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ASPERGES (" thou wilt sprinkle," from...

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 768 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ASPERGES (" thou wilt sprinkle," from the Latin verb aspergere)

ASPERGES (" See also:
THOU, JACQUES AUGUSTE DE [THUANUS] (1553-1617)
THOU, NOM
thou wilt sprinkle," from the Latin verb aspergere) , the ceremony of sprinkling the See also:

PEOPLE

people with See also:

HOLY

holy See also:

WATER

water before High See also:

Mass in the See also:

ROMAN

Roman See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic See also:

Church, so called from the first word of the See also:

VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse (Ps. iv. 9) Asperges me, Domini, hyssopo et nrundabor, with which the See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest begins the ceremony. The See also:

brush used for sprinkling is an aspergill (aspergillum), or aspersoir, and the See also:

VESSEL (O. Fr. vaissel, from a rare Lat. vascellum, dim. of vas, vase, urn)

vessel for this water an aspersorium. The See also:

ACT (Lat. actus, actum)

act of sprinkling the water is called aspersion. ASPERN-ESSLING, See also:

BATTLE

BATTLE OF (1809), a battle fought on the 21st and 22nd of May 1809 between the See also:

French and their See also:

ALLIES, THOMAS WILLIAM (1813-1903)

allies under See also:

NAPOLEON

Napoleon and the Austrians commanded by the See also:

arch-See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke See also:

Charles (see See also:

NAPOLEONIC

NAPOLEONIC See also:

CAMPAIGNS

CAMPAIGNS). At the See also:

time of the battle Napoleon was in See also:

possession of See also:

Vienna, the See also:

bridges over the See also:

DANUBE (Ger. Donau, Hungarian Duna, Rumanian Dunarea, Lat. Danubius or Danuvius, and in the lower part of its course Ister)

Danube had been broken, and the See also:

ARCHDUKE (Lat. archidux, Ger. Erzherzog)

archduke's See also:

army was on and about the Bisamberg, a See also:

mountain near See also:

KORNEUBURG

Korneuburg, on the See also:

LEFT

left See also:

BANK

bank of the See also:

RIVER

river. The first task of the French was the See also:

CROSSING

crossing of the Danube. See also:

LOBAU

Lobau, one of the numerous islands which See also:

DIVIDE

divide the river into See also:

minor channels, was selected as the point of crossing, careful preparations were made, and on the See also:

NIGHT

night of the 19th-2oth of May the French bridged all the channels from the right bank to Lobau and occupied the See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island. By the evening of the loth See also:

GREAT

great masses of men had been collected there and the last See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm of the Danube, between Lobau and the left bank, bridged. See also:

MASSENA, ANDRE, or ANDREA

Massena's See also:

CORPS (pronounced as in French, from which it is taken, being a late spelling of tors, from Lat. corpus, a body; cf. " corpse ")

corps at once crossed to the left bank and dislodged the See also:

AUSTRIAN

Austrian outposts. Undeterred by the See also:

NEWS

news of heavy attacks on his See also:

REAR

rear from See also:

TIROL (or TYROL 1)

Tirol and from Bohemia, Napoleon hurried all available troops to the bridges, and by daybreak on the 21st, 40,000 men were collected on the Marchfeld, the broad open See also:

PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain of the left bank, which was also to be the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene of the battle of \Vagram. The archduke did not resist the passage; it was his intention, as soon as a large enough force had crossed, to attack it before the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of the French army could come to its assistance.

Napoleon had, of course, accepted the See also:

RISK

risk of such an attack, but he sought at the same time to minimize it by summoning every available See also:

BATTALION

battalion to the scene. His forces on the Marchfeld were See also:

DRAWN

drawn up in front of the bridges facing See also:

north, with their left in the See also:

VILLAGE

village of Aspern (See also:

GROSS

Gross-Aspern) and their right in Essling (or See also:

ESSLINGEN

Esslingen). Both places See also:

lay See also:

close to the Danube and could not therefore be turned; Aspern, indeed, is actually on the bank of one of the river channels. But the French had to fill the See also:

gap between the villages, and also tt, move forward to give See also:

ROOM

room for the supports to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form up. Whilst they were thus engaged the archduke moved to the attack with his whole army in five columns. Three under See also:

Hiller, See also:

Bellegarde and See also:

HOHENZOLLERN

Hohenzollern were to converge upon Aspern, the other two, under Rosenberg, to attack Essling. The Austrian See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry was in the centre, ready to move out against any French cavalry which should attack the heads of the columns. During the 21st the bridges became more and more unsafe, owing to the violence of the current, but the French crossed without intermission all See also:

day and during the night. The battle began at Aspern; Hiller carried the village at the first See also:

rush, but Massena recaptured it, and held his ground with the same tenacity as he had shown at See also:

GENOA (anc. Genua, Ital. Genova, Fr. GPnes)

Genoa in Moo. The French See also:

INFANTRY

infantry, indeed, fought on this day with the old stubborn bravery which it had failed to show in the earlier battles of the See also:

YEAR

year. The three Austrian columns fighting their hardest through the day were unable to See also:

CAPTURE (from Lat. capere, to take; Fr. prise maritime; Ger. Wegnahme)

capture more than See also:

HALF

half the village; the rest was still held by Massena when night See also:

fell. In the meanwhile nearly all the French infantry posted between the two villages and in front of the bridges had been drawn into the fight on either flank.

Napoleon therefore, to create a diversion, sent forward his centre, now consisting only of cavalry, to See also:

charge the enemy's See also:

ARTILLERY (the O. Fr. artiller, to equip with engines of war, probably comes from Late Lat. articulum, dim. of ars, art, cf. " engine " from ingenium, or of artus, joint)

artillery, which was deployed in a See also:

long See also:

LINE

line and firing into Aspern. The first charge of the French was repulsed, but the second See also:

ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt, made by heavy masses of See also:

CUIRASSIERS

cuirassiers, was more serious. The French horsemen, gallantly led, drove off the guns, rode See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round Hohenzollern's infantry squares, and routed the cavalry of Lichtenstein, but they were unable to do more, and in the end they retired to their old position. In the meanwhile Essling had been the scene of fighting almost as desperate as that of Aspern. The French cuirassiers made repeated charges on the flank of Rosenberg's force, and for long delayed the See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault, and in the villages See also:

LANNES, JEAN

Lannes with a single See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division made a heroic and successful resistance, till night ended the battle. The two armies bivouacked on their ground, and in Aspern the French and Austrians lay within See also:

PISTOL

pistol shot of each other. The latter had fought fully as hard as their opponents, and Napoleon realized that they were no longer the professional soldiers of former campaigns. The spirit of the nation was in them and they fought to kill, not for the See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of their arms. The See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor was not discouraged, but on the contrary renewed his efforts to bring up every available See also:

man. All through the night more and more French troops were put across. At the earliest See also:

DAWN (the 16th-century form of the earlier " Jawing " or " dawning," from an old verb " daw," O. Eng. dagian, to become day; cf. Dutch dagen, and Ger. tagen)

dawn of the 22nd the battle was resumed. Massena swiftly cleared Aspern of the enemy, but at the same time Rosenberg stormed Essling at last.

Lannes, however, resisted desperately, and reinforced by St Hilaire's division, drove Rosenberg out. In Aspern Massena had been less fortunate, the See also:

COUNTER

counter-attack of Hiller and Bellegarde being as completely successful as that of Lannes and St Hilaire. Mean-time Napoleon had launched a great attack on the Austrian centre. The whole of the French centre, with Lannes on the right and the cavalry in reserve, moved forward. The Austrian line was broken through, between Rosenberg's right and Hohenzollern's left, and the French squadrons poured into the gap. Victory was almost won when the archduke brought up his last reserve, himself leading on his soldiers with a See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour in his See also:

hand. Lannes was checked, and with his repulse the impetus of the attack died out all along the line. Aspern had been lost, and graver news reached Napoleon at the See also:

CRITICAL (in alphabetical order of authors)

critical moment. The Danube bridges, which had broken down once already, had at last been cut by heavy See also:

BARGES

barges, which had been set adrift down stream for the purpose by the Austrians. Napoleon at once suspended the attack. Essling now fell to another assault of Rosenberg, and though again the French, this time See also:

PART

part of the Guard, drove him out, the Austrian See also:

general then directed his efforts on the flank of the French centre, slowly retiring on the bridges. The retirement was terribly costly, and but for the steadiness of Lannes the French must have been driven into the Danube, for the archduke's last effort to break down their resistance was made with the utmost fury.

Only the See also:

COMPLETE

complete exhaustion of both sides put an end to the fighting. The French lost 44,000 out of 90,000 successively engaged, and amongst the killed were Lannes and St Hilaire. The Austrians, 75,000 strong, lost 23,360. Even this, the first great defeat of Napoleon, did not shake his See also:

RESOLUTION

resolution. The beaten forces were at last with-drawn safely into the island. On the night of the 22nd the great See also:

BRIDGE

bridge was repaired, and the army awaited the arrival of reinforcements, not in Vienna, but in Lobau. See See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch See also:

map in See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article See also:

WAGRAM (DEUTSCH-WAGRAM)

WAGRAM.

End of Article: ASPERGES (" thou wilt sprinkle," from the Latin verb aspergere)

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