Battle of Eckmühl

Overview

The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21–22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon I had been unprepared for the start of hostilities on 10 April 1809, by the Austrians under Archduke Charles of Austria, and for the first time since assuming the French Imperial Crown had been forced to give up the strategic initiative to an opponent. Thanks to the dogged defense waged by the III Corps, commanded by Marshal Davout, and the Bavarian VII Corps, commanded by Marshal Lefebvre, Napoleon was able to defeat the principal Austrian army and wrest the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Eckmühl on 21–22 April 1809 marked the turning point of the War of the Fifth Coalition. Austria had seized the strategic initiative by opening hostilities on 10 April 1809 — the first time since Napoleon assumed the French Imperial Crown that an opponent had forced him onto the back foot. The dogged defense conducted by Davout's III Corps and Lefebvre's Bavarian VII Corps allowed Napoleon to stabilize the situation sufficiently to strike back against Archduke Charles's principal Austrian army. The French victory at Eckmühl wrested the strategic initiative back from Austria and held it for the remainder of the campaign, making the battle the hinge on which the entire 1809 war turned.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (8)