The Santon

It’s a short walk from our accommodation at The Post House to The Santon.

As soon as we had lunch and a wash up we set out to walk to The Santon along the side of the busy road. The present road follows the old road through the middle of the French left flank. To our left Murat fought his cavalry battle. Along this very road the Marshal Lannes pursued the broken allied army at the end of the battle

This map shows the Post House on the right, and The Santon on the left. This was the situation at the start of the battle.

Although The Santon is neither high, nor difficult to climb, it dominates the flat countryside around it. It is an excellent viewpoint to survey the whole battlefield, and in particular the northern part .

The left section of the diorama shows the French advance towards the end of the battle. Our road runs left to right, with The Post Office on the left

The right section of the diorama shows The Santon as it was during the battle. The French had transformed an insignificant hill into a redoubt, dominated by a large number of captured Austrian guns on the flattened top.

Stara Posta (The Old Post House)

It is only 80 miles from Vienna to Austerlitz, but the journey took us nearly three hours. Jan did all of the driving on this holiday, and I did the map reading. Unlike our previous visit, we had another hot and sunny day for our journey. We had booked four nights at the historic Stara Posta, or Old Post Office. Despite a minor map reading error driving around Brunn, we eventually arrived safe, if slightly overheated We had visited Stara Posta during our previous visit. It was used by both the French and allied staff during the battle. It has since become the centre piece of the battlefield, with many participants of the annual reenactment sleeping in the large stables. Most visitors to the battlefield pay a visit and eat a meal. Some take advantage of the battlefield tours on offer on foot or by horse driven coach.

When we visited with Midas Tours a few years earlier the owner had given us a guided tour, so we were well aware of the historical part of the grounds. Then it had been raining hard, now it was sunny and pleasant to roam around on our own.

The historic buildings seem to have changed little. They were not damaged during the battle, and if updated or renovated the work has been well done to maintain the original look of the buildings. We had not seen the very modern chalet style visitor accommodation, which is behind the historic buildings. They can not be seen from the courtyard, but are just a short walk away. We expected very basic accommodation, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that each chalet is very large and well appointed. There is also a large underground car park, which is entered from the main road via a concealed entrance.

As our visit was in mid July, we were surprised to find that we were the only visitors. Not just when we arrived, but throughout our four night stay. The chalets overlooked a horse training circuit, and it was nice to sit in the evening with a glass of wine soaking up the atmosphere.During our previous visit the resident display team had put on a demonstration. There are only three of them, dressed as an officer, a soldier and a drummer of the Imperial Guard. We were to see the display many times during our stay; it appeared to be a regular for any visiting coach group.

Wagram

We had allowed a whole day to explore the main battlefield of Wagram. We would cycle to Markgrafneusiedlung, which was the left of the Austrian battle line. From here we would follow the ridge to Deutsch Wagram, the Austrian right flank. Both towns saw a lot of fighting, and we wanted to have plenty of time to explore them properly There is a road between the two towns, and this was the main Austrian defensive line.

Time permitting we would visit Aderklaa and Breitenlee on the way back to Aspern.

It proved a good plan, and we had allowed sufficient time. What I had not allowed for was how painful cycling could be if you do too much too soon. We did not have proper cycling clothing, and I had not ridden a bike for many years. I was relieved to find that I could handle the bike ok, or at least I did not fall off. However I was saddle sore within an hour and it got more and more painful as the day wore on. I am not sure how long the whole route way, but it must have been about 20 miles. I could hardly walk by the time we reached Deutsch Wagram, and we still had to cycle back to Aspern!

Davout’s horse is shot during III corps attack on Markgrafneusiedl. The tower dominates the area, as it does now. This whole area is very flat, and the tower can be seen from almost any part of the battlefield.

We had not problem finding either Markgrafneusiedl or the tower. It was not possible to climb the tower, and there were not the magnificent views I had hoped for. So after a short stop we set off for Deutsch Wagram. There is a small ridge to the north of the road, where the Austrian line stood, and this provided good views of the ground the French advanced over. Wagram itself was also disappointing, very modern and ordinary. There was a small museum, but not as interesting as either Aspern or Essling.

The whole area reminded me very much of Salisbury Plain.

The Marchfeld

The battle of Wagram was fought over a large area shown on the map above. It’s about 10 miles from Aspern to Wagram, and all of the villages shown on the map were involved in the fighting. The whole area is very flat, similar to Salisbury Plain in the UK. And in 1809 it served a similar purpose, it was a military training area. The modern roads tend to by pass the area, except for one which goes through the centre. But all of the villages are connected by a series of farm tracks. This would make it difficult to explore by car. It is too large to explore on foot. So we tackled it by bike.

The big advantage of cycling is that you can go where you want, and stop when you want. The big disadvantage is that it is all manual work. On the day we spent exploring the Marchfeld was warm and sunny, and being unused to cycling we were soon hot and saddle sore. But it was well worth it to be able to go just where we wanted.

I knew that just north of Raasdorf there is a small rise covered in trees, and it was from this spot that Napoleon observed the battle. We were delighted to find the very tree, which has a plaque confirming that it was his observation post.

All of the villages have changed a lot since 1809. We particularly wanted to visit Aderklaa, which was critical to both sides. We found it easily enough, but it did not bear any resemblance to the village shown above. The most interesting part was exploring the area between the villages, which can not have changed much, and reading accounts of the fighting in that part of the Marchfeld.

Aspern and Essling

We were fortunate to arrive at Aspern on a Saturday, because we discovered that the small museum beside the Aspern church was only open on the Sunday morning. We were the first visitors when it opened at 10am. There is only a small collection, but the building itself is all of the original church still remaining. The rest of the church was rebuilt after the battle.

Having crossed the river Danube, via Lobau Island, the French occupied Aspern. They were surprised by the strength and determination of the Austrian attack. The village changed hands a number of times during the battle, and the church was the scene of the most desperate fighting.

We had allowed an hour for the museum, which was plenty of time. After our visit we planned to visit Lobau Island again, this time on our bikes, and explore some more. As we left we thanked the lady at the desk, and asked if there was anything else in the area relating to the battle that we should visit. She told us that there was a new exhibition at Essling granary, but it was only open Sunday morning.

Essling is about two miles from Aspern, and it was already 11am. We did not know the exact location of the granary, but I had this photo with me. We cycled as fast as we could along the modern road to Essling. We could see no sign of the granary, but found it by showing the photo and asking for directions. It is on the outskirts of the village, and we might well have missed it had we not known what it looked like, and had good directions to get there. It was sad to find it in such a run down condition.

The Granary was to Essling what the church was to Aspern. It was held by the French throughout the battle, though it was attacked time and again by the Austrians.

We arrived just before noon, and the old chap at the door seemed none too pleased to have visitors arriving so late. We were the only ones there, and I suspect that he wanted to lock up and get home for his Sunday lunch. To be honest there was not much to see inside the building, except for this large diorama. The whole building looked very run down, though perhaps now there would be an attempt to renovate it. Unfortunately we could not communicate with the old boy, other than in broken German. And he was not at all interested in small talk. It was not possible to see any of the Granary, other than the room where the diorama was laid out. It was not even possible to walk around the outside. However the large door looked very similar to paintings I have seen, and was obviously very old and battered. So it might well have been the same.