Karl Wilhelm von Stutterheim
Encyclopedia
Karl Daniel Gottfried Wilhelm von Stutterheim, born 6 August 1770 – died 13 December 1811, served in the Prussian and Saxon armies during the French Revolutionary Wars
, leaving the latter service in 1798. He spent most of his career in the army of Habsburg Austria and the Austrian Empire
. He commanded a brigade in combat against the First French Empire
during the 1805 and 1809 wars. In the latter conflict, he led his troops with dash and competence. He authored two histories about the wars; the second work remained unfinished due to his suicide in 1811.
in the Kingdom of Prussia
on 6 August 1770. He was elevated to the noble rank of Freiherr
on 20 November 1784. He earned the Prussian Pour la Mérite order on 2 October 1793. This occurred shortly after the Battle of Pirmasens
on 14 September, though there is no evidence that he fought in that action. The year 1798 found him in the army of the Electorate of Saxony
with the rank of major
. He resigned on 28 March 1798 and took service with Austria on 10 January 1799. The Austrians appointed him a major on 18 November 1799.
led the 62,000-strong Austrian army in operations against the French-held city of Genoa
. Despite savage fighting, especially on 7 April, the Austrians invested the city and began the Siege of Genoa
. At dawn on 30 April, the Austrian Kray and Alvinczi Infantry Regiments seized the Deux-Frères (Two Brothers) redoubt atop Monte Fratelli. André Masséna
sent a column of grenadiers to retake the fort and the French ejected the Austrians from the fortification. Now a staff officer, Stutterheim was on the scene and sent an urgent message requesting reinforcements, though he neglected to mention how many were needed. With typical Austrian rigidity, the local general refused to honor the request until his superior, Ludwig von Vogelsang
approved it. By the time Vogelsang acted on the information, the fort was firmly back in French hands. He received promotion to Oberstleutnant
in 1801 and Oberst
(colonel
) in 1803.
Stutterheim was promoted to General-Major
on 24 October 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. At the Battle of Austerlitz
on 2 December 1805, he led a cavalry brigade in Michael von Kienmayer
's Advance Guard column. His command included eight squadrons of the O'Reilly
Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 3, about 900 sabers, and 40 troopers of the Merveldt
Uhlan Regiment Nr. 1. Kienmayer's force was assigned to clear the village of Telnice (Tellnitz)
of the French. Before 8:00 AM, the Austrians bumped into several companies of French infantry deployed outside of Telnice. Kienmayer ordered one battalion of the 1st Szekler Grenz Infantry
Regiment Nr. 14 to attack a vineyard-covered hill on which the French were posted. The first battalion soon lost half its strength, forcing the commitment of the second battalion to the fight. Johann Nepomuk von Nostiz-Rieneck guarded the right flank with the Hessen-Homburg Hussar Regiment Nr. 4, while Moritz Liechenstein protected the left flank with the Szekler Hussar Regiment Nr. 11. French marksmen picked off a number of the hussars who hovered too close.
Kienmayer put Stutterheim in charge of the two Szekler grenzer battalions, who finally captured the knoll after being thrown back twice. The French covering force fell back to Telnice and nearby vineyards, which were vigorously defended by the 3rd Line Infantry Regiment. Even after Kienmayer sent in Georg Symon de Carneville's three Grenz infantry battalions, the Austrians were unable to seize the village. At one point, the French nearly recaptured the hill on which Stutterheim's two battalions stood. After an hour, Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden
marched up with the Russians of the 1st Column. Carneville's grenzers, backed by the Russian 7th Jäger
Regiment, stormed Telnice and drove the French beyond the stream on the west side of the village. At this moment, 4,000 French reinforcements appeared and recaptured the village under cover of a fog that rolled in. Nostiz led an effective charge with his hussars which captured many of their enemies and soon the French were driven out of Telnice again.
