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  • Vienna, Austria
    1809
    Beethoven

    War Reached Vienna

    Vienna, Austria
    1809

    The imminence of war reaching Vienna itself was felt in early 1809. In April Beethoven had completed writing his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, which the musicologist Alfred Einstein has described as “the apotheosis of the military concept” in Beethoven’s music. Archduke Rudolf left the capital with the Imperial family in early May, prompting Beethoven’s piano sonata ‘’Les Adieux’’, (Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a), actually entitled by Beethoven in German “Das Lebewohl”(“ The Farewell”), of which the final movement, ’’Das Wiedersehen” (‘’The Return’’), is dated in the manuscript with the date of Rudolf’s homecoming of 30 January 1810.




  • Corunna, Galicia, Spain
    Monday Jan 16, 1809
    Napoleon

    Battle of Corunna

    Corunna, Galicia, Spain
    Monday Jan 16, 1809

    Napoleon then unleashed his soldiers against Moore and the British forces. The British were swiftly driven to the coast, and they withdrew from Spain entirely after a last stand at the Battle of Corunna in January 1809.




  • Austria
    Wednesday Feb 8, 1809
    Napoleon

    Imperial Government secretly decided on another confrontation against the French

    Austria
    Wednesday Feb 8, 1809

    After four years on the sidelines, Austria sought another war with France to avenge its recent defeats. Austria could not count on Russian support because the latter was at war with Britain, Sweden, and the Ottoman Empire in 1809. Although Archduke Charles warned that the Austrians were not ready for another showdown with Napoleon, a stance that landed him in the so-called "peace party", he did not want to see the army demobilized either. On 8 February 1809, the advocates for war finally succeeded when the Imperial Government secretly decided on another confrontation against the French.




  • Spain
    1809
    Napoleon

    Napoleon never returned to Spain after the 1808 campaign

    Spain
    1809

    Napoleon would end up leaving Iberia in order to deal with the Austrians in Central Europe, but the Peninsular War continued on long after his absence. He never returned to Spain after the 1808 campaign. Several months after Corunna, the British sent another army to the peninsula under the future Duke of Wellington. The war then settled into a complex and asymmetric strategic deadlock where all sides struggled to gain the upper hand. The highlight of the conflict became the brutal guerrilla warfare that engulfed much of the Spanish countryside. Both sides committed the worst atrocities of the Napoleonic Wars during this phase of the conflict.




  • Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.
    Monday Feb 13, 1809
    Abraham Lincoln

    Birth

    Hodgenville, Kentucky, U.S.
    Monday Feb 13, 1809

    Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a one-room log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky.




  • Paris, France
    1809
    Mona Lisa

    The first and most extensive recorded cleaning

    Paris, France
    1809

    The first and most extensive recorded cleaning, revarnishing, and touch-up of the Mona Lisa was an 1809 wash and revarnishing undertaken by Jean-Marie Hooghstoel, who was responsible for restoration of paintings for the galleries of the Musée Napoléon. The work involved cleaning with spirits, touch-up of colour, and revarnishing the painting.




  • Germany
    Monday Apr 10, 1809
    Napoleon

    Austrian army crossed the Inn River and invaded Bavaria

    Germany
    Monday Apr 10, 1809

    In the early morning of 10 April, leading elements of the Austrian army crossed the Inn River and invaded Bavaria.


  • Donauwörth, Germany
    Monday Apr 17, 1809
    Napoleon

    Napoleonarrived at Donauwörth

    Donauwörth, Germany
    Monday Apr 17, 1809

    Napoleon arrived at Donauwörth on 17 April to find the Grande Armée in a dangerous position, with its two wings separated by 120 km (75 mi) and joined together by a thin cordon of Bavarian troops. Charles pressed the left wing of the French army and hurled his men towards the III Corps of Marshal Davout. In response, Napoleon came up with a plan to cut off the Austrians in the celebrated Landshut Maneuver.


  • Eckmühl, Germany
    Friday Apr 21, 1809
    Napoleon

    Battle of Eckmühl

    Eckmühl, Germany
    Friday Apr 21, 1809

    Napoleon realigned the axis of his army and marched his soldiers towards the town of Eckmühl. The French scored a convincing win in the resulting Battle of Eckmühl, forcing Charles to withdraw his forces over the Danube and into Bohemia.


