The French under André Masséna attacked, crossing a heavily defended 550-meter-long bridge and subsequently conquering the local castle, thus forcing Hiller to withdraw.

Ebelsberg is now a southern suburb of Linz, situated on the south bank of the Traun, a short distance above the place where that stream flows into the Danube River.

Separated from the main Austrian army by the battles of Abensberg and Landshut, Feldmarschall-Leutnant Hiller retreated east to Linz by 2 May with the three left wing corps.

The leading elements of Marshal Masséna's corps overran Hiller's rear guard on the west bank of the Traun on the morning of 3 May.

On 10 April 1809, the Austrian army of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen invaded the Kingdom of Bavaria, an ally of Emperor Napoleon I of France.

[13] On 24 April Charles sent a message to Hiller ordering him to retreat to Linz, cross to the Danube's north bank, and join the main army.

[15] On 26 April, General of Division Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand of Masséna's IV Corps clashed with Hiller's rear guard, led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Josef von Dedovich, at Schärding[16] and seized the bridge over the Inn.

[19] There was a clash between General of Division Claude Carra Saint-Cyr's vanguard and General-Major Frederick Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza on 2 May at Räffelding, three kilometers southeast of Eferding.

[23] On 2 May, Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre's Bavarian VII Corps reported sparring with Jellacic at Golling an der Salzach south of Salzburg.

That morning, the Austrian wing commander deployed four of his eight brigades as rear guards under Bianchi, Schustekh, General-Major Josef Radetzky, and Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl von Vincent.

[26] As the Austrian wagon train filed across the bridge at Ebelsberg, Hiller's staff lost control of the situation, the drivers panicked, and the roadway became jammed with retreating vehicles and troops.

[30] Soon, General of Brigade Louis-Jacques Coëhorn's troops appeared and, at Masséna's personal command, attacked Klein München with the bayonet.

[35] The bridge had been prepared for burning by Captain Simbschen of Hiller's staff, but the officer was not on the scene to give the orders to set it on fire.

Generalmajor Ferdinand, Graf Bubna von Littitz became a prisoner, while at least 500 of Hoffmeister's men and large numbers of other soldiers surrendered.

[27] Yet, Ebelsberg was an excellent defensive position, with the dominating hill-top castle on the north side and two-tiered heights rising behind the town.

Coëhorn immediately led a column up the street to the left toward the castle, but the defenders mowed down the front ranks and killed the general's horse.

His other troops in the town found themselves under a deadly fire from windows and rooftops, while the numerous Austrian guns on the heights sent projectiles crashing through the streets.

As Masséna raged helplessly on the far bank, some Austrian pioneers set the end of the bridge on fire, but the strong wind blew out the flames.

[42] At this critical moment Colonel Jean Pierre Pouget's 26th Light Infantry Regiment appeared at the head of Legrand's division.

The castle, now garrisoned by men of the Jordis Infantry Regiment, suddenly erupted in flame and the blast of musketry cut down many French soldiers.

Sappers rushed forward and began swinging their axes at the gate while other men entered the castle through the cellar ventilators and fought their way inside.

[44] Led by General of Brigade François Roch Ledru des Essarts,[45] the fresh 18th Line Infantry Regiment entered Ebelsberg.

James R. Arnold pointed out that the French rarely gave accurate casualty figures, but numbered their losses in excess of 4,000, including 700 captured.

Unaware of what was happening at Ebelsberg, Napoleon ordered Bessières' cavalry followed by Oudinot's infantry to cross the new bridge and march for Steyr on the Enns.

[48] Napoleon was aware that the slaughter had been completely unnecessary, since Lannes' upstream crossing of the Traun would have forced Hiller to retire without a battle.

At a review of the 26th Light the following day, the commander of the Imperial Guard Chasseurs à Pied paid Colonel Pouget a highly public complement.

The French found a military chest containing 4.5 million florins and large quantities of food, ammunition, and 100 cannon that Maximilian failed to carry off or destroy.

[58] Petre called Hiller's generalship, "as feeble as it could possibly be" and that his troops were "miserably handled", noting that he should have crushed Claparède's division or ejected it from the town when the French were at a two-to-one disadvantage.

Epstein wrote that the French ignored the lesson[23] and carelessly went into the battle at Aspern-Essling against an opponent who was capable of handling large numbers of cannons to good effect.

[60] Napoleon indirectly criticized Masséna when he privately wrote to Lannes the next day, "As soon as I knew that they had had the stupidity to attack by force this famous position, and the only redoubtable one on the Traun which it was necessary to take, I feared some misfortune.