Austrian General Assault

At 6 P.M., Karl completed his new dispositions for a general assault. He told Hiller and Bellegarde to capture Aspern regardless of the cost while Hohenzollern and the cavalry reserve supported them on their left. To date during the campaign, Bellegarde's Corps had failed to fulfill its potential. Their repulse of Marulaz's cavalry had been the first time many had fired their muskets. Yet included in their ranks were some of the finest units in the entire army.

Bellegarde selected General Wacquant and his brigade to lead the attack. Eager to prove themselves they advanced with great vigor joined by units from the First and Third Columns. No one surpassed the courage of Captain Komadina of the Reuss-Plauen Infantry [17th] Regiment. A French cannonball took off his feet while he marched at the front of his regiment. The captain shouted, "Long live Austria! Advance comrades, the enemy is escaping, the victory is ours!" When soldiers tried to assist Komadina to an aid station, he sternly reminded them of their duty, telling them to leave him alone and keep up with the assault troops. Supported by an enormous artillery, the terrific Austrian assault, in which the 3,000 some men of the Vogelsang [47th] Infantry Regiment particularly distinguished themselves, drove Molitor out of Aspern.

Most generals would have committed their reserves to rectify any of the number of earlier crises. Massena had exhibited a masterful tactical feel, drawing the last ounce of strength from his front line soldiers in Molitor's division. These men had conducted an epic five-hour defense and lost nearly half their strength in the process. Now, around 8 P.M. in this final emergency, Massena summoned his reserve, two regiments of General Legrand's division. He massed all of his available artillery to deliver a preparatory shock bombardment. Fifteen minutes before their assault, Napoleon and Berthier inspected Legrand's men. As intended, this put them on fighting edge. Then, Legrand hurled his 4,000 men in a counterattack against Aspern.

The redoubtable Colonel Pouget's 26th Legere advanced in line on the village outskirts. Pouget saw an Austrian column marching obliquely across his front toward the village. French musketry fire took the Austrians in flank and caused frightful losses. To Pouget's amazement, the enemy column neither broke nor turned to confront his fire. Instead it kept marching to reinforce its comrades in Aspern. Legrand's other regiment, the 18th Line, confronted similar Austrian tenacity. The 18th advanced in column up the street until it reached the cemetery. Here, withering fire drove it back to shelter in the nearby houses.

As the battle faded out, Hapsburg canister fire knocked Colonel Pouget from his saddle. His regiment's surgeon and its music chief carried him back to the tete de pont where Surgeon Dominique Larrey, the army's senior medical officer, had established a field hospital. Larrey took one glance at Pouget's wound and said, "Well my dear colonel, there is a leg for me!"

Napoleon's soldiers considered Larrey infallible. The army's medical community did not share this opinion. As soon as his porters conveyed Pouget out of Larrey's hearing, his regimental surgeon said that although he could not question his superior to his face, he believed Pouget could recover without amputation. So they carried the wounded colonel across the bridge to Lobau. Although Pouget would contract lockjaw and fever, and the wound would continue to pain him for the next 30 years, he recovered without losing his leg.

Aspern Captured

Encouraged by the capture of Aspern, at 7 P.M. Karl ordered Hohenzollern and the cavalry to advance against the French center and complete the victory. To counter this advance, Bessieres demanded that Espagne's weary cavalrymen charge again. So fearfully had the enemy's canister ravaged their ranks, that Espagne's cuirassiers could form but a single rank for the charge. The men of iron battled heroically, but were bested.

French chasseurs, as at left, coupled with a stubborn infantry defense and a poor Austrian plan, averted a French debacle at Aspern. Sketch © Keith Rocco.

To their aid came Marulaz's light cavalry, spearheaded by the only uncommitted French cavalry unit on the field, the 23rd Chasseurs a Cheval. Marulaz's troopers overcame Hohenzollern's cavalry screen only to become enmeshed in the solid Austrian battalion masses. Marulaz tumbled to the ground with another horse shot out from under him. While the balance of his troopers withdrew, a handful rallied to his calls for help. Although Marulaz lay nearly under the bayonets of the enemy masses, a gallant chasseur lieutenant rode to him, dismounted, and gave the general his horse thereby allowing Marulaz to escape.

Nearby, Lasalle mustered his troopers for a charge as well. Lasalle managed to defeat the first Hapsburg line, but the Blankenstein Hussars and Riesch Dragoons took Bruyere's brigade in flank, drove them back in fearful disorder, and captured numerous chasseurs of the 24th Regiment.

Displaying great tenacity, Bessieres rallied the remnants of his cavalry reserve and prepared to charge again. Fortunately, at this point, around 7 P.M., elements of Saint-Germain's fresh cuirassier brigadeŠthe first men to cross the repaired bridgeŠarrived to join him. Napoleon ordered his cavalry marshal to take all the surviving horsemen, form them into three columns, and charge. Bessieres used Saint-Germain's units to spearhead the effort. As had occurred repeatedly, this final charge overcame the first two Austrian lines only to run into the invincible Austrian battalion masses. Brought up short before the solid infantry masses, the French horse presented vulnerable flanks to Liechtenstein's troopers. The Austrian cavalry took advantage and sent the French reeling once more. Although defeated, Bessieres' charge had accomplished the task of checking the Austrian advance against the French middle.

The Battles Ebbs

Although several hours of twilight remained, both sides were fought out. Slowly the firing petered out. And so the first day's conflicts ended with Legrand holding the lower portion of Aspern while General Wacquant's two regiments held the church and cemetery.