Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/149

] 2000 men perished. The allies lost about 30,000 men, killed, wounded, or made prisoners, while the French lost about 12,000 in killed and wounded. This was the most glorious of all Napoleon s victories ; but he was still in a very dangerous position. The Archduke Charles, with an army of 80,000 men, was now approaching Vienna ; Hun gary was rising en masse against him ; Russian reserves were advancing ; and Prussia was at length preparing to declare war, on account of the unauthorised passage of French troops through her territories. From these difficul ties, however, he was freed by the desire of the Emperor Francis for peace. An armistice was agreed to, and finally a treat} of peace was drawn up and signed at Presburg (25th December 1805). By this treaty Austria ceded to Bavaria, now erected into a kingdom, the whole of the Tyrol, Vorarl- berg, Lindau, Burgau, Passau, Eichstadt, Trent, and Brixen, besides several petty lordships ; to Wiirtemberg, now also become a kingdom, the bordering Austrian dominions in Swabia ; and to Baden the Breisgau, the Ortenau, and the town of Constance. She also yielded up her Venetian possessions, and agreed to pay a war contribution of 1,600,000. In exchange for all these sacrifices she merely received the small electorate of Salzburg, and the possessions of the Teutonic Order. In all, Austria lost about 28,000 square miles of territory, with a population of 2,700,000, and a revenue of 14,175,000 florins. It was evidently not the intention of Napoleon to overthrow the Austrian monarchy, but rather to throw its strength to the eastward, and to impose a barrier of subordinate kingdoms between it and France, so as to prevent its interference with his schemes of aggrandisement in Germany and Italy. A blow was inflicted upon the constitution of the Ger man empire by Napoleon, in the formation of the Con federation of the Rhine. Representatives of the different powers concerned assembled at Paris in the beginning of July 180G; and, on the 12th of that month, an Act was signed whereby the kings of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg, the elector of Baden, and thirteen other princes of Western Germany, separated themselves from the German empire, and formed a confederation under the protection of the emperor of the French. 16,000,000 men were thus, by a single stroke, transferred from the empire to a foreign alli ance. Wisely yielding to what he could not prevent, the Emperor Francis, by solemn deed, renounced the title of emperor of the Romans, and declared himself the first of the emperors of Austria. The peace of Presburg was quickly followed by the war between France and Prussia, in which the latter suffered terrible retribution for her selfish policy in leaving Austria to struggle unaided against the common foe of Europe. Great efforts were made to induce Austria to take part in this war, but she prudently remained neutral, contenting herself with making every effort to strengthen and improve her army, and increase her warlike resources. During the whole of 1806 and 1807 the efforts of the war department, under the guidance of the Archduke Charles, were inces sant to restore the losses that had been sustained in the late war. The army was also remodelled upon the system adopted by Napoleon. The transfer of a large portion of the French army in Germany to the Peninsula on the breaking out of war there, emboldened the Austrian Gov ernment to issue a decree (9th June, 1808), instituting a land vehr or militia to be raised by conscription, which soon amounted to 300,000 men, in addition to a regular standing army of 350,000. On hearing of this, Napoleon addressed strong remonstrances to the court at Vienna, which made loud professions of pacific intentions, but did not cease its warlike preparations. In the spring of 1809 the armies on both sides took the field, and, on 8th April, Austrian troops crossed the frontiers at once in Bohemia, on the Inn, in the Tyrol, and in Italy. In the mean time France was bringing together her forces from all quarters towards the valley of the Danube, where at length she had an army, including the troops of the German Confederation, of about 200,000 men, and Berthier was despatched to take the command till the arrival of the emperor. The Archduke Charles had crossed the Inn with upwards of 120,000 men, and on the 16th they had advanced as far as the Isar, which they crossed. Berthier, instead of concentrating his troops, was separating them, so that they were in the utmost danger, when the arrival of Napoleon at once changed the aspect of affairs. On the 19th an action took place at Thann, between a body of about 20,000 French and a like number of Austrians, with out any decisive result ; and the following day the main body of the Austrians, over 50,000 strong, was suddenly attacked and defeated after a feeble resistance at Abens- berg, by a French army of 65,000 men. The same day the Austrians attacked and took Ratisbon, and secured the bridge over the Danube there. Both sides now prepared for a general engagement, which took place at Eckmiihl on the 22d of April. The battle was bravely contested ; but at length the French were victorious, the loss to the Austrians being 5000 killed and wounded, and 7000- prisoners. The archduke retired during the night to-^ recruit his army in Bohemia, and Ratisbon was taken by storm. In other parts, particularly in Italy, success was attending the Austrian arms. Napoleon now lost no time in again marching on to Vienna, and no great attempt was made to impede his progress except at Ebersberg, where Hiller with about 30,000 Austrians took his stand to defend the wooden bridge over the Traun. He was gallantly attacked by a body of French troops under Massena, and a fearful struggle took place ; but at length the French prevailed, and Hiller with drew his troops. Each side lost about 6000 men on this occasion. On the 10th of May the French eagles appeared before the walls of Vienna, and, after an ineffectual attempt at defence, the city surrendered on the 13th. The Arch duke Charles was hastening to the relief of the town, but arrived too late. The two armies therefore prepared for battle, the one on the north bank of the Danube, the other on the south. On the night of the 19th the French pre pared to cross the river at the island of Lobau, and by daybreak on the 21st they had 40,000 men landed on the northern side. The Austrians now resolved upon an attack, and by two o clock, when the fight began, the French force- amounted to about 50,000 men, while the Austrians had 80,000 to oppose them. The scene of action was near the villages of Aspern and Essling, and the struggle was maintained with the most desperate courage on both sides till night parted the combatants. The Austrians had everywhere the advantage, but both sides prepared to renew the contest the next day. During the night, and early in the morning, French troops were still passing over, so that, notwithstanding his losses, Napoleon had fully 70,000 men to renew the fight. It commenced early in the morning, and continued the greater part of the day ; but at length the French were beaten on all sides, and compelled to retreat to the island of Lobau. In these two days they lost upwards of 30,000 men, and the Austrians not less than 20,000. The victory produced a great impression on the mind of Europe, and dissipated in a great degree the charm of Napoleon s invincibility. He, however, made every preparation for renewing the contest. He summoned troops from different parts, and for tified his position on the island of Lobau, connecting it also by several bridges with the south bank of the river. On the evening of the 4th of July he assembled his troops on the island, amounting to 150 000 infantry and 30,000}}