The Battle of Neuwied (18 April 1797) saw
Lazare Hoche
Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...
lead part of the French
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre and Meuse (french: Armée de Sambre-et-Meuse) was one of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of the Moselle and the right wing ...
against
Franz von Werneck
Franz Freiherr von Werneck (13 October 1748 – 17 January 1806), enlisted in the army of Habsburg Austria and fought in the Austro-Turkish War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. He enjoyed a distinguished career until 1797 ...
's Austrian army. The French attack surprised their enemies and broke through their lines. Aside from 1,000 men killed and wounded, Austrian losses included at least 3,000 prisoners, 24 artillery pieces, 60 vehicles, and five
colors
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
. For their part, the French lost 2,000 men killed, wounded, and captured. The losses were in vain because
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
signed the
Preliminaries of Leoben with Austria the same day. The armistice halted the fighting so that both sides could negotiate a peace. The action occurred during the
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...
, part of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
.
The battle
The battle opened with an Austrian cannonade causing an attack by the French right wing on the Austrian left wing under
Pál Kray
Baron Paul Kray of Krajova and Topolya (german: Paul Freiherr Kray von Krajova und Topola; hu, Krajovai és Topolyai báró Kray Pál; 5 February 1735 – 19 January 1804), was a soldier, and general in Habsburg service during the Seven Y ...
. After several attacks against the key position on the Austrian right near the village of Bendorff, the French infantry, aided by several squadrons of chasseurs, were able to dislodge the Austrians from this position. A French cavalry charge drove the Austrians out of the village of Sayn. Hoche then launched a column under
Antoine Richepanse
Antoine Richepanse (25 March 1770 – 3 September 1802) was a French general and colonial administrator.
Richepanse was born in Metz as the son of an officer of the Conti-Dragoon Regiment. When the French Revolution started Richepanse distinguis ...
in the pursuit of the retreating Austrians. Richepanse succeeded in capturing seven cannons, fifty caissons and five Austrian colors. The French infantry, supported by the guns of
François Joseph Lefebvre
François Joseph Lefebvre ( , ; 25 October 1755 – 14 September 1820), Duc de Dantzig, was a French military commander during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and one of the original eighteen Marshals of the Empire created by Napoleon.
E ...
, managed to dislodge the Austrians from the village of Zolenberg, causing the final defeat of the Austrian left wing.
As the French right wing attacked the Austrian left wing, Hoche launched a second assault, this time on the Austrian center. After an artillery barrage, the grenadiers of General
Paul Grenier assaulted the redoubts of Hettersdorff and took the village in a bayonet charge, while the
hussar
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely ...
s of
Michel Ney
Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...
outflanked the Austrian center position from the left. These attacks forced the Austrian center to retreat.
After being dislodged by Richepanse, the Austrian left was rallied by Kray who was able to withstand further French attacks. To counter this, Hoche launched the grenadiers of Grenier and several squadrons of
dragoon
Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...
s and Ney's hussars against Kray. Ney with some 500 hussars proceeded to Dierdorf where he engaged the Austrian reserve of 6,000 for four hours until the rest of the French army caught up.
[Bulos, M.. ''Memoirs of Marshal Ney, Volume 1'', London 1834, p.226.] During a counterattack by Austrian cavalry Ney's horse fell and he was captured. Under this attack the Austrian left collapsed and in the pursuit the hussars captured 4,000 men and two colors. On their part of the battlefield the French left wing under
Jean Étienne Championnet
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
succeeded in driving the Austrians out of Altenkirchen and Kerathh.
Result
The Austrian army lost 3,000 men in the battle and another 7,000 men were captured in the aftermath of the battle. The French captured twenty-seven cannon and seven Austrian colors in this major success. Hoche's successful offensive was stopped by news of the
Preliminaries of Leoben which led to the
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The treat ...
. The Battle of Neuwied is inscribed on the
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...
in Paris.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neuwied
Conflicts in 1797
Neuwied 1797
1797 in Austria
1797 in France
Battles of the War of the First Coalition
History of the Rhineland
Battles in Rhineland-Palatinate
1797 in the Holy Roman Empire
Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe