Battle of Schliengen

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Battle of Schliengen (1796)
Battle of Schliengen Woerl.jpg
date October 24, 1796
place Schliengen
output
consequences The French troops withdraw across the Rhine
Parties to the conflict

Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg Monarchy Austria

France 1804First French Republic France

Commander

Habsburg MonarchyHabsburg Monarchy Archduke Karl of Austria

France 1804First French Republic Jean Moreau

Troop strength
about 36,000 men about 38,000 men
losses

unknown

unknown

The Battle of Schliengen was a battle of the First Coalition War , in which the armies of Austria and the French Republic faced each other. It took place on October 24, 1796 in the Markgräflerland between Basel and Freiburg im Breisgau . The battlefield extended to Schliengen (with its today's districts of Mauchen, Liel, Obereggenen , Niedereggenen ), Steinenstadt , Sitzenkirch and Kandern .

The political and military situation in 1796

Strategic location 1796

The general military weather situation

The 1796 campaign was part of the first coalition war between the French Republic and a coalition of European powers in changing composition. After Prussia and Spain left the coalition with the Peace of Basel in 1795 and most of the German states from northern and central Germany joined Prussia, only France and Austria fought in the 1796 campaign. France opened the campaign on May 31 with the crossing of the Rhine by units of the Sambre and Maas armies under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan . On June 23, Jean-Victor Moreau followed with the Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle. Both associations advanced far into southern Germany. Moreau was already standing in front of Munich when he heard of Jourdan's defeat in the Battle of Amberg on August 24th. Jourdan retired to Würzburg and, after another defeat, to Düsseldorf. Moreau now feared to be enclosed between the two Austrian armies under Latour and the Archduke Charles and cut off from France. He now began his retreat.

The political situation in the margraviate of Baden in October 1796

As early as 1795, the Privy Council of the Margraviate of Baden was considering entering into peace negotiations directly with the French Republic and no longer relying on a solution from the Reich, since the imperial and imperial troops were not able to protect the country and also the danger of a republican popular uprising in Baden grew. After the successes of the Austrian army in October 1795, this policy was initially not pursued any further. After the armistice concluded in 1795 had expired, General Moreau and his army crossed the Rhine near Kehl on June 23 and 24, 1796 and immediately occupied large parts of the margraviate. Margrave Karl Friedrich fled again into Prussian exile at Triesdorf Castle near Ansbach . After Archduke Karl had surrendered the Rhine plain to the French troops, despite a partial success in the Battle of Malsch , and at the same time the imperial army under Count von Wartensleben in Main Franconia separated from the French army under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan , southwest Germany was separated from two French armies clasped. Both Baden and Württemberg sought peace with the French Republic, on the one hand to avert further damage to their countries and, on the other hand, to benefit from the well-known plans of the French to reorganize the German southwest. These wanted to compensate the German princes for their loss of territory on the left bank of the Rhine at the expense of the spiritual territories. A competition for the best compensation began between Württemberg, Bavaria and Baden. The Baden diplomat Sigismund von Reitzenstein was commissioned with armistice negotiations. By bribing French representatives like General Reynier , Reitzenstein succeeded in easing the harsh armistice conditions somewhat. On August 3, 1796, Margrave Karl-Friedrich signed the armistice document, which Reitzenstein had already concluded on July 24, and gave Reitzenstein the task of conducting the peace negotiations. After the armistice became known on July 29th at Biberach an der Riss, Archduke Karl had the troops from Baden and Wurttemberg with him disarmed and sent them home. On August 22, 1796, Baden - like Württemberg before it - concluded a separate peace with France - but the Margrave delayed ratifying the treaty. In October 1796, the margravate of Baden was caught between all chairs and the armies were moving towards the Baden Oberland. None of the warring parties cared that the communities of the margraviate (Kandern; Sitzenkirch; Obereggenen; Untereggenen) lying in the combat area on October 24 were actually neutral territory.

The political situation of the Bishopric of Basel in 1796

The diocese of Basel had already lost all income from its Alsatian diocesan territory in 1789, and in 1790 spiritual suzerainty in Alsace also passed to the diocese of Colmar founded by the French National Assembly . In April 1792, French troops then occupied the Jura passes located in the bishopric of Basel and in August 1792 all the territories of the bishopric on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by France. The official declaration of war on the bishopric only followed in December and on December 17, 1792 the Raurak republic was founded in the territories of the bishopric on the left bank of the Rhine . Since the flight of Prince-Bishop Sigismund von Roggenbach from his capital Pruntrut in April 1792, the bishopric was already considered to have perished. Before the Battle of Schliengen put the right bank Landvogtei Schliengen still the safest area of the Bishopric is, as already unrest broke out in Südjura. The policy of the prince-bishop and the cathedral chapter fluctuated again and again between the desire to join the Confederation and loyalty to the Reich, i.e. H. the hope that the emperor will still save the bishopric. For the French troops, the communities (Steinenstadt, Schliengen, Mauchen) on the battlefield on October 24, 1796, of the Basel bailiwick of Schliengen, were as enemy territory as the community of Liel in front of Austria .

