Battle of Neuwied (1797)

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The Battle of Neuwied
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Date April 18, 1797 Location Neuwied, present-day Germany Result French victory
Belligerents
First French Republic	Holy Roman Empire Habsburg Austria
Commanders
Lazare Hoche	Franz Freiherr von Werneck[1]
Casualties and losses
	10,000 (3,000 casualties and 7,000 captured) 27 cannon

The Battle of Neuwied was fought on April 18, 1797. It resulted in the victory of French under General Louis Lazare Hoche against Austrians under General Franz Freiherr von Werneck. The Austrians lost 10,000 men, 27 cannons and seven colors.

[edit] 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 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 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 Lefebvre, managed to dislodge the Austrians from the vollage 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 Grenier assaulted the redoubts of Hettersdorff and took the village in a bayonet charge, while the hussars of Michel Ney outflanked the Austrian center position from the left. These attacks forced the Austrian center to retreat.

After been 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 dragoons and hussars against Kray. 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 Championnet succeeded in driving the Austrians out of Altenkirchen and Kerathh.

[edit] 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. Hoch's successful offensive was stopped by the preliminary negotiations which lead to the Treaty of Leoben.

1. ^ http://www.napoleon-online.de/AU_Generale/html/werneck.html