Battle of Malsch

Battle of Malsch

Part of: French Revolutionary Wars

date	July 9, 1796
place	Malsch
output	undecided outcome

Parties to the conflict
France	Austria
Commander
Jean-Victor Moreau	Archduke Karl Baillet from Latour
Troop strength
45 battalions and 55 squadrons with about 36,000 men	43 battalions and 85 squadrons with about 45,000 men
losses
	2531 dead, wounded, or missing

The Battle of Malsch on July 9, 1796 was part of the First Coalition War on the Upper Rhine front . It took place between Austrian and Saxon troops under the command of Archduke Karl of Austria and French troops under General Moreau . In the triumphal arch of Paris , the battle is also called "Bataille d ' Ettlingen " according to French tradition .

prehistory

In February 1796 , the margraviate of Baden on the right bank of the Rhine was occupied by friendly Austrian troops, while the areas on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by French troops. On June 24, 1796, the French army under General Moreau crossed the Rhine near Kehl . The defending troops of the Swabian regional contingent fought hard, but were pushed back with the loss of 700 soldiers, 14 cannons and 22 ammunition wagons. Then Sztáray took over command of the Swabians, who were reinforced by an Austrian detachment to 9,000 men. On June 28, Sztáray was also defeated by the right wing of the French under General Desaix near Renchen. The last units of the Moreau Army managed to cross the Rhine on June 29th, with the Delaborde division guarding the west bank of the Rhine. Archduke Karl found out about the French Rhine crossing at Kehl and immediately set off with 24 battalions and two squadrons to support the army on the Upper Rhine. To observe Jourdan's army, 36,000 men (25,350 men and 10,930 riders) remained under FZM Wartensleben, another 26,000 men covered the lines at Hechtsheim and Mainz . Archduke Karl gradually assembled 43 battalions and 85 squadrons behind the Alb to resist. Moreau's troops occupied the city of Rastatt on July 7th . After the loss of Gernsbach , the Austrian troops retreated behind the Alb between Mühlburg and Ettlingen and took up positions north and east of the city with about 13,000 men under Feldzeugmeister Latour .

The battle

Maximilian Count Baillet von Latour

At the beginning of the battle on July 9th, the French troops stood on the line Bietigheim - Muggensturm - Waldprechtsweier . Moreau wanted to bypass the left wing of the Austrians at Herrenalb in order to then open the road to Pforzheim .

The French vanguard pushed forward between Ottenau and Ebersteinburg on Kuppenheim and pushed the outposts of the Austrian Sztáray division back to the right bank of the Murg. The Austrian troops under Latour stood on the Hardt between Malsch and Waldprechtsweier and the left wing established itself further east of it at Rotensol . The Saxon contingent under Major General Lindt marched through the Enztal , coming from Pforzheim , in order to establish themselves between Urna Gold and Besenfeld . At noon, the middle of the French attacked under Saint-Cyr between Loffenau and Herrenalb and then met stubborn resistance from the Austrian division under FML Kaim on the Alb section between Dobel and Frauenalb . Saint-Cyr learned that the Saxons were approaching; he himself attacked with twelve battalions and his cavalry between Frauenalb and Rotensol, while he sent General Taponier with six battalions and 150 horsemen through the Enz valley towards the Saxons to Wildbad .

The main battle of the battle broke out for the possession of the village of Malsch, here the Austrians were overwhelmed by 16 to 12 battalions. The place was stormed, lost and taken again several times in bloody close combat by the mutual troops. When Archduke Charles and additional cavalry arrived, the French gave way to the superior force. The French left wing under General Desaix had to retreat into the forest of Oberweier and Niederweier , the Austrians took Bietigheim and Ötigheim and pursued the enemy as far as Rastatt. Although the Austrians had advanced with the center and the right wing, Archduke Karl gave the order to retreat after the news arrived that the left wing under General Kaim had been defeated near Rotensol in the meantime. The Austrians withdrew to Pforzheim via Ettlingen and Mühlburg on July 10th to secure the threatened supply depots near Heilbronn . The French under Saint-Cyr pursued through the Enz valley to Neuenbürg .

consequences

Bullets from the battle of Malsch

The French casualties amounted to 2,400 men, 400 of them prisoners. The Austrians had lost about 2,500 men. On July 10, Archduke Karl vacated Malsch and ordered the march via Karlsruhe to Pforzheim, whereupon the French occupied Ettlingen and Neuenbürg. The success of the Austrian troops was short-lived, however; soon afterwards the French troops controlled the Rhine plain and the imperial troops had to withdraw to the Black Forest .

As a result, Margrave Karl Friedrich von Baden had to conclude a separate peace with France on August 22, 1796 , which gave the French the right to march through Baden and high war taxes.

literature

• Franz Georg Kausler: Atlas of the strangest battles, meetings and sieges of the old, middle and modern times. Karlsruhe / Freiburg 1831 ff. Map No. 70 (Battle of Malsch).
• Lore Ernst: The history of the village of Malsch. Malsch 1954.
• Martin Burkart: Durmersheim. The history of the village and its inhabitants. Durmersheim 2002.

See also

• List of battles

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Austria's wars since 1495. Chronological compilation of the battles, skirmishes, sieges, etc. in which imperial troops participated alone or with their allies on the various theaters of war. From the time of Maximilian I. 1495 up to the most recent times. Compiled from the communications of the KK Kriegs-Archiv from 1876, 1877 and 1878. Vienna 1878, p. 79.
2. ↑ Austria's wars since 1495. Chronological compilation of the battles, skirmishes, sieges, etc. in which imperial troops participated alone or with their allies on the various theaters of war. From the time of Maximilian I. 1495 up to the most recent times. Compiled from the communications of the KK Kriegs-Archiv from 1876, 1877 and 1878. Vienna 1878, p. 79.
3. ^ Moritz Edlen von Angeli: Archduke Carl of Austria as a general and army organizer. Vienna / Leipzig 1896, p. 205.