Army of the Danube
Encyclopedia
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the French Directory
in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube
valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been observing Austrian movements on the border between First French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire
. It was commanded by General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
, 1st Comte Jourdan (1762–1833).
The formation of the army was part of the French Directory
's long term strategy to undermine Habsburg influence in the Holy Roman Empire
, and, conversely, to strengthen French hegemony in central Europe after the wars of the First Coalition
and the Treaty of Campo Formio
in 1797. Despite the Treaty, Austria and France remained suspicious of each other's motives, and the purpose of the Army of the Observation was to watch for Austrian border transgressions. Understanding that the negotiations at the Congress of Rastatt were going no-where, the Army of Observation was instructed to cross the Rhine. Once across the Rhine, the Army of the Danube, was to secure strategic positions in southwestern Germany (present day Baden-Württemberg
) and engage Archduke Charles'
Austrian army. In the meantime, the Army of Helvetia
, under command of Andre Massena
, would secure such strategic locations as St. Gotthard pass
, the Swiss plateau, and upper Rhine river basin.
The army participated in four battles. In the battles of Ostrach
and first Stockach
, the Army of the Danube withdrew after suffering heavy losses. After reorganization, in which elements of the army were combined with Massena's Army of Switzerland, it withdrew after an engagement with Charles' superior force at Zürich
in early June 1799; only in the Second Battle of Zürich
did the Army of the Danube secure an uncontested victory. In December 1799, the Army of the Danube merged with the Army of the Rhine.
viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. As the rhetoric grew more strident, the monarchies started to view events with distrust. Leopold
, who had succeeded Joseph as Emperor in 1791, saw the situation surrounding his sister, Marie Antoinette
, and her children, with greater and greater alarm. As the revolution grew more and more radical, he still sought to avoid war, but in the late summer, he, in consultation with French émigré nobles and Frederick William II of Prussia
, issued the Declaration of Pilnitz, in which they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family. They threatened vague, but serious, consequences if anything should happen to the royal family.
By 1792, the French republican position had become increasingly difficult. Compounding internal economic and social problems, French émigrés agitated abroad for support of a counter-revolution that would restore an absolute monarchy. Chief among them were the Prince Condé
(cousin of Louis XVI), Condé's son, the Duke de Bourbon
, and Condé's grandson, the Duke d'Enghien
. From their base in Koblenz
, immediately over the French border, they sought direct support for military intervention from the royal houses of Europe, and themselves raised a small army
. The ascension of young and uncompromising Francis
as Holy Roman Emperor-elect on the death of his father in July 1792 also contributed to their unease.
On 20 April 1792, the French National Convention declared war on Austria. In this War of the First Coalition (1792–1798), France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. Although the Coalition forces achieved several victories at Verdun
, Kaiserslautern
, Neerwinden
, Mainz
, Amberg and Wurzburg
, the efforts of Napoleon Bonaparte in northern Italy pushed Austrian forces across the Italian-Austrian border and resulted in the negotiation of the Peace of Leoben (17 April 1797) and the subsequent Treaty of Campo Formio
(October 1797).
From October 1797 until the Army of the Danube crossed into Germany in March 1799, the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio had avoided armed conflict. Despite their agreement at Campo Formio, the two primary combatants, France and Austria, remained suspicious of each other's motives. Several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement. The French demanded additional territory not mentioned in the Treaty. The Habsburgs were reluctance to hand over designated territories, much less additional ones. The Congress at Rastatt
proved inept at orchestrating the transfer of territories to compensate the German princes for their losses. Ferdinand of Naples
refused to pay tribute to France, followed by a general Neapolitan rebellion, the French suppression, and the subsequent establishment of the Parthenopaean Republic
. Republicans in the Swiss cantons, supported by the French army, overthrew the central government in Bern and established the Helvetic Republic
.
Other factors contributed to the rising tensions. On his way to Egypt, Napoleon had stopped on the Malta
and forcibly removed the Hospitallers
from their possessions, angering Paul, Tsar of Russia
, who was the honorary head of the Order. The French Directory
, furthermore, was convinced that the Austrians were conniving to start another war. Indeed, the weaker the French Republic seemed, the more seriously the Austrians, the Neopolitans, the Russians and the English actually discussed this possibility.
Toward this end, in the early November 1798, Jourdan arrived in Hüningen, near the Swiss city of Basel
, to take command of the Army of Observation, so-called because its function was to observe the security of the French border on the Rhine. Once there, Jourdan assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower. He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment. The Army, and its flanking armies, the Army of Helvetia
and the Army of Mayence
, were equally short of manpower, supplies, ammunition, and training. Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages, pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under-manned and under-supplied army; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory, which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies.
Jourdan's orders were to take the army into Germany and secure strategic positions, particularly on the roads through Stockach
and Schaffhausen
, at the western-most border of Lake Constance
. Similarly, as commander of the Army of Helvetia
(Switzerland), Andre Massena
would acquire strategic positions in Switzerland, in particular the St. Gotthard Pass, the passes above Feldkirch
, particularly Maienfeld (St. Luciensteig), and hold the central plateau in and around Zürich
and Winterthur
. These positions would prevent the Allies of the Second Coalition from moving troops back and forth between the northern Italian and German theaters, and insure French access to these strategic passes. Ultimately, this positioning would allow the French to control all western roads leading to and from Vienna. Finally, to complete Vienna's isolation, the army of Mayence would sweep through the north, blocking further access to and from Vienna from any of the northern Provinces, or from Britain.
of approximately 30,000 men in four divisions, crossed the Rhine River at Kehl
and Basel
. As units crossed, they took the name Army of the Danube.
The army advanced in four columns. First Division, the right wing, assembled at Hüningen, crossed at Basel
and advanced eastward along the north shore of the Rhine River toward Lake Constance
. The Advanced Guard crossed at Kehl, and Vandamme led it north-east through the mountains via Freudenstadt
. This column eventually became the left flank. It was followed across the Rhine, also at Kehl, by the II. Division. The Third Division and the Reserve also crossed at Kehl, and then divided into two columns, III. Division traveling through the Black Forest via Oberkirch
, and the Reserve, with most of the artillery and horse, further south via the valley at Freiburg im Breisgau, where they would find more forage, and then over the mountains past the Titisee
to Loffingen
and Hüfingen
.
Although Jourdan could have established a position on the immediate eastern slope of the mountains—and indeed he might have been better advised to do so—he pushed eastward across the Danube plain, taking a temporary position between Rottweil
and Tuttlingen
. Eventually he directed the army to establish a line centered in Pfullendorf
. He planned to engage the Austrian army under the Habsburg commander-in-chief Archduke Charles
on the Ostrach plateau.
