ions of Massena's corps, fighting under the veteran marshal's eye, bravely sustained every attack, and from the streets, gardens, windows and housetops, kept up a murderous fire on their assailants. Hour after hour the battle raged, and when the sun went down, the scene of strife was illuminated by the burning houses: at eleven o'clock, the Austrians finally prevailed, and the village remained in their hands for the night.

The plain between Aspern and Essling, had also been the scene of a desperate battle. The Austrian artillery were posted in great strength in this open field, and the French columns were so galled on all sides by their tremendous fire, that Napoleon ordered a general charge of cavalry to dislodge them. The light-horse of the Guard first undertook this service, but they were easily repulsed. The cuirassiers followed next, but the Hungarian grenadiers formed squares around the guns, and by their sustained volleys of musketry, stretched nearly one half of those terrible cavaliers on the plain.

The attack on Essling, though not less bloody than the battle in the other parts of the field, was more successfully resisted, and at nightfall the village remained in possession of the French troops.

The night was consumed in the most strenuous efforts on both sides to repair their losses, by bringing forward reënforcements; and as soon as the first gray of the summer's dawn shed a doubtful light over the field on the 22nd, the Austrian columns under Rosenberg renewed the attack on Essling, and at the same time, Massena came forward in force to reconquer Aspern. Both assaults were attended with varied success. Aspern yielded to the impetuosity of Massena's charge, while the Archduke's grenadiers carried Essling at the point of the bayonet, and forced the enemy back almost to the banks of the Danube. The battle raged with the utmost fury during the whole day; Essling was at length retaken by the French, and Aspern, after having been captured and recaptured three several times, remained in the hands of the Austrians.

In the meantime Napoleon, resolved to bring this murderous contest to a conclusion, ordered an attack on the Austrian centre in the plain of Marchfield. The whole corps of Lannes and Oudinot, together with the cuirassiers and the Imperial Guard in reserve, moved forward in echelon, preceded by a powerful train of artillery, and fell with irresistible weight on the Austrian line. The dense columns of Lannes pressed through the ranks of their opponents and threw some battalions into confusion, while the cuirassiers, rushing on with loud shouts, threatened to disorder the whole Imperialist army. But at this critical moment, the Archduke proved himself equal to the emergency. He directed the reserve grenadiers, under the prince of Reuss, to be formed in squares, and the dragoons of Lichtenstein to take post behind them; and then, seizing with his own hand the standard of Zach's corps, which was beginning to falter, he addressed a few energetic words to the men and led them back to the charge. The soldiers, thus reanimated, held their ground; the column of Lannes was arrested, and the squares among which it had penetrated, poured in upon it destructive volleys from all sides, while the Austrian batteries, playing at half musket shot, caused a frightful carnage in the deep masses of the French troops. The cuirassiers made desperate efforts to retrieve the day, but their squadrons were decimated by musketry, and at length driven off the field by an impetuous charge of Lichtenstein's dragoons.

Hohenzollern now rushed forward, and with a powerful division assailed the flank of the French columns, which, wholly unable to resist this fresh attack, fell backward in the direction of Essling: at the same time, intelligence spread through the ranks of both armies, that the flotilla directed against the bridge had destroyed that portion of it which connected the island of Lobau with the southern bank of the river, thus cutting off the French army from its supplies and reserves. At this terrible crisis, Napoleon's courage did not forsake him. He immediately ordered a retreat over the remainder of the bridge, reaching from the northern bank to Lobau, and pushed forward the troops that had been least engaged to hold the Austrians in check during this perilous manœuvre. As the French now fought not to conquer, but to escape their enemies, the Archduke was enabled to turn his advantages of position to the best account, and press, with his whole reserve, on the retiring and discouraged columns of Napoleon. He brought forward all his artillery, and, by disposing the guns in a semicircular line, concentrated their iron storm on the narrow line of retreat, so that the slaughter became terrific; and, at the same time, his grenadiers and cavalry, by repeated charges on the indomitable rear-guard, rapidly diminished the numbers, though they could not disorder the ranks of those dauntless veterans. During this scene of carnage, Lannes and St. Hilaire were both mortally wounded. The fire of the Austrian batteries was maintained until past midnight, when the last of the French troops defiled over the bridge, followed by the remnants of the invincible rear-guard; and the Archduke's soldiers, exhausted with fatigue, sunk to sleep on the ground beside their guns.

The

In this memorable battle of Aspern, the first great action in which Napoleon had been entirely defeated, the French loss exceeded thirty thousand men, and that of the Austrians was something more than twenty thousand; but few guns or prisoners were taken on either side. Austrians were for several days occupied in burying the dead, and the waters of the Danube were for an equal length of time polluted with the floating corses of the combatants.

