Austrian infantry formations; Line, Division Mass & Battalion Mass

Forgive the crappy photo, but it has been very helpful for me to do diagrams of Napoleonic infantry formations to understand them, and their relation to there own other formations as well as those of other nations,  so I thought others may benefit from it as well.

In 1809 Austrian infantry battalions were composed of 6 companies, just like the French.  However, Austria’s infantry battalions official size in number of men was much larger, the largest in a Europe.

This was because the Austrian line companies official strength was the largest as well; 

180 (German) 200 (Hungarian) rank and file +

14 NCO 

4 officers

2 drummers 

2 Zimmermen (pioneers)

And while many battalions were well below official strength by Wagram, many others had been brought back up to at or close to this level in the lull between Aspern and Wagram. 

Austrian battalion tactical sub-company units were; the half company (obvious as to what this is) and the Zug (1/4 company).  

The main Austrian infantry formations were; line, battalion mass & division mass (where here division = 2 companies).

Line: was used to engage enemy infantry (attaching and defending) and its nature is obvious.  But worth noting that the Austrians formed in 3 ranks, and the company sub-units can clearly still be seen even in this most uniform of formations. (Top of below pic)

The other 2 formations were used more when cavalry was more of a threat, or when not in the front line, or otherwise when space between units was deemed necessary.

Battalion Mass: was formed 1 company wide X 6 companies deep (bottom of below pic) multiple battalions of these could be deployed in checkboard fashion much like the smaller division masses, with artillery batteries deployed between them.

Division Mass:  was formed as 3 separate masses of men of 2 companies each (hence the name); each mass was 1/2 coy wide by 4 coy deep.  And these masses were formed with 2 up and 1 back, spaced so that they could easily form into line when appropriate. With this spacing, friendly cavalry can move around your units, or artillery can be set up in the open spaces, and any enemy cav that attacks will face lots of bayonets and support musket fire.  (Middle of below pic)

Here is my little diagram that shows each of these formations for comparison (but to be clear the units in these 3 formations would not deploy one directly behind the other as in the pic, that was done purely to facilitate comparison to each other and their frontage and spacing. 

Cheers.