While may have seemed like a good plan, Jourdan's choice of ground created problems for him later. The plain below Pfullendorf was riddled with such streams and brooks as the Ostrach
, a Danube tributary, which drained out of the marshes and swamps of Pfrungenried; in the spring of most years, this was not the best choice of ground. Although from Pfullendorf and the more moderate heights to the north of the village of Ostrach
, Jourdan could establish reasonable artillery positions, the softness of the marshland itself would diminish the impact of a cannonade on the Austrian line. The marsh was also prone to fogginess, which would hinder visual planning and tactics. Furthermore, the softness of the ground would make the use of cavalry difficult, and cavalry maneuvers would be made more difficult by the likelihood of fog. Finally, the major part of Charles' army had wintered immediately east of the Lech River
, which Jourdan knew, because he had sent agents into Germany with instructions to identify the location and strength of his enemy. This was less than 64 kilometres (40 mi) distant; any passage over the Lech was facilitated by available bridges, both of permanent construction and temporary pontoons and a traverse through friendly territory.
, 20–22 March 1799, the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition
, Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles
, defeated French forces. The French suffered significant losses and were forced to retreat from the region, taking up new positions at Messkirch (Mößkirch, Meßkirch), and then at Stockach and Engen. At the second battle, in Stockach
, on 25 March 1799, the Austrian army achieved a decisive victory over the French forces, and again pushed the French army west. Jourdan instructed his generals to take up positions in the Black Forest, and he himself established a base at Hornberg. From there, General Jourdan relegated command of the army to his chief of staff, Jean Augustin Ernouf
, and traveled to Paris to ask for more and better troops and, ultimately, to request a medical leave. The Army was reorganized, and a portion placed under the command of André Masséna
and merged with the Army of Helvetia. Following the reorganization and change in command, the Army participated in the Battle of Winterthur
and the First Battle of Zürich
and, three months later, the Second Battle of Zürich
.
, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred 20–23 March 1799. In early March, the Army of the Danube pressed forward toward Pfullendorf
and Ostrach
, the former an imperial city in Upper Swabia
and the latter a nearby village of 300 belonging to the Imperial Abbey of Salem. Their goal was to cut the Austrian line at Switzerland, preventing the Coalition use of Switzerland as an overland route between central and southern Europe. This would ostensibly isolate the armies of the Coalition in northern Italy and Germany, and prevent them from assisting one another; furthermore, if the French held the interior passes in Switzerland, they could use the routes to move their own forces between the two theaters.
The battle occurred during Holy Week
in 1799, amid rain and dense fog, on the marsh southeast of the village. Initially, on 20 March, the French were able to take, and hold, the village of Ostrach and the nearby hamlet of Hoßkirch. On the morning of 21 March, as General Jourdan later wrote, as the Austrian army attacked, his men seemed to disappear in a cloud of redcoats, which referred to the Austrian Hussar and Grenadier uniforms. That evening, after more than 15 hours in general engagement, the Austrians flanked
his left wing, and Saint Cyr's force was pressed back to the Pfullendorf heights. In the early morning, as the fog lifted, Jourdan could see the Archduke's formidable force arrayed on the plains below him. The archduke's arrangements made it clear that Jourdan could not keep the heights of Pfullendorf. As he withdrew, a portion of his right flank was cut off from the main force.
Although casualties appeared even in numbers for both sides, the Austrians fielded a significantly larger fighting force of nearly 55,000 at Ostrach, with another 60,000 stretched along a line between Lake Constance and Ulm. French casualties amounted to more than 12 percent of their force, and Austrian, approximately four percent. The French were forced back to Stockach
, where on 25 March the armies engaged again, this time with greater losses on both sides, and a decisive Austrian victory.
, Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Archduke Charles again directed the French force of 40,000 and the Austrian force of 80,000, respectively. While attempting to rally his troops, Jourdan was dismounted, nearly trampled to death by his soldiers, and barely escaped capture by the Austrians. Charles' personal intervention was crucial for the Austrians, and he was in the thick of the fighting, buying time for reinforcements to arrive. The French were defeated and driven back upon the Rhine River.
The general engagement was brutal and bloody. Before daybreak on 25 March, the French left wing launched a headlong attack on the Austrian right wing, coordinated with assaults on the Austrian left. The ferocious attack forced the Austrians out of the woods in which they had been positioned overnight, and pushed them to the village of Schwanndorf. Fearing that his forces would shortly be flanked, Charles directed reinforcements to back up the right wing. The Archduke himself led eight battalions of Hungarian grenadiers into the fight, and during this part of the action, both the Prince of Anhalt
and Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
were killed by French case shot. The main French assault on the Austrian center was stalled by the superior numbers.
On the French right flank, General Ferino attempted to push the Austrians back, first with a cannonade, followed by an attack through the woods on both sides of the road between the hamlet of Asch and Stockach. A third charge succeeded in taking the road, but the Austrian forces reformed the line and the artillery, now at the head of a wedge, bombarded the French troops. In a bayonet charge, the French took the hamlet of Wahlweiss, but Ferino's troops could not hold it and withdrew during the night. Jourdan then ordered a general withdrawal from the region, instructing his divisions to retreat along the lines of march they had followed into the region, and himself establishing a command post at Hornberg
. He sent the cavalry to the western side of the Black Forest
, where the horses could expect to find better forage.
from the French as the forces of Hotze and pushed them out of the Grisons. Archduke Charles' own sizable force—about 110,000 strong—crossed the Rhine west of Schaffhausen, and prepared to join with the armies of Friedrich, Baron von Hotze
and Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
on the Swiss Plateau
by Zürich. The French Army of Switzerland and the Army of the Danube, now both under the command of Andre Masséna, tried to prevent this merger of the Austrian forces at the Winterthur
crossroads.
Masséna sent the newly promoted General of Division Michel Ney
and part of the Army of the Danube to Winterthur
on 27 May 1799 to stop the Austrian advance from eastern Switzerland. If the Austrians succeeded in uniting Hotze's army from the east with Nauendorf's directly north of Zurich, and Archduke Charles' which lay to the north and west, the French would be half encircled at Zurich and dangerously exposed.
