Abensberg (Napoleonic Empire Wars), 1809

When the armies of Napoleon I bogged down in Spain, Austria declared war on France for the fourth time since 1792. With 200,000 reorganized troops, Archduke Charles Louis, brother of Emperor Francis I, began crossing the Inn River on April 10, 1809. Marching into Bavaria south to Danube River, Charles hope to trap the III French Corps of Marshal Louis Davout at Regensberg (Ratisbon). Realizing his danger, Davout fought his way 18 miles southwest on April 19 to link up with Marshal Francois Lefebvre's VII Corps at Abensberg. Meanwhile, Napoleon hurried forward from Paris to take direct command. On April 20 he sent provisional corps (25,000) men, commanded by Marshal Jean Lannes, south of Abensberg against the thinly stretched Austrian center. A hard hitting French attach thrust between the wings of Charles army. The archduke's right wing, pull back to Eggmuhl, south of Regensberg, while Gen. Baron Johan Hiller's left wing retreated south toward landshut, on the Isar River. French casualties were few. The Austrian's lost 2700 killed and wounded and 4000 prisoners.