was
already master of the Enns valley, and Bernadotte was sent to assist
Vandamme at Linz. The Emperor had already divined the plan, and
thwarted it by the rapidity with which his orders were transmitted and
distant divisions summoned. The communications were threatened, but
not broken, and Napoleon gave his whole attention to the problem of
crossing a great river in the face of an enemy. He had done it before,
but never under circumstances so peculiar as these which confronted
him in the size of the Danube and the strength of his foe.

The mighty stream follows for the most part a single channel until it
enters the plains which face Vienna on the north, where, at intervals,
it divides into several arms, inclosing numerous islands. These
branches are nearly all substantial streams; many of them are
navigable. It was determined to choose two such points, one above and
the other below the town, to build bridges at both, and to select
whichever one should prove more feasible when the task was done. The
enterprise above the town failed entirely through the vigilance of the
Austrians. Massena had better success at the other end, and succeeded
in gathering sufficient material without great difficulty; his bridges
between the two shores by the island of Lobau were ready on May
twentieth. In this interval Charles advanced, and occupied a line
farther forward in the great plain, stretching from hamlet to
hamlet--from Korneuburg, Enzersfeld, and Gross-Ebersdorf to
Strebersdorf. Eugene and Macdonald had reached Villach, whence they
could march direct to Vienna; the Archduke John was at Voelkermarkt, on
his way down the Drave toward Hungary. Two days before, eight hundred
French soldiers had crossed into the island of Lobau to drive out the
Austrian scouts; on the nineteenth Napoleon arrived, and the necessary
fortifications were constructed; on the twentieth the passage began,
and Massena, with Lannes's light cavalry, was sent out to reconnoiter.

CHAPTER XVI

ASPERN, ESSLING, AND WAGRAM[31]

[Footnote 31: See Marbot: Memoirs. Smekal: Die Schlacht bei
Aspern und Essling. Strobl: Aspern und Wagram. Cadet de
Gassicourt: Voyage en Autriche. Schmoelzer: Hofer und seine
Kampfgenossen.]

The Marchfeld -- Tactics of the Two Armies -- The Battle in
Aspern and Essling -- The Indecisive Result -- Napoleon's Retreat
-- Character of the Battle -- Discontent in the French Army --