The situation of the French troops on the island of Lobau, during the night of the 22nd, was truly deplorable. Cut off from retreat and from their communications by the destruction of the bridge, menaced by a victorious enemy, destitute of ammunition and provisions, and threatened with an inundation by the fast rising waters of the Danube-an escape by boats to the southern bank, together with an abandonment of all the wounded, the artillery and the horses, seemed at first to be the only alternative. But, although this measure was apparently inevitable, and as such was strenuously urged by Massena, Davoust, Berthier and Oudinot, Napoleon determined to remain and convert the island into an impregnable fortress, whence he could subsequently strike a fatal blow at the Austrian army.

In pursuance of this plan, a large number of boats from the southern shore were put in requisition; troops, ammunition and provisions were brought across to Lobau, fortifications on a gigantic scale were projected, and, in one month, not only were the works on the island capable of resisting any attack from the enemy, but three solid bridges connected the fortress with the south bank of the Danube, and rendered the communication perfect and easy between them.

CHAPTER XXXI.

FROM THE CAMPAIGN OF WAGRAM TO THE DETHRONEMENT OF THE POPE.

WHILE Napoleon, strongly fortified in his position on the island of Lobau, was, by hostile demonstrations, leading the Austrians to believe that he intended to renew the attack on Aspern, he was in fact secretly preparing to cross the river at a lower point, where the passage was less cautiously guarded, and whence he could, with little opposition, fall suddenly on the flank and rear of the Austrian encampment. In the meantime, the Archduke Charles, to resist the assault which he supposed was to be made on Aspern, erected a vast line of intrenchments, running from that village across the late battle-field, through Essling, and terminating on the bank of the Danube. These works consisted of field redoubts and ravelins united by a curtain, strengthened along their front by palisades, and armed with a hundred and fifty pieces of heavy artillery.

Behind this formidable barrier, the Austrian commander awaited Napoleon's movements, and at the same time, made great exertions to recruit the numbers and condition of his army. By the end of June, nearly a hundred and forty thousand men, with seven hundred pieces of cannon, were assembled under his orders, though not yet concentrated to act upon one field: the Prince of Reuss guarded the line of the Danube from Stockerau to Vienna, having his head-quarters at Stammersdorf; Kollowrath lay at Hagenbrunn, on the northwestern slope of the Bisamberg; the reserve of grenadiers were posted at Gerarsdorf; Klenau occupied the intrenchments opposite the bridge at Aspern; Nordman, with the advanced guard, at Enzersdorf, watched the course of the Danube as far as Presburg; Bellegarde, Hohenzollern and Rosenberg were at Wagram and along the bank of the Russbach; and the reserve cavalry awaited orders at Breitenlee, Aderklaa, and the villages in that neighborhood. Thus, the Archduke's army formed two lines: the first stretching twenty leagues along the course of the Danube; the second, two leagues in the rear, resting on the plateau of Wagram and the heights of the Russbach. The Archduke John lay at Presburg, ten leagues from Wagram, with forty thousand men, whose numbers are not included in the preceding estimate of the Austrian forces; and, with a view to bring him into communication with the grand army for a general action, which was now seen to be at hand, the Archduke Charles dispatched a courier to Presburg on the evening of July 4th, urging him to press on by a forced march toward Aspern.

On the 2nd of July, Napoleon, who had remained for a time at Schoenbrunn, rode to Lobau and there established his head-quarters. On the same day, his reënforcements began to arrive. First, came Bernadotte with the Saxons from the bank of the Elbe; then, Vandamme came with the Wirtembergers and troops of the Confederation from Swabia and the Rhenish provinces; after him, followed Wrede with the Bavarians from the Lech, Macdonald and Broussier from Carinthia and Carniola, Marmont from Dalmatia, and Eugene Beauharnois from Hungary. By the evening of the 4th, their numbers amounted to no less

than a hundred and eighty thousand men, with seven hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, concentrated in one mass, commanded by one general. in-chief, and prepared to act in concert on a single field of battle.

As soon as the junction of the several corps was completed, Napoleon ordered his batteries in front of Aspern to open their fire, as if to cover a landing at that point; and the moment that this demonstration, together with the approach of night, had sufficiently arrested the attention of the Archduke, the Emperor took his station on horseback, at the lower extremity of the island, where the passage was in fact to be attempted, and by his personal exertions hastened forward the movement. In the short space of ten minutes, three bridges, previously prepared in huge single sections, were thrown across the branch of the river, and soon after midnight, three more were added to these, making six in all, over which the troops defiled with such rapidity that before seven o'clock on the morning of the 5th, the entire French force, with the principal part of the artillery, stood on the northern bank of the Danube. The Archduke was astounded when, early in the day, he took a survey of the enemy's position, and, instead of beholding the French mustered in great strength at the bridge of Aspern, descried an enormous black mass of troops on the plain near Enzersdorf. He saw at a glance that his lines were turned, that his intrenchments, constructed with so much labor, were valueless, and that a retreat could alone enable him to maintain his communications, and give or receive battle with advantage. He therefore immediately called in his outposts; and his centre, with a celerity rivalling the manœuvres of the French soldiers, fell back in good order to the plateau of Wagram.