This triumph allowed Liechtenstein and Stutterheim to deploy their cavalry brigades on the west side of the stream. But because the 2nd Column had not kept contact with the 1st Column and Advance Guard, the allied generals halted the troops. When their leaders finally became aware of the French breakthrough of the center, the 1st Column attempted to go to the rescue, but marched in the wrong direction. The Austrian cavalry was pulled back, abandoning Telnice, and a few battalions were deployed nearby to cover Buxhoeveden's retreat. Liechtenstein with the Szekler Hussars and Stutterheim with the O'Reilly Chevau-légers plus two regiments of Cossacks covered the rear of the withdrawing 1st Column.
Dominique Vandamme
's victorious division took the 1st Column in flank at the village of Újezd u Brna (Aujest)
. Buxhoeveden got away with the lead elements, but 4,000 Allies became prisoners and Dmitry Dokhturov
's troops were cut off with their backs to some lakes near the southern edge of the battlefield. By this time a number of French artillery batteries unlimbered within range. Dokhturov's troops passed near Telnice again before escaping across a narrow dike between two lakes. Liechtenstein and Stutterheim's cavalry covered the retreat, though they suffered heavy losses from grape-shot fired the nearby enemy batteries. Most of the Russian cannons were abandoned during the retreat, though Stutterheim managed to save the guns assigned to the O'Reilly Hussars.
Stutterheim wrote La Bataille d'Austerlitz in July 1806, which was published in English as A Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1807.
, Stutterheim was appointed to lead a brigade in Hannibal Sommariva's Light Division belonging to Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
's IV Armeekorps. The brigade consisted of two battalions of the Deutsch-Banater Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 12, eight squadrons of the Vincent
Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 4, and a 3-pound Grenz brigade battery with eight pieces. On 19 April 1809, the main armies met at the Battle of Teugen-Hausen
in Bavaria
. Leading the IV Armeekorps advance guard, Stutterheim located Claude Petit's French infantry brigade in the woods at Schneidert to the east of Hausen
. He attacked but was repulsed after a prolonged action. Rosenberg led the bulk of his troops farther east to Dünzling where they finally drove back a greatly inferior force of French troops under Louis-Pierre Montbrun.
On 21 April at dawn, Marshal
Louis-Nicolas Davout moved his III Corps east from Haugen against Rosenberg's positions to open the two-day Battle of Eckmühl
. Suspecting an attack, Rosenberg put Stutterheim in command of three battalions, six squadrons, and a horse artillery battery and ordered him to hold the village of Paring
, which is midway between Hausen and Eckmühl
. At 6:00 AM Stutterheim reported the French advance and his corps commander reinforced him to a total of six battalions. The French division of Louis Friant
soon attacked Paring with the 108th and 111th Line Infantry Regiments. While the 108th mounted a frontal assault, the 111th turned Austrian right flank. Paring fell and 400 Austrians were captured, but the contest occupied the French until 11:00 AM. Meanwhile, Stutterheim's cavalry harassed the Bavarian
division of Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
in its efforts to capture the town of Schierling
to the west of Eckmühl. Deroy managed to wrest Schierling from Josef Philipp Vukassovich
's defenders, but got no farther east that day.
Stutterheim fell back east to the main line of defense, which ran through Unter- and Ober-Laichling. These twin villages are northwest of Eckmühl. Rosenberg posted Ludwig Alois von Hohenlohe-Bartenstein's division on the right, Sommariva's division in the center, and Stutterheim's advance guard on the left, holding a hill known as the Vorberg. For the rest of the 21st, Davout battered at Rosenberg's line, but the Austrians managed to hold their ground until evening.
That night at 2:00 AM, Stutterheim reported that Emperor Napoleon
was about to attack the Austrian left flank. Archduke Charles
planned for his right wing to attack Davout, while Rosenberg held his position on the left wing. The day of 22 April opened with a thick fog, which did not clear until after 8:00 AM. Charles did not issue his orders until that hour and intended for his troops to begin the assault on Davout about 1:00 PM. The Austrian attack on Davout's left never materialized and Charles quickly abandoned the effort. Meanwhile, Napoleon arrived on the battlefield at about 2:00 PM. The emperor soon brought large forces to bear on Rosenberg's position from the south. Aware of his perilous position, Rosenberg refused his left flank to face the new threat. Davout and Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre
's Bavarian VII Corps attacked from the west, while Marshal Jean Lannes
' provisional corps, consisting of two detached III Corps divisions, and Dominique Vandamme
's Württemberg
VIII Corps assaulted from the south.
