| Battle of Ettlingen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFrench Revolutionary War | |||||||
 Two cannonballs embedded in a large boulder have the date9.10.Juli.1796 inscribed in the stone. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 French Republic |  Habsburg Austria Electoral Saxony | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Jean Moreau | Archduke Charles | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Army of Rhin-et-Moselle | Army of the Upper Rhine | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 36,000 | 32,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2,400 | 2,600 | ||||||
TheBattle of Ettlingen orBattle of Malsch (9 July 1796) was fought during theFrench Revolutionary Wars between the armies of theFirst French Republic andHabsburg Austria near the town ofMalsch, 9 kilometres (6 mi) southwest ofEttlingen. The Austrians underArchduke Charles, Duke of Teschen tried to halt the northward advance ofJean Victor Marie Moreau's FrenchArmy of Rhin-et-Moselle along the east bank of theRhine River. After a tough fight, the Austrian commander found that his left flank was turned. He conceded victory to the French and retreated east towardStuttgart. Ettlingen is located 10 kilometres (6 mi) south ofKarlsruhe.
TheRhine Campaign of 1796 saw Moreau's army facing the AustrianArmy of the Upper Rhine underMaximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour in the south. Meanwhile,Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's FrenchArmy of Sambre-et-Meuse opposed theArmy of the Lower Rhine under Archduke Charles in the north. Jourdan drubbedDuke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg atAltenkirchen on 4 June, compelling Archduke Charles to rush to the rescue with reinforcements. Charles defeated Jourdan atWetzlar on the 15th, forcing him to pull back to the west bank of the Rhine. At this time there was a shake up in the high command and the archduke was put in control of both Austrian armies. In Charles' absence, Moreau successfully crossed the Rhine atKehl on the night of 23–24 June and beat Latour atRastatt on 5 July. LeavingWilhelm von Wartensleben in charge in the north, Charles rushed south to confront Moreau along theAlb River near Ettlingen. After an all-day combat, the Austrians held the advantage on their right wing near Malsch, but the French had defeated their left wing in theBlack Forest.
At the beginning of theRhine Campaign of 1796, Austria had two armies in Germany, theArmy of the Upper Rhine underDagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and theArmy of the Lower Rhine underArchduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The left wing of the 80,000-manArmy of the Upper Rhine guarded theRhine River fromMannheim toSwitzerland underAnton Sztáray,Michael von Fröhlich andLouis Joseph, Prince of Condé while its right wing was on the west bank aroundKaiserslautern. TheArmy of the Lower Rhine had a 20,000-strong right wing underDuke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg on the east bank observing the French bridgehead atDüsseldorf. The archduke's remaining 70,000 troops lay on the west bank along theNahe River with powerful garrisons inMainz andEhrenbreitstein Fortress.[1]
TheArmy of Rhin-et-Moselle led byJean Victor Marie Moreau was deployed with its right flank atHuningue, its center on theQueich River and its left flank atSaarbrücken. TheArmy of Sambre-et-Meuse commanded byJean-Baptiste Jourdan was responsible for a line running north fromSankt Wendel toCologne, while the 22,000 men of its left wing underJean-Baptiste Kléber held Düsseldorf.[1] The French grand strategy designed by Minister of WarLazare Carnot was for each of their two armies to turn the Austrian flanks. The strategic plan called for Jourdan to start by advancing by his left wing and was designed to accomplish two goals. First, it was hoped that this would cause the Austrians to abandon the west bank of the Rhine. Second, the move would draw Austrian strength north and allow Moreau's army a better chance to cross the Rhine in the south.[2]
