Battle of Feistritz

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)
Date6 September 1813
Location46°31′N 14°10′E / 46.517°N 14.167°E / 46.517; 14.167
Result Franco-Italian victory
Belligerents
First French Empire French Empire
Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Kingdom of Italy
Austrian Empire Austrian Empire
Commanders and leaders
First French Empire Paul Grenier Austrian Empire 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.