Second battle near Weißenburg (1793)

Battle of Weissenburg

Republican infantry and artillery line in combat

date	December 26-29, 1793
place	Weissenburg
Casus Belli	Pillnitzer Declaration
output	Strategic French victory

Parties to the conflict
France 1804 France	Habsburg Monarchy Austria Prussia Prussia Kingdom
Commander
Lazare Hoche Jean-Charles Pichegru	Dagobert von Wurmser Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel Ernst von Rüchel
Troop strength
35,000	38,000
losses
Unknown number of dead and wounded	Unknown number of dead and wounded / 21 guns lost

The Second Battle of Weissenburg took place from December 26th to December 29th, 1793 between French revolutionary forces of the Armée de la Moselle under the command of Général Lazare Hoche and troops of the First Coalition .

In French, this battle is also known as the “Battle of Geisberg” ( Bataille du Geisberg ) after the nearby Geisberg Castle .

preview

With the victory of the French in the battle of Wörth-Fröschweiler on December 22, 1792, the Général Hoche took command of the Armée du Rhin and the Armée de la Moselle in Soultz-sous-Forêts from Jean-Charles Pichegru on December 25th ».

On the afternoon of December 26th, the coalition troops under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel were re-formed and made available to cross the Lauter .

An unforeseen battle loomed, as Hoche intended to turn north, towards Weissenburg. Hoche was able to go on the offensive here, as he was precisely informed by his education about the steps of the Austrians and Prussians, while they did not know where he stood with his armed forces. In the military literature, the fighting is also described as "attack on the Weißenburg lines ".

The battle

On December 27, Wurmser developed his right wing on Rott , the center was in the direction of Weißenburg and the left wing was in the direction of Oberlauterbach . The Prussian artillery was still in Bobenthal . Hoche sent Louis Charles Antoine Desaix to Lauterbourg , Claude Ignace François Michaud to Schleithal and Ferino , Alexandre Camille Taponier and Jacques Maurice Hatry to the center of the attack off Weißenburg. He ordered the left wing via Lembach in the direction of Bobenthal. To distract himself, he had Général Moreau's troops march towards Kaiserslautern .

On the evening of December 28, Hoche received a letter from Le Veneur de Tillières , in which the latter informed him that he had horrified the Landau fortress : “Landau sera libre”.

On the morning of December 29, the Austrian vanguard gave up their elevated position at Geisberg Castle in order to cross the Lauter and join the Austrian center north of Weißenburg. Alerted by this, Hoche had Ferino and Hautry's troops swerve in to intercept the Austrians. For this purpose seven cannons were hastily brought into position. It was possible to push the Austrians back on Oberlauterbach and Général Ferino prepared to continue the pursuit. Informed of the change in the situation, Saint-Just , who had been reorganizing the troops in Alsace as the people's representative since October , urged Pichegru to take advantage of this opportunity and occupy Haguenau . The Duke of Braunschweig on the Col du Pigeonnier tried with his troops to catch the French in the rear, but this did not succeed, as Hatry immediately rushed to support Ferino with his corps. He is said to have devised the battle cry, which later became a tradition: "Landau ou la mort" (Landau or death).

Elsewhere, the 72-year-old Général Vernet captured Geisberg Castle with just one platoon of infantry. On the late afternoon of December 30th, Desaix secured victory and took Lauterbourg , which the Prussians had left with empty magazines.

Effects

In the evening the Austrians and the army of Prince Condé's emigrants had withdrawn to Germersheim to cross the Rhine. The Duke of Brunswick had gone back to Mainz, from where he made General Wurmser responsible for the defeat. The siege of Landau had been lifted. The inhabitants and the defenders stood on the ramparts, on which the tricolor had always blown, and watched the white uniforms of the besiegers disappear as the vanguard of Hoche appeared. The Austrians alone lost 142 officers and 4,302 men in the fighting from December 18 to 26.

This victory brought the whole of Alsace back under French control, and even more so, because a dispute broke out between the Austrians and the Prussians as to who was responsible for the defeat.

The name of the battle is immortalized on the north pillar of the Arc de Triomphe .

Applied forces

France

Vanguard Général Louis Charles Antoine Desaix

2nd battalion of the 3 ^e régiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Piémont)
2. battalion of 37 ^e régiment d'infantry de ligne (formerly Turenne)
1st battalion of the 75 ^e regiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly du Monsieur)
1st battalion of the 88 ^e regiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Berwick)
8 ^e bataillon de volontaires des Bouches-du-Rhône
1 ^He battalion de la Corrèze volontaires de
1 ^He battalion de la Dordogne volontaires de
3 ^e battalion de volontaires de l'Eure
1 ^he battalion de volontaires du Jura
8 ^e battalion de volontaires du Jura
11 ^e battalion de volontaires du Jura
12 ^e battalion de volontaires du Jura
2 ^e battalion de volontaires de Lot-et-Garonne
3 ^e battalion de volontaires de la Haute-Saône
Battalion de chasseurs du Rhin
a battalion of 11 ^e régiment d'infantry légère
a battalion of 12 ^e régiment d'infantry légère
a company of the Hussards de Jemmapes
7 ^e régiment de hussards
a detachment of the 14th ^e régiment de cavalerie
4 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval
8 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval
11 ^e régiment de dragons
17 ^e régiment de dragons
141 artillery men