Until this time, theArmy of Rhine-et-Moselle consisted of independent divisions. When Moreau assumed command he reorganized the army into threecorps or wings plus a small reserve. Over the objections of all three men, he namedLouis Desaix,Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr andPierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino wing commanders. The system soon proved its worth. Moreau's other innovation was to group many of the heavy cavalry regiments in the army reserve. TheChasseurs à Cheval,Dragoon andHussar regiments remained attached to the infantry divisions.[3] On 8 June, Ferino's Right Wing had three divisions led byFrançois Antoine Louis Bourcier (9,281 infantry, 690 cavalry),Henri François Delaborde (8,300 infantry, 174 cavalry) andAugustin Tuncq (7,437 infantry, 432 cavalry). Desaix's Center had three divisions commanded byMichel de Beaupuy (14,565 infantry, 1,266 cavalry),Antoine Guillaume Delmas (7,898 infantry, 865 cavalry) andCharles Antoine Xaintrailles (4,828 infantry, 962 cavalry). Saint-Cyr's Left Wing had two divisions underGuillaume Philibert Duhesme (7,438 infantry, 895 cavalry) andAlexandre Camille Taponier (11,823 infantry, 1,231 cavalry). Altogether, Moreau'sArmy of Rhin-et-Moselle numbered 71,581 foot soldiers and 6,515 cavalry, plus gunners and sappers.[4] Counting artillery and other elements, Moreau's total was 79,592 soldiers while Jourdan commanded 77,792 men.[5]
TheRhine Campaign of 1795 had concluded with an armistice.[2] On 20 May 1796, the Austrians notified the French that the truce would end on 1 June. The minute it expired, Kléber led two divisions across the armistice line heading south toward Charles' right wing.[6] The French beat the Duke of Württemberg in theBattle of Altenkirchen on 4 June,[7] capturing 3,000 Austrians, four colors and 12 guns. By 6 June Kléber's wing was on theLahn River and Archduke Charles began evacuating the west bank of the Rhine in order to concentrate against the French incursion. Kléber was joined within a few days by Jourdan and most of theArmy of the Sambre-et-Meuse. At about this time, the Austrian high command began transferring Wurmser and 25,000 Austrians to Italy due to the successes ofNapoleon Bonaparte.[8] On 15 June, the archduke defeated the French in theBattle of Wetzlar. Subsequently, Jourdan recrossed to the west bank of the Rhine while Kléber retreated north toward Düsseldorf.[7]
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With Wurmser leaving the theater, Archduke Charles was given command over both Austrian armies.Wilhelm von Wartensleben took command of theArmy of the Lower Rhine whileMaximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour assumed leadership of theArmy of the Upper Rhine. Jourdan and Kléber's advance had caused their opponents to abandon the west bank of the Rhine and had drawn Charles north, as planned. Meanwhile, Moreau mounted operations against the Austrian fortifications opposite Mannheim in order to lead his enemies into thinking that it was the main attack.[9] But on 24 June 1796, Moreau launched a successful river crossing in theBattle of Kehl. The 7,000 defending troops of theSwabian Regional Contingent put up a stout fight but were defeated with the loss of 700 soldiers, 14 guns and 22 munition wagons. The French reported losses of 150. Subsequently, Sztáray took command of the Swabians who were reinforced up to a strength of 9,000 by some Austrians. On the 28th Sztáray was beaten by Desaix atRenchen. The French sustained 200 casualties[10] while allied losses amounted to 550 killed and wounded plus 850 men, seven guns and two munition wagons captured.[11]
Having blocked Jourdan, Archduke Charles began moving troops south to oppose theArmy of Rhin-et-Moselle as early as 21 June. He received the news that Moreau was across the Rhine on the 26th. Leaving 25,351-foot and 10,933 horse under Wartensleben and 27,000 more around Mainz, the archduke raced south. The last units of the Moreau's army made it across the Rhine on 29 June,[5] though Delaborde remained guarding the west bank of the Rhine for a time. For a few days the French enjoyed a numerical superiority of 30,000 to 18,000 over their opponents.[9] Moreau then made the remarkable decision to switch the positions of two of his wings; Desaix now led the Left Wing while Saint-Cyr commanded the center.[5] He also reorganized his army, reassigning some regiments that got lost in the confusion of the river crossing.Army of Rhin-et-Moselle expanded its bridgehead in a semicircle. Desaix moved downstream (north), Ferino moved upstream (south) and Saint-Cyr operated in the hills, ready to support either wing.[12] The French irruption caused Fröhlich and Condé to retreat up the Rhine andKinzig Rivers while Sztáray and the Swabians fell back toFreudenstadt.[9]
