Page "Battle of Wagram" Paragraph 120

While MacDonald's attack was drawing the attention of the Austrians, the French launched their general attack.

Napoleon committed Marmont's fresh XI Corps, sending these men to take position opposite to Austrian I Korps and fill the gap between the " Army of Italy " and II Corps.

Moreover, towards 13: 00, the French from Oudinot's II Corps had begun to advance frontally against the Austrian troops on the Wagram plateau.

The mercurial Oudinot, who had been waiting for his orders to attack all morning, decided to wait no longer, despite the fact that he had not yet received his order.

Opposite to Oudinot was Austrian II Korps.

Having spent the entire morning doing nothing else than exchanging artillery fire with French II Corps, these men were relatively fresh.

They were also in a very dangerous position.

The commander of II Korps, the experienced Feldmarschalleutnant Hohenzollern, could see that his force was in danger of being attacked from the flank by Davout's seemingly unstoppable corps.

Now Oudinot was advancing against him.

At first, Hohenzollern tried to hold on his initial positions and his men greeted Oudinot's advancing columns with intense musketry.

However, the Austrian commander realised the fragility of his position, seeing that, on his left, all the Austrian troops were in full retreat and he ran the risk of having Oudinot pin his men down, while Davout was free to advance in his flank and rear.

Hohenzollern thus had little choice but to order his men to fall back and form a new line further north, sending 5 battalions and several batteries from his second line to form a new flank and slow down Davout's two advancing divisions, which were drawing dangerously close to the strategic village of Baumersdorf.