Troop movements in mid-October

The battle of Emmendingen

On October 19, 1796, Moreau tried again to avoid a complete retreat to France and to keep a larger base of operations on the right bank of the Rhine so that the fighting could continue the next year. On a line between Riegel , Emmendingen and Waldkirch , he faced the associations of Archduke Karl, his right wing under General Ferino extended into the valley of Sankt Peter and covered the Black Forest passes against the advancing Austrian troops under Fröhlich and Nauendorf . After the battle was lost, Moreau withdrew behind the Dreisam . He sent his General Desaix back to Kehl via Breisach on the left bank of the Rhine with two divisions. The expectation that the Archduke would then order a considerable number of troops back to Kehl was not fulfilled, so that Moreau was in a weaker position for the following battles. Saint-Cyr was able to hold Freiburg just long enough until the Corps Ferino from the Black Forest had united with the main association of Moreau. The united French associations now withdrew further south, in order to take an advantageous position at Schliengen on October 22nd .

The retreat on the Upper Rhine

While Moreau crossed the Black Forest and the Höllental the Oberrheinebene reached, attracted three divisions with the convoy and the prisoners on the High Rhine - and Wiesental to Hüninger bridgehead. The first associations reached Waldshut on October 6th . The ragged and starved soldiers plundered the villages and set fire to all the bridges and many houses. On October 21st they reached Steinen . On the 22nd they were defeated by Austrian units in smaller battles near Zell and on the 23rd near Wehr and Schwörstadt .

The battle

The starting positions

The position chosen by Moreau leaned left on the Rhine (near Steinenstadt ) and stretched over the hill south of Schliengen (Schliengemer Berg) to Liel and from Feuerbach to the heights north-west of Sitzenkirch (Johannisbreite and Schloss Bürgeln ). The left wing and the center at Steinenstadt, Schliengen and Liel were under the command of General Saint-Cyr . The right wing at Feuerbach / Sitzenkirch was commanded by General Ferino .

Archduke Karl brought his units into position on October 23, during which enemy outposts were driven out of Feldberg and Bürgeln Castle . In the darkness three columns were formed for the next day. The Prince de Condé was positioned on the right wing against Steinenstadt. The center at Mauchen and Schliengen was commanded by Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg and at Liel and in the Eggener Valley the troops of Maximilian Baillet von Latour were deployed. Friedrich August von Nauendorf headed the left wing at Sitzenkirch .

The course of the fight

On October 24th at 7 a.m. the Austrian army opened the fight with an attack by the Condéeschen Corps on Steinenstadt, which was also captured. In the further course of the day, the Corps binds the French troops on this wing. Fürstenberg attacks in the center and takes Mauchen. Even his corps does not make any serious efforts during the day to conquer the strong positions of the opponent, but restricts itself to binding them by mock attacks. The Latour corps took Ober- and Untereggenen and limited themselves to mock battles, as they could not track their own artillery in the rain-soaked terrain. General Ferino's French units attacked on the left wing of the Austrian army, but were ultimately driven out of Sitzenkirch and Kandern by the fourth column of the Austrian army under General Nauendorf. Darkness and fog prevent the Austrians from reaching the rear of the French army via the Kandertal.

Moves after battle

Moreau withdrew from his position on Schliengemer Berg that night and took up position near Haltingen on October 25th . On October 25th, the Archduke only sent his vanguard to Binzen and followed with the main force on October 26th and took up positions between Mappach and Efringen . Meanwhile, Moreau can retreat undisturbed across the Rhine under the protection of the Hüninger bridgehead.

The Austrian units under General Wolf, which are pushing back the French troops under Brigadier General Jean Victor Tharreau in the valleys of the High Rhine and the Wiese, are also not making decisive progress and cannot block the Rhine crossing. Tharreau holds the heights northwest of Lörrach and only withdraws when Moreau's main power is safe.

The generals

Consequences of the battle of Schliengen

Battle of Schliengen on the Arc de Triomphe
Archduke Karl equestrian monument on Heldenplatz in Vienna.

General Moreau withdrew with the main part of his troops at Hüningen across the Rhine into Alsace and only held the bridgeheads at Hüningen and Kehl. This can be seen as the success of Archduke Charles and his troops. At the same time, however, it is also a success of Moreau that he succeeded in leading his army back to France without massive losses, while Archduke Karl failed to achieve his goal of enclosing and destroying the French army on the right bank of the Rhine. The battle of Schliengen can be found both on the triumphal arch in Paris and on the pedestal of the monument to Archduke Karl in Vienna - all generals win in their own historiography.

The sieges of the bridgeheads of Kehl and Hüningen that followed the battle bound strong Austrian troops, which were missing in the decisive battle in the Italian campaign for the fortress of Mantua .

Siege and capture of the Kehler bridgehead

Kehl Fortress 1788

The fortress of Kehl was taken again by French troops on August 18, 1796, because the Austrian field marshal-lieutenant Petrasch could not hold the French bridgehead with his undisciplined troops, which had been captured on August 17 - they had forgotten to destroy the bridge to Strasbourg. This mistake was to cost a heavy toll in blood.