Division Général Claude Ignace François Michaud

1st battalion of the 3 ^e régiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Piémont)
1st Battalion of the 46 ^e regiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Bretagne)
2nd battalion of the 93 ^e régiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Enghien)
1 ^he battalion de volontaires de l'Ain
3 ^e battalion de volontaires de Bec-d'Ambès
7 ^e bataillon de volontaires des Bouches-du-Rhône
1 ^he battalion de volontaires du Doubs
6 ^e battalion de volontaires du Doubs
3 ^e battalion de volontaires de Rhône-et-Loire
4 ^e battalion de volontaires de Saône-et-Loire
10 ^e régiment de chasseurs à cheval
4 ^e régiment de dragons
8 ^e regiment de dragons

Division Général Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino

1st Battalion of the 27 ^e régiment d'infantry de ligne (formerly Lyonnais)
2nd battalion of the 46 ^e régiment d'infanterie de ligne (formerly Bretagne)
10 ^e battalion de volontaires du Jura
1 ^He battalion de volontaires de la Haute-Saône
9 ^e battalion de volontaires des Vosges
10 ^e battalion de volontaires des Vosges
a battalion of 6 ^e régiment d'infantry légère
1. battalion of 7 ^e régiment d'infantry légère

Coalition army

The Allied forces were under the command of Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser , Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel , Ernst von Rüchel and Franz von Minucci and were divided into three columns:

Column General Siegfried von Kospoth: a battalion of Wallachian border infantry; the Manfredini infantry regiment (one battalion); the Archduke Ferdinand infantry regiment (three battalions); the contingent of two battalions from the Landgraviate of Hessen-Darmstadt; the Régiment d'infanterie de Rohan (one battalion); the Wurmser Freikorps (four escadrons); the hussar regiment "Leopold" (six escadrons); the cuirassier regiment "Hohenzollern" (six escadrons)

Column General Auszetz: the Freikorps Julay (one battalion); the Julay Infantry Regiment (two battalions); the Lascy Infantry Regiment (one battalion); the Valais infantry regiment (two battalions); the Régiment de Condé (two battalions); the Régiment de Condé cavalerie (two escadrons); the Erdoedy hussar regiment (? Escadrons); the Leopold Hussar Regiment (four escadrons); the Waldeck Dragoon Regiment (six escadrons); the carbine regiment (six escadrons)

Column General Jordis: Freikorps Serviez (1 battalion); the Szekler infantry regiment (one battalion); the Preiss Infantry Regiment (one battalion); the Huff Infantry Regiment (two battalions); the Kaiser Infantry Regiment (two battalions); the Thurn Infantry Regiment (one battalion); the Tersy Infantry Regiment (one battalion); six Grandier battalions; the Emperor Dragoon Regiment (six escadrons); the cuirassier regiment Mack (six escadrons); Hessian cavalry (two escadrons)

Detachment General Hohenlohe: the Lascy Infantry Regiment (one battalion); the Devins Infantry Regiment (one battalion)

literature

David G. Chandler : The campaigns of Napoleon. Weidenfeld, London 1993, ISBN 0-297-81367-6 (unchanged reprint of the London 1966 edition).
Arthur Chuquet : Le Guerres de la Révolution, Vol. 8: Wissembourg (1793). 8th edition Plon, Paris 1930.
Arthur Chuque: Les Guerres de la Révolution, Vol. 9: Hoche et la lutte pour l'Alsace (1793-1794). 3rd edition Plon, Paris 1926.
Digby Smith : The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books, London 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9 .

Web links

Wissembourg an II ( Memento of August 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
Le 26 December 1793 - Le combat de Geisberg
Battle of Wissembourg or The Geisberg, December 25-26, 1793

Individual evidence

↑ Austrian wars since 1495: Chronological compilation of battles, skirmishes, sieges etc. Which Imperial Troops participated in the various theaters of war, either alone or with their allies. From the time of Maximilian I. 1495 to the most recent times. Compiled from the communications of the KK Kriegs-Archiv from 1876, 1877 and 178. Commissions-Verlag LW Seidel & Sohn, Vienna 1878, p. 68 .

[1] Austrian wars since 1495: Chronological compilation of battles, skirmishes, sieges etc. Which Imperial Troops participated in the various theaters of war, either alone or with their allies. From the time of Maximilian I. 1495 to the most recent times. Compiled from the communications of the KK Kriegs-Archiv from 1876, 1877 and 178. Commissions-Verlag LW Seidel & Sohn, Vienna 1878, p. 68 .