yet knew even better how to inspire all his subordinates with a confidence and devotion which made nothing appear impossible to them when they were working for him and carrying out his instructions. These feelings of confidence in their chief were so deeply engraved on the heart of all his soldiers that they laughed to scorn the word ‘impossible,’ which the Emperor had struck out of his vocabulary.

The taking of Vienna was, however, but the prelude of yet greater tasks awaiting us. In retreating the Archduke Maximilian had burnt the main bridge over the Danube, so that it was no longer possible for us to occupy both banks. The Emperor’s next care was therefore to arrange some means of getting over the river, so as to go to meet Prince Charles, who was marching on Vienna with all his forces.

The great width and depth of the Danube, with the rapidity of the stream, made it seem as if any attempt to span it must fail, and this was very evidently the opinion of the enemy, but for all that everything was prepared for the bold undertaking, which was immediately put in hand.

Already on the 11th, even before the town was taken, Marshal Lannes had received orders to occupy the islands of the Danube a little above Vienna and opposite Nusdorff, so as to make a bridge there. Five or six hundred men did land on the islands, but were repulsed with great loss by the Austrians under General Nordman. This partial success restored the confidence of the enemy, making them more than ever sure that we should never succeed in taking a bridge; and this, perhaps, led to their placing fewer obstacles in our way than they might have done during the succeeding days.

Reconnaissances were made about three miles below Vienna, and the village of Ebersdorff, opposite Aspern and Essling, was pointed out to General Bertrand of the Engineers, and to General Pernetti of the Artillery, as the point at which the bridges were to be made. A narrow but deep creek served as a floating dock for our pontoons and boats, and we were able to launch them without being seen. The town was so near that we could easily obtain all it contained of any use to us, and of the many islands about us we chose the largest, called Lobau, which was
more than five miles in circumference, as the best base for our operations, which were very soon begun.

During the few days when the Imperial Staff occupied the palace of Schönbrunn, I went several times to see the treasures of Vienna, such as the statues by Canova, and also to look up my old friends. Many of our officers were doing their best to console the young ladies who had been left behind in the precipitate flight of the princes and the notables of the Court and of the army, who had bequeathed to their conquerors the task of wiping the tears shed at the loss of husbands or lovers.

I also very often went to the much-vaunted promenade of the Prater, and was so delighted with the remarkable beauty of its trees that I made many sketches in the shady woods, getting as much pleasure out of doing so then as I do now in looking at them when I can get time to open my old portfolios. They call up again the charming impression made on me by those solitudes, where the only sound to break the stillness was the trickling of water or the chirping of the birds making love in this sweet month of May. The freshness and the quiet contrasted indeed with the noise and confusion of conflict, and with the terrible hurly-burly of that awful and still recent day at Ebersberg, and I counted myself lucky to be able to forget it all, if only for a moment, in the profound quiet which surrounded one here.

It was three days since I had had more than a few moments of rest, and my duties already called me to go and help in the construction of the bridges being thrown across the Danube at Ebersdorff.

In the first instance I was sent by Prince Berthier to press on the work, and to return and report to him what was going on in the docks. I passed the day there, and towards midnight, when the weary workers were resting for a few minutes, I started in pitchy darkness to return to Schönbrunn to give an account of my mission. I did not know the way, and wandered about for a long time in the swampy meadows, which had been flooded by the Danube six weeks before. I could no longer see where I was going, my horse began to tremble, and his nostrils were inflated with terror as he felt the ground giving way beneath his feet. In a fury of rage he resisted my efforts to spur him on, and whilst I was struggling with him the mud suddenly opened before us, the horse fell, and for a quarter of an hour I was in a most critical position. But apparently my time had not yet come, and I managed to scramble out unhurt. I remounted the noble animal, who had done his best to save me from the catastrophe, and I arrived at Schönbrunn at two o’clock in the morning. I woke up Prince Berthier, told him how far the work had advanced, and he went to the Emperor with the news of the progress of the bridge, taking leave of me with the words, ‘Well done! Go and change your clothes now; you are covered with mud.’

On this same day, which had begun so badly, I experienced several other annoyances such as are all too numerous in war, and are more felt then than at any other time. When I left Strasburg, I had confided the three fine horses I bought from the Jew Levi for one thousand and several hundred francs to one of my servants, a man named Graf. He had been told to take special care of one of the horses, the most expensive of the three, which had been wounded in the foot; and proud of the confidence I had placed in him, the man had promised to prove himself worthy of it. The army had, however, advanced so rapidly, that he had so far not been able to join me. I was awaiting his arrival with impatience, and on this unlucky day, May 16, when I was at dinner with my comrades, I saw Graf come in at the door with a face lit up with pleasure at seeing me again. His happy expression made me feel sure that he brought good news, and I asked him if he had had a pleasant journey. ‘First-rate, sir,’ was the reply. ‘And Zephir has quite recovered?’ I said. ‘Ah, sir,’ he answered, his bright expression unchanged, ‘what a fine horse! Everyone stopped to admire him, and such a good-tempered beast too.’ ‘Well, then, my good fellow, he is quite cured?’ And Graf, still with a smile on his face, replied, ‘Ah, sir, what a fine horse he was! but his leg got inflamed on the march – it was a pity and he died at Stuttgart; I have brought you the certificate of his death.’ Very much annoyed at the loss of such a valuable mount at this critical time, I hastened to inquire, ‘And what has become of Sultana?’ ‘Sultana? Oh, yes, what a proud, strong creature she was! She gave me no end of trouble. She jumped and sprang about to such an extent that she broke her thigh, and the veterinary surgeon had her killed.’ ‘What!’ I shouted, ‘what do you say, killed?’ ‘Yes, sir, at Lintz, and here is the certificate.’ ‘And Alezan?’ ‘Yes, yes, sir, Alezan is a famous fellow, so brave and as strong as an ox. I was able to make him do anything I liked. You may pride yourself on having made a very good bargain when you bought him. He ate for four, and he is fat and no mistake. You must come and look at him.’ I was beginning to smile and to feel a little cheered, when the wretched fellow, still laughing and looking perfectly contented, added, ‘Look out of the window, sir, there he is on the road, only some forty paces off. It was so hot he fell down in an apoplectic fit. I was not able to bleed him, and he is dead.’ ‘What a fool you are with your praises of the dead!’ cried my comrades with one voice; but I, used to this sort of contretemps, for I had very often had to send my carriages on in Italy, Spain, and Poland, did my best to put a good face on the matter, and took from my belt what little money I had left to buy horses to replace those I had lost. Since then, in my campaigns in Spain, Russia, Saxony, and on the Rhine, I have lost no less than thirty horses in one way or another, four of which were killed under me, several were eaten by our soldiers on the isle of Lobau, in Russia and at Torgau, whilst the rest were taken or killed in battle at Dennewitz, Leipzig, and Hanau.

