Battle of Mainz on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Battle of Mainz (29 October 1795) saw a
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
army led by François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt launch a surprise assault against four divisions of the French ''Army of Rhin-et-Moselle
The Army of the Rhine and Moselle (french: Armée de Rhin-et-Moselle) was one of the field units of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 20 April 1795 by the merger of elements of the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Moselle.
The ...
'' directed by François Ignace Schaal. The right-hand French division fled the battlefield, compelling the other three divisions to retreat with the loss of their siege artillery and many casualties. 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 constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...
action was fought near the city of Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
in the today state of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
.
French troops had ineffectively besieged the western side of Mainz Fortress
The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, under the term of the 1815 Peace of Paris, the control of Mainz passed to the German Confederation and became part of a chain of stra ...
since December 1794. However, in early September 1795 the ''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 win ...
'' crossed the lower Rhine River
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
and advanced south to the Main River
Main rivers () are a statutory type of watercourse in England and Wales, usually larger streams and rivers, but also some smaller watercourses. A main river is designated by being marked as such on a main river map, and can include any structure o ...
. For the first time Mainz was besieged on the east side of the river, but this state of affairs did not last very long. In the Battle of Höchst
The Battle of Höchst (20 June 1622) was fought between a Catholic League army led by Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly and a Protestant army commanded by Christian the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, close to the town of Höchst, today ...
, Clerfayt outmaneuvered Jourdan, forcing his army to retire to the west bank of the Rhine. With Jourdan temporarily out of the picture, Clerfayt fell on Schaal's somewhat isolated corps and drove it away to the south. During this time the commander of the ''Army of Rhin-et-Moselle'', 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 ...
was in treasonous contact with France's enemies, perhaps accounting for Austria's success. The next clash was the Battle of Pfeddersheim
The Battle of Pfeddersheim (german: Schlacht bei Pfeddersheim) was a battle during the German Peasants' War that took place in June 1525 near Pfeddersheim. The peasants of the Palatinate region had previously joined the uprising in southwest Germ ...
on 10 November.
The siege was the second time balloon reconnaissance had been used, after the Battle of Fleurus (1794).
People involved
* François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt *Jean Baptiste Kléber
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 ...
* Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr
* Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor
* Adam Albert von Neipperg
* Antoine Christophe Merlin
*Auguste de Marmont
Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont (20 July 1774 – 22 March 1852) was a French general and nobleman who rose to the rank of Marshal of the Empire and was awarded the title (french: duc de Raguse). In the Peninsular War Marmont succeede ...
* Jean Bernadotte
* Franz von Weyrother
* Franz Joseph, Marquis de Lusignan
* François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat
* François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers
*Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle
Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle (3 January 1748, in Le Mans – 20 March 1835, in Paris) was a French engineer, scientist and pioneer of ballooning.
Life
He got to know the physicist Alexandre Charles and, in the wake of the experiences of the Montg ...
*Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix
Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix (24 September 1764, Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie – 26 October 1834) was a French general of the Napoleonic Wars.
Career
He was born at Thonon in Savoy. He studied medicine, took his degree at Turin, and then went t ...
* Nicolas-Jacques Conté
*Paul Louis Courier
Paul Louis Courier (; 4 January 177210 April 1825), French Hellenist and political writer, was born in Paris.
Life
Brought up on his father's estate of Méré in Touraine, he conceived a bitter aversion for the nobility, which seemed to strengt ...
* Armée de Mayence
*Serbian mercenaries (see: Kočina Krajina Serb rebellion in 1791) under General Major Stephan Bernhard Keglevich did not take part, but were involved as neutral observers (see map below).
* Frédéric-César de La Harpe did not take part, but was involved, had a leading role in the creation of the Helvetic Republic.
Military units
* 54th Infantry Regiment (France) under Colonel Sauvat(?) * Hessian (soldiers) under Colonel Johann Keglevich. He was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa in 1798 ''"for by his own initiative undertaken and successfully a campaign significantly affecting feats of arms, which an officer of honor would may have omitted without blame"''.Die reiter-regimenter der k.k.österreichischen armee, Andreas Thürheim (Graf.), F.B. Geitler, 1862.References
* Smith, D. ''The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book''.Greenhill Books
Lionel Leventhal is a British publisher of books on military history and related topics, whose eponymous company was established in 1967.
History
After working in a bookshop (1954–1956), Leventhal joined the publishing company of Herbert Jenk ...
, 1998.