On the morning of 27 May, Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
assembled his force into three columns and marched toward Winterthur. Opposite him, Michel Ney deployed his force around the heights, the so-called Ober-Winterthur, a ring of low-lying hills some 6 kilometres (4 mi) north of the city. The overall commander of the forward line, Jean Victor Tharreau
, had informed Ney that he would send Jean-de-Dieu Soult's division to support him; Ney understood this to mean he was to make a stand along the entire outpost line, and that he would not be isolated. His small force would receive reinforcements from Soult's division. Consequently, Ney directed the weakest brigade, under the command of Gazan, to move up a long valley toward Frauenfeld, and another brigade, under the command of Roget, to take the right, preventing any Austrian flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning, Hotze's advanced guard had encountered moderate French resistance first from the two brigades Ney had at his disposal. The Austrian advance troops quickly over-ran the weaker brigade and took possession of the woods surrounding the village of Islikon. After securing the villages of Gundeschwil, Schottikon, Wiesendangen, and Stogen, further west of Islikon, Hotze deployed two of his columns facing the French front, while a third angled to the French right, as Ney had expected he would. Soult never appeared (he was later court martialed for insubordination), and Ney withdrew his forces through Winterthur, regrouping with Tharreau's main force in the outskirts of Zurich. A day later, Hotze's force united with the main Austrian force of Archduke Charles.
, on 4–7 June 1799, approximately 45,000 French and 53,000 Austrians clashed on the plains around the city. On the left wing, Hotze had 20 battalions of infantry, plus support artillery, and 27 squadrons of cavalry, in total, 19,000 men. On the right wing, General Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
commanded another 18,000. The battle cost both sides dearly; General of Brigade Cherin was killed, on the French side, and on the Austrian side, Feldzeugmeister (General of Infantry) Olivier, Count of Wallis
, was killed. On the French side, 500 died, 800 were wounded and 300 captured; on the Austrian side, 730 killed, 1,470 wounded, and 2,200 captured. When the Austrians took the French positions in the city, they also captured over 150 guns. Ultimately, French general André Masséna yielded the city to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles. Massena retreated beyond the Limmat
river, where he managed to fortify his positions. Hotze's force harassed their retreat, and secured the river shoreline. Despite Hotze's aggressive harassment of the French retreat, Charles did not follow up on the withdrawal; Masséna established himself on the opposite bank of the Limmat without threat of pursuit from the main body of the Austrian Army, much to the annoyance of the Russian liaison officer, Alexander Ivanovich, Count Ostermann-Tolstoy
.
On 14 August 1799, a Russian force of 6,000 cavalry, 20,00 infantry, and 1,600 Cossacks, under Alexander Korsakov
, joined Archduke Charles' force in Schaffhausen
. In a vice-like operation, together with the Russians, they would surround André Masséna's smaller army on the banks of the Limmat, where it had taken refuge the previous spring. To divert this attack, General Claude Lecourbe
attacked the pontoon bridges over which the Austrians crossed the Rhine, destroying most of them, and making the rest unusable.
Before Charles could regroup, orders arrived from the Aulic Council
, the imperial body in Vienna charged with conduct of war, to overset his plan; Charles' troops were to leave Zurich in the supposedly capable hands of Korsokov, re-cross the Rhine and march north to Mainz
. Charles stalled this operation as long as he could, but eventually he had to concede to Vienna's orders. Consequently, the Russian troops under a novice general replaced the Austrian troops and their seasoned commander in the strategically important city. Charles withdrew his force to the north of the Rhine and marched slowly toward Mainz. In Italy, the Russian generalissimo, Alexander Suvorov
, was horrified when he heard this: he depended upon a stable Austro-Russian presence in Switzerland to protect his flank and he expected to join this army by September or October at the latest. Although the order to Charles to recross the Rhine and march north was eventually countermanded, by the time such instructions reached him, he had gone too far to return to Zurich in time.
, up to the gates of Zürich, and in part within the city itself. Zürich had declared itself neutral, and was spared general destruction. General Oudinot commanded the French forces on the right bank and general Joseph Mortier
, those on the left.
At the same time, Soult
led a small force, some 150 musket-men, across the river Linth
—the men held their muskets over their heads and waded across, through water to their chests—and protected the crossing site for the remainder of the force. Baron von Hotze, commander of the Austrian force there, advanced on the position near Richterswil
to direct its defense, and was killed by a French musket ball. His successor, Franz, Baron von Petrasch, could not push the French back, and organized a retreat from the region, falling back to St. Gallen and losing another 8,000 men and some guns. By the time Suvorov arrived in St. Gallen in early October, the Austrians and the Russians had been pushed out and he was forced to lead his men over the Alps to the Voralberg, resulting in additional losses.
, its commander-in-chief, François Joseph Lefebvre
, Jean-Baptiste Drouet
, Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, and Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
. After the defeat at Ostrach, the Army was reorganized and command shifted to another future marshal, Andre Massena
.
. Both the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Danube subsequently merged in 24 November 1799 to form a new, enlarged army designated the Army of the Rhine.
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
in the 1799 southwestern campaign in the Upper Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
valley. It was formed on 2 March 1799 by the simple expedient of renaming the Army of Observation, which had been observing Austrian movements on the border between First French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. It was commanded by General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
, 1st Comte Jourdan (1762–1833).
The formation of the army was part of the French Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
's long term strategy to undermine Habsburg influence in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, and, conversely, to strengthen French hegemony in central Europe after the wars of the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
and the Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
in 1797. Despite the Treaty, Austria and France remained suspicious of each other's motives, and the purpose of the Army of the Observation was to watch for Austrian border transgressions. Understanding that the negotiations at the Congress of Rastatt were going no-where, the Army of Observation was instructed to cross the Rhine. Once across the Rhine, the Army of the Danube, was to secure strategic positions in southwestern Germany (present day Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
) and engage Archduke Charles'
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
Austrian army. In the meantime, the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
, under command of Andre Massena
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
, would secure such strategic locations as St. Gotthard pass
St. Gotthard Pass
The Gotthard Pass or St. Gotthard Pass is a high mountain pass in Switzerland between Airolo in the canton of Ticino, and Göschenen in the canton of Uri, connecting the northern German-speaking part of Switzerland with the Italian-speaking part, along the route onwards to Milan.Though the pass...
, the Swiss plateau, and upper Rhine river basin.
The army participated in four battles. In the battles of Ostrach
Battle of Ostrach
The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean...
and first Stockach
Battle of Stockach (1799)
On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen...
, the Army of the Danube withdrew after suffering heavy losses. After reorganization, in which elements of the army were combined with Massena's Army of Switzerland, it withdrew after an engagement with Charles' superior force at Zürich
First Battle of Zürich
The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his...
in early June 1799; only in the Second Battle of Zürich
Second Battle of Zürich
The Second Battle of Zurich was a French victory over an Austrian and Russian force near Zurich. It broke the stalemate that had resulted from the First Battle of Zurich three months earlier and led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition.After he had been forced out of the city in...
did the Army of the Danube secure an uncontested victory. In December 1799, the Army of the Danube merged with the Army of the Rhine.
