Having settled to cross the river at this spot, the Emperor decided that several bridges should be constructed there; but as it was more than probable that on the alarm being given by the outposts the Austrian troops posted at Enzersdorf would hasten up to oppose the construction of the bridges, it was arranged that 2,500 grenadiers should first be transported to the other bank, and should at once attack Enzersdorf to occupy the garrison, and prevent their interfering with our works and hindering our passage. This being settled, the Emperor said to Masséna, 'As this leading column will be specially exposed, we must compose it of our best troops, and select a brave and capable colonel to command them.' 'But, sir, that is my job,' said Sainte-Croix. 'How so?' replied the Emperor, who probably asked the question only to draw the answer which he got. 'Why,' said the colonel, 'because of all the officers on the island I am the one who has had the most tiring work for six weeks past. I have been on my legs carrying out your orders day and night; and I beg that your Majesty will be kind enough to give me in return the command of the 2,500 grenadiers who are to make the first landing on the enemy's bank.' 'Well, you shall have it,' replied Napoleon, much pleased with this noble daring; and the final arrangements for the crossing having been made, the attack was fixed for the night of July 4.
Before that time came two important events happened in our army corps. Lieutenant-General Becker was a good officer, though indolent, but it was his fault to criticise everything, and he allowed himself openly to disapprove Napoleon's plan of attack. On hearing of it the Emperor sent him back to France. We shall see how he avenged himself in 1815. 1 General Fririon became chief of the staff; a capable man, but without the firmness required in one acting under Masséna. The other event nearly deprived the Emperor of the aid of Masséna himself in the coming battle. One day, as he and Napoleon were riding round the island, the marshal's horse put its foot in a hole and fell, injuring its rider's leg so that he could not keep his saddle. This was the more annoying that the battle was to take place on the same ground as that of Essling, which Masséna of course knew well. He showed, however, his determination by asserting that in spite of his pain he would be taken on to the field in a litter, like Marshal Saxe at Fontenoy. A litter was got ready; but it struck the marshal; upon a remark which I ventured to make, that this mode of transport was rather pretentious and not so safe as a light carriage, which, with four good horses, could get him about the ground more quickly than men. It was therefore arranged that he should go thus, accompanied by his surgeon, Dr. Brisset, who changed the compresses every hour with perfect coolness under fire during the two days which the battle of Wagram lasted, and in the subsequent fights.
Knowing that the enemy was expecting him to cross as before between Aspern and Essling, and that it was important to conceal his plan of turning their position by crossing opposite Enzersdorf, Napoleon had a careful watch kept over all who entered the island by the great bridges connecting it with Ebersdorf. Everyone on the island must have learnt the secret towards the end of the time; but as it seemed certain that none were on it but French soldiers or officers' servants, who were all guarded, no danger was apprehended from inquisitiveness on the enemy's part. This, as it turned out, was a mistake; for the Archduke had contrived to introduce a spy among us. Just when he was about to give information of the point which we were going to attack, an anonymous letter, written in Hungarian, was brought by a little girl to the Emperor's Mameluke, Roustan, with the warning that it was important and urgent. It was at first supposed to be a begging letter; but the interpreters soon translated it, and informed the Emperor. He came at once to the island, and on arriving, ordered all works to be suspended, and every soul—troops, staffs, commissaries, butchers, bakers, canteen men, even officers' servants—to be drawn up on parade. As soon as everyone was in the ranks, the Emperor announced that a spy had found his way into the island, hoping to escape notice among 30,000 men; and now that they were all in their places he ordered every man to look at his neighbour to right and left. The success of this plan was as instantaneous. In the midst of the dead silence, two soldiers were heard to cry, 'Here is a man we don't know.' He was arrested and examined, and admitted that he had disguised himself in a French uniform taken from men killed at Essling. This wretch had been born at Paris, and appeared very well educated. Having ruined himself at play, he had fled to Austria to escape his creditors, and there had offered himself as spy to the Austrian staff. A small boat used to take him across the Danube at night, landing him a league below Ebersdorf, and fetch him back the next night on a given signal. He had already been frequently on the island, and had accompanied detachments of our troops going to fetch provisions or materials from Ebersdorf. In order to avoid notice, he always went to places where there was a crowd, and worked with the soldiers at the entrenchments. He got his meals at the canteen, passed the night near the camps, and in the morning, armed with a spade as though on his way to join a working party, he would go all over the island and examine the works, lying down among the osiers to make hurried sketches of them. The next night he would go and make his report to the Austrians, and come back to continue his observations. He was brought before a court-martial and condemned to death; but the bitter regret which he expressed for having served the enemies of France disposed the Emperor to commute the penalty. When, however, the spy proposed to deceive the Archduke by going to make a false report on what he had seen, and coming back to tell the French what the Austrians were doing, the Emperor, disgusted at this new piece of infamy, abandoned him to his fate, and let him be shot.