Moreau had an opportunity to smash one of the enemy forces, but he moved slowly.[12] Saint-Cyr started fromOberkirch on 2 July. The next day his wing moved in an easterly direction, seizing enemy positions atOppenau, on theKniebis Mountain and at Freudenstadt. This deep thrust completely separated Fröhlich from the rest of theArmy of the Upper Rhine.[13] Latour and Sztáray tried to hold a position behind theMurg River but Desaix attacked them in theBattle of Rastatt[14] on 5 July.[12] To assist in this operation, Moreau directed Saint-Cyr to move down the Murg valley. On the same day as Rastatt, Taponier's division capturedGernsbach.[12] At Rastatt, the French employed 19,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to spar with 6,000 Austrians led byKarl Aloys zu Fürstenberg andJohann Mészáros von Szoboszló. The French turned both Austrian flanks, forcing their enemies to pull back east towardEttlingen. Casualties on both sides were light. The Austrians lost 200 men and three guns captured.[11] At Ettlingen Latour found the archduke's leading elements, with the main body still a few days distant. The Austrians were in a vulnerable situation but Moreau delayed for three days at Rastatt, allowing[15] Charles to bring up 25 battalions and 39 squadrons.[12]
On 1 July 1796, Ferino's Right Wing was organized into one division under Delaborde and four brigades led by Nicolas Louis Jordy, Nicolas Augustin Paillard,Jean Victor Tharreau andJean-Baptiste Tholmé. Jordy led the 3rd and 38th Line Infantry Demi Brigades. Tharreau directed the 3rd Light and the 56th, 74th, 79th and 89th Line Infantry Demi Brigades. Paillard commanded the 12th and 21st (heavy) Cavalry Regiments while Tholmé commanded the 18th Cavalry, 4th Dragoon and 8th Hussar Regiments. Tuncq was not listed as leading a division. Ferino's wing counted 18,622-foot soldiers and 1,039 horsemen.[16]
At the same date, Desaix's Left Wing was made up of the divisions of Beaupuy and Delmas. In Beaupuy's division,Dominique Joba led the 10th, 62nd and 103rd Line and the 10th Light Demi Brigades whileGilles Joseph Martin Brunteau Saint-Suzanne commanded the 4th and 8th Chasseurs à Cheval and the 6th Dragoons. In Delmas' divisionJean Marie Rodolph Eickemeyer directed the 50th and 97th Line and 16th Light Infantry Demi Brigades while Maurice Frimont led the 7th Hussar and 10th and 17th Dragoon Regiments. Xaintrailles was not named as a division commander. Desaix's command comprised 17,126 bayonets and 2,058 sabers.[16]
A report from 9 July 1796 showed that Saint-Cyr's Center had two divisions under Duhesme and Taponier. In Duhesme's division,Dominique Vandamme's brigade included the 17th Line (2,793) and 100th Line (2,479), 20th Chasseurs à Cheval (254) and 11th Hussars (38). Duhesme's division counted 5,272 infantry and 292 cavalry. Taponier's division consisted of the brigades of Henri François Lambert, Antoine Laroche Dubouscat andClaude Lecourbe. Lambert led the 93rd Line (3,119) and 109th Line (2,769). Laroche directed the 21st Light (2,284) and 31st Line (2,840). Lecourbe commanded the 84th Line (2,692), 106th Line (3,186) and 2nd Chasseurs à Cheval (240). There were a total of 22,162-foot soldiers, 532 horsemen and 433 gunners in Saint-Cyr's wing.[17] However, a 14 June report showed 919 troopers present in Saint-Cyr's command, including the 9th Hussars.[18]
On 1 July, Bourcier's Reserve division comprised one brigade under Jean Marie Forest with the 93rd and 109th Line (detached to Saint-Cyr by 9 July), the 1st and 2nd Carabiniers and the 3rd, 9th, 14th and 15th Cavalry Regiments. The cavalry counted 1,577 sabers. In Moreau's army, all infantry demi brigades had three battalions, all Cavalry regiments had three squadrons, while Carabinier, Chasseur, Dragoon and Hussar Regiments had four squadrons.[16] There were 8,201 infantry and 238 cavalry in garrison atBitche,Kehl,Landau andStrasbourg.Marc Amand Élisée Scherb with 2,812-foot and 239 horse watched the Austrian-heldPhilippsburg fortress. Moreau'schief of staff wasJean Reynier and his chief of artillery wasJean Baptiste Eblé.[18] Moreau had 36,000 men available in 45 battalions and 55 squadrons.[19]
On 3 July, theArmy of the Upper Rhine was organized into divisions under Fröhlich, Fürstenberg, Sztáray andJohann Sigismund Riesch. In addition, Archduke Charles personally commanded divisions underFriedrich Freiherr von Hotze and von Lindt. Fröhlich had three brigades led by Condé, Johann Jacob von Klingling and Simon von Wolf. Fürstenberg led seven brigades under Zaiger, Milius, Joseph Heinrich von Staader,Ignaz Gyulai, Johann Baptist von Leloup, Franz Walter Anton von Canisius and Paul Devay. The last two brigades were detached to Latour's direct command along with the divisions Sztáray and Riesch. Sztáray's division included five brigades underLudwig Wilhelm Anton Baillet de Latour-Merlemont,Konrad Valentin von Kaim,Prince Joseph de Lorraine-Vaudemont,Duke Alexander of Württemberg andJohann I Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein. Riesch's division had three brigades under Count Palatine, Adam Boros de Rákos and an unknown officer. In the archduke's corps, Hotze commanded three Austrian brigades underWilhelm Lothar Maria von Kerpen,Franz Seraph of Orsini-Rosenberg andJoseph von Schellenberg. Lindt led fiveElectoral Saxon brigades.[20]
