Battle of Günzburg
1805 battle during the War of the Third Coalition / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Battle of Günzburg on 9 October 1805 saw General of Division Jean-Pierre Firmin Malher's French division attempt to seize a crossing over the Danube River at Günzburg in the face of a Habsburg Austrian army led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Mack von Lieberich. Malher's division managed to capture a bridge and hold it against Austrian counterattacks. The battle occurred during the War of the Third Coalition, part of the larger Napoleonic Wars.
Battle of Günzburg | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Third Coalition | |||||||
Death of Colonel Gérard Lacuée at the battle of Günzburg, on 9 October 1805. Oil painting by Georges Moreau de Tours. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France | Austrian Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jean Malher | Karl Mack | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
VI Corps | Austrian Army | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
8,000, 6 guns | Over 7,000, 26 guns | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
700 | 2,000, 6 guns |
After Mack's Austrian army invaded Bavaria, it found itself the target of a powerful offensive by the army of Emperor Napoleon I of France. When Napoleon's corps threatened to envelop Mack's army, the Austrian general unwisely held his ground near the city of Ulm. As the French armies blocked the Austrian retreat routes to the east, Mack attempted to move his army to the south bank of the Danube. After receiving orders to seize the Danube bridges, Marshal Michel Ney sent Malher to capture the crossing at Günzburg. Malher's main attack on two bridges failed in the face of a vigorous Austrian defense. However, a late-arriving French unit captured the eastern bridge that had just been rebuilt by the Austrians and was able to hold on to it until evening. Discouraged by the encounter, Mack ordered his soldiers to march back to Ulm which is 22 kilometers west-southwest of Günzburg.