April 23rd, 1809 - The Battle of Ratisbon

Conflict: War of the Fifth Coalition (1809)

Combatants: Austrians vs. French

Location: Germany

Outcome: French victory

With his Austrian army retreating toward the Danube after Eckmuhl, Archduke Charles Louis mounted a defense of Ratisbon to cover the withdrawal. Napoleon's fatigued troops still succeeded in taking the city, but most of the Austrian army had fled.

Storming of Ratisbon by Charles Thévenin

Points of Interest:

• Just a few weeks after the victory at Ratisbon, Napoleon would capture Vienna.

• Napoleon suffered a slight foot wound at Ratisbon, but rumor spread among his troops that he was badly injured. Napoleon was forced to present himself to his soldiers in order to preserve their morale.

Napoleon I of France by Andrea Appiani

Charles Louis, Archduke of Austria by Charles François Gabriel Levachez

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. (1990). The Napoleonic Source Book. New York: Facts on File.