Battle of Eckmühl

Battle context

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.