On the evening of 5 July Archduke Charles anxiously awaited the arrival of Archduke John, whose men were supposed to fall upon the French right, placing Napoleon in a very difficult situation. He did not know that his brother was still a long way off and was having no success in hurrying his troops along.
Napoleon knew that time was not on his side: he would have to act quickly in order to ensure that Charles did not receive John’s reinforcements. He had no idea what Charles was planning. The Austrians had not really tried to confront him. Did Archduke Charles plan to withdraw and attack elsewhere? Until now, everything had turned out perfectly for the French. Napoleon decided to exploit the gains made during the day, contrary to his initial plan, which had not envisaged launching the principal battle until the next day. The Emperor ordered Bernadotte’s Saxons to take the village of Deutsch-Wagram, to the right of the Austrian centre. Oudinot, Prince Eugene - whose army included the corps of Macdonald and Grenier - and Davout were charged with attacking the Austrian centre.
Napoleon told an aide-de-camp, ‘Go and tell Oudinot that I can hear nothing at the moment, that he must march a little further and give us a little music before nightfall.’
The battle began at seven thirty. Oudinot failed in the face of the Austrians’ tenacity. Prince Eugene almost broke through but Archduke Charles came in person to galvanise his men, and there also the French had to withdraw. The French Seras Division, seeing the French beat a retreat pursued by soldiers in white coats, opened fire on these last. In fact they were Saxons attached to Dupas’s division, who had been caught in the crossfire and were fleeing. These men jostled into the Lamarque, Seras and Durutte
Divisions, also retreating in disarray. It took a long while for these troops to regroup. Only Davout succeeded in advancing, but as his division was isolated, he too had to retreat to his starting position.
As night fell, Bernadotte’s Saxons were still wandering about on the outskirts of the village of Deutsch-Wagram. Other Saxons, the grenadiers of the Leibgarde and the von Bose and von Edigy Battalions, were sent as reinforcements, but these infantrymen did not know exactly where their compatriots were. When they arrived in the village, the gloom and the smoke of combat added to the confusion. Soldiers in white coats appeared and the reinforcements opened fire. But they were firing on the other Saxons. While the Saxons were killing each other, the Austrians counterattacked and routed their assailants.
This first attempt at an attack therefore ended in abject failure. Archduke Charles did not take action to profit from this, however; it was too hazardous to continue fighting at night.
CHAPTER 31
DURING the night, plans were revised on both sides.
The Emperor still intended to attack the Austrian centre. Should he succeed, the enemy army would be annihilated. Napoleon wanted to achieve total victory to force Austria to surrender and to dissuade other countries from taking up arms against him. For that he had to weaken the enemy centre. He therefore chose to keep his left flank relatively fragile. It was very extended and only defended by Massena’s IV Corps. This weakness was in reality a trap. It was designed to entice the Archduke to attack on the French left. In this way Charles would be obliged to withdraw troops from his centre to reinforce the troops on his right charged with vanquishing the French left flank. In addition Davout was to overwhelm the Austrians on their left flank, to such an extent that other enemy regiments would also have to abandon the centre, to bolster this flank. And further, this French manoeuvre would prevent Archduke John’s forces from eventually joining his brother’s.
Napoleon would then launch his principal attack: a surge against the Austrian centre. The tactic of the weak flank had worked admirably at Austerlitz. But it was absolutely imperative that Masse-na hold firm on the left flank, which would be on the receiving end of a powerful Austrian attack.
However, Napoleon underestimated yet again the fighting spirit of the Austrians. He thought that Charles would limit himself to trying to break the French left. Against all expectation, the Austrian commander-in-chief opted for a widespread offensive. He not only decided to crush the left flank of the French with Kolowrat’s III Corps and Klenau’s VI Corps but he also ordered Rosenberg’s IV Corps to attack the French right flank while Bellegarde’s I Corps and Hohenzollern’s II Corps assailed the centre. The Liechtenstein reserve corps would launch the final onslaught.
On 6 July, at four in the morning, Rosenberg’s IV Corps flung itself on the French right flank constituted by Davout’s III Corps. Taken by surprise, Davout’s men began to fall back. Napoleon hurried to the area with Nansouty and d’Arrighi’s cuirassiers.
Meanwhile, Bellegarde’s I Corps took over the village of Aderklaa, which marked the angle between the French centre and its left flank. Bernadotte’s Saxon IX Corps, which had been severely tested by the previous evening’s panic, had evacuated the village. Marshal Bernadotte had considered that he would not be able to resist the Austrians and had withdrawn. Napoleon had never imagined losing Aderklaa to the Austrians; it was crucial to the success of his scheme. If the Grande Armée were to try to crush the Austrian centre with Aderklaa still in the hands of the enemy, the Austrian I Corps under Bellegarde would be free to come to offer support to the centre. In addition, the Archduke’s troops positioned on the right would be able to join the endangered centre much more rapidly, because they would not have to waste time skirting round the village. So Napoleon ordered Marshal Massena, ‘the golden boy’ known for his victories, to retake Aderklaa. But this meant that several of Massena’s regiments would no longer be available to protect the left flank, which would become even more fragile.
Margont was serving in the Legrand Division of Massena’s IV Corps. Three of Massena’s divisions had massed to the north-east of the left flank, very near the centre. The Boudet Division had been left three miles from there to constitute the south-west of the left flank, with only three thousand seven hundred men facing fourteen thousand soldiers of Klenau’s VI Corps, who were not yet moving from their positions.
The 18th of the Line stayed still, in battle order, under a lowering sky of massive clouds. Margont tried to work out what was planned. Thanks to the many plumes of white smoke and to the din of the cannon and the fusillades, he could tell that battle had commenced on the French right. He asked Lefine and Saber for their opinions. The former always knew everything and the latter had a particular talent for seeing through the plans of the general staff. Lefine, normally sanguine, showed increasing signs of anxiety. He kept readjusting his coat. His agitated fingers seemed to knit his worry.
‘We’re on the left wing! The wings are unlucky! At Austerlitz, don’t you remember? Our right flank was destroyed! The Emperor adores offering up a flank, it’s well known.’
Saber also seemed put out.
There’s a better chance of promotion in the centre than on the wings. How much longer am I going to languish in the role of subaltern? For pity’s sake, if they would only give me a regiment, you would see what I am capable of! But no, here we are on the edge of the “Route to Glory”! What terrible luck!’
‘There’s something I can’t grasp,’ said Margont worriedly. ‘If we're to the north-east of the left wing ... who exactly is the left wing?’ ‘Boudet,’ replied Saber.
Margont, Lefine and Piquebois looked at him in consternation. ‘Surely there must be other divisions ...’ said Lefine.
When they looked towards the south-west they could indeed only see Boudet’s division, a minuscule dark blue rectangle surrounded by the immense golden blanket of ripe corn that no peasant had come to harvest. Whereas looking towards the centre, they could make out a stupefying conglomeration of troops. The regiments were stacked one against the other. Column succeeded column, blue rectangle succeeded blue rectangle, lines of cuirassiers glinted in the sun, batteries were positioning themselves ... Compared to these masses, Boudet’s division appeared derisory, a little stone fallen by accident from Napoleon’s pocket. ‘It’s bait designed to attract a very large Austrian fish,’ explained Saber. ‘But if the fish is hungry and if he struggles, he will swallow everything ...’