Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs Volume III: Wagram and Znaim

1809: Thunder on the Danube #3

by John H. Gill

In this third volume John H. Gill brings to a close his magisterial study of the 1809 war between Napoleonic France and Habsburg Austria. This final volume begins with the principal armies of both antagonists recuperating on the Danube's banks. As they prepared for the next encounter, important actions were taking place in distant theaters of war: Eugene brought his army into Hungary and won a crucial victory over Johann on the anniversary of Marengo, Prince Poniatowski's Poles outflanked another Austrian archduke along the Vistula, and future marshal Marmont drove an Austrian force out of Dalmatia to join Napoleon at Vienna.

These subsidiary campaigns all set the stage for the clash that would decide the war: the titanic Battle of Wagram. Second only in scale to the three-day slaughter at Leipzig in 1813, Wagram saw more than 320,000 men and 900 guns locked in two days of fury that ended with Austrian retreat. The defeat, however, was not entirely complete and Napoleon had to force yet another major engagement on the Austrians before Charles would accept a ceasefire. This under-appreciated battle at Znaim introduced an extended armistice that finally ended with a peace treaty signed in Vienna in October.

Gill makes use of an impressive array of sources to present a lively account that covers the conflict from the diplomacy of emperors to the common soldiers suffering the privations of campaigning and the horrors of battle as they attempt to carry out their duties. Enriched with uncommon illustrations, more than 40 specially prepared maps, and extraordinary order of battle detail, this work concludes an unprecedented English language study of Napoleon's last victorious war.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military History

911 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2010

About the author

A retired U.S. army colonel and an associate professor at the Near East-South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC, he has also published on military history and contemporary security issues relating to India, Pakistan, and other South Asian countries.

Reviews

[Windsor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of wagram. Once again, couldn't put this author down. Looking up what else he has wrote at this very moment.

[Sebastian Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Gill says in the preface to his third volume, his is a traditional campaign narrative and, given that war 'is fundamentally about combat... solid battle narrative is indispensable'. Indeed. Wargamers will be pleased to read this! And fortunately this is also an area in which Gill excels.

Vol. III starts with action in the peripheral/flanking theatres, some of which, for example the violence and brigandage in the Tyrol, begs further exploration. Gill covers even these 'sideshows' with care and attention, and many great ground level details emerge, showing that when he says 'solid battle narrative is indispensable' he means it.

Just one particular example that I really enjoyed was when, in a very minor engagement in the Tyrol, the French/Allied commander, Jean-Baptiste Dominique Rusca had to 'resort to the unusual command and control expedient of dropping his instructions to waiting orderlies in small packets weighted with stones', as he directed his meagre forces from the commanding view of a tower in Klangenfurt!

Equally fascinating as these little details are the pictures Gill paints on the grander scale, such as Napoleon's turning of the isle of Lobau into a veritable military city, complete with defences, logistics (with forges and bakeries as well as lodgings, hospitals and munitions magazines), roads and even street lamps!

Having got a bloody nose at Aspern-Essling, attempting his typically impetuous - and in this instance under-prepared - lightning strike, he did things very thoroughly second time around. This included using 'estacades', which were rows of pilings sunk into the Danube, whose purpose was to stop the crossings being wrecked by flotsam and jetsam as had happened prior to and during Aspern Essling.

And the two largest bridges themselves (Gill includes a black and white illustration of a print after the painting by Jacques Francois Joseph, the original of which can be seen at Apsley House, AKA The Wellington Museum, in London) were so well-built and finished that they were deemed more than just sturdily functional but, painted and hung with lanterns, elegant! Boney's himself effused 'General Count Bertrand has executed works that excite astonishment and inspire admiration.'

Comparing the dynamism of the French efforts with the sluggish, pessimistic confusion of the Austrians, one senses that the campaign was already over. Gill articulates this himself perfectly: 'The contrast with his Hapsburg opponents is striking. Where the French built their own boats and bridges, the Austrians complained that none were to be found.'

The chapter on Wagram is superb, balancing fine detail with the bigger picture in exemplary manner. There are so many little details that one could cite, but you'd be better off reading them yourself, rather than me trying to recite them. I will mention the intervention of the weather on numerous occasions, a feature which is so significant it gives the series it's evocative double-entendre title, and is further cited in several chapter sub-headings ('A night out of Macbeth', 'Thunder in Bayreuth', etc.) and, together with the varied landscapes gives great character and vivacity to Gill's narrative.

All in all, an excellent ending to a fantastic trilogy.

[Steve Groves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third and final volume finished the narrative is a fine fashion. The build up to Wagram and the strategic moves on the flanks were handled in an easy to follow fashion. Lots of interesting detail for the secondary theatres as well.

[Rindis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gill's third book has Wagram and Znaim as the subtitle, and these battles are indeed important to the volume. However, we finally get a proper recounting of events elsewhere (other than Italy, which was covered previously, though the sequel to the campaign is in here). Napoleon and the Hapsburgs were both concerned with events elsewhere, and Gill brings them in to show how things went, and how they influenced strategic thinking. Neither were very concerned with Spain (which, unlike everything else, was not adjacent to the Danube front), so naturally, that doesn't get explored, but outside of that, this turns into a thorough look at the 1809 campaigning season.

He starts with an account of the campaigning in Poland, moves into Hungary, where Eugene's victorious army moved into after chasing Johann out of Italy, and then ties in all the smaller forces in the south, scattered from the north Italian border to Dalmatia. This takes about half the text. After talking about the pause on the Danube while Napoleon put everything together for a surprise second crossing (which really shouldn't have been a big surprise) we go to the centerpiece of the book: Wagram.

Znaim is a battle that started, but was called off on account of a ceasefire that paved the way to the eventual peace. Gill has done another book really detailing the situation, but it certainly gets good coverage here.

And over one third of the book is a set of detailed orders of battle for everyone.

As expected, the three books are an excellent set, and while I quibble over some of the order of presentation, they're excellently written and put together, and recommended for anyone who has an interest in one of Napoleon's more important campaigns.