This plateau consists of an elevated plain, in the form of a vast par allelogram, rising at a distance of four miles from the Danube, and stretching thence some miles to the north. The villages of Wagram and Neusiedel occupy the two southern angles of this plain, the Russbach runs along its southern front, and half a mile to the south, opposite the centre of the position, lies the village of Baumersdorf. Beyond the plateau, the Austrian lines extended over a ridge of heights to the west, as far as Stammersdorf.

The French army was drawn up in one line on the bank of the river, and when the order was given to advance, the several corps moved forward in a curve, spreading like the folds of a fan to the north, east and west. Massena, on the left, marched toward Essling and Aspern; Bernadotte toward Aderklaa; Eugene and Oudinot between Wagram and Baumersdorf; Davoust and Grouchy, on the right, in the direction of Glingendorf, and the corps of Wrede, Marmont and the Imperial Guards formed a reserve under the Emperor in person.

Pow.

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Napoleon, having ascertained that the Archduke John had not arrived, resolved to take advantage of his great superiority of numbers, and attack immediately; for he had grouped in his centre nearly a hundred thousand men, including the reserves, while the Austrian force on the plateau did not exceed sixty thousand. erful batteries were accordingly brought up, which opened a severe fire on the Imperialist line; but the Archduke's guns, placed on higher ground, replied with much greater effect. Oudinot's corps came first into action. He attacked Baumersdorf, which was gallantly defended by General Hardegg; and, with such obstinacy did the latter maintain his ground,

Oudinot was unable to force the village, carry the bridges, or cross the stream on either side in the rear. Eugene came next in order, and assailed the village of Wagram; but the moment that his column reached the summit of the heights, it was staggered by a murderous discharge of grape from sixty Austrian guns at half musket-shot. Macdonald, Dupas and Lamarque pressed forward to sustain the wavering troops; and with this preponderance of force, they at length broke the Austrian line, took five standards and made two thousand men prisoners. At this crisis, the Archduke hastened to the spot with the regiments of Zach, Vogelsang and D'Erlach, and arrested the French columns, while Hohenzollern charged vigorously on its right flank. The struggle was violent for a few moments; but it ended in the repulse of the French, who, driven headlong down the steep, fled in confusion across the Russbach. It was now nearly dark, and the corps of Saxons under Bernadotte, who came to the aid of the routed columns, mistook the retreating host for the Austrians, fired upon them as such, and in a moment were themselves overwhelmed by the fugitives. The disorder became so great and so contagious, that it spread even to the Emperor's tent; and, during the meleé, the two thousand Austrian prisoners escaped, the five standards were recaptured, and two French eagles were taken. Indeed, had the Archduke been fully aware of the extent of the panic, and followed up his success with a large body of fresh troops, he might have destroyed the French army. But, ignorant of the prodigious effect of his partial attack, he at eleven o'clock sounded a retreat, and his men fell back to their original positions. The brilliant success of this action induced the Austrian commander to change his plan and prepare to assume the offensive. At two o'clock on the morning of the 6th, he dispatched another messenger to his brother, the Archduke John, who was then at Marchcheck, thirteen miles from the French right flank, whence he might with ease arrive on the field early in the day; and his appearance, with forty thousand fresh troops, would readily decide a previously hard-fought battle. With a view to such coöperation, Prince Charles resolved to direct his principal attack against the Emperor's left, at Aspern and Essling; and he doubted not that success in that quarter would counterbalance any advantage which the French might gain in front of Wagram. In the meantime, Napoleon had planned a grand attack on the Austrian centre, and withdrawn Massena from his left to lead the assault, leaving at Aspern the single division of Boudet to guard the bridges. Thus, the whole strength of the French army was thrown into its centre and right; Davoust being on the extreme right; Massena next to him near Aderklaa; Marmont, Bernadotte, Oudinot and Eugene fronting Wagram; and Bessières with the reserve in the rear of the centre around Raschdorf.

At daybreak on the 6th, Napoleon, while giving some final orders, was surprised by the discharge of heavy guns on his left; and the rapidly increasing roar and smoke in that direction, indicated that the Austrian right wing was seriously engaged, and making dangerous progress. He soon after received information that his own right was menaced by Rosenberg, and that Bellegarde had forced back Bernadotte in the centre. Notwithstanding all his activity, therefore, the French Emperor was anticipated in the offensive; and from the fact that the attack of the Imperialists commenced on his left, he feared that the Archduke John had come up during the night, and that his right flank was about to be