ACHIEVEMENTS OF FIELD ARTILLERY. 
523 
stroke he had been meditating all day was now to fall. This great 
battery first shattered the enemy with a heavy fire, then Bessieres 
charged to the front with six regiments of Currassiers, and, supported 
by the cavalry, the huge column, celebrated in military history for its 
immense size, led by MacDonald, was driven through the Austrian 
centre, and Davout having rolled up his left, the Archduke was com¬ 
pelled to order a general retreat. Although beaten, the Austrians 
however were by no means demoralised, and but very few trophies 
fell into the hands of the conquerors. Indeed, on the Archduke's 
statue in Vienna, “Wagram" is emblazoned as a victory beside 
“ Aspern.'' That the Emperor did not energetically follow up his 
success has been variously explained. Some say he was ill, and not, 
therefore, as energetic as usual. He himself blamed his cavalry. 
Bessieres was wounded, and Lasalle, the brilliant cavalry soldier, was 
dead, and therefore, perhaps, the arm was not handled as it otherwise 
might have been. 
But one excellent reason for the Austrians' escape from graver dis¬ 
aster than they experienced is to be found in the action of the splendid 
body of their artillery which always remained intact, and which covered 
their retreat with a stubborn courage that cannot be too highly praised. 
Indeed, Wagram is exceptionally rich in examples of what artillery 
can achieve. We have the great opening cannonade on the second day ; 
the ready manner in which it assisted in parrying the first Austrian blow 
on the French right, and then the concentration of the great battery to 
close the breach at the French centre. The victorious Austrian right 
is next brought to a stand-still by the guns in the Lobau, and, finally, 
the great mass of artillery, against which the Austrian advance in the 
centre has been shattered, is used by the Emperor when the moment is 
ripe to open the way for the decisive stroke, long in contemplation, 
which is to decide the battle. And if the value of artillery in the 
attack is thus well exemplified, its even nobler role in stemming the 
torrent of pursuit is illustrated also in the generous self-sacrifice dis¬ 
played by the Austrian gunners when their army was compelled to 
retire. 
That the result of this battle was not more decisive has been 
variously accounted for. The cavalry, as we have said, were blamed 
by Napoleon himself, and Taubert thinks that the artillery blow at the 
close of the battle was less effective than that of Friedland because 
the mass of guns was unweildy, the mobility of the foot artillery, in¬ 
adequate, and the advance of the guns premature. To us it seems, 
however, that the effective fire of the Austrian guns had a predominat¬ 
ing effect in staving off complete disaster. Fifteen French guns were 
dismounted by them as they moved into position for the final effort, and 
their conduct during the retreat has already been alluded to. The truth 
appears also to be that the quality of the French infantry had fallen off. 
As the continual warfare depleted the sources from which it was drawn, 
younger and pl^sically inferior conscripts had to be accepted, and 
there was less time to train them than formerly. Therefore, dense 
unweildy masses, such as MacDonald's column, were, in the latter years 
of the empire, substituted for the lighter formations of Austerlitz and 