Background
Initially, such rulers of Europe as Joseph II, Holy Roman EmperorJoseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. As the rhetoric grew more strident, the monarchies started to view events with distrust. Leopold
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
, who had succeeded Joseph as Emperor in 1791, saw the situation surrounding his sister, Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, and her children, with greater and greater alarm. As the revolution grew more and more radical, he still sought to avoid war, but in the late summer, he, in consultation with French émigré nobles and Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II of Prussia
Frederick William II was the King of Prussia, reigning from 1786 until his death. He was in personal union the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg and the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel.-Early life:...
, issued the Declaration of Pilnitz, in which they declared the interest of the monarchs of Europe as one with the interests of Louis and his family. They threatened vague, but serious, consequences if anything should happen to the royal family.
By 1792, the French republican position had become increasingly difficult. Compounding internal economic and social problems, French émigrés agitated abroad for support of a counter-revolution that would restore an absolute monarchy. Chief among them were the Prince Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé
Louis Joseph de Bourbon was Prince of Condé from 1740 to his death. A member of the House of Bourbon, he held the prestigious rank of Prince du Sang.-Biography:...
(cousin of Louis XVI), Condé's son, the Duke de Bourbon
Louis Henry II, Prince of Condé
Louis Henri de Bourbon was the Prince of Condé from 1818 to his death.-Life:He was the only son of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé and his wife, Charlotte de Rohan....
, and Condé's grandson, the Duke d'Enghien
Louis-Antoine-Henri de Bourbon-Condé, duc d'Enghien
Louis Antoine de Bourbon, was a relative of the Bourbon monarchs of France...
. From their base in Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, immediately over the French border, they sought direct support for military intervention from the royal houses of Europe, and themselves raised a small army
Army of Condé
The Army of Condé was a French field army during the French Revolutionary Wars. One of several émigré field armies, it was the only one to survive the War of the First Coalition; others had been formed by the Comte d'Artois and Mirabeau-Tonneau...
. The ascension of young and uncompromising Francis
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...
as Holy Roman Emperor-elect on the death of his father in July 1792 also contributed to their unease.
On 20 April 1792, the French National Convention declared war on Austria. In this War of the First Coalition (1792–1798), France ranged itself against most of the European states sharing land or water borders with her, plus Portugal and the Ottoman Empire. Although the Coalition forces achieved several victories at Verdun
Battle of Verdun (1792)
The Battle of Verdun was fought on August 20, 1792 between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army. The Prussians were victorious. This therefore opened the path to Paris....
, Kaiserslautern
Battle of Kaiserslautern
The Battle of Kaiserslautern was a battle of the War of the First Coalition , fought near the German city of Kaiserslautern...
, Neerwinden
Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
The Battle of Neerwinden took place on near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under General Dumouriez...
, Mainz
Battle of Mainz
The Battle of Mainz was fought on 29 October 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between France and Austria. The battle was fought near the city of Mainz now in western Germany and ended in an Austrian victory.-People involved:...
, Amberg and Wurzburg
Battle of Würzburg
The Battle of Würzburg was fought on 3 September 1796 between an army of Habsburg Austria led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and an army of the First French Republic led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. The French attacked the archduke's forces, but they were resisted until the arrival of...
, the efforts of Napoleon Bonaparte in northern Italy pushed Austrian forces across the Italian-Austrian border and resulted in the negotiation of the Peace of Leoben (17 April 1797) and the subsequent Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
(October 1797).
From October 1797 until the Army of the Danube crossed into Germany in March 1799, the signatories of the Treaty of Campo Formio had avoided armed conflict. Despite their agreement at Campo Formio, the two primary combatants, France and Austria, remained suspicious of each other's motives. Several diplomatic incidents undermined the agreement. The French demanded additional territory not mentioned in the Treaty. The Habsburgs were reluctance to hand over designated territories, much less additional ones. The Congress at Rastatt
Second Congress of Rastatt
The Second Congress of Rastatt, which was opened in December 1797, was intended to rearrange the map of Germany by providing compensation for those princes whose lands on the left bank of the Rhine had been seized by France....
proved inept at orchestrating the transfer of territories to compensate the German princes for their losses. Ferdinand of Naples
Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies
Ferdinand I reigned variously over Naples, Sicily, and the Two Sicilies from 1759 until his death. He was the third son of King Charles III of Spain by his wife Maria Amalia of Saxony. On 10 August 1759, Charles succeeded his elder brother, Ferdinand VI, as King Charles III of Spain...
refused to pay tribute to France, followed by a general Neapolitan rebellion, the French suppression, and the subsequent establishment of the Parthenopaean Republic
Parthenopaean Republic
The Parthenopean Republic was a French-supported republic in the territory of the Kingdom of Naples, formed during the French Revolutionary Wars after King Ferdinand IV fled before advancing French troops...
. Republicans in the Swiss cantons, supported by the French army, overthrew the central government in Bern and established the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
.
Other factors contributed to the rising tensions. On his way to Egypt, Napoleon had stopped on the Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and forcibly removed the Hospitallers
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
from their possessions, angering Paul, Tsar of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
, who was the honorary head of the Order. The French Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
, furthermore, was convinced that the Austrians were conniving to start another war. Indeed, the weaker the French Republic seemed, the more seriously the Austrians, the Neopolitans, the Russians and the English actually discussed this possibility.
Purpose and formation
Military planners in Paris understood that the northern Rhine Valley, the south-western German territories, and Switzerland were strategically important for the defense of the Republic. The Swiss passes commanded access to northern Italy; consequently, the army that held those passes could move troops to and from northern and southern theaters quickly. The river was a formidable barrier to what the French perceived as Austrian aggression, and the state that controlled its crossings controlled the river itself. Finally, control of the Upper Danube river would allow France to move its troops from Italy to the North Sea, or any point in between, offering immense strategic value.Toward this end, in the early November 1798, Jourdan arrived in Hüningen, near the Swiss city of Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, to take command of the Army of Observation, so-called because its function was to observe the security of the French border on the Rhine. Once there, Jourdan assessed the quality and disposition of the forces and identified needed supplies and manpower. He found the army woefully inadequate for its assignment. The Army, and its flanking armies, the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
and the Army of Mayence
Army of Mainz
The Army of Mainz was a French Revolutionary Army set up on 9 December 1797 by splitting the Armée d'Allemagne into the Armée de Mayence and the Armée du Rhin...
, were equally short of manpower, supplies, ammunition, and training. Jourdan documented assiduously these shortages, pointing out in lengthy correspondence to the Directory the consequences of an under-manned and under-supplied army; his petitions seemed to have little effect on the Directory, which sent neither significant additional manpower nor supplies.