Meanwhile the day of the great battle was drawing on. Napoleon had assembled round Ebersdorf the Army of Italy, the corps of Davout and Bernadotte with the guard, and transformed the island of Lobau into a vast fortress. Three strong bridges secured the passage of the large arm of the Danube, and everything was ready for throwing several across the small arm. To confirm the Archduke in the belief that he intended to cross again between Essling and Aspern, Napoleon had the small bridge by which we had retreated after the battle of Essling reconstructed after the night of July l, and sent across two divisions whose skirmishers might attract the attention of the enemy while all was making ready for our attack on Enzersdorf. It is hard to understand how the Archduke could have supposed that Napoleon would make a front attack upon the huge fortifications with which he had surrounded Essling and Aspern; this would indeed have been taking the bull by the horns.
The second and third were passed by both sides in preparation. The French army, to the number of 150,000 men was massed on the isle of Lobau; the Archduke assembled an equal force on the left bank, where his troops, posted in two lines, formed an immense arc, overlapping those parts of the island which were opposite to them. The right-hand end of this arc rested on the Danube at Floridsdorf; their centre occupied the villages of Essling and Aspern, which were strongly entrenched, and connected by works armed with many guns. Finally, the left of the arc was at Gross-Enzersdorf, with a strong detachment at Mühlleiten. The Archduke, therefore, was watching all the points of the island by which we could emerge; but as, for some unexplained reason he had made up his mind that Napoleon would attack his centre, crossing the little arm of the Danube where he had done in May, the Austrian commander had concentrated his whole force in the wide plains which extend from those villages as far as Deutsch-Wagram and Markgrafen-Neusiedel, a large village on the Russbach stream, the steep banks of which, commanded by high ground, offer an excellent defensive position. His right was weak, and his left still weaker, because, though he had ordered his brother the Archduke John, commanding the Army of Hungary, with his 35,000 men, to be by the morning of July 5 at Unter-Siebenbrunn and in touch on the left with the second line of the main army, this order was not carried out.
In pursuance of the Emperor's instructions, the French army began its attack at 9 P.M. on July 5. Just then a tremendous storm burst; the night was of the darkest, the rain fell in torrents and the noise of the thunder mingled with that of our artillery, which, sheltered from the enemy shot by an epaulement, aimed all its fire at Essling and Aspern. Thus confirmed in the belief that we were going to land at that point, the Archduke turned all his attention thither, without troubling himself about Enzersdorf, upon which the bulk of our force was marching. As soon as the first shots were heard Marshal Masséna, though still in much pain, was placed in a small open carriage and, surrounded by his aides-de-camp, was driven towards the point where the first attack was to be made. The Emperor soon joined us. He was in good spirits and said to the marshal: 'I am delighted at this storm. What a fine night for us! The Austrians cannot see our preparations to cross opposite Enzersdorf, and they will know nothing of them till we have carried that important position, by which time our bridges will be placed and part of my army formed on the bank which they think we are defending.'
In fact Colonel Sainte-Croix, after having landed his 2,500 grenadiers in silence, took up his ground on the enemy's flank in front of Enzersdorf. A regiment of Croats was bivouacking at this point. Attacked unawares, they defended themselves obstinately with the bayonet; but our grenadiers, inspirited by the voice of Sainte-Croix, who had thrown himself into the hottest of the scuffle, drove back the enemy, who retreated in disorder upon Enzersdorf. That large village, surrounded by a loopholed wall, having in front of it a dyke cut in the form of a parapet, was full of infantry, while all the entrances were covered by small earthworks. To carry the village was all the more difficult, because the houses had been burnt down and the garrison might any moment be supported by General Nordmann's brigade posted a little in rear between this village and that of Mühlleiten. But no obstacle checked Sainte-Croix, who at the head of his grenadiers carried the outer works, pursued the enemy at the sword's point, and entered pell-mell with them into the redan which covered the south gate. The gate was closed, Sainte-Croix drove it in under a hail of bullets from the loopholed walls. Once masters of this passage, the colonel and his soldiers dashed into the village, while the garrison, weakened by its enormous losses, took refuge in the castle. But at sight of the scaling ladders which Sainte-Croix ordered up, the Austrian commander capitulated. Thus Sainte-Croix, to whom this fine feat of arms did the greatest honour, remained master of Enzersdorf, to the great satisfaction of the Emperor, whose plans were admirably served by its capture. He ordered eight bridges to be at once thrown over the small arm between the island and Enzersdorf. The first of these bridges was an invention of the Emperor's own. It was made in four sections, connected by hinges so as to allow it to turn and follow the windings of the bank; one end was fixed to the trees on the island, while the other was guided towards the opposite bank by the help of a cable carried by a boat. Swinging to the current, this new style of bridge turned on itself, made a complete wheel to the right and was ready for use in a moment. In a quarter of an hour the other seven were fixed, enabling Napoleon rapidly to bring over to the left bank the corps of Masséna, Oudinot, Bernadotte, Davout, and Marmont, Prince Eugène's army, the artillery reserve, all the cavalry, and finally the guard.
