A recent trip to Vienna (Wien) with a great old friend inspired a trip outside of the city to the nearby battlefields of Aspern-Essling and Wagram. Both battlefields are located very close to Vienna. Aspern-Essling is about 8 miles, and Wagram about 12 miles total. Since 1809 Vienna and its envrions have changed greatly. This is particularly so for the Aspern-Essling battlefield. Now part of greater Vienna, little remains of these twin little villages that saw so much intense fighting on May 21-22 1809. My good friend and I had to play history detective
to find anything left of the sites today.At the small local Wagram Battle museum we received some general directions form an older Austrain curator of the place, who described the famous Granary in Essling, the scene of so much fighting on the second day of the battle as "Der Specht". This German word literary means bakery, but is perhaps the older expression for the site. In vain did we try to find it driving around the sprawing outer area of Vienna. So discouraged were we that we bagged it for that day and decided to try later in the week.
A few days later we decided to try again. We drove across the Danube down the same road we had tried the other day. Suddenly off to the right we found the old church of the village of Aspern with its famous Lion monument. Here the Austians had created a solumn memorial showing a wounded lion lying ontop of captured French standards. This is a very mournful stature, which shows at what great cost the Austrians acheived their incomplete success in 18o9. There is a small private Museum here as well, but unfortunately is open only by appointment. The village of Aspern was defended by General Molitor'sDivison of Marshal Massena's IV Corps. The Austrains assaulted it with massed formations including Bellegarde's I and Hohenzollern's II Korps. The fighting was close and deadly in the confined streets of the village. The French, better adept at fighting in broken terrian, were able to hold the massed Austrains at bay, but the church shown here changed hands many times on the first day of the battle. Hundreds on both sides were killed and thousands wounded in this small area. Today, the visitor can only imagine what the scene looked like as nothing remains of
Aspern Village besides these landmarks. On the side of the church are several plaques listing the names of the Austrain Infantry regiments that stormed the village, as well as a plaque in French for the mortal wounding of Marshall Lannes of the French II Corps. Lannes was wounded on the second day of the battle at a location somewhere between the two villages, but he is commemorated here. Aspern church is active today, and we happened upon a wedding at the time of our visit. The local priest was kind enough to provide us a map to try and locate "Der Specht" or the Granary in nearby Essling. He and his friend informed us that the whole area was part of Lobau Island, a national park site today. Lobau Island was the staging point Napolean u
sed to span the Danube with pontoon bridges in order to cross and give battle to the Austrians under Archduke Charles. In 1809 the area was heavily wooded and contained many swamps as well as small estuaries of the Danube. Much of that has been covered over with landfill, although Lobau Island appears to be a National Park and a nature reserve today. At this location the pleasant park rangers indulged our poor efforts at German and responded in clear English. Vie
nna is wonderful in that way as nearly everyone there speaks English. They were at first not sure where the Granary (Der Specht) was, but at length a charming young female ranger produced a copy of a map from a colleaugue which gave a pretty clear idea where it was in Essling. 
Armed with this information we drove down the road until making a slight turn where the Granary was clearly visible in the middle of today's Essling. Finally we had found our objective! The site is a large three story structure where troops from General Boudet's Division defended it and the village. Aspern formed the left of the French line while Essling was the right. The area between the two villages was a open space containing flood ditches in 1809. Today there is little trace of anything showing the extent of the French defensive line in this area. The area between the two villages saw many desperate french cavalry charges as D'Espagne's heavy Curassiers tried to slow the Austrian advance in the center. They were repulsed by the massed vollies of the Austrian infantry, tightly placed in their divisional masse formations. This tactical reform proved its worth against the unsupported french cavalry charges on that first day of battle. Of all this only the Granary stands as a stark reminder of what took place here 200 years ago. Some renovation has taken place on the focade of the building. Again it was closed at the time of our visit, but the area around it had a small stable with horses, as well as an archery. The building may actually still be in use. Here it stands, in a peaceful setting today. Rosenberg's IV Korps tried to evict the French from Essling on the first day of the 
battle. They had little success and the fight carri
ed over onto the second day. Here the Granary was defended by a battalion of 400 men which was repeatedly attacked by the Austrians. The outumbered French held their ground, even the elite Austrain grenadiers failed to dislodge them. These picked troops, attacked in waves which ebbed and flowed against the solid structure of the building, lossing hundreds in the process. Again thousands on both side
s were killed and wounded in this area which appears so peaceful today. Children play, and the imposing structure forms part of the local community of Essling. This is as it should be, as time erases all horrors of war.At the end of May 22, 1809 Napolean had suffered has first serious setback in his career. He had tried to boldly cross the Danube after capturing Vienna in hopes of bringing Archduke Charles quickly to battle. Instead his reckless conduct cost him nearly half of his army. During the first day the Austrains had floated large obstructions down the river which severed the flimsy pontoons the French engineers had hastily errected for the crossing. The French were stranded. Somehow the pontoons were repaired, enabling Napolean to cross additional troops to renew the battle on the 22nd. These were Marhsal Lannes III Corps and the Imperial Guard with additional artillery and cavalry.
The second day began with a determined attack by Lannes' infantry which made some initial progress, but which was gradually slowed to a halt. The Austrains brought forth a massed battery of artillery which inflicted horrific losses on the French attack columns. This was when brave Marshall Lannes was mortally wounded trying to hold his shattered divisions together. As they fell back only the Guard was there to hold the French line. Rather than attack these famed veterans the Austrians stood back and pounded their ranks with over a 100 guns. The Guard held their ground throughout the afternoon. Standing rigidly at attention, to show their disdain, many of these veterans suffered shattered limbs from the solid shot of the Austrain artillery that plowed through their ranks. Their noble stand held Napoeon's line between the two villages. Toward the end of the day several battalions of Middle Guard were used to retake Essling and the Granary.
By the end of May 22nd Napoleans position was nearly hopeless. The Austrians had floated a large mill down the river which finally collapsed the pontoons. If they had had pressed their advantage in any way, they might have thrown the French completelyinto the Danube. As it was they came very close tol defeat. Only Napolean's reputation saved him from calamity. His reputation, and the lethargy of the Austrain command structure which even the gifted Archduke Charles could not make more effective. Both sides lost heavily. The Austrains had 5,500 dead and over 18,000 wounded. The French loss was in excess of 26,000 all told. Napolean managed to withdrawal his battered army on the remaining pontoons to Lobau Island where he would consider his next move. Six weeks later he w
ould cross again to fight his clamatic battle of Wagram.The 1809 battles around Vienna were Napolean's last hard fought victories. The quality of his army had declined since the golden days of Austerlitz in 1805, and the Austrains had improved enough to give him a really hard run in 1809. Aspern-Essling was Austria's only major success against him. It is surprising that the remaining few sites are not better marked for the visitor to enjoy. Even in Austria there is a general lack for preserving the past. We in the USA are not the only ones who don't safegaurd our history. In fact we do a pretty good job with many of our battlefields in comparison. At Aspern-Essling the visitor will not find a beautifully preserved battlefield park like Gettysburg. Only a few monuments remain. It is hoped with the 200th anniversary coming in 2009 that the Austrain government will put some effort into better marking and preserving these sites where so many brave souls fought and died in 1809.
