First battle for Zurich
Zurich and the surrounding area on a map around 1800
| date | 4. bis 7. June 1799 |
|---|---|
| place | Zurich |
| output | Austrian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 30,000 | 40,000 |
| losses | |
|
1,700 dead |
3,500 dead |
Ostrach - Feldkirch - Stockach I - Verona - Magnano - Cassano d'Adda - Frauenfeld - Winterthur - Zurich I - Trebbia - Mantua - Novi - Vlieter - Bergen - Zurich II - Muotatal - Egmont - Genola - Wiesloch - Genoa - Stockach II - Engen - Meßkirch - Biberach II - Montebello - Marengo - Höchstädt - Oberhausen - Hohenlinden - Walserfeld - Pozzolo - Copenhagen - Algeciras I - Algeciras II
The first battle of Zurich took place from 4th to 7th June 1799 in Zurich during the Second Coalition War .
prehistory
After the French Revolution and the First Coalition War (1792–1797), the French had secured a belt of Holland , Belgium and Northern Italy on their eastern border . The old Confederation protruded far behind the line reached by the French. The French wanted to straighten this indentation, incorporate the old Confederation into their belt and secure the crossings from the Valais to Italy and over the Bündner passes. The places of the Old Confederation were divided. They could not set up a common army and only offered sporadic resistance.
On October 10, 1797, the French conquered the Valtellina . On December 15th they occupied the Jura valleys . On January 26, 1798, they marched into Vaud . Bern fell at the beginning of March . They reached Zurich on April 27 and moved on to force Schwyz and Glarus to adopt the Helvetic Constitution .
With the capture of the Old Confederation, the French army had an advanced position and threatened Austria . In Egypt , Napoleon inflicted losses on the British and Ottoman troops. Great Britain, Russia , Austria , Portugal , Naples and the Ottoman Empire allied in Europe , and the Second Coalition War loomed. The coalition forces were supposed to drive the French back from the Old Confederation.
On May 14, 1799, the imperial troops advanced into the Swiss Confederation in two army groups. Hotze advanced from Vorarlberg towards Winterthur , Archduke Karl from the Singen-Engen area. On May 22nd, his vanguard fought Masséna's troops near Andelfingen and Neftenbach. On May 22nd and 23rd, 1799, most of the Austrian troops crossed the Rhine at Schaaren between Schaffhausen and Diessenhofen . During the retreat with skirmishes from the Rhine over the Thur and the Töss , on May 25, Masséna initially prevented the merging of Archduke Karl's troops with those of Hotze with a counterattack at Frauenfeld -Wil. Masséna had to take his troops back behind the Glatt to Zurich on May 29th , which he had had from Riesbach via the Adlisberg , the Zürichberg , the Milchbuck to the Käferberg fortified since the end of March . Gun bases were a fort on Burghölzli , one on Zurichberg and a hill west of the Waid . The spaces in between were blocked by infantry and batteries , including a battery on the Kapf and five entrenchments and double entrances between Adlisberg and Zürichberg. Between the Zürichberg and the Käferberg there were eleven jumps and barriers on the streets of Schwamendingen , Glattbrugg and Affoltern .
course
André Masséna had around 25,000 men and 130 guns from his Helvetic Army available to defend Zurich . He had divided them into two divisions. General Charles Nicolas Oudinot was responsible from the Käferberg over the Milchbuck to the Zürichberg . General Nicolas Jean-de-Dieu Soult stood with 7,600 men from Zürichberg to Riesbach . Masséna had a reserve under his command on the Zürichberg. The Tharreau division was to cover the left wing of the French on the lower reaches of the Glatt with 12,000 men .
Archduke Karl had a superior force of 63,000 men to attack Zurich. But they had the swampy Glattal, the Glatt and the steep climbs, the terrain reinforcements and an artillery set up against them.
On May 31st the Austrians reached Stäfa , Grüningen and Esslingen . On June 1st, Hotze attacked Dübendorf , but the French claimed the Glattbrücke.
In order to simulate the main attack from the Pfannenstiel area , the Jelačić column with 4,200 men reached the Balgrist on June 2 via the Forch and along Lake Zurich to Zollikon . The French withdrew from Zollikon to Riesbach.
On the right of Jelačić, Count Bey reached Witikon with 3,500 men , surprised the French garrison, settled in Witikon and threw the French back to Hirslanden .
On June 3, the French attacked at 3 a.m. from Hirslanden in the direction of Balgrist and Witikon in order to recapture the advanced posts. The Austrians had to retreat to Zollikon and Witikon, but in return they got past Burghölzli to Hirslanden and to the gates of the city of Zurich. Although the counter-attack personally led by Masséna was not enough to recapture the previous positions, the attacks by Bey and Jelačić remained stuck. In the afternoon, Masséna attacked the Austrians again at Hirslanden. Jelačić was forced to take his left wing back from Stadelhofen to Zollikon so that it was not cut off.
