The battle of Wagram (5-6 July 1809) was the decisive (if not the final) battle of the Franco-Austrian War of 1809 and was a costly French victory that saw Napoleon command a larger army than at any previous battle.
The Franco-Austrian War of 1809 began with an Austrian invasion of Bavaria. The Austrians moved far too slowly, and missed a series of chances to inflict significant defeats on parts of Napoleon's army, wit the last one coming on 19 April at Teugn-Hausen. In the aftermath of this battle the Austrian army was badly strung out, with the right wing, under the direct command of Archduke Charles, facing towards Regensburg and the Danube, and the left wing, under General Hiller, rather further south, facing towards the approaching French.
On 20 April Napoleon announced his arrival, inflicting a defeat on the Austrians at Abensberg. This split the Austrian army into two unequal halves. On 21 April Napoleon attacked the weaker left-hand half (Hiller) at Landshut, forcing it to retreat once again, before turning north to defeat Charles at Eggmuhl (22 April) and Regensburg (23 April). As a result of these four battles the Austrian army was split into two separate armies, separated by the Danube. The two wings were forced to retreat back east into Austria, eventually joining up on the north bank of the Danube opposite Vienna, which fell into French hands on 13 May.
Napoleon had hoped to fight the final decisive battle of the campaign somewhere outside Vienna, but the Austrians had denied him that chance by staying on the opposite side of the river. This forced Napoleon to cross the Danube if he wanted to come to grips with the Austrian army, but his first serious attempt to gain a foothold on the north bank saw him suffer his first serious military defeat, at the battle of Aspern-Essling (21-22 May 1809). Although Napoleon did manage to gain a foothold across the Danube the bridges connecting the southern bank to the Lobau Island were inadequate, and spent much of the battle being prepared. Cut off from his reinforcements Napoleon perhaps did well to avoid a serious mauling, but when he was forced to retreat back onto the Lobau it was a clear defeat.
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