Jourdan's orders were to take the army into Germany and secure strategic positions, particularly on the roads through Stockach
Stockach
Stockach is a town in the district of Konstanz, in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Location:It is situated in the Hegau region, about 5 km northwest of Lake Constance, 13 km north of Radolfzell and 25 km northwest of Konstanz....
and Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
, at the western-most border of Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
. Similarly, as commander of the Army of Helvetia
Army of Helvetia
The Army of Helvetia, or , was a unit of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 8 March 1798 from the remnants of the first unit to be known as the armée du Rhin...
(Switzerland), Andre Massena
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
would acquire strategic positions in Switzerland, in particular the St. Gotthard Pass, the passes above Feldkirch
Feldkirch, Vorarlberg
- Schools :* Bundesgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Feldkirch * Bundeshandelsakademie und Bundeshandelsschule Feldkirch* Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium und Bundesrealgymnasium Schillerstrasse...
, particularly Maienfeld (St. Luciensteig), and hold the central plateau in and around Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
and Winterthur
Winterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
. These positions would prevent the Allies of the Second Coalition from moving troops back and forth between the northern Italian and German theaters, and insure French access to these strategic passes. Ultimately, this positioning would allow the French to control all western roads leading to and from Vienna. Finally, to complete Vienna's isolation, the army of Mayence would sweep through the north, blocking further access to and from Vienna from any of the northern Provinces, or from Britain.
Crossing the Rhine
On March 1, 1799, the Army of Observation, in an order of battleArmy of the Danube order of battle
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the First French Republic. Originally named the Army of Observation, it was expanded with elements of the Army of Mainz and the Army of Helvetia...
of approximately 30,000 men in four divisions, crossed the Rhine River at Kehl
Kehl
Kehl is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg.-History:...
and Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
. As units crossed, they took the name Army of the Danube.
- Advance Guard, with approximately 9,000 men under General François Joseph LefebvreFrançois Joseph LefebvreFrançois Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
, and temporary commanded by Dominique VandammeDominique VandammeGeneral Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
. This also included the detached left flank of 3,000 Vandamme eventually took to StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. - I. Division, with approximately 8,000 men under General Pierre Marie Barthélemy FerinoPierre Marie Barthélemy FerinoPierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, , was a general and politician of France. Born in the Savoy, he was the son of a low-ranking officer in the Habsburg military. In 1789, during the French Revolution, he went to France, where he received a commission in the French Army...
. - II. Division, with approximately 7,000 men under General Joseph SouhamJoseph SouhamJoseph Souham was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born at Lubersac and died at Versailles.-French revolutionary years:...
. - III. Division, approximately 7,000 men under Laurent Saint-Cyr constituted the left flank.
- Reserve, with approximately 3,000 men under Jean-Joseph Ange d'HautpoulJean-Joseph Ange d'HautpoulJean-Joseph Ange d'Hautpoul was a French cavalry general of the Napoleonic wars. He came from an old noble family of France whose military tradition extended for several centuries....
.
The army advanced in four columns. First Division, the right wing, assembled at Hüningen, crossed at Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
and advanced eastward along the north shore of the Rhine River toward Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
. The Advanced Guard crossed at Kehl, and Vandamme led it north-east through the mountains via Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt
Freudenstadt is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west and Tübingen to the east ....
. This column eventually became the left flank. It was followed across the Rhine, also at Kehl, by the II. Division. The Third Division and the Reserve also crossed at Kehl, and then divided into two columns, III. Division traveling through the Black Forest via Oberkirch
Oberkirch (Baden)
Oberkirch is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany about 12 km North-East of Offenburg and belongs to the Ortenaukreis district....
, and the Reserve, with most of the artillery and horse, further south via the valley at Freiburg im Breisgau, where they would find more forage, and then over the mountains past the Titisee
Titisee
Titisee is a lake in the southern Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg. It is said it got its name from Roman Emperor Titus. It covers an area of 1.3 km² and has an average depth of 20 m. It owes its creation to the Feldberg glacier, the moraine ploughed up by which in the Pleistocene epoch...
to Loffingen
Löffingen
Löffingen is a town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km southwest of Donaueschingen, and 40 km southeast of Freiburg....
and Hüfingen
Hüfingen
Hüfingen is a town in the district of Schwarzwald-Baar, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the Breg River, 4 km south of the source of the Danube.- History :...
.
Although Jourdan could have established a position on the immediate eastern slope of the mountains—and indeed he might have been better advised to do so—he pushed eastward across the Danube plain, taking a temporary position between Rottweil
Rottweil
Rottweil is a town in the south west of Germany and is the oldest town in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg.Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb hills, Rottweil has about 25,000 inhabitants...
and Tuttlingen
Tuttlingen
Tuttlingen is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, Möhringen and Eßlingen are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen...
. Eventually he directed the army to establish a line centered in Pfullendorf
Pfullendorf
Pfullendorf is a small historic city in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:Its location is in the district of Sigmaringen, 25 km north of Lake Constance and south of the Danube valley and therefore on the continental divide between the watersheds of the...
. He planned to engage the Austrian army under the Habsburg commander-in-chief Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
on the Ostrach plateau.
While may have seemed like a good plan, Jourdan's choice of ground created problems for him later. The plain below Pfullendorf was riddled with such streams and brooks as the Ostrach
Ostrach (stream)
The Ostrach is a long tributary stream of the Danube in Baden-Württemberg .- Geography :The Ostrach originates on the north side of the European watershed, in the vicintiy of Fleischwangen in the Landkreis Ravensburg and drains out of the Pfrunger wetlands...
, a Danube tributary, which drained out of the marshes and swamps of Pfrungenried; in the spring of most years, this was not the best choice of ground. Although from Pfullendorf and the more moderate heights to the north of the village of Ostrach
Ostrach
Ostrach is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:Ostrach lies between the Danube and Lake Constance, about halfway between Sigmaringen and Ravensburg. It lies on the brook of the same name, which passes through a narrow pass between the glacial...
, Jourdan could establish reasonable artillery positions, the softness of the marshland itself would diminish the impact of a cannonade on the Austrian line. The marsh was also prone to fogginess, which would hinder visual planning and tactics. Furthermore, the softness of the ground would make the use of cavalry difficult, and cavalry maneuvers would be made more difficult by the likelihood of fog. Finally, the major part of Charles' army had wintered immediately east of the Lech River
Lech River
The Lech is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube in length with a drainage basin of .Its source is located in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, where the river rises from lake Formarinsee in the Alps at an altitude of...