As the French and their German allies closed in on Rosenberg, Stutterheim led four squadrons of hussars in a charge which stopped the advance of some of Davout's troops near Unter-Laichling. Later, he directed four squadrons of Chevau-légers in a spirited counterattack against French skirmishers. These enemies, who threatened a key hill called the Bettel Berg, were driven off. Later, a division of French cuirassiers and German-allied cavalry approached the Bettel Berg. Stutterheim joined in a cavalry countercharge, but this time the Austrians were routed and most of the guns were captured when the hilltop was overrun. At 9:00 AM on the morning of the 23rd, French cuirassiers attacked Stutterheim's rearguard and Charles sent an uhlan
regiment to his assistance. This was the start of the Battle of Ratisbon
.
After the defeat at Eckmühl, the Austrian retreated into Bohemia
. On 29 April, Stutterheim led two cavalry regiments and a horse artillery battery from České Budějovice (Budweis)
toward Linz
, where he was to hold the bridge over the Danube. Soon after, he operated on the north bank of the Danube in conjunction with Johann von Klenau
's independent division.
At the Battle of Aspern-Essling
on 21 and 22 May, Stutterheim was put in charge of a light brigade in Johann Karl Peter Hennequin de Fresnel's division of Count Heinrich von Bellegarde's I Armeekorps. The brigade included the 2nd and 3rd Jäger Battalions, 10 squadrons of the Blankenstein Hussar Regiment Nr. 6, and a horse artillery battery. All told, there were 1,659 infantry, 1,039 cavalry, and six guns. Still in Fresnel's I Armeekorps division, he led his brigade at the Battle of Wagram
on 5 and 6 July. After a reorganization, the brigade was made up of the 2nd Jägers, eight squadrons of the Klenau Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 5, and a cavalry battery. At Wagram his command numbered 743 infantry, 801 cavalry, and six guns.
At 4:00 AM on 6 July, Stutterheim discovered that the village of Aderklaa
had been evacuated by the Saxons. While Bellegarde failed to take advantage of this enemy miscue, Stutterheim rapidly occupied the village with three battalions and began to fortify it. When the French and Saxons tried to retake Aderklaa at 7:00 AM, he easily repelled the attack. But a second assault by Claude Carra Saint-Cyr
's division a half-hour later proved to be more difficult to resist. After a grim resistance, the survivors of Stutterheim's 2,700-man command bolted for the rear. Archduke Charles quickly organized a counterattack by his second line troops, a grenadier brigade, and Stutterheim's rallied troops. Inspired by the archduke, the Austrians recaptured Aderklaa and seized the eagles of the 4th Line and 24th Light Infantry Regiments. Stutterheim was wounded during this fighting. He received the Military Order of Maria Theresa
on 24 October 1809.
After his experiences in the 1809 campaign, he began work on his book, La Guerre de l'An 1809. He wrote the history through the fall of Vienna, but he became involved in a scandal and took his own life on 13 December 1811, having never married. He was posthumously promoted to Feldmarschallleutnant. The author Eugen Binder-Kriegelstein
considered Stutterheim and Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
the only Austrian generals who showed ability in the 1809 campaign.
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
, leaving the latter service in 1798. He spent most of his career in the army of Habsburg Austria and the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
. He commanded a brigade in combat against the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
during the 1805 and 1809 wars. In the latter conflict, he led his troops with dash and competence. He authored two histories about the wars; the second work remained unfinished due to his suicide in 1811.