The Austrian order of battle for 9 July showed the army organized into four columns. The 1st Column under Kaim included two brigades under Schellenberg andChristoph von Lattermann. Schellenberg had two battalions each fromGrand Duke of Tuscany Nr. 23 andOlivier Wallis Nr. 29 Infantry Regiments, six companies from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of theSlavonian Infantry Regiment and one squadron of theArchduke Ferdinand Hussar Regiment Nr. 32. Lattermann led three battalions of theArchduke Charles Nr. 3 Infantry Regiment, theAbfaltern andRetzGrenadier Battalions and two squadrons each of theSzekler Hussar Regiment andWaldeck Dragoon Regiment Nr. 39.[21]
Sztáray commanded the 2nd Column which consisted of an Advanced Guard under Devay, two brigades led by Latour-Merlemont and the Prince of Lorraine and two unbrigaded mounted units, four squadrons each of theArchduke John Dragoons Nr. 26 andWaldeck Dragoons. Devay led two battalions of thePellegrini Nr. 49 Infantry Regiment, one battalion each of theSplenyi Nr. 51 andSerbian Infantry Regiments, seven squadrons of theArchduke Ferdinand Hussars and six squadrons of theKinskyChevau-légers Nr. 7. Latour-Merlemont commanded three battalions of theManfredini Nr. 12 Infantry Regiment and theCandiani,Dietrich,Reisingen andWarren Grenadier Battalions. Lorraine directed four squadrons each of theKavanaugh Nr. 12 andArchduke Franz Nr. 29Cuirassiers.[21]
Latour led the 3rd Column which was organized into an Advanced Guard under Canisius and three brigades directed by Kerpen, Liechtenstein and Württemberg. Canisius commanded three battalions of theFranz Kinsky Nr. 47 Infantry Regiment, four companies from theSerbian and three companies of theSlavonian Infantry Regiments, six squadrons of theLobkowitz Chevau-légers Nr. 28, four squadrons of theSzekler Hussars and two squadrons of theCoburg Dragoons Nr. 37.[21] Kerpen led three battalions of theAlton Nr. 15 Infantry Regiment[19] and theBideskuty,Szenassy andBenjowski Grenadier Battalions. Liechtenstein controlled three squadrons of theKaiser Dragoons Nr. 1. Württemberg directed six squadrons of theMack Nr. 20 and four squadrons of theAnsbach Nr. 33 Cuirassiers.[21]
The small 4th Column was commanded by Johann Nepomuk von Mosel and consisted of two battalions of theSchröder Nr. 7 Infantry Regiment, one battalion of theLeloupJägers and two squadrons each of theAlbert Nr. 5 andKaiser Nr. 15 Carabiniers.[21] Lindt's Saxon infantry was made up of theBrandenstein andGlaffay Grenadier Battalions, one battalion ofWeimar Jägers, and one battalion each of theKürfurst,Prinz Anton,Prinz Clemens,Prince Gotha andVan der Hayde Infantry Regiments. The Saxon mounted troops included four squadrons each of the Carabinier, Hussar andPrinz Albert andCourland Chevau-léger Regiments plus two squadrons of theSaxe-Gotha Cavalry Regiment.[20] Altogether, Charles had about 32,000 troops available.[19]
After conferring with Desaix and Saint-Cyr at Renchen, Moreau mounted his assault on 9 July 1796. This decision preempted Archduke Charles, who had planned to attack the French on the 10th.[13] The French commander planned to pin the Austrians in the Rhine plain while turning their left flank among the mountains of theBlack Forest. For his part, Charles hoped to outflank the French left near the river and recapture Gernsbach.[14] Latour held the Austrian right near the Rhine, Sztáray was posted in the center nearMalsch, Kaim defended the left-center in the hills along theAlb River and Lindt's Saxons held the far left nearNeuenbürg.[22]
Moreau accompanied Desaix's Left Wing with the divisions of Delmas and Sainte-Suzanne (vice Beaupuy), Bourcier's Reserve and Saint-Cyr's cavalry and horse artillery which were ineffective in the mountains.[13] Malsch was captured twice by the French and recaptured each time by the Austrians.[14] Latour tried to force his way around the French left with cavalry but was checked by the mounted troops of the Reserve.[23] Finding his horsemen outnumbered nearÖtigheim, Latour used his artillery to keep the French cavalry at bay.[14] In the Rhine plain the combat raged until 10 PM.[23] In the evening the Austrians were pushing Desaix back when bad news from the left flank caused Charles to call a halt.[13]
