Combat of Korneuburg

The Combat of Korneuburg was a relatively minor rearguard action fought by Austrian VI Korps of the Kaiserlich-königliche Hauptarmee Hauptarmee under Johann von Klenau against elements of the French IV Corps of the Grande Armée d'Allemagne, under the command of Claude Legrand. The brief combat ended in favour of the French.^[1]

Context and battle

Following the French victory at the battle of Wagram the day before, the commander of the Kaiserlich-königliche Hauptarmee Hauptarmee, the main Austrian army, Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen, organised an orderly retreat towards Bohemia. Archduke Charles detailed Klenau, with 18,000 men and 64 cannons to delay the French pursuit, which was spearheaded in this sector by the French IV Corps of Marshal André Masséna. Masséna had formed a vanguard under the overall command of General Legrand, whose command (13,000 men and 24 cannons) included Legrand's own 1st division of IV Corps, the Corps cavalry under General Jacob François Marulaz and the cuirassiers from the 2nd heavy cavalry division of General Raymond-Gaspard de Bonardi de Saint-Sulpice. These forces made contact with the Austrian Corps on 7 July near Korneuburg, around 19 kilometers north of Vienna. After a brief engagement, the French broke through and Klenau promptly retreated. The French had around 350 men killed or wounded, while the total Austrian losses are unknown, but included 300 prisoners of war.^[1]

Bibliography

• Pigeard, Alain - Dictionnaire des batailles de Napoléon, Tallandier, Bibliothèque Napoléonienne, 2004, ISBN 2-84734-073-4

References