, which Jourdan knew, because he had sent agents into Germany with instructions to identify the location and strength of his enemy. This was less than 64 kilometres (40 mi) distant; any passage over the Lech was facilitated by available bridges, both of permanent construction and temporary pontoons and a traverse through friendly territory.
Engagements
In March 1799, the Army of the Danube engaged in two major battles, both in the southwestern German theater. At the Battle of OstrachBattle of Ostrach
The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean...
, 20–22 March 1799, the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition
War of the Second Coalition
The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European monarchs, led by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Russian Empire, to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. They formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back France's previous military conquests...
, Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
, defeated French forces. The French suffered significant losses and were forced to retreat from the region, taking up new positions at Messkirch (Mößkirch, Meßkirch), and then at Stockach and Engen. At the second battle, in Stockach
Battle of Stockach (1799)
On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen...
, on 25 March 1799, the Austrian army achieved a decisive victory over the French forces, and again pushed the French army west. Jourdan instructed his generals to take up positions in the Black Forest, and he himself established a base at Hornberg. From there, General Jourdan relegated command of the army to his chief of staff, Jean Augustin Ernouf
Jean Augustin Ernouf
Jean Augustin Ernouf was a French general and colonial administrator of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He demonstrated moderate abilities as a combat commander; his real strength lay in his organizational and logistical talents...
, and traveled to Paris to ask for more and better troops and, ultimately, to request a medical leave. The Army was reorganized, and a portion placed under the command of André Masséna
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
and merged with the Army of Helvetia. Following the reorganization and change in command, the Army participated in the Battle of Winterthur
Battle of Winterthur (1799)
The Battle of Winterthur was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube and elements of the Habsburg army, commanded by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, during the War of the Second Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The small town of Winterthur lies northeast of...
and the First Battle of Zürich
First Battle of Zürich
The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his...
and, three months later, the Second Battle of Zürich
Second Battle of Zürich
The Second Battle of Zurich was a French victory over an Austrian and Russian force near Zurich. It broke the stalemate that had resulted from the First Battle of Zurich three months earlier and led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition.After he had been forced out of the city in...
.
Battle of Ostrach
The Battle of OstrachBattle of Ostrach
The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean...
, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred 20–23 March 1799. In early March, the Army of the Danube pressed forward toward Pfullendorf
Pfullendorf
Pfullendorf is a small historic city in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:Its location is in the district of Sigmaringen, 25 km north of Lake Constance and south of the Danube valley and therefore on the continental divide between the watersheds of the...
and Ostrach
Ostrach
Ostrach is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-Geography:Ostrach lies between the Danube and Lake Constance, about halfway between Sigmaringen and Ravensburg. It lies on the brook of the same name, which passes through a narrow pass between the glacial...
, the former an imperial city in Upper Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
and the latter a nearby village of 300 belonging to the Imperial Abbey of Salem. Their goal was to cut the Austrian line at Switzerland, preventing the Coalition use of Switzerland as an overland route between central and southern Europe. This would ostensibly isolate the armies of the Coalition in northern Italy and Germany, and prevent them from assisting one another; furthermore, if the French held the interior passes in Switzerland, they could use the routes to move their own forces between the two theaters.
The battle occurred during Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
in 1799, amid rain and dense fog, on the marsh southeast of the village. Initially, on 20 March, the French were able to take, and hold, the village of Ostrach and the nearby hamlet of Hoßkirch. On the morning of 21 March, as General Jourdan later wrote, as the Austrian army attacked, his men seemed to disappear in a cloud of redcoats, which referred to the Austrian Hussar and Grenadier uniforms. That evening, after more than 15 hours in general engagement, the Austrians flanked
Flanking maneuver
In military tactics, a flanking maneuver, also called a flank attack, is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver succeeds, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force and its...
his left wing, and Saint Cyr's force was pressed back to the Pfullendorf heights. In the early morning, as the fog lifted, Jourdan could see the Archduke's formidable force arrayed on the plains below him. The archduke's arrangements made it clear that Jourdan could not keep the heights of Pfullendorf. As he withdrew, a portion of his right flank was cut off from the main force.
Although casualties appeared even in numbers for both sides, the Austrians fielded a significantly larger fighting force of nearly 55,000 at Ostrach, with another 60,000 stretched along a line between Lake Constance and Ulm. French casualties amounted to more than 12 percent of their force, and Austrian, approximately four percent. The French were forced back to Stockach
Stockach
Stockach is a town in the district of Konstanz, in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Location:It is situated in the Hegau region, about 5 km northwest of Lake Constance, 13 km north of Radolfzell and 25 km northwest of Konstanz....
, where on 25 March the armies engaged again, this time with greater losses on both sides, and a decisive Austrian victory.
Battle of Stockach
At the Battle of StockachBattle of Stockach (1799)
On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen...
, Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Archduke Charles again directed the French force of 40,000 and the Austrian force of 80,000, respectively. While attempting to rally his troops, Jourdan was dismounted, nearly trampled to death by his soldiers, and barely escaped capture by the Austrians. Charles' personal intervention was crucial for the Austrians, and he was in the thick of the fighting, buying time for reinforcements to arrive. The French were defeated and driven back upon the Rhine River.
The general engagement was brutal and bloody. Before daybreak on 25 March, the French left wing launched a headlong attack on the Austrian right wing, coordinated with assaults on the Austrian left. The ferocious attack forced the Austrians out of the woods in which they had been positioned overnight, and pushed them to the village of Schwanndorf. Fearing that his forces would shortly be flanked, Charles directed reinforcements to back up the right wing. The Archduke himself led eight battalions of Hungarian grenadiers into the fight, and during this part of the action, both the Prince of Anhalt
Anhalt
Anhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :...
and Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg
Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg was an Austrian military commander. He achieved the rank of Field Marshal and died at the Battle of Stockach....
were killed by French case shot. The main French assault on the Austrian center was stalled by the superior numbers.
On the French right flank, General Ferino attempted to push the Austrians back, first with a cannonade, followed by an attack through the woods on both sides of the road between the hamlet of Asch and Stockach. A third charge succeeded in taking the road, but the Austrian forces reformed the line and the artillery, now at the head of a wedge, bombarded the French troops. In a bayonet charge, the French took the hamlet of Wahlweiss, but Ferino's troops could not hold it and withdrew during the night. Jourdan then ordered a general withdrawal from the region, instructing his divisions to retreat along the lines of march they had followed into the region, and himself establishing a command post at Hornberg
Hornberg
Hornberg is a town in the Ortenaukreis, in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, 35 km southeast of Offenburg, and 25 km northwest of Villingen-Schwenningen.-External links:...
. He sent the cavalry to the western side of the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
, where the horses could expect to find better forage.