Archduke Karl's orders to attack were carried out as follows: On June 4, the Austrian army attacked Zurich on a broad front.
The first column attacked again with 4,200 men under Jelačić in the direction of Riesbach, reached the area in front of the bulwarks, but was thrown back behind the torrent . In the afternoon, Jelačić's troops captured Burghölzli, reached Seefeld and Kreuzbühl, but had to retreat to Flühgasse around 5 p.m.
The second column with 3,500 men under Count Bey pushed to the right of Jelačić from the Witikon area against the Stöckentobel and the positions on the Kapf, and reached the Hegibach and the Heuel. Around 10 o'clock the French pushed Bey down from the Adlisberg in the flank and in the back, so that he had to withdraw his troops to the Eierbrecht.
The third column with 3,300 men under the Prince of Lorraine was to attack the French positions on the Zürichberg from Dübendorf. The difficult terrain on the rise forced the prince to leave the artillery behind. Without fire support, the infantry could not overcome the fortifications at Tobelhof and in front of the Adlisberg.
The fourth column with 8,000 men under Hotze was supposed to cross the Glatt near Wallisellen and attack the Zürichberg head-on. The French prevented the passage over the Glatt with their artillery fire. Hotze tried to advance further via Dübendorf. He was wounded and handed over the command to Petrasch. Although the French had withdrawn to the Zürichberg, the fourth column was unable to overcome the dense barriers in the forest and the French artillery fire. Petrasch withdrew to the Glattal .
The fifth column with 8,200 men under Prince Reuss was supposed to break through the fortifications on the crossing over the Milchbuck from Glattbrugg via Oerlikon . A counterattack by Oudinot vom Käferberg against Affoltern and Seebach forced Reuss, before he had reached the Milchbuck, to turn to the protection of the Austrians' right flank.
It is true that Archduke Karl had brought his troops directly to the French positions on the evening of June 4th. But he hadn't made the breakthrough. In contrast, the French had claimed the city. The Austrians counted 322 dead, 1,381 wounded and 836 missing men, presumably prisoners. The French had lost 1,700 dead and wounded and 600 prisoners.
June 5th was rainy and brought a break in the fighting. Then the people of Zurich saw the French preparing incendiary grenades to set fire to the houses on Mühlebach, Zeltweg and Wolfbach . They feared bombing and street battles in the city. The Zurich government asked Masséna to avoid the shelling and fighting in the city.
Archduke Karl planned a surprise attack over the Milchbuck for the night of June 5th to 6th. Masséna got ahead of him and negotiated the free withdrawal from Zurich. At 1 a.m., Masséna's retreat across the Limmat to the Uetliberg and to Albisrieden began . At 2 p.m. the French rearguard left the city. The Tharreau division , which had protected the left flank of the French on the lower Glatt, withdrew over the Weininger Pass and the bridge at Wettingen over the Limmat.
At 3:30 p.m. the Austrians marched into the city of Zurich. They were able to follow the French as far as Albisrieden, Altstetten and Schlieren , but had to give up these places again on June 8th.
In the first battle of Zurich, the French lost around 1,800 and the Austrians around 2,500 men.
consequences
Since Archduke Karl waited for new orders from Vienna and Masséna sought reinforcements in vain, a kind of armistice arose in the Zurich area . The old Confederation was divided between the French and Austrians. Hunger and misery ruled the communities affected by the war.
During the summer, Russian troops under General Korsakov replaced the Austrian units. In the Second Battle of Zurich , however, the French managed to drive out the Russians and reoccupy the city.
literature
- Brigadekdt François Louis Dedon, Relation détaillée du passage de la Limmat, Paris 1801
- Colonel Miliutin: History of the war between Russia and France under Paul's I government in 1799 , Volume IV, Munich 1857.
- Colonel Lt. i Gst F. Becker: The first battle near Zurich , Verlag F. Schulthess, Zurich 1899.
- Conrad Escher, Rudolf Wachter: Chronicle of the community Wipkingen , Zurich 1910 (antiquarian).
- Robert Müller: Zollikon as a European theater of war 1799 , lecture manuscript Kulturkreis Zollikon 1961.
- Walter Mathys: Construction of the fortifications for the battles for Zurich , Turicum. Zurich 1974.
- Max Trachsler: When the imperial family moved over the Glattbrücke , Heimatbuch Dübendorf 1981.
- Hans Glarner: Zollikon - a theater of war in the Second Coalition War , Zolliker Jahrheft, municipality of Zollikon 1988.
- Hans Rudolf Fuhrer: The two battles of Zurich 1799 , Au 1995.