Editing Battle of Wagram (section)

=== MacDonald's column ===
{{cquote|Why in the world didn't you charge the enemy when the decisive moment came?|20|20|General [[Jacques MacDonald|MacDonald]] to General [[Frédéric Henri Walther|Walther]], commander of the [[Imperial Guard (Napoleon I)|Guard]] cavalry.<ref>Sokolov 455.</ref>}}
[[File:Decisive attack at Wagram.jpg|thumb|300px|MacDonald's square attack column]]
Davout's successful flanking manoeuvre did not escape unnoticed. Despite the considerable distance, towards 13:00, Napoleon could see through his spyglass that the smoke line in Davout's sector was by now well beyond the clearly visible tower at Markgrafneusiedl, a sign that his men had managed to roll back the enemy's flank. With his left now stabilised following Masséna's successful disengagement, the Emperor began issuing orders for a general attack. Masséna was to continue his march south and vigorously attack Klenau around Aspern, Oudinot was ordered to prepare his Corps for an assault against the plateau and dislodge Austrian II Korps, Eugène was to take VI Corps against the enemy forces at Deutsch-Wagram, while MacDonald's V Corps was to draw closer to Aderklaa. During the night, MacDonald had been rejoined by the second division of his Corps and although theoretically 23 battalions strong, this force had diminished complements and could barely muster 8,000 men.{{ref label|V Corps|Note 8|8}} With this force, MacDonald was preparing to execute Napoleon's previous orders to storm the plateau near the village of Wagram, much at the same location where he had attacked the previous day, when he received new orders. These provided that MacDonald's force should head west, towards Aderklaa, and deploy to occupy the ground held by the Grand Battery.{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|p=191}}<ref>Naulet 65.</ref>{{sfn|Castle|1990|p=82}}

[[File:Карта к статье «Ваграм» № 2. Военная энциклопедия Сытина (Санкт-Петербург, 1911-1915).jpg|thumb|400px|left|Operations on 6 July (in Russian)]]
Just before 13:00, MacDonald moved towards his assigned location, with eight battalions from Lamarque and Broussier's division deployed in line, forming the front line, with the other 15 battalions remaining in column, a formation which could more easily fend off the increasing menace poised by the numerous enemy cavalry. This unusual formation, some 800 metres long and 550 metres wide, was to be supported by the remains of the Grand Battery, which had orders to advance on its right and open intense fire against the Austrian line. [[Jean-Mathieu Seras|Seras]]'s division was also ordered in support of this attack and deployed some distance behind the column with one of the ''carabiniers-à-cheval'' regiments protecting its rear. The assigned objective of this prodigious mass of men was to bludgeon its way forward and take the village of Süssenbrunn, the seam between the Austrian Grenadier Reserve and III Korps. Once managed to take the position, they would drive a wedge between the two Austrian formations, pushing them apart. A powerful cavalry force was to protect either flank of MacDonald's formation, with [[Frédéric Henri Walther|Walther]]'s mighty Guard Cavalry Division protecting the right and [[Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty|Nansouty]]'s 1st Heavy Cavalry Division protecting the left. [[Louis Michel Antoine Sahuc|Sahuc]]'s diminished cavalry division from the "Army of Italy" was also involved in this action.{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|p=191}}<ref name="Nau66"/>

As MacDonald's lumbering column moved forward, Austrian artillery opened up against the accompanying French cannon, disabling 15 of them, before they even had time to unlimber and respond. The Austrian guns then focussed on MacDonald's slow-moving formation, whose deep ranks presented ideal targets. Seeing the French advance, Archduke Charles ordered his Corps commanders to refuse the flank of the Grenadier Reserve and III Korps. Liechtenstein ordered Steyer's brigade to deploy in an oblique position and release heavy musketry against the right flank of the advancing French column, while Kollowrat issued a similar order to the Lilienberg brigade, which fired musketry volleys against the left of MacDonald's men, while Austrian artillery was pounding the column's front line. However, by now the French had managed to dent the Austrian line and had only a few hundred metres to go before they could reach the strategic village of Süssenbrunn.<ref name=Nau66>Naulet 66.</ref>{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|pp=191–192}}{{sfn|Castle|1990|pp=82–83}} With his force reduced to little more than half strength{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|p=192}} and his battalions forced to form square in order to fend off three successive cavalry attacks from ''Feldmarshalleutnant'' [[Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg|Schwarzenberg]]'s cavalry, MacDonald could go no further. He called upon the numerous cavalry available to charge and clear the enemy guns and infantry, who, according to his own account, were by now in a state of complete disarray and ripe for destruction.<ref name=Nau66/> On his left, Nansouty, who had apparently not been consulted regarding the placement and role of his division in the attack,<ref>Thoumas 37.</ref> had kept his men too far back, in order to protect them from the sustained enemy fire. When Nansouty arrived with his cuirassiers, the Austrians were prepared to meet them and the guns had already limbered and moved away to safety. The French cuirassiers charged [[Josef Philipp Vukassovich|Vukassovich]] and [[Franz Saint-Julien-Walsee|Saint-Julien]]'s divisions, but these men were by now formed in the sturdy mass formations, which were virtually invulnerable to cavalry.{{sfn|Castle|1990|p=87}}
[[File:La bataille de Wagram.jpg|thumb|The Chasseurs à cheval of the Guard charging Austrian dragoons.]]
Further north, protecting the other flank of MacDonald's column lay the fresh Guard Cavalry Division, which also received MacDonald's invitation to charge, but remained motionless, with its commander, ''Général de Division'' Walther, invoking a lack of orders from his direct commanders, either Napoleon or ''Maréchal'' Bessières. The Emperor was too far away from the action and Bessières had been wounded during his earlier cavalry charge and had been carried away from the battlefield, so the Horse Guards did not move. Towards 14:00, MacDonald's attack had ground to a halt and the opportunity to completely break the Austrian line in this sector came to nothing. Napoleon noted with disgust that it was the first time that the cavalry let him down, but, given the state of exhaustion and the losses sustained by the French forces, MacDonald would have probably been unable to follow up any breakthrough achieved by the cavalry anyway. Still, the resolutely led attack achieved Napoleon's main strategic goal, which was to pin down the Austrian forces in this sector, preventing Charles from reinforcing his battered left. Forced to concede that his attack had lost momentum, MacDonald did his best to shelter his remaining men from the enemy's intense cannonade. However, reinforcements were not far away: the Emperor sent in support Wrede's powerful Bavarian division, 5,500 men strong,{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|pp=193–194}} as well as the elite ''[[Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale|Chasseurs à Cheval]]'' and ''[[1er régiment de chevau-légers lanciers polonais de la Garde impériale|Chevau-légers]]'' regiments of the Imperial Guard, as well as the Saxon cavalry.<ref name=Nau67>Naulet 67.</ref> The Bavarian division quickly came up in support but exchanged fire with the enemy only briefly and it was solely the artillery that really came into action, as the Austrians were by now in full retreat. Behind the Bavarians came the Fusiliers of the "Young Guard", four battalion-strong, which were led by the Emperor's [[aide-de-camp]], General [[Honoré Charles Reille|Reille]], with strict orders to avoid "getting involved in any adventure".  With the support of the Guard, the Bavarians captured Süssenbrunn and they alone continued the pursuit beyond this village.{{sfn|Rothenberg|1995|pp=193–194}} The Guard ''Chasseurs à Cheval'' tried to halt the advance of the enemy but they were met by Liechtenstein's Austrian cavalry and, receiving no support from their fellow ''Chevau-légers'', they had to withdraw, coming away with only three enemy cannon.<ref name=Nau67/>