The Battle of Messkirch (5 May 1800) saw a Republican French army led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau attack a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Paul Kray. At the start of the 1800 campaign in Germany, Moreau's 108,000-strong field army faced Kray's 120,000-man army on opposite sides of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

River. By a series of maneuvers, Moreau crossed the Rhine and concentrated superior forces to defeat Kray at the Battles of Stockach and Engen on 3 May. After Kray retreated a short distance to the north, the two adversaries met again at Meßkirch. After a well-contested fight, Kray withdrew again, conceding victory to the French.

Overview

''See the Messkirch 1800 Order of Battle for details of the French and Austrian armies in the campaign.'' On 25 April 1800, the French '' Armée d'Allemagne'', under Jean Victor Marie Moreau, crossed the Rhine River at

Kehl Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...

and

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. The 1st Demi-Brigade, of the Corps led by Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, conquered St. Georgen and entered the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. After conquering Stuhlingen, 25 km south of Donaueschingen, the unit took part in the Battle of Stockach and Engen on 3 May 1800, after which the Austrian retreated to Meßkirch where they enjoyed a more favourable defensive position. The French repeatedly assaulted the town on 4 May 1800 and 5 May 1800, both attempts being in vain. The 1st Demi-Brigade, despite the Austrian superiority there, was able to conquer Krumbach and the heights surrounding it, which commanded Meßkirch. Therefore, the Austrian moved back to Sigmaringen, followed by the French. The Battle of Biberach ensued on 9 May 1800.

Notes

References

* * * * * * *

Overview

See also

Notes

References

Further reading