After the Battle of Schliengen, the Archduke and his main forces moved before Kehl, where he arrived on November 3rd. Since the French General Desaix had in the meantime significantly strengthened the bridgehead and his troops were being supplied and continuously replaced by the fortress in Strasbourg, the Austrians first had to set up extensive siege works - the management was transferred to Latour. On November 22nd, Desaix made a large-scale retirement and was initially able to storm some of the Austrian ski jumps. Ultimately, however, he was repulsed and suffered heavy losses. The Austrians were able to conquer parts of the bridgehead on November 28th and December 5th and 20th. From January 1st to 6th, 1797, they conquered all the outlying works and were now able to bombard the two Rhine bridges with their guns. With this the connection with Strasbourg was broken and Desaix could no longer prevent the fall of Kehl ; from January 9th to January 10th his troops withdrew and took all guns and war material with them.

Siege and capture of the Hüningen bridgehead

Hüningen bridgehead 1796/97

Immediately after the battle of Schliengen, Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg received the order to take the French bridgehead at Hüningen in order to make it more difficult for the French army to cross the Rhine, which was expected in the coming year. After extensive preparatory work on siege works and long artillery duels, Fürstenberg's troops attempted a first assault on the bridgehead on November 30, 1796, which was ultimately repulsed bloodily. The French commander of the Hüningen Fortress , General Abbatucci , was fatally wounded in the fighting. In the course of the fighting, Austrian troops violated Swiss neutrality. After taking the French bridgehead near Kehl on January 10, 1797, the Austrian troops relocated their heavy siege cannons in front of Hüningen. After further heavy fighting, the French General Dufour capitulated on February 1, 1797 and surrendered the bridgehead, which was then razed. Although reliable information is missing, the descriptions suggest that the battles for the bridgehead were more costly for both sides than the battle of Schliengen.

literature

  • Luzi Oehring: The battle near Schliengen on October 24th, 1796 , in: Das Markgräflerland, Volume 2/1996, pp. 47-63 digitized version of the Freiburg University Library
  • Petra Hinnenberger: The contemporary witness Johann Peter Hebel and the battle of Schliengen (1796) , in: Das Markgräflerland, Volume 2/1996, pp. 64–68 digitized version of the Freiburg University Library
  • Hansjörg Hunkler: An eyewitness reports (on the battle of Schliengen) , in: Das Markgräflerland, Volume 2/1996, pp. 69–73, digital copy of the Freiburg University Library
  • Von Kausler: Atlas of the strangest battles, meetings and sieges , Carlsruhe and Freiburg 1831, pp. 353–356
  • Carl Wieland: Battle of Schliengen , in: Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitung, XXXIV. Year, 1867, No. 42, pp. 347-349; No. 43. pp. 355–357 online in the Google book search
  • Franz Schneidawind : Carl, Archduke of Austria and the Austrian Army under him , Bamberg 1840, first volume, pp. 193–199
  • History of the campaign in Germany in 1796 , pp. 402-411 Google digitized version
  • Karl Tschamber : History of the city and former fortress Hüningen , St. Ludwig (Saint Louis) 1894, p. 151–163
  • JE Woerl: History of the wars from 1792 to 1815, with battle atlas , Freiburg i.Br. 1847, pp. 46-47

Individual evidence

  1. Great Britain did not appear in the fighting on mainland Europe
  2. s. Karl Obser : The Marquis von Poterat and the revolutionary propaganda on the Upper Rhine in 1796 , in: Journal for the history of the Upper Rhine, 46th volume, 1892, pp. 385-413
  3. ^ Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle
  4. Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse
  5. Contingents of the Swabian Empire
  6. Hans Merkle: The plus demand , p. 49-67
  7. on August 7, 1796
  8. Marco Jorio: The Fall of the Principality of Basel (1792-1815) , Freiburg (Switzerland) 1981, p. 22
  9. The areas of the Hochstift, which were counted as part of the Confederation (South Jura), have not yet been occupied
  10. ^ Before that, France acted with reference to a treaty of 1780
  11. ^ Field Marshal Lieutenant Michael Freiherr von Fröhlich (1740–1814); s.
  12. the archduke sent only 6 battalions and 2 cavalry regiments to reinforce the blockade force in front of the Kehl fortress
  13. s. Kausler pp. 353-356
  14. s. French Wikipedia Brigadier General Jean Victor Tharreau
  15. Franz Freiherr von Petrasch († 1820)
  16. J. Hirtenfeld: Österreichisches Militär-Konversations-Lexikon , Vienna 1852, p. 504/505
  17. ^ J. Hirtenfeld: Österreichisches Militär-Konversations-Lexikon , Vienna 1852, pp. 278/279.
  18. ^ S. French Wikipedia Dufour .
  19. S. Tschamber, pp. 151-163.

Web links

Coordinates: 47 ° 45 ′ 20 "  N , 7 ° 34 ′ 38"  E