The siege of Landau (20 August – 23 December 1793) saw a corps from the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

commanded by

Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen (german: Friedrich Ludwig Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen) (31 January 1746 – 15 February 1818) was a Prussian general. Early life Frederick Louis was the eldest son of Henry August, Princ ...

lay siege to a 3,800-man French Republican garrison led by Joseph Marie Tennet de Laubadère. Since the Prussians lacked siege cannons, they tried to starve the French defenders into surrender by blockading the city. In late December, the French ''

Army of the Moselle The Army of the Moselle (''Armée de la Moselle'') was a French Revolutionary Army from 1791 through 1795. It was first known as the ''Army of the Centre'' and it fought at Valmy. In October 1792 it was renamed and subsequently fought at Trier, F ...

'' under

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 ...

and ''

Army of the Rhine An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

'' under

Jean-Charles Pichegru Jean-Charles Pichegru (, 16 February 1761 – 5 April 1804) was a French general of the Revolutionary Wars. Under his command, French troops overran Belgium and the Netherlands before fighting on the Rhine front. His royalist positions led to h ...

defeated the Coalition armies opposed to them, forcing the Prussians to raise 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 ...

siege. Almost two months after Landau was surrounded, the Coalition army won a victory in the First Battle of Wissembourg, driving the ''Army of the Rhine'' deep into

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. The French government placed a priority on relieving Landau, so Pichegru's army began a sustained offensive against

Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser Dagobert Sigismund, Count von Wurmser (7 May 1724 – 22 August 1797) was an Habsburg monarchy, Austrian field marshal during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although he fought in the Seven Years' War, the War of the Bavarian Succession, and mount ...

's Coalition army in the Battle of Haguenau. The effort finally succeeded when Hoche's army outflanked Wurmser in the

Battle of Froeschwiller A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and then the combined French armies won the Second Battle of Wissembourg over Wurmser and

Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Charles William Ferdinand (german: Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand; 9 October 1735 – 10 November 1806) was the Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and a military leader. His titles are usually shortened to Duke of Brunswic ...

in late December.

Forces

Joseph Marie Tennet de Laubadère commanded the 3,800-strong French garrison of

Landau Landau ( pfl, Landach), officially Landau in der Pfalz, is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990 ...

. The force included one battalion each of the 3rd and 55th Line Infantry Regiments, the 2nd Battalion of the ''Seine-et-Marne''

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

and two squadrons each of the 22nd Cavalry and 3rd

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 ...

Regiments. To oppose the defenders,

led 25 Prussian battalions supported by 40 6-pounder field cannons. Hohenlohe's force consisted of three battalions each of Infantry Regiments ''Thadden'' Nr. 3, ''Manstein'' Nr. 9, ''Romberg'' Nr. 10, ''Kleist'' Nr. 12, ''Wegnern'' Nr. 30, ''Hohenlohe'' Nr. 32, ''Wolframsdorf'' Nr. 37 and ''Hertzberg'' Nr. 47, the ''Schladen'' Grenadier Battalion and five foot artillery batteries.Smith (1998), p. 65

Notes

References

* * * Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars Battles involving Prussia Sieges involving France Conflicts in 1793 Landau Sieges of the War of the First Coalition Battles of the War of the First Coalition Sieges of the French Revolutionary Wars Battles in Rhineland-Palatinate {{mil-hist-stub