Part of the army had already got near to Ebersdorff, and reconnaissances had been made as far as opposite Presburg, six leagues lower down. Generals Pernetti and Bertrand had had everything they could get in the town taken down to the place where the bridge was being made, including timber, planks, beams, posts, piles, rails, anchors, chains, ropes, small boats, wherries, pontoons, forges, engines, workmen’s tools, &c. &,c. The dockyard, where the preliminary works were carried on, was behind a little copse, which screened our proceedings from the enemy, alongside of the creek already mentioned, in which the boats, also well out of sight, were floated as the work proceeded, Hundreds of officers and thousands of soldier artisans were busily engaged in cutting up and preparing the wood, most of which was very unsuitable and of a heterogeneous character. The pontoon detachment and marines of the guard crept along the river at night in little boats, testing the depth of the water and choosing the best spots for anchorage. We had not nearly anchors enough, and we supplemented them by filling open chests with cannon-balls. Extraordinary activity prevailed day and night in the dockyard, and on the morning of the 19th the trestles, the rafts, with some eighty or a hundred boats, the baulks, the abutments, everything in fact, was ready to be placed in position in a few hours. Barges were prepared to send the advanced guard over to the opposite bank, and several boats were tied together in pairs as flying bridges to take the workmen to and fro. The Emperor, seeing that the work had advanced as far as circumstances permitted, now gave the order for the bridges to be thrown across, and that operation was attempted at the beginning of the night. The waters of the Danube had already risen, putting us to some inconvenience and causing us great anxiety, but for all that the battalions of the Molitor division crossed in rowboats and took possession of the island of Lobau, exchanging a few shots with the Austrians.

On the morning of the 20th the bridges were fixed, and we could communicate fully with the island of Lobau. Marshal Masséna’s corps was the first to cross, followed by that under Marshal Lannes, with wagons laden with the necessary pontoons and boats for spanning the remaining arm of the Danube separating the island of Lobau from the plain of Essling on the left bank. This small arm, from about 120 to 150 feet wide, was pretty deep, and the swollen state of the river was likely to make the work of bridging over the last bit difficult enough. The point chosen was where the plain jutted out considerably towards the island of Lobau. This position projecting from our bank allowed our artillery to sweep its surface in both directions, and thus protect the troops who were about to land on the opposite bank. The Austrian troops opposing us were not numerous, but they contested the passage hotly, though they were finally repulsed by the battalions flung across to the left bank by General Molitor and led by M. de Sainte-Croix, one of the aides-de-camp of Marshal Masséna, who was well worthy to second a general so able. The indomitable courage of this young officer, combined with his bright and cultivated intelligence, his charming face and taking manners, had greatly pleased the Emperor, who, with a view to his advancement, had confided to him the leadership of these battalions. Sainte-Croix, advancing in front of his men, left them no excuse for hesitation, and everything turned out in accordance with the wishes of the Marshal.

Whilst our advanced guard was drawing off the enemy, our engineers hastily raised behind the skirmishers at the apex of the angle occupied by us, a retrenchment or breastwork in the form of a crown-shaped bridge head, whilst behind them again we were working beneath the showers of balls which fell amongst us, and launched the boats which were to make the bridge. We had very little wood left for this purpose, and we had to cut some on the island. Whilst we were thus engaged, the water continued to rise, increasing the rapidity of the current, and adding to our difficulties; but in spite of everything the little ten-span bridge was finished on the evening of the 20th, and the troops who had reached the island of Lobau began to cross over to the left bank. The rest of the troops hastened their march; but it was only with difficulty and by dint of very great caution that they were able to cross the long defiles of narrow bridges, still anything but firmly fixed.

As soon as the Molitor division was ready to pass on to the plain of hassling, the advanced guard, led by Sainte-Croix, promptly debouched from the little wood which screened the point of passage; but the cavalry of the enemy soon drove them back, compelling them to return to shelter. Slowly, however, the numbers of the French troops increased along the front, and they in their turn now repulsed the enemy’s cavalry, which drew back to some distance on the plain. This manœuvre led us to suppose that the Austrian force was small, or that the enemy were trying to draw us into an ambuscade, so we did not pursue, our light cavalry alone advancing beyond the villages of Aspern and Essling, in which they took up their quarters without opposition during the night.

At midnight the Emperor was still in a state of great uncertainty, ignorant whether he had the enemy in front or not. About one o’clock, however, news was brought to him that a far-stretching line of fires had been noticed on the heights in the direction of Bohemia, at a considerable distance from our left wing. There could be little doubt that they were the camp fires of a considerable force, and Marshal Masséna, who had climbed up into the belfry at Aspern to get a better view, was also of that opinion.

The whole of the night of the 20th I remained at the bridge, hard at work trying to strengthen it and aid the crossing of the troops who were about to take up their position on the plain in the following order of battle: Masséna’s corps on the left in the direction of Aspern; that of Marshal Lannes on the right towards Essling; whilst the cavalry under Marshal Bessières was to take its stand between the two villages. The Emperor and his Guard also arrived before daybreak.

The darkness had not yet dispersed on May 21, when our cavalry vedettes were compelled to retreat before a large body of the enemy’s sharpshooters, heralding the approach of the Austrian army, some 170,000 strong, which had advanced upon us during the night without our having been able to perceive it. Of this force a body of 60,000 cavalry with 300 pieces of cannon were already deploying in a semicircle with a view to surrounding us.

At daybreak only 25,000 of our men had crossed the river, and the skirmishers were already engaged all along our line, which occupied about two miles and a half between Aspern, Essling, and Ebersdorff. The Danube had now risen more than three feet, and made our bridges very insecure. The soldiers would never have had the heart to venture on these rickety planks, washed and shaken by the rushing waters, but that they were inpatient to get to the plain to join the comrades who were already attacked, and whose danger they recognised. A body of Austrian cavalry, supported by a good many guns, advanced to retake the three villages we occupied to begin with. Ebersdorff being too farms off from our right wing, the Emperor ordered it to be abandoned before it was attacked, and the troops from it came up to aid in the defence of Essling, whilst the artillery of the enemy, eager to dislodge us from that position, showered shells and balls upon our cavalry drawn up in front of it. All these projectiles fell into the luckless village, which was soon on fire. On our left the village of Aspern was occupied by several battalions of the Molitor division, and moreover covered by our cavalry. A yet more formidable attack was directed by the Austrians upon this point; thousands of shells soon set fire to the village. Marshal Masséna perceived from the fierceness of the onslaught what the Archduke Charles was aiming at, and all the importance the enemy would attach to the possession of Aspern, from which they hoped to debouch upon our bridge, destroy it, and take us all prisoners in the plain by cutting off our retreat. On the discovery of this scheme the genius of Masséna rose to meet the emergency, and of the two terrible days which I am about to describe he was the chief hero. His example redoubled the courage of the 10,000 troops under him, and enabled them to withstand the obstinate efforts of the three Austrian corps which dashed themselves against us a hundred times at least in the forty-eight hours of the struggle.

Our one aim in this two days’ battle was to end the war and obtain peace. We were not successful, but no victory could have been more glorious to our arms than the long-sustained, unflinching resistance which intimidated a force four times larger than our own, with every means at its disposal for completely crushing us, and prevented it from daring to interfere with our retreat.

We were soon wrapped in thick clouds of black smoke rising from the burning village of Aspern, through which the sun, as yet but little above the horizon, shone like a blood-red globe of fire, giving a crimson hue to the whole landscape. This phenomenon, which would have aroused the superstitious fears of the heathen, made us all say with a smile, ‘We are going to have hot work,’ and it turned out that we were right.

Whilst the Emperor was advancing slowly across the plain of Essling, so as to give the rest of his forces time to come up, General Hiller’s corps was trying to pass between the river bank and Aspern, so as to make straight for our bridge; but the Molitor division barred his passage, and prevented him from reaching the Danube. Meanwhile, at about ten o’clock in the morning, an enormous boat which had got loose from its moorings was carried down by the current, and broke one of our larger bridges by falling on it, so that our communication with the plain was interrupted for several hours. The news of this serious accident was brought to the Emperor just as the aim of the Austrian movement upon Aspern had fully declared itself. Behind the enemy’s cavalry we could now see a considerable column of infantry converging on the same point, the village was soon surrounded by a swarm of skirmishers on foot, and the attack became so vigorous that General Molitor was driven out of Aspern. These two untoward incidents occurring simultaneously, the Emperor thought it prudent to advance no farther on the plains; and though his troops had gained a good deal of ground in the centre, he ordered the movement to be suspended, and the troops to remain on the defensive only until the arrival of reinforcements. The enemy noticed this halt, and seemed also to have been aware of the breaking of our bridge. They at once became far more daring, and for several hours we were overwhelmed by a terrible cannonade from a battery of some sixty pieces, whilst the Rosemberg division, protected by the artillery, advanced fearlessly upon us. Marshal Lannes, however, repulsed every attack with the Boudet division only. The enemy’s cavalry then charged several times with such tremendous force that we were in danger of being broken up; but the valiant General Lassalle, at the head of our light cavalry, fell upon the Austrians, putting them to rout and compelling the terrible battery of artillery to retreat for a moment at a gallop. This respite was, however, of but very short duration for the French centre.

On the left the Austrians had entered Aspern, and it was absolutely necessary to dislodge them. Masséna, therefore, who had had all his horses killed, marched on foot with drawn sword at the head of the grenadiers of the Molitor division, forced his way into the village, crowded as it was with Austrians, drove them out, and pursued them for some twelve or fourteen yards beyond the houses. But here the French troops found themselves face to face with the strong force under Hiller, Bellegarde, and Hohenzollern, advancing rapidly in their direction. It was hopeless for the division to attempt to engage such superior numbers in the open plain, so Masséna recalled the pursuers and ordered them to hold Aspern.

The enemy, ashamed apparently of this first defeat, returned to the charge with 80,000 men and more than a hundred pieces of cannon, which were soon pointed on the village. To make the more sure of victory, the Austrian troops, who were expected to carry all before them, were in ranks far too closely serried; and Masséna, noticing this error, opened fire with his few remaining pieces upon the densely packed masses of men, every shot working terrible havoc amongst them, though their onrush was not checked for a moment. In a very few minutes the village was completely surrounded by troops; and hidden from view in the dense clouds of smoke from the cannon, the musketry, and the fires which at once broke out, the combatants, almost suffocated by the stroke, crossed bayonets without being able to see each other; but neither side gave way a step, and for more than an hour the terrible attack and desperate defence went on amongst the ruins of the burning houses.

Whilst this horrible scene was going on on our left – where the French had also to drive back General Hiller, who was struggling to reach our smaller bridge news was brought to the Emperor that our men had managed to repair the large bridge and that reinforcements were beginning to arrive. These tidings were promptly made known to all who were interested, and greatly revived our hopes.

It was now a little after four o’clock, and the united corps of Hiller, Bellegarde, and Hohenzollern had succeeded in taking half the village of Aspern. Masséna still held the church and cemetery, and was struggling to regain what he had lost. Five times in less than three hours he took and retook the cemetery, the church, and the village, without being able to call to his aid the Legrand division, which he was obliged to hold in reserve to cover Aspern on the right and keep the enemy from getting in on that side. Throughout this awful struggle Masséna stood beneath the great elms on the green opposite the church, calmly indifferent to the fall of the branches brought down upon his head by the showers of grape shot and bullets, keenly alive to all that was going on, his look and voice, stern as the quos ego of Virgil’s angry Neptune, inspiring all who surrounded him with irresistible strength.

No less fierce was the struggle in the centre. Marshal Lannes, with the Boudet division, protected by the village of Essling, formed the front line of our army between Essling and Aspern; whilst Marshal Bessières covered this line with the cavalry, the Emperor with his Guard forming the reserve.

When the news reached us that our bridge was broken, the wind was blowing the masses of smoke rising up from Aspern towards us, wrapping us in a black cloud, whilst the blood-red sun shed its lurid light upon the scene. Hitherto, as I have already said, we had been able to repulse the charges of the enemy’s cavalry, and had even driven off the sixty pieces of cannon which had been pouring such a murderous fire upon us, but now we were forced to wait till our communications were reopened before we could continue to act on tine defensive. This enabled the enemy to rally. The Archduke again attacked the village of Essling, defended by Marshal Lannes, but he failed to enter it, and the Hungarian cavalry under him again charged that commanded by Marshal Bessières, but each time they were thrown into disorder and compelled to draw back for a considerable distance by the cavalry divisions under Generals Lassalle and Espagne. In the course of a few hours the last-named troops flung themselves at a gallop upon the enemy’s squares, broke them up, and dashed several times right through their ranks, carrying off fourteen guns. It was in this capture of artillery that General Fouler was killed at the head of his men, and it was whilst carrying off the same guns that General Espagne fell mortally wounded by a cannon-ball. The Archduke, being unable to get the better of Marshal Lannes and General Boudet at Essling, Masséna now ordered some 90,000 men with 200 pieces of cannon to deploy to our front. We owe many thanks to the Austrian gunners, for, whether from nervousness or awkwardness or in haste, they certainly aimed very badly. I was very often close to the Emperor on the left of Essling whilst all these terrible projectiles were raining upon the centre of his army, and though his features expressed absolute indifference to his own danger, I could not help seeing that he was keenly anxious about his men, compelled to remain inactive under such a hail of missiles. The sound of the bullets crashing, not a hundred yards behind him, on the high felt caps, the bayonets, and the very breasts of his Guards, seemed to tear his heart, and he evidently longed to be able to put a stop to the storm. But at last the repairing of the bridges was achieved, and part of General Nansouty’s large body of cavalry came up to our support.

As the regiments of cuirassiers formed in order of battle to the sound of the cannon-balls falling on and penetrating helmet and breastplate, we could see the brave fellows under fire calmly closing up their ranks and awaiting without a sign of fear the signal to charge.

It was seven o’clock, the sun was just setting, and the enemy seemed to be about to outflank us on the right, when Marshal Bessières, still full of the zeal he had shown in the many extraordinary charges he had already led, received orders from the Emperor to advance at the head of the cuirassiers just arrived, and drive the enemy off before night.

The emperor would have preferred waiting to strike a decisive blow until more fresh troops, eager for the fray, had arrived; but it was so painful to him to see so many of his men struck down as they passively waited, that he decided to order three regiments of cuirassiers to be formed into three columns and led at a trot in the direction of the hottest fire from the enemy’s artillery.

Marshal Bessières, General Saint-Germain, and Colonel Margaron, therefore, advanced with their cuirassiers, and after several gallant charges routed the artillery of the enemy, and put to flight the corps of infantry and cavalry which came up to support them. We thus remained masters of the ground, and having got rid of the enemy on one side we had the satisfaction of finding hostilities cease in that direction about eight o’clock, just as the night was beginning.

On the left, however, the struggle was far from being over, and an awful battle was still raging in the streets and behind the walls of the village of Aspern. The enemy, irritated at the stubborn resistance of so small a body of troops, redoubled their efforts to dislodge them before nightfall, and went on fighting by the light of the conflagrations alone. The history of our wars relates no more thrilling incident than this long and obstinate struggle, in which our troops, disheartened by the ever fresh difficulties with which they had to contend, worn out by fatigue, and horrified at the carnage around them, were kept at their posts by the example and exhortations of Masséna and his officers alone. General Molitor had lost some half of his men, and the enemy were hurrying up from every side. The struggle was maintained under these terrible conditions until eleven o’clock, when we remained masters of Aspern and of the whole line between it and Essling. At that late hour of the night the Carra-Saint-Cyr division succeeded in coming up to the support of Masséna’s left, and in relieving that General of his anxiety as to the movements of General Hiller. The enemy withdrew to bivouac at a distance of about four cannon shots in our rear. Quiet was at last restored, and the silence was only broken by a few shots fired now and then in the distance to keep the sentinels on the alert. In the calm of the ensuing night columns of flame from the conflagrations in Aspern and Essling rose majestically on the right and left of our camp, as if to light up the scene of the struggle of the morrow, for which we must very soon prepare. Our pontoon detachment meanwhile was busy repairing the damage caused by the rising of the river, and by the various floating objects brought down by the flood, which had become entangled amongst our ropes. Our sappers were hard at work strengthening the reliefs of the bridge head, and the Emperor and his staff stretched themselves out upon the grass near by to snatch a few moments of repose, often interrupted to press on the passage of the troops.

During the night of May 21 and 22, the grenadier corps under General Oudinot, the Saint-Hilaire division, part of the Guard, several regiments of light cavalry, with quantities of artillery, ammunition, and provision wagons, crossed the bridge in one continuous stream, surmounting the greatest difficulties, whilst we were occupied in placing the small bodies of troops, as they arrived, according to the directions of the Emperor on ground which we had now been able to reconnoitre. We were filled with admiration for the eagerness with which the men pressed on to the aid of their comrades.

At three o’clock on the morning of the 22nd we suddenly heard the cannonade of the enemy all along our line, and we were afoot again long before daybreak. At four o’clock the Austrian columns took up their positions from one end to the other of our front, extending indeed beyond it on either side, and the battle began again. Audacity and skill alone could bring us through against such superior forces, and neither was wanting to the Emperor or to those under him. He very soon determined to concentrate his attack on the enemy’s centre, so as first to divide the Austrian forces and then to crush the wing on our right, which would assure us the victory over the second wing on our left. W e started to convey the orders to this effect.

I had to go backwards and forwards from the field of battle to the bridges, and from the bridges to the outposts, to keep the Emperor informed of all that was going on, so that I was able to get a very general notion of what occurred on this awful day.

The shape of the field of battle might be compared to that of a huge outspread fan, with the Danube forming the sides, and the bridge the radiating point. The French army occupied the small inner rays or ribs of the fan between the wider outer rays and the handle, whilst the Austrian army was advancing upon us from every point of the wide outspread semicircle, extending on the right to Essling and on the left to Aspern.

Marshal Lannes, retaining his position of the evening before, defended Essling with the Boudet division, having on his left the Saint-Hilaire division and General Oudinot with the corps of grenadiers, whilst the cavalry under Marshal Bessières, the Nansouty cuirassiers, and part of the Guard, were between Saint-Hilaire and Masséna, who still occupied Aspern with the Legrand and Carra-Saint-Cyr divisions supporting his left. General Molitor, who had suffered so much on the 21st, was placed in reserve behind Aspern with the few men left to him, and small parties of troops, arriving one after the other from the bridge, took up their stand as reserves at its head. On the right bank of the Danube, meanwhile, Marshal Davout with the great park of artillery, the ammunition, and all the remaining corps of the army, were waiting their turn at the entrance to the bridge, eager to cross it.

The enemy’s troops manœuvred as on the day before, advancing in a hesitating manner; the infantry and artillery firing continuously, the general impression conveyed to us being that they were intimidated by the extraordinary resistance they had met with.

When the Emperor perceived how far beyond our lines those of the enemy stretched on either side, he felt sure that he would find any individual point he might elect to attack weak, and harassed as we were by the terrible cannonade, which became more and more murderous as the artillery drew nearer to us, he ordered the whole line to advance, and told Marshal Lannes to attack with the utmost possible vigour the Austrian centre, part of which had already taken possession of a few houses on the right of Essling, whilst the other wing was making a furious assault on Aspern.

It was hardly light when Marshal Lannes commenced his movement, leaving General Boudet on his right to defend Essling; and forming his remaining divisions in columns according to regiments with the cavalry in the second line, he marched proudly forward in that order, and very soon came up with and attacked the enemy. General Saint-Hilaire and the 52nd Regiment led the way, the Oudinot corps and the columns moving up to his support, the enemy everywhere wavering and drawing back before our troops. We eagerly pressed on our advantage, and the Austrians were thrown into a disorder which insensibly spread all along their line. In a very few minutes we had broken the enemy’s ranks, and their troops drew back in several divergent directions. The Archduke Charles thought from this that the whole of the French army had succeeded in crossing the bridges during the night and was advancing upon him, and for a moment he seems to have despaired of rallying his forces. However, by the most courageous efforts, in which he exposed his own person with a reckless contempt of death, he succeeded in leading back to the charge several corps which had withdrawn, himself retaking the flag of one of his regiments, that under Colonel Zack, and planting it almost in our ranks. Vain efforts only; for all who returned to the charge were overthrown or taken prisoners. Flags, guns, and some 500 men were in one moment taken possession of by the French, and all the Archduke’s aides-de-camp were killed or wounded as they stood around him. He succeeded, however, in reforming several ranks, but they were soon broken up and driven back by General Oudinot, who continued to advance.

Marshal Bessières, at the head of several columns of cuirassiers, then made his way through our division, and several times charged the Austrian infantry and cavalry. Our cavalry threw the enemy’s ranks into disorder, and drove them back upon their rear guard as far as the village of Breiteulée, which had been but an hour before the head quarters of Prince Charles. It was when he was leading one of these cavalry charges that the French army lost General Durosnel, one of the Emperor’s aides-de-camp. His horse was killed under him, and he was taken prisoner. We had long thought him dead, when the signing of peace restored him to us. It was from him that we learnt into what disorder the Austrian army had been thrown, and with what devoted courage the Archduke had behaved at this critical moment, when our troops had cut the enemy’s forces in two, and were advancing rapidly across the plain with enthusiastic cries of ‘Vive l’Empereur!’