  • Vienna, Austria
    Saturday May 13, 1809
    Napoleon

    Vienna fell for the second time in four years

    Vienna, Austria
    Saturday May 13, 1809

    On 13 May, Vienna fell for the second time in four years, although the war continued since most of the Austrian army had survived the initial engagements in Southern Germany.


  • Austria
    Wednesday May 17, 1809
    Napoleon

    Charles kept the bulk of his troops several kilometres away from the river bank in hopes of concentrating them at the point where Napoleon decided to cross

    Austria
    Wednesday May 17, 1809

    By 17 May, the main Austrian army under Charles had arrived on the Marchfeld. Charles kept the bulk of his troops several kilometres away from the river bank in hopes of concentrating them at the point where Napoleon decided to cross.


  • Lobau, Vienna, Austria
    Sunday May 21, 1809
    Napoleon

    Battle of Aspern-Essling

    Lobau, Vienna, Austria
    Sunday May 21, 1809

    On 21 May, the French made their first major effort to cross the Danube, precipitating the Battle of Aspern-Essling. The Austrians enjoyed a comfortable numerical superiority over the French throughout the battle. On the first day, Charles disposed of 110,000 soldiers against only 31,000 commanded by Napoleon. By the second day, reinforcements had boosted French numbers up to 70,000. It was the first defeat Napoleon suffered in a major set-piece battle, and it caused excitement throughout many parts of Europe because it proved that he could be beaten on the battlefield.


  • France
    1809
    Napoleon

    Description de l'Égypte

    France
    1809

    The Egyptian expedition published the Description de l'Égypte in 1809.


  • Austria
    Friday Jun 30, 1809
    Napoleon

    French recrossed the Danube

    Austria
    Friday Jun 30, 1809

    From 30 June to the early days of July, the French recrossed the Danube in strength, with more than 180,000 troops marching across the Marchfeld towards the Austrians. Charles received the French with 150,000 of his own men.


  • Wagram, Austria
    Wednesday Jul 5, 1809
    Napoleon

    Battle of Wagram

    Wagram, Austria
    Wednesday Jul 5, 1809

    In the ensuing Battle of Wagram, which also lasted two days, Napoleon commanded his forces in what was the largest battle of his career up until then. Napoleon finished off the battle with a concentrated central thrust that punctured a hole in the Austrian army and forced Charles to retreat.


  • Znojmo, Czech Republic
    Wednesday Jul 12, 1809
    Napoleon

    Armistice of Znaim

    Znojmo, Czech Republic
    Wednesday Jul 12, 1809

    The French were too exhausted to pursue the Austrians immediately, but Napoleon eventually caught up with Charles at Znaim and the latter signed an armistice on 12 July.


  • Walcheren, Netherlands
    Sunday Jul 30, 1809
    Napoleon

    British army only landed at Walcheren

    Walcheren, Netherlands
    Sunday Jul 30, 1809

    In the Kingdom of Holland, the British launched the Walcheren Campaign to open up a second front in the war and to relieve the pressure on the Austrians. The British army only landed at Walcheren on 30 July, by which point the Austrians had already been defeated.


  • Vienna, Austria
    1809
    Beethoven

    Egmont

    Vienna, Austria
    1809

    At the end of 1809, Beethoven was commissioned to write incidental music for Goethe's play Egmont.


  • Damietta, Egypt
    1809
    Muhammad Ali of Egypt

    Ali exiled Makram to Damietta

    Damietta, Egypt
    1809

    In 1809, though, Ali exiled Makram to Damietta. According to Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, Makram had discovered Muhammad Ali's intentions to seize power for himself.


  • Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna, Austria
    Saturday Oct 14, 1809
    Napoleon

    Treaty of Schönbrunn

    Schönbrunn Palace near Vienna, Austria
    Saturday Oct 14, 1809

    The resulting Treaty of Schönbrunn in October 1809 was the harshest that France had imposed on Austria in recent memory.


  • The Netherlands
    Dec, 1809
    Napoleon

    Walcheren Fever

    The Netherlands
    Dec, 1809

    The Walcheren Campaign was characterized by little fighting but heavy casualties thanks to the popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Over 4000 British troops were lost in a bungled campaign, and the rest withdrew in December 1809.


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