| The Battle of Würzburg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the1796 Rhine campaign during theWar of the First Coalition | |||||||
 Battle of Würzburg by Martinet and Branche, 1837 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Republican France |  Habsburg monarchy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Jean-Baptiste Jourdan | Archduke Charles | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000[1] | 30,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 3,000, 7 guns | 1,500 | ||||||
  Location within Europe | |||||||
TheBattle of Würzburg was fought on 3 September 1796 between an army of theHabsburg monarchy led byArchduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and an army of theFirst French Republic led byJean-Baptiste Jourdan. The French attacked the archduke's forces, but they were resisted until the arrival of reinforcements decided the engagement in favor of the Austrians. The French retreated west toward theRhine River. The action occurred during theWar of the First Coalition, part of theFrench Revolutionary Wars. Würzburg is 95 kilometres (59 mi) southeast ofFrankfurt.
The summer of 1796 saw the two French armies of Jourdan andJean Victor Marie Moreau advance into southern Germany. They were opposed by Archduke Charles, who supervised two weaker Austrian armies commanded byWilhelm von Wartensleben andMaximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour. At theBattle of Amberg on 24 August, Charles managed to concentrate superior numbers against Jourdan, forcing him to withdraw. AtWürzburg, Jourdan attempted a counterattack in a bid to halt his retreat. After his defeat, Charles forced Jourdan's army back to the Rhine. With his colleague in retreat, Moreau was isolated and compelled to abandon southern Germany.
The French army advanced against what they thought to be an isolated Austrian division underFeldmarschall-Leutnant Anton Sztáray. Jourdan's plan was to attack Sztáray with the divisions of Generals of DivisionJean-Baptiste Bernadotte andJean Étienne Championnet, leaving the divisions of Generals of Division Jacques Bonnaud andPaul Grenier in reserve. However, the early morning mist enabled Archduke Charles to bring up the division of Feldmarschall-LeutnantFriedrich Freiherr von Hotze as a reinforcement to Sztáray, effectively undoing what Jourdan thought to be a great numerical superiority for the French.
Jourdan's imagined superiority diminished even more when the division ofGeneral-MajorAnton von Elsnitz to the north kept the much larger force under General of DivisionFrançois Joseph Lefebvre out of the battle. Meanwhile, Austrian engineers were laying pontoon bridges over theMain in order to let the remainder of the Habsburg army cross the river. The French attacked the Austrian position without success until the Austrian divisions of Feldmarschall-LeutnantPaul Kray and FeldzeugmeisterWilhelm von Wartensleben arrived and drove the French off the field.
The French suffered 2,000 killed and wounded, plus 1,000 men and 7 guns captured. The Austrians lost 1,200 killed and wounded, with 300 captured.[2] The Battle of Würzburg determined the winner of the 1796 campaign in southern Germany. Charles pursued the beaten French, turning Jourdan's south flank and keeping between him and General of DivisionJean Victor Marie Moreau's FrenchArmy of Rhin-et-Moselle in southern Germany.
On 7 September, Charles forced the French to lift the siege ofMainz.[3] By 16 September, the opposing armies were back on theLahn River where they started the campaign in June. On that day, Kray with 11,000 Austrians defeated 15,000 Frenchmen of Jourdan's army atLimburg an der Lahn. The French general fell back toDüsseldorf and crossed to the west bank of theRhine. The French gave up their siege of theEhrenbreitstein fortress on 17 September. Charles left 30,000 soldiers with the Army of the Lower Rhine, placed them under the command Feldmarschall-LeutnantFranz von Werneck, and hurried south.[4]
Having disposed of Jourdan's army, the Austrian archduke forced Moreau's now-isolated army to retreat west through theBlack Forest to France.[5] On 18 September, an Austrian division under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Petrasch stormed the Rhine bridgehead atKehl, but was driven out by a French counterattack. At this time, Moreau's army was still south ofUlm. On 2 October, Moreau defeated FeldzeugmeisterMaximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour's Army of the Upper Rhine at theBattle of Biberach. While French casualties numbered only 500, they inflicted 300 killed and wounded, while capturing 4,000 soldiers and 18 cannon.[6] This slowed the southern Austrian pursuit, but with Charles rushing south to cut him off from France, Moreau retreated to the Rhine.