This joyful signal of victory resounded all along our first line, rousing the jealousy of the second corps, which had not been able to take part in the charge. Essling had a momentary respite from the attacks of Rosemberg, Masséna had succeeded in repulsing Bellegarde, and the Guard, still small in numbers and held in reserve, had advanced on the plain to the support of the divisions engaged with the enemy. The Emperor now checked the zeal of Marshal Lannes, who was pressing on in advance of his men, and told General Oudinot to moderate his attacks so as to give time for the main body of the cavalry to come up with Marshal Davout’s 40,000 men, some of whom were beginning to arrive. The Emperor had already issued orders for Davout’s corps to take up their position in the centre of the battle, so as to crush first one and then the other of the enemy’s remaining wings, the centre and the right wing being already routed. It was not yet seven o’clock, and everything promised the most glorious issue of the day for the French arms. The very heavens, which were still calm, seemed propitious to us; but Providence was about to put our courage to the most terrible proof.

The fine warm weather in which we had been rejoicing for a whole month had caused the premature melting of the snow, resulting in the periodical rising of the Danube taking place now instead of as usual in the middle of June. So far we had thought the increase of the volume of water to have been merely one of the effects of a passing storm, which would not interfere long with our plan. But instead of subsiding the inundation spread all along the river, and the wind, which blew strongly in the direction of the current, added to the force of the flood, which swept down with it all manner of objects torn front the banks, such as trees, stacks of fodder, rafts, boats, &c., which were flung violently amongst the slackened ropes of our larger bridges, breaking them and dragging away the anchors, which were not strong enough to resist such pressure. The force of the current became terrible, and at seven o’clock our brave pontonniers and marines, having done everything humanly possible to prevent the catastrophe, were driven to despair of being able to keep open communication, for it was cut off by the breaking of one of the bays of the large bridge. An aide-de-carry of General Bertrand brought this fatal news to the Emperor in the midst of our success, telling him that the state of the river and of our boats was such that he must not count upon the arrival of the 70,000 men waiting on the right bank.

This terrible contretemps came upon us like a thunderclap, but the Emperor received the tidings with resignation. Prince Berthier and Marshal Lannes also accepted it without uttering one word of discouragement, disguising the painful impression they could not fail to feel. We spoke in whispers of the catastrophe, taking care not to let the news be noised abroad, but we could not help being greatly dejected at the knowledge that our only hope of securing the victory was gone. The Emperor sent me at once to the bridges to find out whether it were not possible by means of row-boats or flying bridges to bring over at least some men and ammunition.

Napoleon, though the enemy were in retreat before him, now felt himself compelled to order Marshal Lannes to halt and take up a position supported on the right by Essling, and on the left by a stretch of undulating ground running in the direction of Aspern, and connecting him with Masséna.

In the thirty hours’ struggle sustained by our infantry and artillery, our ammunition had been nearly all consumed, and the stores which our park of reserve artillery was to have brought to us could not now arrive. We were therefore obliged to slacken fire, so as to make the powder and shot still left to us last longer. The Austrians may have noticed this, but what probably opened their eyes to our critical position, leaving them in no doubt as to the untoward incident which had occurred, was the movement of concentration which now took place, our army, instead of further pursuing the enemy, though they offered no resistance, prudently assuming the defensive. Moreover, the Austrian spies stationed on the heights of Bisamberg saw all that went on at our bridges, and sent frequent messages to the Archduke, who thus learnt that our communications were cut off.

The Archduke, therefore, who had been much surprised at our halt, was reassured at the very moment when he thought all was lost, and set to work to stop the retreat, reform his lines, and lead his troops once more to the charge. His strong body of artillery, which had drawn back to avoid the capture of the guns, returned to the battle field, and the cavalry, refreshed by the rest they had had, reappeared at the front and made several charges, which were, however, without effect.

The Emperor had ordered Marshal Lannes gradually to resume his former position, whilst General Saint-Hilaire, who had been in the front, reformed his columns with a view to withdrawing them, and during that manœuvre he was attacked, and for some time exposed to the fire of the whole of the Austrian artillery, numbering more than 200 pieces of cannon.

Under this terrible hail of balls and grape shot Marshal Lannes’ corps slowly fell back, and their resolute attitude seems to have intimidated the enemy, for they did not dare come to close quarters, but endeavoured to crush our troops from a distance. The brave General Saint-Hilaire, the pride of the army, as remarkable for his wit as for his military talents, was so devoted to the Emperor, who returned his affection, that he had been fighting on for a long time in spite of a serious open wound, and he was now one of those who fell beneath the grape shot of the enemy. He was carried back to us in a dying state.

With the calm presence of mind which always distinguished him in danger, Marshal Lannes placed himself at the head of his troops in lieu of the friend who had just fallen, and imbuing the men with his own sang-froid, he reminded them with a laugh of the fact that he led their retreat at Marengo under just such a fire from the Austrians as this, but that for all that the day had ended in a brilliant victory for the French. ‘Come, come, my friends,’ he cried, ‘the Austrians are worth no more, and we are worth no less, than at Marengo!’ Marching quietly on foot amongst his men, who shared his confidence, the Marshal repulsed several charges of cavalry, and finally took up his position on the undulating ground already referred to, extending from Essling to Aspern. These two villages were still occupied by the French, but both were being vigorously attacked, for the Archduke, finding his centre so fiercely assailed, had ordered the wings of his army to redouble their efforts against Essling and Aspern in the hope of checking the impetuous charge of Marshal Lannes.

My duties having now called me to the bridges, I was unable to follow the further course of events on the battle field. The scene at the bridges was, however, not less intensely interesting than it had been on the plain of Essling, for the swollen waters were destroying everything, men and their work alike falling victims to its ravages. To reach the bridges I had to cross the island of Lobau, where our wounded were lying about amidst the brushwood, having dragged themselves thither in the hope of getting help. And they did get it; but, O my God! of what a terrible nature that help was! Everywhere limbs were being cut or sawn off to save the lives of their owners. The Larreys and the Percys,¹ in spite of, or rather because of, their compassionate hearts, were hard at work in their blood-stained amphitheatre, their very mercy making them apparently recklessly cruel. How we should all shrink from the very idea of glory, if in seeking it we always had to cross such meadows as these, strewn with limbs cut off from the bodies they had belonged to, and to look on at the work of mutilation and dissection characteristic of what is called the ambulance department of an army! Fortunately, however, the brilliant results of the victory we always feel sure of gaining, generally make us quickly forget the horrors we have gone through in achieving it.

¹ Larrey and Percy were great French surgeons of the time of Napoleon. – Trans.

