Battle of Amberg
Battle of Amberg | |||||||
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Part of the Rhine Campaign of the War of the First Coalition | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Republican France | Habsburg monarchy | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan |
Archduke Charles Wilhelm von Wartensleben | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
34,000 | 40,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2,000 | 400 | ||||||
The Battle of Amberg, fought on 24 August 1796, resulted in an Habsburg victory by Archduke Charles over a French army led by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. This engagement marked a turning point in the Rhine campaign, which had previously seen French successes.
Background
Plans
The French planned an invasion of southern Germany in 1796.
June operations
On 4 June 1796, 11,000 soldiers of the Army of the Sambre-et-Meuse, under
Meanwhile, operations of the Army of the Rhin-et-Moselle progressed more successfully for the French. On the 15th, Desaix and 30,000 French troops defeated FML Franz Petrasch's 11,000 Austrians at Maudach near Speyer. The French suffered 600 casualties while Austrian losses were three times as heavy.[3] Part of Moreau's army under MG Jean-Charles Abbatucci mounted an assault crossing over the Rhine at Kehl opposite Strasbourg on 24 June. The defenders were French émigrés and the forces of minor German states belonging to the Holy Roman Empire. They fought gamely, but were beaten with the loss of 700 men while the French lost 150. On 28 June, Desaix defeated FML Anton Sztaray's Imperial troops again at Renchen, inflicting 1,400 casualties for only 200 French killed and wounded. In the following weeks the Austrians determined some of their Imperial German allies to be unreliable and disarmed them.[4]
In reaction to the defeats in the south, Archduke Charles left Wartensleben in command of 35,000 men along the Lahn, put 30,000 troops into the fortress of Mainz and rushed south with 20,000 soldiers to reinforce Latour.[5]
July operations
After a minor clash at
August operations
Charles ordered Wartensleben to unite with him in order to crush Moreau. However, his colleague proved unwilling to cooperate. On 11 August, Moreau overpowered the outnumbered archduke at the Battle of Neresheim. The Austrian southern wing retreated to the south bank of the Danube at Donauwörth. To the north, Jourdan pushed Wartensleben back through Würzburg and Nuremberg. Kléber clashed with Kray on 17 August at Sulzbach-Rosenberg, 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) west of Amberg.[8] Charles' strategy of falling back before the two superior French armies while seeking an opportunity to combine against one of them had so far failed.[citation needed]
Battle
Reconnaissance
A change in Austrian fortunes came when an alert cavalry brigadier,
Combat
The total forces available were 48,000 Austrians and 45,000 French.[11] On 24 August, Charles struck the French right flank while Wartensleben attacked frontally. The French Army of Sambre-et-Meuse was overcome by weight of numbers and Jourdan retired northwest. The Austrians lost only 400 casualties of the 40,000 men they brought onto the field. French losses were 1,200 killed and wounded, plus 800 captured out of 34,000 engaged. Instead of supporting his colleague, Moreau pushed further east.[12]
Results
On the same day as the Battle of Amberg, Moreau inflicted a sharp defeat on Latour at the
References
Bibliography
- Eggenberger, David. (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles. New York: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-24913-1.
- Liddell-Hart, B. H. (1967). Strategy. NY: Praeger Publishers.
- Pope, Stephen. (1999). The Cassell Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, Cassell.
- Smith, Digby. (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill. ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Amberg at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Battle of Neresheim |
French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Battle of Amberg |
Succeeded by Battle of Würzburg |