Battle of Wörgl

View of Söll where some fighting occurred

Date	13 May 1809
Location	Wörgl, modern-day Austria 47°29′N 12°4′E / 47.483°N 12.067°E / 47.483; 12.067Coordinates: 47°29′N 12°4′E / 47.483°N 12.067°E / 47.483; 12.067
Result	Bavarian victory

Belligerents

Austrian Empire

First French Empire

Kingdom of Bavaria

Commanders and leaders

Strength

5,000, 17 guns

over 9,450, 18 guns

Casualties and losses

600, 11 guns to 3,000, 9 guns

191

In the Battle of Wörgl or Wörgel on 13 May 1809 a Bavarian force under French Marshal François Joseph Lefebvre attacked an Austrian Empire detachment commanded by Johann Gabriel Chasteler de Courcelles. The Bavarians severely defeated Chasteler's soldiers in series of actions in the Austrian towns of Wörgl, Söll, and Rattenberg. Wörgl is located 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the modern-day German border on the upper Inn River.

The County of Tyrol rose in revolt at the start of the War of the Fifth Coalition. The hardy mountaineers rapidly banded together in irregular units and killed, captured, or routed the area's Bavarian and French garrisons. The rebels were soon joined by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Chasteler's regular division sent from the Austrian Army of Inner Austria.

In mid-May, Lefebvre advanced on the Tyrol from the north and northeast with the Bavarian VII Corps. After the Bavarians mauled Chasteler's regulars at Wörgl, the Austrian general abandoned the Tyrol and attempted to join with the retreating army in Hungary. The victory allowed the Bavarians to temporarily reoccupy Innsbruck, though not without additional fighting. The Tyrolean Rebellion, however, was far from over. Even after the regular Austrian armies met defeat at the Battle of Wagram in early July, the revolt resisted all efforts to stamp it out. The back of the rebellion was finally broken in November and only fizzed out in February 1810.

Handed to Bavaria after Austria's humiliation in the War of the Third Coalition, the County of Tyrol's inhabitants seethed against their new overlords. Not only did the new rulers impose Bavarian law and conscription on the province, but they failed to respect Tyrolean social and religious liberties. These tensions were fully exploited by Austria's agents, who circulated the territory in advance of the War of the Fifth Coalition. When Austria's armies invaded Bavaria and the Kingdom of Italy in April 1809, the Tyrol erupted in revolt against its occupiers. The Tyrolese irregulars quickly captured or routed most of the Bavarian and French garrisons. Not only did the revolt cut off French-Allied communications between Italy and Bavaria, but it connected the Austrian armies operating in the two theaters.

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