Wolf Hunt (25 page)

‘This picture is small, so easy to carry about with you. Show it whenever possible to the people you question.’

Luise studied the face, which she was seeing for the first time. He was smiling enigmatically. She had the impression he was laughing at them. When he had posed for the painting, had he considered the possibility that one day people trying to catch him for his crimes would look at this portrait? Was that the explanation for his ironic, scornful smile?

Luise turned away and looked Margont in the eye.

‘Your regiment and the 8th Hussars - will you be held in reserve or will you be first in line?’

‘Only the Emperor knows that.’

‘I forbid you to get yourselves killed, you and Lukas! I don’t care what you have to do to stay alive.’

Madame Mitterburg called through the door, asking if everything was all right. Luise replied briefly that it was. Suddenly a dam broke inside her and she felt frail, insignificant and derisory. It was perhaps the last time she would ever see Margont. In just a single day, the war could kill him and wipe out Lukas. So she might lose everything all over again! She had reproached Relmyer for reviving the past at the risk of committing the same errors, but now she was acting in exactly the same way by attaching herself to two people who might well be dead the next day.

‘When will the war finally be over?’ she murmured.

But that particular fear was only a small part of the wave of terror that submerged her. Suddenly she took Margont in her arms and held him as tight as she could. And just as suddenly she kissed him, more and more, unable to stop, fearing that when she released his mouth, he would immediately tell her that he was obliged to go. Her mother knocked at the door. Margont pulled away. Luise whispered in his ear, so softly that he almost did not hear her: ‘Desert...’

He freed himself from her embrace, pretending that he had not heard her.

‘I have to rejoin my regiment. As soon as we can, Lukas and I will come and see you and we will look together at what you have gathered about Teyhern. When the investigation and the war are over we will all be free. Then you and I will be able to—’

‘No promises!’ she interrupted. ‘Come back safe and well, the two of you, that’s all I desire at the moment. Lukas dragged you into this affair and you swore to me that you would watch over him. If one of you two dies, I will never forgive the other. So concentrate on staying alive.’ 

BY 3 July, the divisions were finally deployed in the correct places. On 4 July, the army corps received precise orders about the manoeuvres they were to execute. At the same time Archduke Charles ordered his brother Archduke John to abandon his position near Pressburg in the south, because it was becoming clear that the French would not attack down there. The thirteen thousand men available to John were to join up with the left flank of the main body of the army as quickly as possible. However, torrential rain held up the transmission of the message and John’s forces did not begin to move until the following morning.

Towards nine o’clock Napoleon decided to make use of the poor visibility caused by the rain. He began to send his troops across the Danube with the help of gunners, boats and barges. The French easily repulsed the little Austrian units guarding the bank. Innumerable batteries from Lobau opened fire on the villages of Aspern and Essling, immobilising the most advanced Austrian

troops and creating a diversion. Napoleon sent the Legrand Division to take up position on the east bank, but at the level of the old bridgehead, to make the Austrians believe that he was going to occupy the same battlefield as in May. The Archduke fell into the trap and ordered the forces of Aspern and Essling to bombard the northern part of Lobau. He thought his round shot was causing havoc to the French and their allies, when actually they were assembling in the east of the island. Charles also released into the Danube burning boats that did not succeed this time in damaging the reinforced, protected bridges.

Towards one thirty in the morning, the French assembled the pieces of the first preconstructed bridge in order to link the east side of Lobau to the east bank. They managed it in five minutes. Two others followed. The regiments immediately began to cross 
en masse,
 drenched by the rain and deafened by the thunder and the bombardments.

The men advanced in serried ranks but broke rank the moment they set foot on the bridges. The officers reorganised the soldiers once they were safely on the other bank. In the predawn gloom, torches provided the only light. As the hours passed, the Grande Armée formed an extremely dense unit: the army corps of Masse-na, Oudinot and Davout marched at the front, supported by Mont-brun’s light cavalry and Grouchy’s dragoons. The French were able to position themselves rapidly without losing their cohesion. When Archduke Charles finally understood what Napoleon was doing he hastily sent troops to prevent the French from advancing as they pleased. But those troops were insufficient to interrupt the march of Oudinot’s and Davout’s sixty thousand men. Meanwhile Massena’s IV Corps was taking the villages of Essling and Aspern from the rear.