On 19 October, Moreau with 32,000 soldiers fought Charles with 28,000 Austrians at theBattle of Emmendingen. The French suffered 1,000 killed and wounded, including General of DivisionMichel de Beaupuy killed. In addition, the Austrians captured 1,800 men and 2 cannons. The Austrians losses totaled 1,000, including FeldzeugmeisterWilhelm von Wartensleben killed.[7]
The French withdrew south and fought theBattle of Schliengen on 24 October. This time, the Austrians lost 800 while inflicting 1,200 casualties on the French. Both sides claimed victory, but Moreau retreated to the west bank of the Rhine. Moreau soon offered Charles an armistice, which the field marshal wanted to accept. At this time, the Austrian government made a huge error by refusing to ratify the agreement. That fall and winter, while Charles reduced the fortresses ofKehl andHuningen, the French government transferred 14 demi-brigades from Moreau to General of DivisionNapoleon Bonaparte to help the latter bring theSiege of Mantua to a successful conclusion.[8]
(Austrian Cavalry Regiments were numbered in a single series by seniority)
Tyrol Jager (1 batt)3rd Slavonia District Grenzer BattalionCR2 Kaiser Hussars (4 sqdns)
IR21 Gemmingen (1 batt)IR12 Manfredini (2 batt)IR36 Kinsky (1 batt)IR37 De Vins (1 batt)IR51 Splenyi (1 batt)
CR1 Kaiser Chevauleger (4 sqdns)CR19 Levenehr Chevauleger (5 sqdns)
2nd Slavonia District Grenzer BattalionO'Donnel Freikorps (1 batt of 5 companies)Szeckler (Siebenburgen District) Grenzer BattalionSzeckler Grenzer Hussars (6 sqdns)CR37 Coburg Dragoons (1 sqdn)CR19 Levenehr Chevauleger (1 sqdn)CR5 Herzog Albert Carabinier (2 sqdns)CR7 Kinsky Chevaulegers (6 sqdns)
IR54 Callenburg (1 batt)IR11 Wallis (1 batt)IR22 Lacy (1 batt)
Bavarian Palatinate Infantry (2 batt) (Imperial contingent)
Le Loup Freikorps Battalion (6 companies)Archduke Charles Legion from Trier (2 companies)Rohan (Emigre) Infantry (1 batt)
Szenossy Grenadier Battalion (IRs 19/37/53)Apfaltern Grenadier Battalion (IRs 33/39/52)Candiani Grenadier Battalion (IRs 31/51)
CR20 Mack Kurassier (6 sqdns)CR37 Coburg Dragoons (5 sqdns
Munster Dragoons 12 sqdns (Imperial contingent)CR2 Kaiser Hussars (4 sqdns)
1st Slavonia Distrist Grenzer BattalionCroat-Slavonian Sharpshooters (4 companies)CR31 Latour Chevauleger (4 sqdns}CR35 Barco Hussars (4 sqdns)Uhlans (4 sqdns)Rohan (Emigre) Hussats (6 sqdns)Bussy Mounted Jager (4 sqdns)
3rd Warasdin District Grenzer BattalionWallachian (Siebenburgen District) Grenzer BattalionCR18 Karacsay Chevauleger (4 sqdns}CR16 Blankenstein Hussars (6 sqdns)CR34 Vecsey Hussars (4 sqdns)
1st Warasdin District Grenzer battalionSaxe (Emigre) Hussars (2 sqdns)Bercseny (Emigre) Hussars (2 sqdns)Royal Allemand (Emigre) Dragoons (2 sqdns)
IR33 Sztaray (2 batt)
IR1 Kaiser (1 batt)IR32 Gyulai (2 batt)
IR9 Clertayf (1 batt)IR38 Wurtemburg (1 batt)IR58 Murray (1 batt)IR55 Beaulieu (1 batt)
Ulm Grenadier Battalion (IRs 10/41/54)Frankenbusch Grenadier Battalion (IRs 25/35/42)Z'graidt Grenadier Battalion (IRs 9/30/56)Riera Grenadier Battalion (IRs 17/36/47)
Bydeskuti Grenadier Battalion IRs 2/32/34)Reisinger Grenadier Battalion (IRs 1/12/40)Dietrich Grenadier Sattalian (IRs 7/20/56)Retz Grenadier Battation (IRs 15/28/57)
Gehnadegg Grenadier Battalion (IRs 13/26/43)Schreckinger Grenadier Battalion (IR 29)Paulus Grenadier Battalion (IRs 38/58)Kraissern Grenadier Battallon (IRs 16/27/45)
CR5 Herzog Albert Carabinier (6 sqdns)CR6 Kaiser Carabinier (6 sqdns)
CR14 Nassau Kurassier (6 sqdns)CR10 Zeschwitz Kurassier (6 sqdns)
To the north of the battlefield:
4th Slavonia District Grenzer BattallionWurmser Freikorps Battaiion (6 companies)2nd Warasdin Distnct Grenzer BattalionRohan (Emigre) Infantry (1 battalion)Carneville Freikorps Infantry (2 companies)Bourbon (emigre) Legion Battalion (4 companies)CR18 Karacsay Chevauleger (2 sqdns)CR31 Latour Chevauleger (2 sqdns)CR16 Blankenstein Hssars (4 sqdns)CR34 Vecsey Hussars (2 sqds)Carneville Freikorps Hussars (1 sqdn)Bourbon (Emigre) Hussars (4 sqdns)Uhlans (2 sqdns)
Media related toBattle of Würzburg at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Amberg | French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Battle of Würzburg | Succeeded by Battle of Rovereto |
