AN IMPRESSIVE POEM INSPIRED BY THE DEFEAT OF THE AUSTRIANS BY THE FRENCH
IN DECEMBER, 1800.
Thomas Campbell (1777–1844) is one of those writers who composed many
elaborate works, yet whose fame rests wholly upon three or four short
poems which have become classic. Among these is “Hohenlinden,” written
immediately after the battle of that name, fought on December 3, 1800,
between the French, under Moreau, and the Archduke John, in command of
the Austrian army.
It was one of the most hotly contested battles of the Napoleonic wars,
and was decided by the valor of Marshal Ney, the Austrians being
routed with a loss of twenty thousand men. The battle made a profound
impression in England, and inspired Campbell to dash off these
stirring lines, which in the speed of their composition and their
martial spirit remind one of Tennyson’s “Charge of the Light Brigade.”