Early career
Stutterheim was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
on 6 August 1770. He was elevated to the noble rank of Freiherr
Freiherr
The German titles Freiherr and Freifrau and Freiin are titles of nobility, used preceding a person's given name or, after 1919, before the surname...
on 20 November 1784. He earned the Prussian Pour la Mérite order on 2 October 1793. This occurred shortly after the Battle of Pirmasens
Pirmasens
Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....
on 14 September, though there is no evidence that he fought in that action. The year 1798 found him in the army of the Electorate of Saxony
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...
with the rank of major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. He resigned on 28 March 1798 and took service with Austria on 10 January 1799. The Austrians appointed him a major on 18 November 1799.
Austrian service: 1799-1805
On 4 April 1800, Michael von MelasMichael von Melas
Michael Friedrich Benedikt Baron von Melas was a Transylvanian-born field marshal of Greek descent for the Austrian Empire during the Napoleonic Wars....
led the 62,000-strong Austrian army in operations against the French-held city of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. Despite savage fighting, especially on 7 April, the Austrians invested the city and began the Siege of Genoa
Siege of Genoa (1800)
In the Siege of Genoa the Austrians besieged and captured Genoa but the smaller French force under André Masséna had diverted enough Austrian troops so that Napoleon could win the Battle of Marengo.-Background:...
. At dawn on 30 April, the Austrian Kray and Alvinczi Infantry Regiments seized the Deux-Frères (Two Brothers) redoubt atop Monte Fratelli. André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
sent a column of grenadiers to retake the fort and the French ejected the Austrians from the fortification. Now a staff officer, Stutterheim was on the scene and sent an urgent message requesting reinforcements, though he neglected to mention how many were needed. With typical Austrian rigidity, the local general refused to honor the request until his superior, Ludwig von Vogelsang
Ludwig von Vogelsang
Ludwig Freiherr von Vogelsang was an Austrian infantry commander during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.-Footnotes:...
approved it. By the time Vogelsang acted on the information, the fort was firmly back in French hands. He received promotion to Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...
in 1801 and Oberst
Oberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
(colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
) in 1803.
Stutterheim was promoted to General-Major
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
on 24 October 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition. At the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition...
on 2 December 1805, he led a cavalry brigade in Michael von Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer
Michael von Kienmayer was an Austrian general who was active during the Napoleonic Wars.von Kienmayer joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Kingdom of Prussia and Ottoman Turkey. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he continued to make his reputation in the cavalry and...
's Advance Guard column. His command included eight squadrons of the O'Reilly
Andreas O'Reilly von Ballinlough
Andreas Graf O'Reilly von Ballinlough was an Austrian soldier and commander of Irish origin. His military service extended through the Seven Years' War, War of the Bavarian Succession, Austro-Turkish War, French Revolutionary Wars, and Napoleonic Wars...
Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 3, about 900 sabers, and 40 troopers of the Merveldt
Maximilian, Count of Merveldt
Maximilian, Count von Merveldt , among the most famous of an illustrious old Westphalian family, entered Austrian military service, rose to the rank of General of Cavalry, served as Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor's ambassador to Russia, and became special envoy extraordinaire to the Court of St....
Uhlan Regiment Nr. 1. Kienmayer's force was assigned to clear the village of Telnice (Tellnitz)
Telnice (Brno-Country District)
Telnice is a village and municipality in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 1,339 ....
of the French. Before 8:00 AM, the Austrians bumped into several companies of French infantry deployed outside of Telnice. Kienmayer ordered one battalion of the 1st Szekler Grenz Infantry
Grenz infantry
Grenz infantry or Grenzers were light infantry troops who came from the Croatian and Transylvanian Military Frontier in Habsburg Monarchy . This borderland formed a buffer zone between Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, and the troops were originally raised to defend Austria against the...
Regiment Nr. 14 to attack a vineyard-covered hill on which the French were posted. The first battalion soon lost half its strength, forcing the commitment of the second battalion to the fight. Johann Nepomuk von Nostiz-Rieneck guarded the right flank with the Hessen-Homburg Hussar Regiment Nr. 4, while Moritz Liechenstein protected the left flank with the Szekler Hussar Regiment Nr. 11. French marksmen picked off a number of the hussars who hovered too close.
Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhoeveden
Friedrich Wilhelm Count von Buxhoevden was a Russian Infantry General and a government official. Buxhoeveden commanded the Russian armies during the Finnish War....
marched up with the Russians of the 1st Column. Carneville's grenzers, backed by the Russian 7th Jäger
Jäger
Jäger is the German word for "hunter", and also a common Jäger is the [[German language|German]] word for "[[hunter]]", and also a common Jäger is the [[German...
Regiment, stormed Telnice and drove the French beyond the stream on the west side of the village. At this moment, 4,000 French reinforcements appeared and recaptured the village under cover of a fog that rolled in. Nostiz led an effective charge with his hussars which captured many of their enemies and soon the French were driven out of Telnice again.
Dominique Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
's victorious division took the 1st Column in flank at the village of Újezd u Brna (Aujest)
Újezd u Brna
Újezd u Brna is a town in the Czech Republic located near the city of Brno. The earliest mention of this town is in a church charter dating from 1131 CE, making it one of the oldest towns in the east Czech region of Moravia...
. Buxhoeveden got away with the lead elements, but 4,000 Allies became prisoners and Dmitry Dokhturov
Dmitry Dokhturov
Dmitry Sergeyevich Dokhturov was a Russian Infantry General and a prominent military leader during the Patriotic War of 1812....
's troops were cut off with their backs to some lakes near the southern edge of the battlefield. By this time a number of French artillery batteries unlimbered within range. Dokhturov's troops passed near Telnice again before escaping across a narrow dike between two lakes. Liechtenstein and Stutterheim's cavalry covered the retreat, though they suffered heavy losses from grape-shot fired the nearby enemy batteries. Most of the Russian cannons were abandoned during the retreat, though Stutterheim managed to save the guns assigned to the O'Reilly Hussars.
Stutterheim wrote La Bataille d'Austerlitz in July 1806, which was published in English as A Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1807.
Austrian service: 1809
At the beginning of the War of the Fifth CoalitionWar of the Fifth Coalition
The War of the Fifth Coalition, fought in the year 1809, pitted a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria. Major engagements between France and Austria, the main participants, unfolded over much of Central Europe from April to July, with...
, Stutterheim was appointed to lead a brigade in Hannibal Sommariva's Light Division belonging to Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
Prince Franz Seraph of Rosenberg-Orsini
Prince Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg, born 18 October 1761 – died 4 August 1832, joined the army of Habsburg Austria and fought against the Ottoman Turks, winning a prestigious award for bravery. In the 1790s, he served in the wars against the First French Republic and received promotion...
's IV Armeekorps. The brigade consisted of two battalions of the Deutsch-Banater Grenz Infantry Regiment Nr. 12, eight squadrons of the Vincent
Karl von Vincent
Karl Freiherr von Vincent, born 11 August 1757 – died 7 October 1834, fought in the army of Habsburg Austria during the French Revolutionary Wars. He first served as a staff officer then later as a combat commander. During the Napoleonic Wars, he was given important commands in two campaigns...
Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 4, and a 3-pound Grenz brigade battery with eight pieces. On 19 April 1809, the main armies met at the Battle of Teugen-Hausen
Battle of Teugen-Hausen
The Battle of Teugen-Hausen or the Battle of Thann was fought on 19 April 1809 between the French III Corps led by Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout and the Austrian III Armeekorps commanded by Prince Friedrich Franz Xaver of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. The French won a hard-fought victory over their...
in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Leading the IV Armeekorps advance guard, Stutterheim located Claude Petit's French infantry brigade in the woods at Schneidert to the east of Hausen
Hausen, Lower Bavaria
Hausen is a municipality in the district of Kelheim in Bavaria in Germany.-References:...
. He attacked but was repulsed after a prolonged action. Rosenberg led the bulk of his troops farther east to Dünzling where they finally drove back a greatly inferior force of French troops under Louis-Pierre Montbrun.
