Lefebvre’s Bavarian Corps d’Armée arrives from the southwest as Masséna makes an aggressive push into the center of the battlefield. Opposing Masséna, Hiller marches his Austrian ArmeeKorps perpendicular to the French advance while Klenau feeds in from the southeast opposite Lefebvre. Masséna’s plan is to cross a small stream and skirt the wood dividing himself from his Bavarian allies, inserting his corps into a gap between Hiller and Klenau. Unfortunately for one of Napoléon’s top marshals the Austrians quickly extend their lines to cover the hole, presenting a united front to the Franco-Bavarian Army. Worse yet, the large wood has now divided Lefebvre from Masséna, isolating each of them from the other.
Masséna finds his corps tucked tightly into a small pocket defined by a series of streams to the west, north, and east, and the large wood to the south. As Hiller develops his Austrians opposite him, the marshal now has to decide if he is going to attempt to hold the eastern stream – forcing the Austrians to attack across and through it – or if he is going to withdraw southwestward around the wood. Lamenting that Napoléon recalled him from retirement (again) for this adventure he’d not wanted to undertake, Masséna decides to pull back to safety and begins a withdrawal westward.
With Lefebvre in a standoff against Klenau, Hiller is left unencumbered in dealing with Masséna. He exploits the French position by bringing all of his artillery forward rapidly. The French position is constrained enough that Masséna is not able to reciprocate with his own artillery. The slow, steady bombardment takes its toll. Hiller orders his cavalry to make a handful of tepid charges against Masséna’s left, pinning them temporarily and adding to its general wear and tear. The French light cavalry are caught out of position too far left, unable to support their infantry brethren. When the French begin their retrograde movement to the southwest, Hiller sees his chance and orders both infantry divisions to attack.
Masséna managed his retreat well considering the circumstances, but trying to withdraw two divisions on a narrow and contracting, across a stream while under sustained pressure by an enemy with superior artillery support is a difficult situation. While he was able extract himself, both his divisions were severely mauled, by the time they had exited the pocket one was involuntarily withdrawing and the other involuntarily retreating.
Meanwhile Lefebvre and Klenau have sparred, neither willing to commit against the other. The Austrian left is well consolidated on a narrow front with its cavalry covering its extreme left perhaps three quarters of a mile southward. Lefebvre, attempting to cover both his lines of communication to the southwest, and bridge the gap to Masséna. Observing the situation go bad for his peer to the north, Lefebvre stares across the open void at Klenau’s position and contemplates how long he will need to hold his position for Masséna to retreat behind him.
