Battle of Maudach facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Maudach
Part of War of the First Coalition
Date 15 June 1796 Location Maudach, Germany Result French victory
Belligerents
Republican France	Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
Louis Desaix	Franz Petrasch
Units involved
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse	Army of the Lower Rhine
Strength
27,000 infantry 3,000 cavalry	11,000 infantry and cavalry
Casualties and losses
600	1,800 killed wounded and missing

The Battle of Maudach happened on June 15, 1796. It was a fight between the French Revolutionary Army and the armies of the First Coalition. This battle was the first big event of the Rhine Campaign of 1796. It took place near the Upper Rhine river, close to the town of Kehl.

The Coalition forces were led by Franz Petrasch. They lost many soldiers, about 10 percent of their army. The battle was fought in the small village of Maudach. This village is southwest of Ludwigshafen and across the Rhine river from Mannheim. Today, Maudach is a suburb of Ludwigshafen.

Why the Battle Happened

The French Revolution and War

At first, other European rulers thought the French Revolution was just a problem inside France. But as the revolution grew stronger, these rulers worried about their own power. They said they supported the French king, Louis XVI, and his family. In 1791, they made a statement called the Declaration of Pillnitz. This statement warned France of serious trouble if anything happened to the royal family.

The French revolutionaries felt threatened. On April 20, 1792, France declared war on Austria. This started the War of the First Coalition. Soon, France was fighting against many countries that shared borders with it.

The 1796 Campaign Plan

After some fighting in 1795, both sides agreed to a temporary stop in the war. But they kept getting ready for more battles. In early 1796, France decided to focus its efforts on Germany.

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan led the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse. His job was to attack Mainz and cross the Rhine river into Germany. Further south, Jean Victor Marie Moreau led the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle. He was to cross the Rhine, attack Mannheim, and move into other German regions.

The plan was for Jourdan and Moreau to meet up near Vienna. Meanwhile, Napoleon Bonaparte was to invade Italy. His army would then cross the Alps and join the other French armies in Germany. France's money was low, so its armies had to live off the lands they conquered.

Preparing for Battle

In the spring of 1796, it looked like war would start again. A group of German states called the Swabian Circle gathered about 7,000 untrained men. These men were farmers and workers.

The Austrian commander, Archduke Charles, wasn't sure where the French would attack. The French started gathering troops near Mainz. They even fought some smaller battles there. Charles thought the main attack would happen at Mainz. So, he placed the 7,000 Swabian militia at a crossing point near Kehl.

Getting Ready for the Fight

Map of the Rhine River shows Düsseldorf and the Sieg and Lahn Rivers in the north and Strasbourg and Mannheim in the south.

Louis Desaix led the northern part of the French Army of the Rhine and Moselle. He had about 27,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 cavalry (soldiers on horseback). He crossed the Rhine river at Maudach.

Desaix's force was much larger than the Austrian division he faced. This Austrian division was led by Franz Petrasch. Petrasch had about 11,000 soldiers, a mix of foot soldiers and dragoons (soldiers who could fight on horseback or on foot).

While Desaix crossed at Maudach, Jourdan's main army crossed the Rhine further north. This was on June 10, at Neuwied. Jourdan's army then moved towards the Lahn river. In the south, Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour took command of the Austrian Army of the Upper Rhine.

Archduke Charles left 12,000 troops to guard Mannheim. He then quickly moved his other troops north to fight Jourdan. Charles defeated Jourdan's army at the Battle of Wetzlar on June 15, 1796. Jourdan quickly crossed back over the Rhine at Neuwied.

The Battle of Maudach

The fight at Maudach was part of a clever French plan. It was one of three "fake attacks" meant to trick the Coalition forces. The French wanted to make the Austrians think they were attacking in different places.

On June 15, Desaix's 30,000 French soldiers attacked Franz Petrasch's 11,000 Austrians at Maudach. The French won this battle. The French lost about 600 soldiers. The Austrians lost three times as many, about 1,800 soldiers.

At the same time, other French divisions fought the Austrians in different places. After these fights, Archduke Charles left some troops to guard important areas. He then moved south with 20,000 soldiers.

Moreau, another French general, then sent his army south from Speyer. They marched quickly towards Strasbourg. Desaix's forces crossed the Rhine at Kehl near Strasbourg on the night of June 23–24.

What Happened Next

On June 24, Moreau's first group of 10,000 men crossed the river at Kehl. They went ahead of his main force of 27,000 foot soldiers and 3,000 cavalry. They attacked the Swabian guards on the bridge.

The Swabian soldiers were greatly outnumbered. They could not get help in time. Most of the main Austrian army was further north, near Mannheim. The river was easier to cross there, but it was too far away to help the smaller force at Kehl.

Within a day, Moreau had four divisions across the river. They pushed out from Kehl. The Swabian soldiers regrouped at Rastatt by July 5. They managed to hold the city for a while. But the French attacked from both sides.

Archduke Charles could not move many of his soldiers from Mannheim or Karlsruhe. The French had also crossed the river in those areas. Another French general, Ferino, also crossed the Rhine near Basel. He moved east along the German side of the river without being stopped.

Armies in the Battle

French Army

• Commander: Louis Desaix
• Division Commander: Antoine Guillaume Delmas
  • Brigade: Maurice Frimont
    • 16th Light Infantry Demi-brigade (three battalions)
    • 50th Line Infantry Demi-brigade (three battalions)
    • 7th Hussars Regiment (four squadrons)
• Division: Michel de Beaupuy
  • Brigade: Joseph Martin Bruneteau (also known as Sainte-Suzanne)
    • 10th Light Infantry Demi-brigade (three battalions)
    • 10th Line Infantry Demi-brigade (three battalions)
    • 4th Chasseurs à cheval Regiment (four squadrons)
    • 8th Chasseurs à cheval Regiment (four squadrons)
• Division: Charles Antoine Xaintrailles
  • Brigade: Jean-Marie Forest
    • Unknown Line Infantry Demi-brigade (three battalions)
    • 1st Carabiniers Regiment (four squadrons)
    • 92nd Carabiniers Regiment (four squadrons)

Coalition Army

• Commander: Franz Petrasch
• Infantry Regiments (one battalion each):
  • Gemmingen No. 21
  • Stain No. 50
  • Erbach No. 42
  • Splenyi No. 51
  • Benjowsky No. 31
  • Brechainville No. 25
• Cavalry Regiments (six squadrons each):
  • Chasseurs Kaiser No. 1
  • Kinsky No. 7
  • Dragoon Regiment Kaiser No. 3