Second Battle of Wissembourg (1793)
Part ofFrench Revolutionary Wars
Wissembourg in the 17th century
Date 26–29 December 1793 Location Wissembourg,Bas-Rhin,France 49°02′18″N7°56′49″E / 49.0383°N 7.9469°E /49.0383; 7.9469 Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Austria Prussia Electorate of Bavaria Hesse-Kassel
Commanders and leaders
Lazare Hoche Charles Pichegru	Dagobert Wurmser Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Ernst von Rüchel Count Minucci
Strength
35,000[1]	30,000[2]
Casualties and losses
500[2]	1,500[2] 21 guns
class=notpageimage| Location within Europe

TheSecond Battle of Wissembourg from 26 December 1793 to 29 December 1793 saw an army of theFirst French Republic under GeneralLazare Hoche fight a series of clashes against an army of Austrians, Prussians, Bavarians, and Hessians led by two generals, namely, the AustrianDagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and the PrussianCharles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.^[2] There were significant actions atWœrth on 22 December and Geisberg on 26 and 27 December. In the end, the French forced their opponents to withdraw to the east bank of theRhine River. The action occurred during theWar of the First Coalition phase of theFrench Revolutionary Wars.

During theFirst Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793, theLines of Weissenburg, defended by the FrenchArmy of the Rhine, were stormed by an Austrian-Allied army under Wurmser.^[3][4] A month later, Austrian engineerFranz von Lauer compelledFort-Louis on theRhine to surrender to the Allies.^[5] The French government responded to the crisis by sending reinforcements from theArmy of the Moselle.^[6]

On 17 November, the 739-man French garrison ofBitche repelled a Prussian assault on the citadel. A French traitor led the picked force of 1,200 into the outer fortifications. The alert defenders spottedOberst (Colonel) von Wartensleben's attackers and drove them out of the fort with the loss of 120 killed and 251 captured. The French lost a handful of men killed and wounded and 63 captured. The traitor was captured and shot.^[7] That same day, Prussian GeneralFriedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth with 13,000 troops defeated Hoche's 20,000 menat Biesingen. The French lost 760 killed and wounded, plus 42 captured. Prussian losses were only 16 killed and 92 wounded.^[8]

TheBattle of Kaiserslautern followed on 28 to 30 November 1793 when Hoche with 29,115 infantry, 5,046 cavalry, and 52 guns engagedCharles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel with 26,000 Prussians and Saxons. The Allies defeated the French with a loss of 2,400 killed and wounded, plus 700 men and two guns captured. Prussian casualties numbered 616 while the Saxons lost 190 men. Following the policy ofKing Frederick William II, Brunswick failed to follow up his victory with a vigorous pursuit.^[9]

The allies were in their turn dispossessed by Hoche on 26 December and forced to retreat behind the Rhine.^[10][11][12]

It was a French victory and enabled French forces to secure the whole ofAlsace. It also led to a definitive break between the Austrians and the Prussians, who blamed each other for the defeat.^[13] The battle's name is engraved on the north pillar of theArc de Triomphe inParis.

• Smith, Digby.The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998.ISBN 1-85367-276-9
• Bodart, Gaston (1908).Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) (in German). Vienna and Leipzig: C. W. Stern. Retrieved16 August 2023.

• Media related toSecond Battle of Wissembourg (1793) at Wikimedia Commons

• Conflicts in 1793
• 1793 in France
• 1793 in the Habsburg monarchy
• Battles of the War of the First Coalition involving Austria
• Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars involving Bavaria
• Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars involving Prussia
• Battles involving Hesse-Kassel
• Military history of Bas-Rhin
• Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe

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