Battle of Winterthur
By mid-May, 1799, the Austrians had wrested control of the eastern portions of the newly-formed Helvetic RepublicHelvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
from the French as the forces of Hotze and pushed them out of the Grisons. Archduke Charles' own sizable force—about 110,000 strong—crossed the Rhine west of Schaffhausen, and prepared to join with the armies of Friedrich, Baron von Hotze
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Hotze, also known as Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze , a Swiss-born field marshal in the Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars, campaigned in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition and in Switzerland in the War of the Second Coalition, notably at Battle of...
and Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
Friedrich Joseph of Nauendorf, a general and field marshal in Habsburg service during the French Revolutionary Wars, was noted for his intrepid and daring raids....
on the Swiss Plateau
Swiss plateau
The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau constitutes one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland alongside the Jura mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface...
by Zürich. The French Army of Switzerland and the Army of the Danube, now both under the command of Andre Masséna, tried to prevent this merger of the Austrian forces at the Winterthur
Battle of Winterthur (1799)
The Battle of Winterthur was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube and elements of the Habsburg army, commanded by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, during the War of the Second Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The small town of Winterthur lies northeast of...
crossroads.
Masséna sent the newly promoted General of Division Michel Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
and part of the Army of the Danube to Winterthur
Winterthur
Winterthur is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. It has the country's sixth largest population with an estimate of more than 100,000 people. In the local dialect and by its inhabitants, it is usually abbreviated to Winti...
on 27 May 1799 to stop the Austrian advance from eastern Switzerland. If the Austrians succeeded in uniting Hotze's army from the east with Nauendorf's directly north of Zurich, and Archduke Charles' which lay to the north and west, the French would be half encircled at Zurich and dangerously exposed.
On the morning of 27 May, Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
Friedrich Hotze, also known as Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze , a Swiss-born field marshal in the Austrian army during the French Revolutionary Wars, campaigned in the Rhineland during the War of the First Coalition and in Switzerland in the War of the Second Coalition, notably at Battle of...
assembled his force into three columns and marched toward Winterthur. Opposite him, Michel Ney deployed his force around the heights, the so-called Ober-Winterthur, a ring of low-lying hills some 6 kilometres (4 mi) north of the city. The overall commander of the forward line, Jean Victor Tharreau
Jean Victor Tharreau
Jean Victor Tharreau , 15 January 1767, Le May-sur-Èvre – 26 September 1812, was a General of Division in the Army of the French Empire....
, had informed Ney that he would send Jean-de-Dieu Soult's division to support him; Ney understood this to mean he was to make a stand along the entire outpost line, and that he would not be isolated. His small force would receive reinforcements from Soult's division. Consequently, Ney directed the weakest brigade, under the command of Gazan, to move up a long valley toward Frauenfeld, and another brigade, under the command of Roget, to take the right, preventing any Austrian flanking maneuver.
By mid-morning, Hotze's advanced guard had encountered moderate French resistance first from the two brigades Ney had at his disposal. The Austrian advance troops quickly over-ran the weaker brigade and took possession of the woods surrounding the village of Islikon. After securing the villages of Gundeschwil, Schottikon, Wiesendangen, and Stogen, further west of Islikon, Hotze deployed two of his columns facing the French front, while a third angled to the French right, as Ney had expected he would. Soult never appeared (he was later court martialed for insubordination), and Ney withdrew his forces through Winterthur, regrouping with Tharreau's main force in the outskirts of Zurich. A day later, Hotze's force united with the main Austrian force of Archduke Charles.
First Battle of Zürich
In the First Battle of ZürichFirst Battle of Zürich
The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his...
, on 4–7 June 1799, approximately 45,000 French and 53,000 Austrians clashed on the plains around the city. On the left wing, Hotze had 20 battalions of infantry, plus support artillery, and 27 squadrons of cavalry, in total, 19,000 men. On the right wing, General Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf
Friedrich Joseph of Nauendorf, a general and field marshal in Habsburg service during the French Revolutionary Wars, was noted for his intrepid and daring raids....
commanded another 18,000. The battle cost both sides dearly; General of Brigade Cherin was killed, on the French side, and on the Austrian side, Feldzeugmeister (General of Infantry) Olivier, Count of Wallis
Olivier, Count of Wallis
Oliver Remigius, Count von Wallis Baron von Carrighmain, the scion of a distinguished Irish family in Austrian military service, served in Austria's wars with the Ottoman Empire , and in the French Revolutionary Wars...
, was killed. On the French side, 500 died, 800 were wounded and 300 captured; on the Austrian side, 730 killed, 1,470 wounded, and 2,200 captured. When the Austrians took the French positions in the city, they also captured over 150 guns. Ultimately, French general André Masséna yielded the city to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles. Massena retreated beyond the Limmat
Limmat
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. It is the continuation of the Linth river, known as Limmat from the point of effluence from Lake Zurich, in the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river Aare...
river, where he managed to fortify his positions. Hotze's force harassed their retreat, and secured the river shoreline. Despite Hotze's aggressive harassment of the French retreat, Charles did not follow up on the withdrawal; Masséna established himself on the opposite bank of the Limmat without threat of pursuit from the main body of the Austrian Army, much to the annoyance of the Russian liaison officer, Alexander Ivanovich, Count Ostermann-Tolstoy
Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy
Alexander Ivanovich Count Osterman-Tolstoy was a Russian nobleman and soldier in the era of the French Revolutionary Wars...
.
On 14 August 1799, a Russian force of 6,000 cavalry, 20,00 infantry, and 1,600 Cossacks, under Alexander Korsakov
Alexander Korsakov
Alexander Mikhailovich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian General remembered as an unlucky assistant to Alexander Suvorov during his Swiss expedition of 1799–1800....
, joined Archduke Charles' force in Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimated population of 34,587 ....
. In a vice-like operation, together with the Russians, they would surround André Masséna's smaller army on the banks of the Limmat, where it had taken refuge the previous spring. To divert this attack, General Claude Lecourbe
Claude Lecourbe
Claude Jacques Lecourbe , born in Besançon, was a French general during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars....
attacked the pontoon bridges over which the Austrians crossed the Rhine, destroying most of them, and making the rest unusable.
Before Charles could regroup, orders arrived from the Aulic Council
Aulic Council
The Aulic Council was originally an executive-judicial council for the Holy Roman Empire....
