Battle of Ettlingen

Plans At the beginning of the Rhine Campaign of 1796, Austria had two armies in Germany, the Army of the Upper Rhine under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser and the Army of the Lower Rhine under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. The left wing of the 80,000-man Army of the Upper Rhine guarded the Rhine River from Mannheim to Switzerland under Anton Sztáray, Michael von Fröhlich and Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé while its right wing was on the west bank around Kaiserslautern. The Army of the Lower Rhine had a 20,000-strong right wing under Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg on the east bank observing the French bridgehead at Düsseldorf. The archduke's remaining 70,000 troops lay on the west bank along the Nahe River with powerful garrisons in Mainz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The Army of Rhin-et-Moselle led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau was deployed with its right flank at Huningue, its center on the Queich River and its left flank at Saarbrücken. The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan was responsible for a line running north from Sankt Wendel to Cologne, while the 22,000 men of its left wing under Jean-Baptiste Kléber held Düsseldorf. Until this time, the Army of Rhine-et-Moselle consisted of independent divisions. When Moreau assumed command he reorganized the army into three corps or wings plus a small reserve. Over the objections of all three men, he named Louis Desaix, Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr and Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino wing commanders. The system soon proved its worth. Moreau's other innovation was to group many of the heavy cavalry regiments in the army reserve. The Chasseurs à Cheval, Dragoon and Hussar regiments remained attached to the infantry divisions. On 8 June, Ferino's Right Wing had three divisions led by François Antoine Louis Bourcier (9,281 infantry, 690 cavalry), Henri François Delaborde (8,300 infantry, 174 cavalry) and Augustin Tuncq (7,437 infantry, 432 cavalry). Desaix's Center had three divisions commanded by Michel de Beaupuy (14,565 infantry, 1,266 cavalry), Antoine Guillaume Delmas (7,898 infantry, 865 cavalry) and Charles Antoine Xaintrailles (4,828 infantry, 962 cavalry). Saint-Cyr's Left Wing had two divisions under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme (7,438 infantry, 895 cavalry) and Alexandre Camille Taponier (11,823 infantry, 1,231 cavalry). Altogether, Moreau's Army of Rhin-et-Moselle numbered 71,581 foot soldiers and 6,515 cavalry, plus gunners and sappers. Counting artillery and other elements, Moreau's total was 79,592 soldiers while Jourdan commanded 77,792 men. Operations The Rhine Campaign of 1795 had concluded with an armistice. The French beat the Duke of Württemberg in the Battle of Altenkirchen on 4 June, capturing 3,000 Austrians, four colors and 12 guns. By 6 June Kléber's wing was on the Lahn River and Archduke Charles began evacuating the west bank of the Rhine in order to concentrate against the French incursion. Kléber was joined within a few days by Jourdan and most of the Army of the Sambre-et-Meuse. At about this time, the Austrian high command began transferring Wurmser and 25,000 Austrians to Italy due to the successes of Napoleon Bonaparte. On 15 June, the archduke defeated the French in the Battle of Wetzlar. Subsequently, Jourdan recrossed to the west bank of the Rhine while Kléber retreated north toward Düsseldorf. But on 24 June 1796, Moreau launched a successful river crossing in the Battle of Kehl. The 7,000 defending troops of the Swabian Regional Contingent put up a stout fight but were defeated with the loss of 700 soldiers, 14 guns and 22 munition wagons. The French reported losses of 150. Subsequently, Sztáray took command of the Swabians who were reinforced up to a strength of 9,000 by some Austrians. On the 28th Sztáray was beaten by Desaix at Renchen. The French sustained 200 casualties while allied losses amounted to 550 killed and wounded plus 850 men, seven guns and two munition wagons captured. Having blocked Jourdan, Archduke Charles began moving troops south to oppose the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle as early as 21 June. He received the news that Moreau was across the Rhine on the 26th. Leaving 25,351-foot and 10,933 horse under Wartensleben and 27,000 more around Mainz, the archduke raced south. The last units of the Moreau's army made it across the Rhine on 29 June, The French irruption caused Fröhlich and Condé to retreat up the Rhine and Kinzig Rivers while Sztáray and the Swabians fell back to Freudenstadt. Latour and Sztáray tried to hold a position behind the Murg River but Desaix attacked them in the Battle of Rastatt on 5 July. Charles to bring up 25 battalions and 39 squadrons. ==Battle==