Battle of Znaim 10/11 July 1809

 This week is the anniversary of the final battle of the Danube Campaign of 1809. My interest lies in the fact that this action was initiated by my favourite French Marshal, Auguste de Marmont. I was looking for a suitable battle to refight with a new member at the club using Blucher rules, and this fitted the bill.

Following the Austrian defeat at the Battle of Wagram, Archduke Charles retreated north into Bohemia, hoping to regroup his battered forces. The French army also needed time to recover, but two days after the battle, Napoleon ordered his troops north. Marmont's XI Corps caught up with the Austrians at Znaim (now Znojmo, Czech Republic) on 10 July 1809. He had around 10,000 French and Bavarian troops. 

Charles was planning a rearguard action at Znaim, to buy time for his baggage to retire into Moravia. He had some 40,000 troops, and so heavily outnumbered Marmont. Some sources say Marmont believed he was only facing a rear guard, and therefore, plunged into an attack. However, Chandler says Marmont understood it was an uneven action but wanted to pin the Austrians for long enough to allow the main body of the French army to catch up. Needless to say, I am with Chandler!

A later painting of the battle by Fritz Allemand

Marmont had followed the River Thaya and crossed it to get behind the Austrians. The battle centred on the villages of Tesswitz and Zuckerhandl, where fierce fighting took place, with both sides holding the villages during the day. However, by nightfall, the French had both villages, although Marmont's cavalry was not strong enough to turn the Austrian flank. Napoleon arrived at 10:00 a.m. on July 11th with some reinforcements, but not sufficient to sustain a new attack. He waited for Massena's Corps to arrive, which pinned the Austrians while two more French corps were expected to come on the 12th. However, at 7:00 p.m., an armistice was agreed, ending the last action of the War of the Fifth Coalition. The Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed on 14 October 1809.

The game featured a corps strength element of the Austrian army fighting a rear guard action. Marmont had three infantry divisions and a cavalry division. The figures are 15mm.

The Austrians garrisoned the two villages and kept their avant-garde and cavalry divisions in reserve on their left flank. The French battered the divisions around the villages, but couldn't break in. You need a lot of luck in Blucher to displace a garrison, as it is -1 to the attackers and +2 to the defenders. Blucher is an excellent set of rules, but I'm not sure if Sam has this one right. In many Napoleonic battles, including Znaim, villages were lost and recaptured several times, but it is rare in my games of Blucher. Mind you, my poor generalship is probably a factor.

On the right flank, the French cavalry did well to keep the Austrian reserve busy, with the Cuirassier brigade performing outstandingly. Either way, the Austrians were kept busy all day and suffered heavy casualties, so Marmont did his job. He got some grudging thanks from Napoleon with his Marshal's baton.  If Charles had extricated the Austrian army, he might have had time to rebuild and drag the war on as the Austrian war party wanted. Marmont stopped that!