The Battle of Mainz (29 October 1795) saw a Habsburg Austrian army led by Field Marshall François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt launch a surprise assault against four divisions belonging to the French '' Army of Rhin-et-Moselle'' directed by General of Division François Ignace Schaal. The right-most French division was completely routed and all the French troops were compelled to retreat with the loss of their siege artillery and many casualties. Clerfayt followed up his Rhine campaign of 1795 victory by driving most of General of Division Jean-Charles Pichegru's Army of Rhin-et-Moselle south. The

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

action was fought near the city of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

in the modern-day state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. French troops had ineffectively besieged the western side of Mainz Fortress since December 1794. However, in early September 1795 the General of Division Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's '' Army of Sambre-et-Meuse'' crossed the lower Rhine River and advanced south to the Main River. For the first time Mainz was besieged on the east side of the river, but this state of affairs did not last long. After the Battle of Höchst, Clerfayt forced Jourdan's 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'', Pichegru was in treasonous contact with France's enemies, perhaps accounting for Austria's success. The next clash was the Battle of Pfeddersheim 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 * Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr * Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor * Adam Albert von Neipperg * Antoine Christophe Merlin * Auguste de Marmont * Jean Bernadotte * Franz von Weyrother * Franz Joseph, Marquis de Lusignan * François, marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat * François Séverin Marceau-Desgraviers * Jean-Marie-Joseph Coutelle * Joseph Marie, Count Dessaix * Nicolas-Jacques Conté * Paul Louis Courier * 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. Strategic Situation of Europe 1796

Military units

54th Infantry Regiment (France) The 54th Infantry Regiment (''54e régiment d’infanterie'' or ''54e RI'') is a line infantry regiment of the French Army. History Early service It was formed in 1657 during the Ancien Régime as the ''régiment Mazarin-Catalans'', being r ...

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.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mainz 1795 1795 in France 1795 in the Habsburg monarchy Battles of the War of the First Coalition involving Austria Military history of Mainz