On 21 April at dawn, Marshal
Marshal of France
The Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Louis-Nicolas Davout moved his III Corps east from Haugen against Rosenberg's positions to open the two-day Battle of Eckmühl
Battle of Eckmühl
The Battle of Eckmühl fought on 21 April – 22 April 1809, was the turning point of the 1809 Campaign, also known as the War of the Fifth Coalition...
. Suspecting an attack, Rosenberg put Stutterheim in command of three battalions, six squadrons, and a horse artillery battery and ordered him to hold the village of Paring
Paring Abbey
Paring Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Langquaid in the district of Kelheim in Bavaria, Germany.-History:The monastery, dedicated to Saint Michael, was founded in 1141 by Gebhard von Roning, as a monastery of the Augustinian Canons, which it remained until 1598...
, which is midway between Hausen and Eckmühl
Eckmühl
Eckmühl is a village of Germany, in Bavaria, on the Große Laaber, 20 km S.E. of Regensburg...
. At 6:00 AM Stutterheim reported the French advance and his corps commander reinforced him to a total of six battalions. The French division of Louis Friant
Louis Friant
Louis Friant was born in the village of Morlancourt, 8 km south of Albert near the river Somme. The village would later suffer the misfortune of lying along the Western Front trench-lines of World War I....
soon attacked Paring with the 108th and 111th Line Infantry Regiments. While the 108th mounted a frontal assault, the 111th turned Austrian right flank. Paring fell and 400 Austrians were captured, but the contest occupied the French until 11:00 AM. Meanwhile, Stutterheim's cavalry harassed the Bavarian
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
division of Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy
Bernhard Erasmus von Deroy became a noted general officer in the army of Bavaria. His military career began shortly after the start of the Seven Years War...
in its efforts to capture the town of Schierling
Schierling
Schierling is a municipality in the district of Regensburg in Bavaria in Germany....
to the west of Eckmühl. Deroy managed to wrest Schierling from Josef Philipp Vukassovich
Josef Philipp Vukassovich
Josef Philipp von Vukassovich , also Josef Wukassovitch, was a Croatian soldier who joined the army of Habsburg Monarchy and fought against both Ottoman Empire and the First French Republic. During the French Revolutionary Wars, he commanded a brigade in the 1796–1797 Italian campaign against...
's defenders, but got no farther east that day.
Stutterheim fell back east to the main line of defense, which ran through Unter- and Ober-Laichling. These twin villages are northwest of Eckmühl. Rosenberg posted Ludwig Alois von Hohenlohe-Bartenstein's division on the right, Sommariva's division in the center, and Stutterheim's advance guard on the left, holding a hill known as the Vorberg. For the rest of the 21st, Davout battered at Rosenberg's line, but the Austrians managed to hold their ground until evening.
That night at 2:00 AM, Stutterheim reported that Emperor Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
was about to attack the Austrian left flank. Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
planned for his right wing to attack Davout, while Rosenberg held his position on the left wing. The day of 22 April opened with a thick fog, which did not clear until after 8:00 AM. Charles did not issue his orders until that hour and intended for his troops to begin the assault on Davout about 1:00 PM. The Austrian attack on Davout's left never materialized and Charles quickly abandoned the effort. Meanwhile, Napoleon arrived on the battlefield at about 2:00 PM. The emperor soon brought large forces to bear on Rosenberg's position from the south. Aware of his perilous position, Rosenberg refused his left flank to face the new threat. Davout and Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
's Bavarian VII Corps attacked from the west, while Marshal Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes
Jean Lannes, 1st Duc de Montebello, was a Marshal of France. He was one of Napoleon's most daring and talented generals. Napoleon once commented on Lannes: "I found him a pygmy and left him a giant"...
' provisional corps, consisting of two detached III Corps divisions, and Dominique Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
's Württemberg
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
VIII Corps assaulted from the south.