The bridges I had helped to construct and thought so firm, having crossed them already some twenty times, were all but completely destroyed, all that remained being a few portions which had been with difficulty made fast in the hope of saving them from being swept away by the current. Here and there five or six boats still held together, and in one place there were as many as twelve, but there were wide gaps between with absolutely nothing to bridge them over. The river, which had risen some eight feet, and was at least a third wider than when I had last come down to the bridges, was rolling along at a tremendous pace, carrying with it all manner of floating objects. Where the chains of the anchors had held they had been too short to save the boats, for they had been swamped and sunk. Our brave marines and pontonniers did their very utmost to arrest the worst mischief, but their little boats got entangled in the ropes, and many went down with those in them unable to rally from the collisions they were powerless to avoid. Big boats and rafts coming down stream at the speed of a galloping horse fell across the few portions of the bridges still intact, and the stream, impeded for a moment in its course, dashed over them with renewed force, great waves flinging themselves against every obstacle with a hissing thunderous roar. To complete our misfortunes, a big watermill built on two boats was first set fire to, and then purposelessly cut adrift and launched on the current by the Austrians. The huge burning mass, vomiting forth clouds of black smoke from the tar with which it lead been smeared, bore down upon us and added to our anxiety for what little was left to us of our bridge of boats. With admirable intrepidity a good many of our marines now flung themselves into small boats and hastened off to fling anchors, chains, and ropes on to the floating firebrand in the hope of bringing it to a standstill, though they knew it was probably filled with explosives, and would presently blow up and destroy everything near it. At whatever cost, its progress must be stopped before it fell upon our boats and set them all on fire. Our marines and engineers did not succeed in entirely averting the catastrophe, as several pontoons were set alight, but neither were their brave efforts quite thrown away, for they managed to turn aside the fiery furnace into an open space where a span of our bridge was broken away. When the burning mill passed me I was near enough to touch it, and the heat was so intense that I and the men with me could not help recoiling and feeling a momentary horror at finding ourselves at the mercy of fire and water at once.

The Danube had now risen so high as to inundate some of the woods of the Prater, and the deer from them were trying to escape by swimming, some of them passing under our bridges. Whilst we were all doing our best to extinguish the flares of the burning boats, a herd of deer was just passing, and our soldiers, who were always ready for a bit of fun whatever the danger they were in, flung a number of ropes over the fugitives, of which there were about twenty. A stag and two hinds, numbed with cold and terror, were caught and hoisted on board alive. The antlered stag, generally so proud and vigorous, so ready to defend itself, now remained motionless but for its trembling, whilst its great eyes, from which the big tears were rolling down, expressed its presentiment of the fate awaiting it, for of course a capture of game was looked upon as most lucky at this juncture.

I soon recognised the impossibility of organising a service of row-boats for taking troops and ammunition over, as they would inevitably have drifted into the hands of the enemy. The difficulty of getting skiffs over was not so invincible as for the big boats, which were carried quickly over such great distances that, in spite of every effort on the part of the rowers, they would shoot past the island of Lobau and run ashore far below it on the left bank, the ground occupied by the enemy. There was not the same risk in going from the island of Lobau to the right bank, because our troops were stationed all along it as far as beyond Presburg, and there was no danger of drifting boats falling into the hands of the enemy. The employment of flying bridges was still less possible, the current being far too strong for them. In spite of everything, however, we did all we could to remove the wounded at least by degrees. General Bertrand and the engineer officers and men did all in their power to mitigate the disasters overwhelming us, turning aside the fresh firebrands that were launched on us and saving the stores on the banks.

It was with the very deepest regret that I went back to tell the Emperor he must not hope for the arrival of the rest of the army. During my absence the struggle, which was still hotly maintained, had approached a good deal nearer to the villages of Essling and Aspern. The attack was still sustained much as before on Aspern, but it had been doubled and tripled on Essling. Many of our guns were already dismounted, whilst others, which had become useless from the exhaustion of our ammunition or the loss of our teams, which could no longer be replaced, had been carried off. The Emperor, having no more troops of the line to meet the masses of Austrians who had rallied to crush Marshal Lannes and General Oudinot, at last had recourse to his own Guard. Stationed as they were behind him, they had been suffering terribly from the long-sustained fire of the enemy, which had become so hot during the last few hours as to be all but insupportable, and they were all eager to take part in the fray.

A fresh and most heroic struggle now began. The Emperor ordered Marshal Bessières to lead the cuirassiers and cavalry of the Guard against the masses of advancing troops, and to charge them with a bold front, not so much in the hope of securing victory as of breaking their ranks and saving our own army. Whilst Marshal Bessières, at the head of the cavalry, was overthrowing several of the enemy’s columns, the Archduke bravely led his own picked corps of Hungarian grenadiers, hitherto held in reserve, up to our guns, which they approached without drawing trigger, but a terrible hail of grape shot arrested their progress. The Archduke, however, did all he could to encourage them and urge them on; but the raw young grenadiers under Oudinot, many of them almost beardless, charged and actually drove back once more these seasoned Hungarian troops, whose waxed moustaches with ends twisted into the shape of horns gave them a most formidable appearance. The Archduke then called up his cavalry, which suddenly fell upon us and drove us back. Our retreating horse made their way between the lines of our infantry, so that their pursuers received our fire almost at close quarters. Our vigorous onslaught, which overthrew a large number of the enemy, at last checked the Archduke's attack upon our centre, and led to his leaving Marshal Lannes unmolested for a moment.

The course of events was, however, far more rapid at Essling. General Boudet’s troops, worn out with fatigue, had been compelled to evacuate the village between three and four o’clock, and the Emperor, recognising what misfortunes would result from the loss of the position for the rest of the day, ordered his aide-de-camp, General Mouton, to go and retake it with four battalions of fusiliers of the Young Guard, whilst General Rapp, another of his aides-de-camp, was sent to the support of Marshal Masséna at Aspern, with some battalions of light infantry of the Guard. Just as these two generals were starting, one for the right, the other for the left, as ordered by the Emperor, M. Alexandre de Laville, an aide-de-camp of Marshal Bessières, returning from the cavalry scuffle in which he had been engaged, met General Rapp, and pointing out to him the masses of enemy advancing upon Essling, he said, ‘General Mouton will certainly be crushed if you do not go to his support.’ Rapp hesitated for a moment between obedience and his desire to save his fellow officer, and then, urged on by De Laville, he marched upon Essling. The Emperor was at first annoyed at this breach of discipline duly reported to him by De Laville, but later, when success had been secured by the disobedience, he rewarded those who had thus taken the initiative with promotion.

The village of Essling was already completely occupied by the enemy, but General Mouton’s troops charged into it with fixed bayonets in spite of all opposition, and succeeded in entering the large farm, already on fire, which had been defended for a long time by General Boudet, and was now held by an Hungarian battalion. A second Hungarian corps was entrenched in the cemetery, which was taken by assault by the Imperial Guard under General Gros. As that general had not men enough to retain possession of prisoners, it would have been dangerous to take them, so no quarter was given, and 700 Hungarians were put to the sword amongst the tombs, after which two corps of the Guard took up their stand in the village, presenting an appearance as forbidding as their assault had been terrible, so that the enemy, discouraged by the loss of so many men, did not venture on any further attack of our position, though they still riddled us with bullets. This murderous fire also reached the two corps of the Guard held in reserve, and they actually lost more men than if they had been in action. The Emperor, full of admiration of their courageous calm beneath this terrible fire, to which he had himself also been exposed for two days, and anxious to do them justice, spoke of there in the gazette of the battle in the following terms:

‘The skirmishers under General Curial burnt powder for the first time on this day, and proved their strength. General Dorsenne, commanding the Old Guard, placed them in the third line, forming a wall of brass which alone was enough to check every charge of the Austrian troops.’

This General Dorsenne was, without exception, the handsomest man of the army. He was very particular about his toilette, and gave a great deal of time to the care of his beautiful long black curls. But this devotion to his appearance did not prevent him from being, as was Murat, who resembled him in this respect, one of the bravest soldiers of France. The seasoned troops under him followed his example in the carefulness of their get-up, and this gave to the Old Guard an appearance so brilliant that it set a mark upon the epoch to which they belonged.