While the Emperor was thus profiting by the capture of Enzersdorf, the Archduke, still convinced that his enemy intended to debouch between Essling and Aspern, was wasting his time and his ammunition in hurling shot and shell on to the part of the island which faced those villages, under the impression that he was causing great loss to the French troops. As, however, we had at that point only a few scouts well protected by earthworks, the projectiles did no damage, and meanwhile the bulk of our troops were traversing the small arm of the river, and forming on the left bank. The Austrian general was astounded when, marching towards the old battle-field on the morning of July 5, with the intention of taking us at a disadvantage the moment we landed, he perceived that his left wing had been turned by the left army, which was marching upon Sachsengang, and shortly occupied that place. Thus surprised, and his rear threatened, the Archduke was obliged, in older to face us, to execute a retrograde movement on a vast scale towards the Russbach, always retreating before Napoleon, while our various corps were taking up their order of battle in the great plain which spread before them.
The Emperor sent three strong divisions of cavalry, with several battalions, supported by light artillery, to watch for the Archduke John at Siebenbrunn, these troops being regarded as outside the fighting line, and intended merely to prevent a surprise. Of the main army, Davout's corps, resting on the Russbach, formed the right; the center was composed of Bavarians, Wurtembergers, the corps of Oudinot and Bernadotte, and the Army of Italy. The left, under Masséna, moved along the small arm of the Danube, in the direction of Essling and Aspern. Each of these corps, as it advanced, was to carry the villages on its road. The reserve consisted of Marmont's corps, three divisions of cuirassiers, numerous artillery, and all the imperial guard. Finally, General Reynier, with one division and guns, remained to guard the island of Lobau, the old bridge which we had used at the time of the former battle having been replaced. A splendid day had succeeded the most horrible night. The French army in review order advanced majestically, preceded by an immense force of artillery, which crushed all opposition on the part of the enemy. The regiments composing the Austrian left, with General Nordmann in advance, were the first with whom he came in contact. Driven from Enzersdorf and Mühlleiten, they attempted to defend Raschdorf, but were pushed back, and General Nordmann was killed in the fight. This officer was from Alsace, formerly colonel of the Bercheny Hussars. He deserted to the enemy in 1793 with part of his regiment, at the same time as Dumouriez, and entered the Austrian service. Our march at first meeting no serious resistance, we occupied successively Essling, Aspern, Breitenlee, Raschdorf, and Süssenbrunn. So far Napoleon's plan had succeeded, the troops having crossed the Danube, and occupied the plain on the left bank. But nothing could be considered as decided until we had beaten and thoroughly broken up the enemy. He now made the serious mistake, instead of uniting his whole force on the Russbach, of dividing it, by retreating on two very divergent lines; one upon Markgraf and Neusiedel, behind the Russbach; the other upon the heights of Stamersdorf, where his right wing was obviously too far from the field of battle. The position on the bank of the Russbach is strong, commanding the plain and covered by the brook, which, though not large, forms a very good obstacle, its banks being too steep for infantry to cross, except with difficulty, while the only way for cavalry and artillery is over the bridges in the villages which the Austrians held. As, however, the Russbach was the key of the position, Napoleon resolved to seize it. He therefore ordered Davout to attack Neusiedel; Oudinot and Bernadotte, Baumersdorf and Wagram respectively; while Prince Eugène, supported by Macdonald and Lamarque, crossed the stream between the two latter villages. The light artillery of the guard crushed the Austrian masses with its fire, but Marshal Bernadotte, commanding the Saxons, attacked Wagram so feebly that he did not succeed. Macdonald and Lamarque crossing the Russbach, placed the enemy's centre for a moment in danger; but the Archduke, flinging himself upon that point with his reserves, forced our troops back again across the brook. This movement was at first executed in perfect order, but as night had approached, our infantry, who had just resisted a front attack of the Austrian light horse, seeing in their rear a brigade of French cavalry which General Salme was bringing up to their support, thought they were cut off and some disorder ensued, aggravated by the blunder of some Saxon battalions firing on Lamarque's division. This confusion, however, was quickly repaired. Oudinot's attack on Baumersdorf, being made with a lack of cohesion, was also repulsed; Davout alone had any success; having forced the Russbach and turned Neusiedel, he was on the point of capturing that village, in spite of an obstinate defence, when night compelled him to suspend the attack, and shortly after the Emperor ordered him to retire, so as not to leave him exposed by being isolated on the further side of the stream.