| Battle of Wörgl | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theWar of the Fifth Coalition | |||||||
 Battle of Wörgl byPeter von Hess, 1832 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Austrian Empire |  First French Empire Kingdom of Bavaria | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Johann Chasteler | François LefebvreKarl von WredeBernhard Deroy | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000[2]–8,000[1] 17 guns[2] | 9,000[1]–9,450[2] 18 guns[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 600[3]–3,000[2] 9 guns[2]–11 guns[3] | 191[2] | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Wörgl orWörgel was fought on 13 May 1809, when aBavarian force under FrenchMarshalFrançois Joseph Lefebvre attacked anAustrian Empire detachment commanded byJohann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles. The Bavarians severely defeated Chasteler's soldiers in series of actions in the Austrian towns ofWörgl,Söll, andRattenberg. Wörgl is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the modern-dayGerman border on the upperInn River.
Civilian militia of theCounty of Tyrol rose in revolt under commander-in-chiefAndreas Hofer supported by a strategic council at the start of theWar of the Fifth Coalition. The hardy mountaineers rapidly banded together in irregular units and killed, captured, or routed the area's Bavarian and French garrisons. The patriot volunteering troopers were soon joined byFeldmarschall-Leutnant Chasteler's regular division sent from the Austrian Army of Inner Austria.
In mid-May, Lefebvre advanced on the Tyrol from the north and northeast with the Bavarian VII Corps. After the Bavarians mauled Chasteler's regulars at Wörgl, the Austrian general abandoned Tyrol and attempted to join with the retreating army inHungary. The victory allowed the Bavarians to temporarily reoccupyInnsbruck, though not without additional fighting. TheTyrolean Civil Revolt, however, was far from over. Even after the regular Austrian armies met defeat at theBattle of Wagram in early July, the revolt resisted all efforts to stamp it out. The back of the rebellion was finally broken in November and only fizzed out in February 1810.
Brought under Bavarian rule after Austria's military defeat in theWar of the Third Coalition, theCounty of Tyrol's inhabitants seethed against their new overlords. The Bavarian king did impose new rulings on the province, with which he crushed ages old Tyrolean social, military and religious feudal liberties.[4] The Bavarian king also did impose conscription and did order a compulsaryvaccination programme againstsmallpox.[5][6] These tensions were fully exploited by Austria's agents, who circulated the territory in advance of theWar of the Fifth Coalition. When Austria's armies invaded Bavaria and theKingdom of Italy in April 1809, the Tyrol erupted in revolt against its occupiers. The Tyrolese militia, supported byirregulars quickly captured or routed most of the Bavarian and French garrisons. Not only did the revolt cut off French-Allied communications between Italy and Bavaria, but it connected the Austrian armies operating in the two theaters.[7]
Desiring to sustain the rebellion,GeneralissimoArchduke Charles, Duke of Teschen ordered his brotherArchduke John of Austria to detach a regular division to support the revolt. Accordingly, John sent Chasteler from the Army of Inner Austria.[8] Before he arrived, the Tyroleans scored a tremendous early success atInnsbruck. For two days, the Tyrolean leaderMajor Martin Teimer harassed the local Bavarian garrisons with a large force of irregulars.[9] On 13 May, BavarianLieutenant General Baron Kinkel surrendered four battalions, two squadrons, and five cannons,[10] a total of 3,860 troops. Teimer's men also trapped a column of 2,050 French conscripts.[4] After an ineffectual defense by hard-drinkingGeneral of DivisionBaptiste Pierre Bisson, the entire column surrendered along with the eagle of the 3rd Line Infantry Regiment.[11]
The main Austrian armies were forced to retreat after EmperorNapoleon I of France defeated Feldmarschall-LeutnantJohann von Hiller at theBattle of Landshut on 21 April[12] and Archduke Charles at theBattle of Eckmühl on 22 April.[13] On 27 April Napoleon ordered Lefebvre's VII Corps to seizeSalzburg.[14] This was accomplished two days later, as Feldmarschall-LeutnantFranz Jellacic's Austrian division withdrew to the south.[15]