, the imperial body in Vienna charged with conduct of war, to overset his plan; Charles' troops were to leave Zurich in the supposedly capable hands of Korsokov, re-cross the Rhine and march north to Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
. Charles stalled this operation as long as he could, but eventually he had to concede to Vienna's orders. Consequently, the Russian troops under a novice general replaced the Austrian troops and their seasoned commander in the strategically important city. Charles withdrew his force to the north of the Rhine and marched slowly toward Mainz. In Italy, the Russian generalissimo, Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Suvorov
Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov , Count Suvorov of Rymnik, Prince in Italy, Count of the Holy Roman Empire , was the fourth and last generalissimo of the Russian Empire.One of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle along with the likes of Alexander...
, was horrified when he heard this: he depended upon a stable Austro-Russian presence in Switzerland to protect his flank and he expected to join this army by September or October at the latest. Although the order to Charles to recross the Rhine and march north was eventually countermanded, by the time such instructions reached him, he had gone too far to return to Zurich in time.
Second Battle of Zürich
In the Second Battle of Zürich, the French regained control of the city, along with the rest of Switzerland. Notably, Massena out-generaled Korsakov; surrounded him, tricked him, and then took more than half his army as a prisoner. Massena also captured the baggage train and most of Korsakov cannons, and inflicted over 8,000 casualties. Most of the fighting took place on both banks of the river LimmatLimmat
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. It is the continuation of the Linth river, known as Limmat from the point of effluence from Lake Zurich, in the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, after 35 km reaching the river Aare...
, up to the gates of Zürich, and in part within the city itself. Zürich had declared itself neutral, and was spared general destruction. General Oudinot commanded the French forces on the right bank and general Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
, those on the left.
At the same time, Soult
Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult
Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult, 1st Duke of Dalmatia , the Hand of Iron, was a French general and statesman, named Marshal of the Empire in 1804. He was one of only six officers in French history to receive the distinction of Marshal General of France...
led a small force, some 150 musket-men, across the river Linth
Linth
The Linth is a Swiss river starting above Linthal the mountains of Glarus near the Klausen Pass and flowing from there north through the Glarus valley passing Schwanden, where it is joined by its main tributary Sernft, Ennenda, the town of Glarus, Netstal, and Näfels, from where it is channeled to...
—the men held their muskets over their heads and waded across, through water to their chests—and protected the crossing site for the remainder of the force. Baron von Hotze, commander of the Austrian force there, advanced on the position near Richterswil
Richterswil
Richterswil is a municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland.-History:Richterswil is first mentioned in 1265 as Richtliswile.During the 17th Century, a series of peasant revolts broke out across Switzerland...
to direct its defense, and was killed by a French musket ball. His successor, Franz, Baron von Petrasch, could not push the French back, and organized a retreat from the region, falling back to St. Gallen and losing another 8,000 men and some guns. By the time Suvorov arrived in St. Gallen in early October, the Austrians and the Russians had been pushed out and he was forced to lead his men over the Alps to the Voralberg, resulting in additional losses.
Organizational and command problems
The army experienced a variety of command problems, especially in its early operations in southwestern Germany. After the defeat at Stockach, the army withdrew into the Black Forest. Jourdan relinquished command provisionally to Ernouf, who was a capable staff officer but had insufficient experience to hold together a varied and demoralized force. Jourdan retired to Strasbourg, where he was, or claimed he was, indisposed. By the time Massena arrived to take command, organization and discipline was in shambles. Only four divisional generals had remained at their posts: Klein, Ferino, Souham, and Vandamme. Decaen was under arrest in Strassbourg, pending a Courts-martial, as was d'Hautpoul, for his failure to organize a timely cavalry attack at Stockach. The others had disappeared to different parts of the southwest or had gone to France. Lecourbe, who was injured, had gone to Paris; no one knew where Bernadotte had gone, and Saint Cyr had retired to Mannheim. The latter was at least reachable. Lecourbe, in a strategically astute move, had gone to Paris; he remained there until late November, when he was able to offer Napoleon direct assistance in his coup, and thus acquired Bonaparte's attention and gratitude.School for marshals
Initially, the Army included five future Marshals of France: Jean-Baptiste JourdanJean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
, its commander-in-chief, François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre, First Duc de Dantzig was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon....
, Jean-Baptiste Drouet
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, Comte d'Erlon
Jean-Baptiste Drouet, comte d'Erlon was a marshal of France and a soldier in Napoleon's Army. D'Erlon notably commanded the I Corps of the Armée du Nord at the battle of Waterloo....
, Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, and Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
. After the defeat at Ostrach, the Army was reorganized and command shifted to another future marshal, Andre Massena
André Masséna
André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars....
.
Subsequent variations
The Army of Switzerland and portions of the Army of the Danube merged in a joint command under Andre Massena in April 1799; in June, portions of the Army of the Danube were used to strengthen the Army of the RhineArmée du Rhin
The Army of the Rhine is the overall name for one of the main French Revolutionary armies, that operated in the German theater along the River Rhine...
. Both the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Danube subsequently merged in 24 November 1799 to form a new, enlarged army designated the Army of the Rhine.
Commanders
| Image | Name | Dates | Battles/Campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled... |
7 March – 8 April 1799 | Battle of Ostrach Battle of Ostrach The Battle of Ostrach, also called the Battle by Ostrach, occurred on 20–21 March 1799. It was the first battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle resulted in the victory of the Austrian forces, under the command of Archduke Charles, over the French forces, commanded by Jean... Battle of Stockach (1799) Battle of Stockach (1799) On 25 March 1799, French and Austrian armies fought for control of the geographically strategic Hegau region in present day Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names: First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen... |
|
| Jean Augustin Ernouf Jean Augustin Ernouf Jean Augustin Ernouf was a French general and colonial administrator of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. He demonstrated moderate abilities as a combat commander; his real strength lay in his organizational and logistical talents... |
8 April 1799 – 29 April 1799 | temporary command | |
 |
Andre Massena André Masséna André Masséna 1st Duc de Rivoli, 1st Prince d'Essling was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.... |
29 April – 29 November 1799 | First Battle of Zurich First Battle of Zürich The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars. In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799, French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreated beyond the Limmat, where he managed to fortify his... Second Battle of Zurich Second Battle of Zürich The Second Battle of Zurich was a French victory over an Austrian and Russian force near Zurich. It broke the stalemate that had resulted from the First Battle of Zurich three months earlier and led to the withdrawal of Russia from the Second Coalition.After he had been forced out of the city in... |
| Louis Marie Turreau Louis Marie Turreau Louis Marie Turreau , also known as Turreau de Garambouville or Turreau de Linières, was a French general officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He was most notable as the organisor of the colonnes infernales during the war in the Vendée, which massacred tens of thousands of Vendéens and ravaged... |
30 November – 11 December 1799 | Provisional Commander, appointed briefly after the November coup d'etat | |