Charles was outmanoeuvred and outnumbered.  His brother, the Archduke John, was at Pressburg with 20,000 men, watched hitherto by Davoust.  But the French Marshal cleverly withdrew his corps, leaving only enough men to impose on that unenterprising leader.  Other Austrian detachments were also far away at the critical time, and thus Napoleon had a superiority of force of about 50,000 men.  Nevertheless, the defence at Wagram was most obstinate (July 6th).  Holding his own on the hills behind the Russbach, the Archduke swung forward his right in such strength as to drive back Massena on Aspern; but his weakened centre was now pushed back and endangered by the persistent vigour of Macdonald’s onset.  This success at the centre gave time for Davoust to wrest Neusiedel from the white-coats, a movement which would have been stopped or crushed, had the Archduke John obeyed his brother’s orders and marched from the side of Pressburg on Napoleon’s unguarded right flank.  Finally, after an obstinate stand, the Austrians fell back in good order, effectively covering their retreat by a murderous artillery fire.  A total loss of some 50,000 men, apportioned nearly equally on either side, was the chief result of this terrible day.  It was not remarkable for brilliant tactics; and, as at Aspern, the Austrians fully equalled their foes in courage.

[Illustration:  WAGRAM]

Such was the battle of Wagram, one of the greatest of all time, if the number of combatants be counted, but one of the least decisive in its strictly military results.  If we may compare Austerlitz with Blenheim, Wagram may with equal fitness be matched with the vast slaughter of Malplaquet exactly a century before.  The French now felt the hardening of the national defence of Austria and the falling off in their own fighting powers.  Marmont tells how, at the close of the day, the approach of the Archduke John’s scouts struck panic into the conquerors, so that for a time the plain on the east was covered with runaway conscripts and disconcerted plunderers.  The incident proved the deterioration of the Grand Army from the times of Ulm and Jena.  Raw conscripts raised before their time and hurriedly drafted into the line had impaired its steadiness, and men noted as another ominous fact that few unwounded prisoners were taken from the Austrians, and only nine guns and one colour.  In fact, the only reputation enhanced was that of Macdonald, who for his great services at the centre enjoyed the unique honour of receiving a Marshal’s baton from Napoleon on the field of battle.

Had the Archduke Charles been made of the same stuff as Wellington, the campaign might still have been retrieved.  But softness and irresolution were the characteristics of Austria’s generals no less than of her rulers.[213] The Hapsburg armies were still led with the old leisurely insouciance; and their counsels swayed to and fro under the wavering impulses of a seemingly decrepit dynasty.  Francis