On 1 May,General-Major Stengel's brigade of Lieutenant GeneralCrown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria's division attacked theLueg Pass nearGolling an der Salzach. The 1,850 Bavarians were repelled byCaptain Sessich's 420 men of theWarasdin-KreutzerGrenz infantry Regiment. Stengel lost 200 casualties while the defenders only lost 30.[16] Stengel probed the Leug Pass again on 4 and 5 May, while General-Major Raglovich (with Rechberg's brigade) moved againstAbtenau, farther east. Again, the Austrians held their ground under the overall command of Jellacic, suffering 35 killed and wounded, and 70 captured. Bavarian losses were not reported.[17] At about this time, General-Major Vincenti's brigade of Lieutenant GeneralBernhard Erasmus von Deroy's division suffered a minor defeat at the hands of the Tyrolean rebels. Lefebvre proposed to Napoleon that he send two battalions of reinforcements to aid Vincenti. The emperor criticized this idea and instead directed the marshal to march to the relief ofKufstein Fortress with the better part of his corps. Accordingly, Lefebvre advanced on Kufstein with Deroy and Lieutenant GeneralKarl Philipp von Wrede's divisions, leaving the Crown Prince's division to hold Salzburg.[18]
On 11 May, Deroy relieved Kufstein[3] and its 576-man Bavarian garrison. Major D'Aicher had resisted 3,000 Tyrolean and Austrian besiegers for exactly a month.[19] The same day, Wrede advanced southeast from Salzburg to attack 600 Tyroleans atLofer. The Bavarians lost 22 dead and 44 wounded, while inflicting about 70 casualties on their opponents.[20] Wrede pressed on with 7,500 soldiers toWaidring where he battled General-Major Franz Fenner on 12 May. Fenner's 9th Jäger battalion, three squadrons of light horse, six guns, and 1,000 irregulars were driven off with about 100 casualties. The Bavarians lost 40 dead and wounded.[21]
TheTyrol 1809 Order of Battle lists the regular units of both armies and their organization.
Wörgl is located about 15 kilometres (9 mi) to the southwest of Kufstein, whileSöll is about 10 kilometres (6 mi) east of Wörgl. Advancing throughSankt Johann in Tirol, Wrede approached the village of Söll from the east. Meanwhile, Deroy's division was in the Inn valley in the direction of Kufstein.[a]
Chasteler attempted to stop the Bavarians with 5,000 mostly regular troops organized in 11 and one-half battalions, three and one-half squadrons, and 17 guns. This force included a tiny reinforcement from Jellacic's division, four companies of thede Vaux Infantry Regiment Nr. 45 and a half squadron of theO'Reilly Chevau-léger Regiment Nr. 3.[2] The Austrians suffered a severe defeat[22] and retreated southwest up the Inn valley. During the withdrawal, there was more fighting atRattenberg.[2]
HistorianDigby Smith reported that 3,000 Austrians were killed, wounded, and captured. The Bavarians seized nine guns, 27 ammunition wagons, and three colors and "effectively destroyed" Chasteler's command. Smith listed 8,000 infantry, 1,450 cavalry, and 18 guns as engaged in the fighting under Wrede's command. Smith did not list Deroy's troops, though they were nearby.[2]Francis Loraine Petre noted that 600 Austrians and 11 guns were captured, but did not mention killed and wounded.[3]
On 14 and 15 May, Wrede clashed with 3,000 TyroleanLandwehr and irregulars underJosef Speckbacher atStrass im Zillertal andSchwaz. The Bavarians reported 33 dead and 158 wounded while their adversaries lost 90 dead and wounded, plus 185 captured.[2] Lefebvre occupied Innsbruck by 20 May and optimistically reported that the uprising would soon be suppressed.[23] Deroy's division held its own during the first and secondBattles of Bergisel on 25 and 29 May.[24] However, the revolt was only temporarily repressed.[22]
Following orders from Archduke John, Chasteler withdrew the remnant of his division from the Tyrol, moving down theDrava River valley. With 4,000 to 5,000 troops, he attacked General of DivisionJean-Baptiste Dominique Rusca's Italian division atKlagenfurt on 9 June. Chasteler was repulsed but slipped away toMaribor (Marburg an der Drau) and safety. For a short time, his march severed communications betweenEugène de Beauharnais' army and northeast Italy.[25] Chasteler briefly joined Feldmarschall-LeutnantIgnaz Gyulai's corps, but soon separated in an attempt to reach Archduke John's army.[26] He ended the war trying without success to interfere with the siege ofGyőr (Raab) in Hungary.[27]
After Napoleon's defeat at theBattle of Aspern-Essling and his subsequent concentration of troops for a decisive battle, the Tyrolean revolt flared again and the rebels scored many successes in June and July.[28] Lefebvre reoccupied Innsbruck, but the Tyroleans beat the Bavarians in the third Battle of Bergisel on 13 August, chasing them out of the mountains again.[29]Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon replaced Lefebvre and won a clear cut victory over the rebels in the fourth Battle of Bergisel on 1 November.[30]
Media related toBattle of Wörgl at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Second Battle of Porto | Napoleonic Wars Battle of Wörgl | Succeeded by Battle of Tarvis (1809) |