By six o’clock that evening, Napoleon’s operation had been successfully completed. His army had crossed the Danube unimpeded, manoeuvring itself with spectacular speed. The Austrians, taken unawares, had not been able to hinder their deployment. The Grande Armée occupied the immense plain of Marchfeld, the terrain earmarked by the Emperor. It formed a convex arc backing onto the river. The centre was about six miles north-east of the bridges. The majority of the troops, the corps of Bernadotte, Macdonald, Grenier, Marmont and Oudinot, were positioned on the front line. The Imperial Guard was placed behind, with Bessiere’s heavy cavalry, that is to say, eight thousand cuirassiers and carabineers. The left flank, spread over six miles, was relatively weak. It consisted only of part of Bernadotte’s Saxons and Massena’s IV Corps. Behind this last lay the villages of Aspern and Essling. The right wing was made up of Davout’s III Corps, Montbrun’s light cavalry and the dragoons of Pully and Grouchy. Napoleon had therefore constructed a strong right flank, very mobile thanks to the high preponderance of cavalry, and a powerful centre that he intended to use in a phenomenal hammer blow to smash the Austrian centre. These concentrations of soldiers had been put together to the detriment of the left flank.

The Austrians mirrored the French line, presenting a concave front stretching over twelve miles. Klenau’s VI Corps and Kolowrat’s III Corps assured their right flank. The élite reserve troops of the Prince of Liechtenstein joined the right flank to the extremely impressive centre. It dominated the heights of Wagram, fifty feet high and bordered by the Russbach river whose banks were extremely marshy. In the centre, Bellegarde’s I Corps, Hohen-zollern’s II Corps and the reserve cavalry of Nostitz were stationed. Finally, their left flank was made up of Rosenberg’s IV Corps and Nordmann’s vanguard.

On the evening of 5 July Archduke Charles anxiously awaited the arrival of Archduke John, whose men were supposed to fall upon the French right, placing Napoleon in a very difficult situation. He did not know that his brother was still a long way off and was having no success in hurrying his troops along.

Napoleon knew that time was not on his side: he would have to act quickly in order to ensure that Charles did not receive John’s reinforcements. He had no idea what Charles was planning. The Austrians had not really tried to confront him. Did Archduke Charles plan to withdraw and attack elsewhere? Until now, everything had turned out perfectly for the French. Napoleon decided to exploit the gains made during the day, contrary to his initial plan, which had not envisaged launching the principal battle until the next day. The Emperor ordered Bernadotte’s Saxons to take the village of Deutsch-Wagram, to the right of the Austrian centre. Oudinot, Prince Eugene - whose army included the corps of Macdonald and Grenier - and Davout were charged with attacking the Austrian centre.

Napoleon told an aide-de-camp, ‘Go and tell Oudinot that I can hear nothing at the moment, that he must march a little further and give us a little music before nightfall.’

The battle began at seven thirty. Oudinot failed in the face of the Austrians’ tenacity. Prince Eugene almost broke through but Archduke Charles came in person to galvanise his men, and there also the French had to withdraw. The French Seras Division, seeing the French beat a retreat pursued by soldiers in white coats, opened fire on these last. In fact they were Saxons attached to Dupas’s division, who had been caught in the crossfire and were fleeing. These men jostled into the Lamarque, Seras and Durutte

Divisions, also retreating in disarray. It took a long while for these troops to regroup. Only Davout succeeded in advancing, but as his division was isolated, he too had to retreat to his starting position.

As night fell, Bernadotte’s Saxons were still wandering about on the outskirts of the village of Deutsch-Wagram. Other Saxons, the grenadiers of the Leibgarde and the von Bose and von Edigy Battalions, were sent as reinforcements, but these infantrymen did not know exactly where their compatriots were. When they arrived in the village, the gloom and the smoke of combat added to the confusion. Soldiers in white coats appeared and the reinforcements opened fire. But they were firing on the other Saxons. While the Saxons were killing each other, the Austrians counterattacked and routed their assailants.

