| Battle of Feistritz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the War of the Sixth Coalition | |||||||
 View from Schloss Hollenburg toward the south bank of the Drava at Kirschentheuer. The Austrian grenadiers crossed a bridge at this location to reinforce Vécsey. Feistritz is located 7 kilometers to the right (west) | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Empire Kingdom of Italy |
 Austrian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Paul Grenier |
August von Vécsey | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
15,186 28 guns |
3,300 8 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 360 killed, wounded or captured | 913 killed, wounded or captured | ||||||
The Battle of Feistritz (6 September 1813) saw an Imperial French corps led by Paul Grenier attack an Austrian brigade under August von Vécsey. After putting up a stout resistance, the outnumbered Austrians were defeated and forced to retreat. The clash occurred during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Feistritz im Rosental is located on the right bank of the Drava River near the southern border of Austria, about 16 kilometres (10 mi) southwest of Klagenfurt. At the time, it was located at the border with the French-controlled Illyrian Provinces to its west and south.
When hostilities commenced between the Austrian Empire and Imperial France, Johann von Hiller led an Austrian army to attack the Illyrian Provinces. The Austrians made rapid gains in the south, but in Carinthia, Hiller's first bridgehead across the Drava River at Villach was eliminated by the Franco-Italian army of Eugène de Beauharnais, the viceroy of the Kingdom of Italy. When the Austrian general established a second bridgehead at Feistritz, Eugène sent Grenier to wipe it out. The minor victory only delayed the inevitable, and within a few weeks Eugène was compelled to abandon Illyria and fall back to the borders of the Kingdom of Italy.