Battle of Hollabrunn
Part of theWar of the Fifth Coalition
Battle of Hollabrunn bySiméon Fort, 1837
Date 9 July 1809 Location Hollabrunn, present-dayAustria, thenAustrian Empire 48°34′N16°6′E / 48.567°N 16.100°E /48.567; 16.100 Result Austrian victory
Belligerents
French Empire	Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
André Masséna	Johann von Klenau
Strength
11,000	17,000
Casualties and losses
Over 320[1]	1,200[2]

War of the Fifth Coalition

190km
118miles

22

21

20

19

18

Wagram

17

16

15

14

Aspern

12

11

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

   

  current battle

  Napoleon in command

  Napoleon not in command

TheBattle of Hollabrunn was arearguard action fought on 9 July 1809 byAustrian VI Korps of theKaiserlich-königliche Hauptarmee underJohann von Klenau against elements of the French IV Corps of theArmée d'Allemagne, under the command ofAndré Masséna.^[3]

The battle ended in favour of the Austrians, with Masséna forced to break off the combat and wait for his remaining divisions to reinforce him, but the French Marshal was able to gather crucial intelligence about the intentions of his enemy.^[4]

The French victory at theBattle of Wagram on 6 July forced the commander of theKaiserlich-königliche Hauptarmee, the main Austrian army,Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen, to retreat. In spite of the defeat, the retreat was orderly and very well handled. The French, commanded byNapoleon I, were initially unsure about the exact direction, with reports saying that the Austrians were retreating towardsBohemia, but it was still unclear whether they would retreat using the road toBrünn or the road toZnaim. Other reports from, sent by GeneralLouis-Pierre Montbrun were indicating that the Austrians were actually retreating towardsMoravia. Masséna sent scouts towardsKrems and the district ofHorn and was able to ascertain that the enemy was not retreating in that direction, but he was unable to conclude where they would retreat. It thus took the French a few days after the battle of Wagram, before they could gather enough intelligence to really understand where the Austrians were going. However, by 8 July, things began to clarify for Napoleon, mainly due to intelligence sent byAuguste de Marmont, commander of XI Corps and the significance of a series of combats fought by elements of Masséna's Corps against the VI Korps under Klenau. These combats, fought atKorneuburg andStockerau allowed Masséna to inform Napoleon that a large Austrian force was indeed retreating towards Bohemia.^[5][3][6]

Austrian commander Klenau, with an initial force of 18,000 men and 64 cannons had orders to delay the French pursuit. On 9 July, Klenau decided to make another stand, this time nearHollabrunn, around 55 kilometers northwest ofVienna. Following the initial skirmishes, Klenau's force was still 17,000 men strong and it now occupied a strong position. Opposite to him, Masséna only had under his immediate control GeneralClaude Legrand's 1st division of IV Corps, the Corps cavalry under GeneralJacob François Marulaz and thecuirassiers from the 2ndheavy cavalry division of GeneralRaymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice. Masséna promptly engaged Klenau, while at the same time conducting a fullreconnaissance of the battlefield, which enabled him to write to the Emperor and reconfirm that no Austrian regiments were heading towards Krems. Masséna's attacks were at first successful, but Klenau counterattacked and repulsed the French and then opposed staunch resistance to any further attacks. The outnumbered Masséna was forced to break off the combat and wait for his other three infantry divisions, knowing thatClaude Carra Saint-Cyr's division would be able to rejoin him shortly, but thatGabriel Jean Joseph Molitor's andJean Boudet's were much too far off to be of any assistance.^[4][6][3]

Battle losses are unknown and, although an Austrian victory, the battle of Hollabrunn did allow Masséna to write to Napoleon and report that he was on the right track following the Austrians, whose main body was retreating along the riverThaya nearLaa an der Thaya. Johann von Klenau would later be awarded theMilitary Order of Maria Theresa for his actions at the battle of Wagram and gallant rearguard actions after that battle. Meanwhile,Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen regrouped a large force atJetzelsdorf, on thePulkau river, but he later evacuated this position, after receiving intelligence that a French force was approaching Znaim from the east. The next major combat would be the one atZnaim, where the Austrians demanded an armistice.^[4][6][3]

• Gill, John H. (2020).The Battle of Znaim: Napoleon, The Habsburgs and the end of the War of 1809. Barnsley: Greenhill Books.ISBN 978-1784384500.
• Pigeard, Alain (2004).Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon (in French). Tallandier, Bibliothèque Napoléonienne.ISBN 2-84734-073-4.
• Rothenberg, Gunther E. (2005).The emperor's last victory : Napoleon and the Battle of Wagram. London: Cassell Military.ISBN 0304367117.LCCN 2006491419.

• Castle, Ian (1994).Chandler, David G (ed.).Aspern and Wagram 1809. Osprey Military, Campaign Series 33.ISBN 1-85532-366-4.

• Media related toBattle of Hollabrunn (1809) at Wikimedia Commons

• Battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition involving Austria
• Hollabrunn District
• History of Lower Austria
• 1809 in the Austrian Empire
• 1809 in the First French Empire
• July 1809

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2017
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles containing OSM location maps
• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Pages using the Kartographer extension