This first attempt at an attack therefore ended in abject failure. Archduke Charles did not take action to profit from this, however; it was too hazardous to continue fighting at night. 

DURING the night, plans were revised on both sides.

The Emperor still intended to attack the Austrian centre. Should he succeed, the enemy army would be annihilated. Napoleon wanted to achieve total victory to force Austria to surrender and to dissuade other countries from taking up arms against him. For that he had to weaken the enemy centre. He therefore chose to keep his left flank relatively fragile. It was very extended and only defended by Massena’s IV Corps. This weakness was in reality a trap. It was designed to entice the Archduke to attack on the French left. In this way Charles would be obliged to withdraw troops from his centre to reinforce the troops on his right charged with vanquishing the French left flank. In addition Davout was to overwhelm the Austrians on their left flank, to such an extent that other enemy regiments would also have to abandon the centre, to bolster this flank. And further, this French manoeuvre would prevent Archduke John’s forces from eventually joining his brother’s.

Napoleon would then launch his principal attack: a surge against the Austrian centre. The tactic of the weak flank had worked admirably at Austerlitz. But it was absolutely imperative that Masse-na hold firm on the left flank, which would be on the receiving end of a powerful Austrian attack.

However, Napoleon underestimated yet again the fighting spirit of the Austrians. He thought that Charles would limit himself to trying to break the French left. Against all expectation, the Austrian commander-in-chief opted for a widespread offensive. He not only decided to crush the left flank of the French with Kolowrat’s III Corps and Klenau’s VI Corps but he also ordered Rosenberg’s IV Corps to attack the French right flank while Bellegarde’s I Corps and Hohenzollern’s II Corps assailed the centre. The Liechtenstein reserve corps would launch the final onslaught.

On 6 July, at four in the morning, Rosenberg’s IV Corps flung itself on the French right flank constituted by Davout’s III Corps. Taken by surprise, Davout’s men began to fall back. Napoleon hurried to the area with Nansouty and d’Arrighi’s cuirassiers.

Meanwhile, Bellegarde’s I Corps took over the village of Aderklaa, which marked the angle between the French centre and its left flank. Bernadotte’s Saxon IX Corps, which had been severely tested by the previous evening’s panic, had evacuated the village. Marshal Bernadotte had considered that he would not be able to resist the Austrians and had withdrawn. Napoleon had never imagined losing Aderklaa to the Austrians; it was crucial to the success of his scheme. If the Grande Armée were to try to crush the Austrian centre with Aderklaa still in the hands of the enemy, the Austrian I Corps under Bellegarde would be free to come to offer support to the centre. In addition, the Archduke’s troops positioned on the right would be able to join the endangered centre much more rapidly, because they would not have to waste time skirting round the village. So Napoleon ordered Marshal Massena, ‘the golden boy’ known for his victories, to retake Aderklaa. But this meant that several of Massena’s regiments would no longer be available to protect the left flank, which would become even more fragile.

Margont was serving in the Legrand Division of Massena’s IV Corps. Three of Massena’s divisions had massed to the north-east of the left flank, very near the centre. The Boudet Division had been left three miles from there to constitute the south-west of the left flank, with only three thousand seven hundred men facing fourteen thousand soldiers of Klenau’s VI Corps, who were not yet moving from their positions.

The 18th of the Line stayed still, in battle order, under a lowering sky of massive clouds. Margont tried to work out what was planned. Thanks to the many plumes of white smoke and to the din of the cannon and the fusillades, he could tell that battle had commenced on the French right. He asked Lefine and Saber for their opinions. The former always knew everything and the latter had a particular talent for seeing through the plans of the general staff. Lefine, normally sanguine, showed increasing signs of anxiety. He kept readjusting his coat. His agitated fingers seemed to knit his worry.

‘We’re on the left wing! The wings are unlucky! At Austerlitz, don’t you remember? Our right flank was destroyed! The Emperor adores offering up a flank, it’s well known.’

Saber also seemed put out.

There’s a better chance of promotion in the centre than on the wings. How much longer am I going to languish in the role of subaltern? For pity’s sake, if they would only give me a regiment, you would see what I am capable of! But no, here we are on the edge of the “Route to Glory”! What terrible luck!’