Battle of Biberach (1796)

Battle of Biberach

Part of: First Coalition War

Battle of Biberach

date	October 2, 1796
place	Biberach
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	Austria
Commander
General de division Moreau	FZM from Latour
Troop strength
35,000	15,000
losses
500 dead and wounded	300 dead and wounded, 4,000 prisoners, 18 cannons, 2 flags

The first battle near Biberach took place on October 2, 1796 during the campaign in Germany between the French Rhine and Moselle armies under their commander Jean Victor Marie Moreau and the troops of the Imperial Feldzeugmeister Maximilian Baillet von Latour near Biberach an der Riss .

prehistory

During the campaign, the French Rhine and Moselle armies and the Sambre and Maas armies (under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan ) met the imperial troops under the command of Karl von Österreich-Teschen . An Austrian corps of 30,000 men under the command of FZM. Baillet-Latour protected against the Rhine and Moselle armies, while the main power under Archduke Karl turned against the Sambre and Maas armies under Jourdan. Jourdan's army was defeated on August 24th in the Battle of Amberg and on September 3rd in the Battle of Würzburg .

Moreau's army continued on its way to Munich anyway and on September 15th had two divisions under General St. Cyr go to the right bank of the Danube, where he marched up behind the Neuburg Moos near Neuburg . After a final battle on September 20 near Altenkirchen an der Wied , Jourdan's army had to retreat to the left bank of the Rhine. General Moreau, who was already at Rain am Lech , feared that his troops would be crushed between the two Austrian armies under Latour and Archduke Karl. When Moreau realized that Archduke Karl wanted to march into the Rhine Valley in order to cut off his connections to the rear, he had to quickly withdraw his army across the Black Forest on September 19 .

The mission of Feldzeugmeister Baillet-Latour's army was to enable the main imperial contingent to reach the Rhine before the French. To put an end to this danger, Moreau decided to attack the imperial troops at Biberach head-on. According to Moreau's orders, Desaix's corps advanced on the road from Riedlingen via Ahlen and Seekirch, trying to win the heights of Biberach from the enemy. The Corps St. Cyr was to advance in the middle against Biberach, while the troops under General Ferino pursued the enemy on the left wing via Waldsee to Oberessendorf.

The battle

The French troops under General Desaix attacked at noon on October 2nd, advanced via Seekirch, threw back an enemy detachment from Ahlen and pursued the Austrians via Gutharzhofen to Burren. The now open right flank of the imperial division Kospoth forced this general to retreat his troops via Mittel-Biberach to the Galgenberg, where the French left wing between Birkenhart and Schaflangen developed to attack.

On the other wing, three French columns had meanwhile advanced on the streets of Reichenbach and Schussenried and had begun the attack against the Austrian division Mercandin and Prince de Conde . When the corps under St. Cyr with a half-brigade of Sattebänen swung across the moss ground, which was considered impenetrable, against Latour's right flank and the other columns also renewed their attack, Latour had to take his center back to the new position at Groth under the protection of the cavalry. The divisions under Prince Conde and Mercandin were pushed back to Ingoldingen and Winterstätten. After the St. Cyrs troops marched slowly between Muttensweiler and Watenweiler, FZM won. Latour gave the necessary time to save his artillery park.

General Desaix had meanwhile decided on the left wing to bypass the opposing lines on the Galgenberg via Oberndorf through the valley there towards Mittel-Biberach. FZM. Latour ordered a general retreat, Field Marshal Lieutenant Mercandin had to retreat to Eberhardszell, Prince Conde to Schweinhausen and Umendorf, and the Kospoth division through Biberach to the other heights of the Riss. The French advanced from Lindeberg, the garrison of the city and the last four battalions of Kospoth were captured. Appendorf was set on fire during the retreat fighting. Here, as at Rissegg, the fire was kept up into the night.

The troops of Baillet-Latour were defeated after a short battle and left 300 dead and wounded on the battlefield. In addition they lost 18 cannons and two regimental flags.

French grave for the French fallen in the battle, Totenbühl, near Bad Schussenried

consequences

The Desaix corps followed on the left wing with two divisions along the Danube, and the troops under General St. Cyr took the route to Pfullendorf and Stockach . A rearguard remained to watch Latour's defeated troops. The troops under Desaix crossed the Danube near Riedlingen and pursued Sigmaringen . From now on the Austrians contented themselves with following the French from a distance without trying again to stop them.

The fighting flared up again in the Battle of Emmendingen on October 19, when Archduke Karl caught the French again, after the Battle of Schliengen (October 24), Moreau's troops had to retreat across the Rhine.

literature

• Frédéric Hulot “Le Général Moreau” Editeur September 2001 ISBN 2-85704-722-3
• Digby Smith "The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book (Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colors, Standards and Artillery, 1792-1815)" Editeur: Greenhill Books 1998 ISBN 1-85367-276-9

Footnotes

1. ↑ there was a second battle near Biberach on May 9, 1800

Coordinates: 48 ° 6 ′ 0 ″  N , 9 ° 48 ′ 0 ″  E