Kaim had six battalions of infantry, four squadrons of cavalry and plenty of artillery deployed at Rothenzholl. He posted three more battalions atFrauenalb to the north and an advance guard inLoffenau.[23] Saint-Cyr left Duhesme's division behind to guard Freudenstadt and the Kneibis Mountain.[13] He started from Gernsbach with 12 battalions plus six more borrowed from the Reserve. Finding that the Saxons were marching south along theEnz River to turn his right flank, he sent Taponier with six battalions[24] and 150 hussars east toWildbad.[23] Taponier surprised the Saxons and sent them scurrying back north. With Lambert and Lecourbe's brigades, Saint-Cyr advanced through Loffenau to Rothenzholl northwest ofDobel where he confronted Kaim. Finding the Austrians in powerful defenses, Saint-Cyr tried to draw Kaim's troops out of position.[24]
Employing elements of the 84th and 106th Line,[23] the French wing commander ordered the troops not to press home their assault, but to retreat every time they came against strong resistance. Each attack was pushed farther up the ridge before receding into the valley. When the fifth assault in regimental strength gave way, the defenders finally reacted, sweeping down the slope to cut off the French. Saint-Cyr now sprung his trap. Lecourbe led the massed grenadier companies to attack one Austrian flank, other reserves bored in on the other flank and the center counterattacked.[24] The French troops that struck the Austrian right were hidden in the nearby town ofHerrenalb.[23] As the Austrians gave way, the French followed them up the ridge right into their positions. Nevertheless, Kaim's men laid down such a heavy fire that Lecourbe's grenadiers were thrown into disorder and their leader nearly captured. At length, Saint-Cyr's troops emerged triumphant, inflicting 1,000 casualties on their opponents and capturing two cannons.[24] Kaim was compelled to withdraw east across the hills to Neuenbürg. From there, Kaim and Lindt's soldiers fell back towardPforzheim.[23]
French losses numbered 2,000 killed and wounded plus 400 captured. The Austrians suffered 1,300 killed and wounded with 1,300 captured.[19] On 10 July, Charles evacuated Malsch and ordered a forced march east toPforzheim viaKarlsruhe. Also on the 10th, the French occupied Ettlingen and Neuenbürg.[23] Anxious to protect his magazines atHeilbronn,[14] Charles halted at Pforzheim for a few days. For his part, Moreau would not believe that Charles had given up, so he waited around Ettlingen for several days. Meanwhile, the Austrians packed their supplies into wagons and headed east on 14 July. The next day, Moreau moved on Pforzheim but found the archduke gone.[25]
When Archduke Charles withdrew from the Rhine valley, he left about 30,000 troops in garrisons along the river. There were 15,000-foot and 1,200 horse in Mainz, 3,000 infantry in Ehrenbreitstein, 8,800 infantry and 300 cavalry in Mannheim and 2,500-foot soldiers in Philippsburg. To contain the first two, Jourdan left 28,545 troops underFrançois Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers while Moreau only detailed 2,800 infantry and 240 cavalry to watch the last two places.[26] For the most part, the Austrian garrisons remained quiescent. But the Austrians in Mannheim caused mischief by attacking Kehl on 18 September. More might have been accomplished in that assault, but the Austrian soldiers paused to pillage the French camp and were driven off by their enemies.[27] Even so, Charles not only lost the services of the 30,000 men in the fortresses but also of the Swabians, Saxons and other German allies when he retreated from the Rhine. These auxiliary forces began to negotiate with the French when their territories were occupied.[28]
HistorianRamsay Weston Phipps believed that Charles might have remained along the Rhine and defeated the French armies one after the other. Unlike the divided command of the French, the Austrians enjoyed unity of command.[28] After Ettlingen, Phipps thought that the correct French strategy was for the two French armies to join. However, this was not part of Carnot's plan, which was for each army to operate against the Austrian flanks. Carnot's strategy had succeeded in 1794 during theFlanders Campaign and he expected that it would win again. However, in 1794 the Coalition was made up of several countries with different vulnerabilities, while in 1796 Charles could issue a command and expect it to be obeyed.[29] The next clash would be theBattle of Neresheim on 11 August.[19]
These sources identify the Austrian regiment numbers.
These sources provide the full names and other identifying information of French and Austrian generals from the Napoleonic period.
48°56′36″N8°24′33″E / 48.94333°N 8.40917°E /48.94333; 8.40917