Just when the pursuit on either side had everywhere ceased, and it appeared as if the Archduke, fearing, perhaps, to be too venturesome, was beginning to be disposed, as the saying goes, to provide us with a golden bridge for the retreat he desired us to make, the fatal news was brought to Prince Berthier of the breaking of our smaller bridge. He at once sent me to try and remedy the mischief, which was a difficult task enough. However, by means of ropes, trestles, beams, chesses, and planks laid crosswise, I did manage to connect the pontoons and make our only means of communication with the island of Lobau bear for a short time longer. I then hastened back with this news to the Emperor, who ordered me to go to Marshal Lannes and ascertain how much longer he thought he could maintain his position. When I reached that officer his horses had been killed, and I found him crouching with a few officers behind a bit of rising ground which protected them up to the waist only. Between this group and the enemy were some 300 grenadiers, the little remnant of the gallant army with which Marshal Lannes had been defending the position since the morning. The scattered bodies of infantry were protected from the charges of the enemy’s cavalry by a few hurdles only, which had served to mark the limits of different properties. The Marshal’s reply to my inquiry was, ‘I have but the few men you see, and we will hold out to the end; but I have no more cartridges, and do not know where to get any.’ Then, vexed at seeing me exposed to the grape shot ploughing up the crest of the breastwork behind which he was to some extent sheltered, he made me dismount and tell him what was going on elsewhere, reminding me how, three months before, at Saragossa, we had been crouching together in a trench in an equally critical position, and that the town had yielded on just such a day as this. I left with him a handsome young fellow officer, since disfigured by wounds, De Septeuil by name, and went to give the Emperor his reply in the words, ‘I will hold out to the last.’ As I rode off, I was covered with the dust raised by the grape shot from the enemy, and I doubted very much if I should get back alive; but I was even more anxious about the fate of the Marshal.

I had scarcely reached the Emperor when Prince Berthier said to me, ‘The small bridge is broken again. Go quickly and see what can be done.’ I hastened off, and we succeeded in mending it yet again, but the river was still rising, and we had little hope of maintaining it intact for any time. All our wounded were now dragging themselves to this small bridge, crowding the approach to it, each eager to be the first to cross. Driven back by the carpenters, whose work they impeded, their position was one to draw tears from the spectator. The less mutilated amongst them endeavoured to clamber up the ropes into the boats, but climbing one over the other they got in each other’s way, and not a single one succeeded in getting over the bridge. Many wounded horses, abandoned by their owners but accustomed to follow them, added to the confusion by pushing in amongst the unfortunate fugitives. All huddled together on the banks and approaches to the bridge, they were soon overwhelmed by the water, which continued to rise. The crowd became so great that the wounded were unable to move back, and we had to look on whilst men and horses were drowned without being able to do anything to help them, for a way of retreat for the army must be secured before anything else. ‘Let us save the Emperor!’ were the words which passed from mouth to mouth. In this terrible disorder that was our one hope; it behoved us all to do our utmost to save him from being either taken prisoner or killed, and I now hurried back to Prince Berthier to beg him to do all in his power to induce the Emperor to retreat to the island of Lobau whilst it was still possible. Napoleon was most unwilling to desert his army, and would not consent to leave until I had described to him the distressing state of things at the bridge. At last, slowly traversing on foot the little wood, which had also been turned to account as an ambulance, I had the satisfaction of leading the Emperor to the group of wounded accumulated near the bridge. All, when they saw us approach, roused themselves to cry, ‘Vive l’Empereur!’ and tried to draw yet more closely together so as to leave room for him to pass. Hitherto the Emperor’s features had maintained their absolute calmness of expression, but now they suddenly relaxed, and his cold bright eyes were dimmed as he fixed then on the ground before him. He only recovered his composure when the removal of the wounded began; and he was watching the long file moving away, when Marshal Lannes was carried up mortally wounded. Directly he caught sight of him Napoleon hurried to his side with an expression of indescribable grief.

As soon as I had left the Marshal, the remnant of his men had been put quite hors de combat by the grape shot of the enemy, and he had been the very last to retire, almost alone and on foot. One of the many balls still ploughing up the plain had carried off both his legs. Two or three officers accompanying him, wounded though they were themselves, with a few grenadiers and dismounted cuirassiers, had carried him to the little wood, where first aid was rendered. There he was joined by others of his troops less seriously wounded, and they made a litter for him with their muskets, a few branches of oak, and two or three cloaks. Bathed with sweat, their brows contracted with suffering, their complexions blackened with exposure to the sun and the fumes of the powder they had been burning for two whole days, and many of them bleeding from their wounds, everything about the brave fellows bore witness to their valour and devotion. Most of them had one arm at least in a sling, and used the other to help carry the litter. The head of the Marshal, who was all but insensible, had sunk upon the hands of one of the officers who with anxious care were carrying the precious burden. The melancholy procession halted on the little bridge when it came in sight of the weeping Emperor, hastening, all overcome with grief, to meet his dying friend. Every heart was torn at the sight of sorrow so sincere, and tears poured down the cheeks of veterans whom no personal danger could have moved to emotion. The Emperor flung himself upon the litter, threw his arms round his friend, and holding him in a close embrace as the tears rained upon his face, he inquired anxiously, ‘Do you know me, dear friend? It is Bonaparte, it is your friend.’ The Marshal, who had recovered consciousness, responded with a few affectionate words, and the doctor, seeing that this painful scene was likely to hasten the all too rapidly approaching end, expressed his fears to the Emperor, who retired after once more pressing in both his own the hand of the brave friend whose skill had increased with his experience, and who Napoleon had hoped would yet aid him in some hundred future victories. The Marshal was too exhausted to be taken farther then, and he remained for the night on the island of Lobau, which the Emperor did not leave without going to see him once more.

The enemy, worn out by the unexpected resistance they had met with at every point, kept at a distance from us now, harassing us only with the fire from their artillery, which in the course of a single day had poured out on us no less than from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of iron in the form of balls and grape shot. No further incidents occurred before the night set in. The Austrian army, three times more numerous than our own, had from 8,000 to 10,000 men killed and 16,000 wounded, including amongst the former twelve generals, and amongst the latter 700 non-commissioned and 87 superior officers, whilst 1,500 prisoners, including one lieutenant-general, were taken, with fourteen pieces of cannon and four flags, trophies very dearly bought and forming but a poor compensation for the loss of the illustrious Marshal Lannes, such a general as Saint-Hilaire, and so many brave and valued officers and amen.

I was charged to devote my whole attention to the preservation of the little bridge, which was so much menaced by the rising floods that I really feared the island of Lobau itself would be presently submerged. The rise of the water not another two feet would bring about this result, and we could see from the marks on the trees that it had already once reached that height. Fortunately, however, our fears were not this time realised.

At ten o’clock in the evening, Major-General Prince Berthier told me to go to the main branch of the Danube and prepare a boat to secure the passage of the Emperor to the right bank.

It was the time of the new moon and it was pitch dark, black clouds so completely covering the sky that I had not even the light of the stars to guide me, and as I splashed through the puddles caused by the rising of the river, I began to be afraid I should lose my way. The wind too was beginning to rise, and the moaning of the trees stifled that of the many wounded lying near. I often stumbled over their feet as I made for the bank of the river at the point where there remained but a few relics of what had been our bridges.