Uhlan
Uhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies....
regiment to his assistance. This was the start of the Battle of Ratisbon
Battle of Ratisbon
The Battle of Ratisbon, also called the Battle of Regensburg, of the Napoleonic Wars was fought on the 23 April 1809 between the army of the First French Empire, led by Napoleon I, and that of the Austrian Empire, led by Archduke Charles...
.
After the defeat at Eckmühl, the Austrian retreated into Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. On 29 April, Stutterheim led two cavalry regiments and a horse artillery battery from České Budějovice (Budweis)
Ceské Budejovice
České Budějovice is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region and centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice and of the University of South Bohemia and the Academy of Sciences...
toward Linz
Linz
Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...
, where he was to hold the bridge over the Danube. Soon after, he operated on the north bank of the Danube in conjunction with Johann von Klenau
Johann von Klenau
Johann von Klenau , also called Johann Josef Cajetan von Klenau und Janowitz, the son of a Bohemian noble, was a field marshal in the Habsburg army...
's independent division.
At the Battle of Aspern-Essling
Battle of Aspern-Essling
In the Battle of Aspern-Essling , Napoleon attempted a forced crossing of the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were driven back by the Austrians under Archduke Charles...
on 21 and 22 May, Stutterheim was put in charge of a light brigade in Johann Karl Peter Hennequin de Fresnel's division of Count Heinrich von Bellegarde's I Armeekorps. The brigade included the 2nd and 3rd Jäger Battalions, 10 squadrons of the Blankenstein Hussar Regiment Nr. 6, and a horse artillery battery. All told, there were 1,659 infantry, 1,039 cavalry, and six guns. Still in Fresnel's I Armeekorps division, he led his brigade at the Battle of Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the decisive military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition. It took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name to the...
on 5 and 6 July. After a reorganization, the brigade was made up of the 2nd Jägers, eight squadrons of the Klenau Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 5, and a cavalry battery. At Wagram his command numbered 743 infantry, 801 cavalry, and six guns.
At 4:00 AM on 6 July, Stutterheim discovered that the village of Aderklaa
Aderklaa
Aderklaa is a town in the district of Gänserndorf in Lower Austria in Austria....
had been evacuated by the Saxons. While Bellegarde failed to take advantage of this enemy miscue, Stutterheim rapidly occupied the village with three battalions and began to fortify it. When the French and Saxons tried to retake Aderklaa at 7:00 AM, he easily repelled the attack. But a second assault by Claude Carra Saint-Cyr
Claude Carra Saint-Cyr
Claude Carra Saint-Cyr was a French general and diplomat, noted for his participation to the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
's division a half-hour later proved to be more difficult to resist. After a grim resistance, the survivors of Stutterheim's 2,700-man command bolted for the rear. Archduke Charles quickly organized a counterattack by his second line troops, a grenadier brigade, and Stutterheim's rallied troops. Inspired by the archduke, the Austrians recaptured Aderklaa and seized the eagles of the 4th Line and 24th Light Infantry Regiments. Stutterheim was wounded during this fighting. He received the Military Order of Maria Theresa
Military Order of Maria Theresa
The Military Order of Maria Theresa was an Order of the Austro-Hungarian Empire founded on June 18, 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolin, by the Empress...
on 24 October 1809.
After his experiences in the 1809 campaign, he began work on his book, La Guerre de l'An 1809. He wrote the history through the fall of Vienna, but he became involved in a scandal and took his own life on 13 December 1811, having never married. He was posthumously promoted to Feldmarschallleutnant. The author Eugen Binder-Kriegelstein
Eugen Binder-Kriegelstein
Eugen Binder-Kriegelstein was an Austrian journalist, war correspondent and travel writer. He sometimes used the pen names of Eugene Krieglstein or Eugene Binder Krieglstein...
considered Stutterheim and Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
Joseph Radetzky von Radetz
Johann Josef Wenzel Graf Radetzky von Radetz was a Czech nobleman and Austrian general, immortalised by Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March...
the only Austrian generals who showed ability in the 1809 campaign.
Other reading
- Arnold, James R. Crisis on the Danube. New York: Paragon House, 1990. ISBN 1-55778-137-0