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First Battle of Wissembourg (1793)

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First Battle of Wissembourg
Part of French Revolutionary Wars
Date13 October 1793
LocationWissembourg, Bas-Rhin, France
Result Austrian-Allied victory
Belligerents
France France Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor (after 1400) Austria
Hesse Hesse-Kassel
Kingdom of France French Émigrés
Commanders and leaders
France Jean Pascal Carlenc Habsburg Monarchy Dagobert Wurmser
Strength
51,590 42,234
Casualties and losses
3,000, 31 guns 1,800



In the First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793, an Allied army commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser attacked and defeated Jean Pascal Carlenc's French army defending behind the Lauter River. This engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars occurred on the eastern border of France about 60 km north of Strasbourg.

Background[]

During the War of the First Coalition, General der Kavallerie Wurmser's Austro-Allied army threatened to invade Alsace. Accordingly, the French Army of the Rhine manned the Lines of Weissenburg, a line of earthworks dating back to the War of the Spanish Succession. The lines began near Wissembourg and stretched about 20 kilometers in an east-southeasterly direction to the Rhine River at Lauterbourg. This traces the modern-day France-Germany border.

Portrait of Wurmser, clad in a hussar uniform

Dagobert von Wurmser

During this period, the Army of the Rhine's command structure remained chaotic. General of Division (MG) Charles de Landremont became commander on 18 August and served until 29 September when he was arrested for treason. Unlike his predecessor MG Alexandre, vicomte de Beauharnais who was guillotined in July 1794, Landremont survived the experience, dying in 1818. MG Meunier took command for two days until his replacement by MG Jean Carlenc on 2 October. MG Charles Pichegru replaced Carlenc on 27 October. At the same time, MG Lazare Hoche assumed overall command of both the Army of the Moselle and Pichegru's Army of the Rhine.[1]

On 20 August, a column made up of Austrians, Hessians, and French Émigré clashed with 3,000 French at Jockgrim on the Rhine north of Lauterbourg. Feldmarschal-Leutnant Moritz Kavanaugh's Allied force included five infantry battalions, six light infantry companies, 13 cavalry squadrons, and 12 cannons. French General of Brigade Louis-Théobald Ilher led three battalions, six squadrons, and 10 guns. The Allies had the better of the encounter, losing 147 casualties. The French lost 103 men and 5 cannons captured, plus an unknown number of killed and wounded. While leading some dragoons, Ilher was killed by a Hessian Jäger. A flurry of actions followed as Wurmser drove in the French outposts and tapped at the main lines. Skirmishes occurred on 21 and 27 August, and on 7, 11, 12, 14, 19, 20, 23, and 30 September.[2]

On 12 and 20 September, two battalions of the Kaiser Infantry Regiment led by Oberst (Colonel) Gerhard Rosselmini clashed with the French at Bad Bergzabern and Bienwaldmuhle.[3]

Battle[]

French Army[]

  • Army of the Rhine: General of Division Jean Carlenc (45,312 infantry, 6,278 cavalry)[4]
    • Advance Guard: General of Division Jean-Baptiste Meynier
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Augustin Isambert
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Ferette (?)
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-François Combez
    • Right Wing: General of Division Pierre Dubois
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Claude Michaud
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Claude Legrand
    • Center: General of Division Meunier (??)
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Vachot (??)
    • Center: General of Division Méquillet (??)
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Bauriolle (?)
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Isambert (?)
    • Left Wing: General of Division Ferey (?)
    • Reserve: General of Division Dominique Diettmann
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Barthélemy de La Farelle
      • Brigade: General of Brigade Jean-François de Ravel
  • Key
    • ? = Unknown, probably a misspelling
    • ?? = More than one general with this surname and rank exists

Austrian-Allied Army[]

  • Allied Army: GdK Dagobert von Wurmser (33,599 infantry, 9,635 cavalry)[5]
    • 1st Column: FML Christian, Prince of Waldeck und Pyrmont
      • Brigade: GM Adam Lichtenberg
      • Brigade: GM Karl Funk von Senftenau
    • 2nd Column: FML Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze
      • Brigade: OB Franjo Jelačić
      • Brigade: GM Alexander Jordis
      • Brigade: GM Karl Aufsess
    • 3rd Column: FML Hotze
    • 4th Column: GM Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló
      • Brigade: OB Sell von Pellegrini
      • Brigade: GM Mészáros
    • 5th Column: GM Karl Brunner von Hirschbrunn
    • 6th Column: GM Siegfried Kospoth
    • 7th Column: Louis Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé
      • Brigade: GM Viomenil
  • Key
    • GdK = Austrian General der Kavallerie commands an army or corps
    • FML = Austrian Feldmarschal-Leutnant commands a corps or division
    • GM = Austrian General-Major commands a brigade
    • OB = Austrian Oberst (colonel) commands a regiment
    • OBL = Austrian Oberst-Leutnant (lieutenant colonel) is second in command of a regiment

Action[]

On 13 October 1793, Wurmser launched his main assault against the fortified French positions. The Allied forces succeeded in breaching the line, forcing a French withdrawal south to Hagenau. The French suffered 2,000 killed and wounded, plus 1,000 soldiers, 31 guns, and 12 colors captured. The Allies suffered 1,800 casualties.[6] The day after the battle, an Allied force under Franz von Lauer laid siege to the nearby Fort-Louis in the Rhine river. The 4,500-man French garrison surrendered the fortress on 14 November.[7] The French government quickly rushed Hoche's Army of the Moselle into the area to help drive back Wurmser. This move precipitated the Second Battle of Wissembourg in December 1793.

References[]

  1. ↑ See French Wikipedia, Armee du Rhin.
  2. ↑ Smith, p 52
  3. ↑ Wrede, p 122
  4. ↑ Smith, p 57-58. The author provides the orders of battle for both armies.
  5. ↑ Smith, p 58. Smith incorrectly lists Albert Gyulay, who fought in Flanders, rather than his brother Ignaz.
  6. ↑ Smith, p 58
  7. ↑ Smith, p 61

Further reading[]

  • Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9
  • Wrede, Alphons. Geschichte der K. und K. Wehrmacht, Vol. 1. Vienna: L. W. Seidel & Sohn, 1898.

External links[]

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