The best of the boats was quickly manned with fifteen rowers, a couple of pilots, and a few good swimmers in case of accidents; and I started to go back to tell the Prince that all was ready. When I had got about halfway, and as I was groping along in this, one of the darkest nights I had ever known, with my hands outstretched to guard myself from running up against a tree, I came in contact with some one else advancing from the opposite direction, and using exactly the same precautions. Then a husky and weary voice inquired brusquely, ‘Who are you?’ ‘It is I, sire,’ I replied, for I recognised the Emperor; and Prince Berthier, who was close behind the Emperor, whispered to me, ‘Is the boat ready?,’ ‘Yes,’ I answered; ‘I will take you to it.’

When we got to the bank the Emperor sounded his watch, which struck eleven, and turning to Prince Berthier he said, ‘The time has come; give the order for retreat.’ My young fellow officer, Edmond de Périgord, now a lieutenant-general, then lit a torch, and with difficulty preventing it from being blown out by the wind, he held it whilst by its vacillating light and using my sabretache as a desk, I wrote the two lines which ordered Marshals Masséna and Bessières to withdraw to the island of Lobau at midnight and there take up their position. Prince Berthier signed the message, and the Emperor said to me, ‘Go and take that order.’ The next moment, showing no anxiety in spite of the pitchy darkness and of the rising storm, which was adding to the force of the wind and the waves, he stepped into the boat with the three officers attending him, the moorings were cast loose, the bark shot forward like an arrow from a bow, and in an instant it had disappeared. The torch was extinguished by the fury of the wind; some four paces from the bank there was nothing to indicate the direction taken by the fugitives, the new Cæsar and his fortunes were swallowed up in the gulf of darkness, and night perhaps be sucked down into the abyss never to reappear, whilst I remained the sole witness to the catastrophe. I could not get over the terrible anxiety which seized me when the torch went out, and it troubled me greatly until quite late the next day, when I learnt that the Emperor, though the force of the current had carried his boat a long way down, had succeeded in reaching the opposite bank without accident, and was now engaged in arranging for the sending of provisions over to the island of Lobau.

After the departure of the Emperor, the terrible drama which had been going on for two days seemed drawing to its close, but it was by no means over for me.

I had not seen a sign of my men or my horses since sunset, and had no idea where to look for them. It would have taken too long to seek them, and besides I could not cross the battle field on foot and at night without losing a great deal of precious time. I was feeling very much put out at the contretemps of the absence of my people when I got to the bridge, but amongst the crowd hastening to cross it I recognised one of the sappers of our engineer corps, leading the saddled and bridled horse of an Hungarian hussar. ‘Who gave you that horse to hold?’ I inquired. ‘Captain Français, of the mining corps,’ was the reply. ‘Do you know me?’ ‘Oh, yes, Colonel.’ ‘Well, tell the Captain that I take this horse for the service of the Emperor. I will return him to-morrow, or if he is killed pay twenty-five louis d’or for him;’ and seizing the bridle I sprang into the saddle and dashed off at a gallop, my only fear now being that I might be shot by our own men, who would, perhaps, take me for a Uhlan or Hungarian hussar.

A few scattered bivouac fires dimly lit up the paths of the little wood and those across the plains, and making my way along the wide spaces between the fires, I soon arrived at Aspern. The glow from the red ashes of the houses which had been burnt was not bright enough for me to ascertain to whom to apply for information as to the Marshal’s whereabouts. I had already had to turn back from one street, too much encumbered by débris for me to get through it on horseback, and was trying another, when a sentinel challenged me with ‘Wer da?’ the ‘Who goes there?’ of the Austrians, to which I answered without hesitation, ‘Stabsofficier’ (Staff officer). A young officer, deceived, no doubt, by the trappings of my horse, then came forward and said politely, ‘Darf ich fragen wie viel Uhr es sei?’ (May I ask what time it is?) ‘Mitternacht’ (midnight), and without further explanation I put spurs to my horse and galloped off as I had come. Some twenty Austrian bullets immediately whistled about my ears. I dashed back into the little wood, lying flat on my horse, and there I was received with more bullets, for I was supposed to be part of a cavalry charge. The darkness and Providence preserved me, however, and I shouted as I drew rein, ‘Don’t fire; I am French!’ A terrible voice then suddenly shouted angrily, ‘Who is the d––––d fool who ventures to pass my outposts?’ ‘Oh, it is you, General Legrand!’ I exclaimed, recognising the voice. ‘I am looking for Marshal Masséna; I did not know you had left Aspern, and I have just come from there!’ ‘My dear fellow, what imprudence!’ was the reply. ‘I don’t know exactly where the Marshal is, but he ought to be quite close to us in the little wood near one of those fires.’ I asked several other people, but the answer was always the same, ‘I don't know.’ I was still wandering about in the wood, my horse treading often on cinders still simmering, little dreaming that the heat from them was all the warmth the hero of these two terrible days could find, when I came upon some one lying alone on the ground wrapped in his cloak, without so much as a bit of straw to serve as a couch. A brusque voice cried, ‘Don’t ride over my legs.’ ‘Why, it is the Marshal himself!’ I exclaimed. ‘What a hunt I have had for you!’ Then dismounting I said to him in a low voice, ‘I bring you the order for retreat.’ ‘I expected it, and I am ready,’ was the reply. ‘Does Bessières know?’ ‘No, Marshal,’ I answered, ‘but I am going to tell him.’ Very well, be off, and mind the bridge is ready; it is midnight, and I shall cross at once.’ I easily found Marshal Bessières, surrounded by his cavalry, and before daybreak all had silently retreated to the island of Lobau, except a few companies left to defend the entrance to the bridge, which, however, the enemy made no attempt to attack.

Back again on the island, Marshal Masséna took command of the army, remaining there for three whole days, during which it was impossible to obtain anything like provisions enough from the right bank of the river, so that we were obliged to kill and eat our horses. All our efforts were concentrated on finding some means to remove the wounded and to obtain provisions. Marshal Lannes was one of the first to be taken to the other side, and for two days we hoped his life might be saved, but he died at Vienna on May 31. On the evening of the 23rd the Danube began to go down, and I went all over the island to the different spots where our troops were encamped beneath the grand old trees, and our brave fellows, after going through such terrible experiences, were at last able to indulge in a little repose, and to stretch themselves to sleep beneath the far-spreading branches, secure in the knowledge that the Emperor was doing everything in his power liberally to supply all their needs.

Meanwhile the Italian contingent had arrived, the Viceroy in command met and embraced the Emperor at Ebersdorff on the 25th, and the union of all the forces of the Grande Armée cheered us all with the hope of being able soon to achieve a brilliant revenge. Thus ended the great battle of Essling,¹ which reflected so much glory on the French arms, inasmuch as by dint of marvellous courage and perseverance 50,000 men, cut off from all hope of succour, and short of ammunition though they were, yet kept back for three days an army 160,000 strong backed by a river in flood, and with all the resources of a patriotic country at their command.

¹ Generally spoken of by English historians as the battle of Aspern. – Trans.