1) 'Hohenlinden'by Thomas Campbell (1777 - 1844)

Hohenlinden was the final battle of the War of the Second Coalition. Abandoned by most of her allies the previous year, Austria had fought on against France and on 3rd December, er army under Archduke John faced Moreau in Bavaria. Comprehensively beaten, Austria sued for peace and signed the Armistice of Steyr on 25th December 1800. Peace followed early in 1801 with the signing of the Peace of Luneville.

On Linden, when the sun was low
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow,
And dark as Winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

But Linden saw another sight,
When the drum beat, at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed,
Each horseman drew his battle blade,
And furious every charger neighed
To join the dreadful revelry.

Then shook the hills, with thunder riven;
Then rushed the steed, to battle driven;
And, louder than the bolts of heaven,
Far flashed the red artillery.

But redder yet that light shall glow,
On Linden's hills of stained snow;
And bloodier yet, the torrent flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

'Tis morn; but scarce yon level sun
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank, and fiery Hun,
Shout in their sulphurous canopy.

The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave,
And charge with all thy chivalry!

Few, few shall part, where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding sheet,
And every turf, beneath their feet,
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.

2) 'Graf Hardegg at Wagram' by A. Bube

Hardegg commanded a division of the Austrian Second Corps at Wagram over 5th/6th July 1809. This Corps fought in the centre of the Russbach position on the Austrian left opposite Oudinot's Second French Corps.

As there in Wagram's plain, the fierce battle began
in which the blood in streams to the March and Danube ran,
There by the light of roaring flames Graf Hardegg
With brave troops pushed his way into Baumersdorf.

"From here let us not turn away" - he resolutely cried
"If this place remains in French hands, then the House of Habsburg is blown away,
The army is broken in two, yes even our glory is smashed,
With which we covered ourselves so wonderfully only a few weeks ago".

And with his fellow soldiers he fought with unshakeable courage,
Surrounded by the missiles of death, in the smoke and heat of flame,
And while the rafters crashed down, and the smoke increased around him,
He drove the French back in an unprecedented struggle.

And as they, shrouded in clouds of smoke,
Once again advanced courageously with fresh men,
There he met them with sharp blows of his arms so skillfully,
That later the brave hero died amongst the bodies.

Truly may keep keep in mind, Oh German Fatherland,
How Hardegg resisted so bravely in all this danger.
So long as history speaks of this dreadful battle of Wagram,
The deeds of this hero will make all hearts swell. 

Translated from the German from 'Die Schlacht bei Deutsch Wagram' by M. Rauchensteiner,(Militarhistorische Schriftenreihe No. 6).