On 25 March 1799, French and Habsburg armies fought for control of the geographically strategic
Hegau in present-day
Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names:
First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen (or Leibtengen).
Stockach lies at the junction of east–west and north–south roads on the eastern side of the Black Forest. Strategically, control of the location offered access between the Swiss and Italian theaters and those in southern, central and northern Germany. French control would protect access to the Black forest and the Rhine, of strategic importance in the Directory's plans to force the Habsburg army back to Vienna.[2]
The day-long battle at Stockach and Engen pitted the two armies against each other for the second time in seven days. The Austrians still had the numerical superiority, but this time it was closer to two-to-one, instead of almost three-to-one. Jourdan had consolidated his force over a shorter line, and had the full Army of the Danube under his direct command. Charles, likewise, had shortened his line; although Hotze had not yet caught up with the archduke, he and his 10,000 men were approaching from the Austrians' left rear.[3]
2nd Cuirassiers Archduke Franz d'Este (6 squadrons)
11th Cuirassiers Ansbach (4 squadrons)
Detached (flanking) force
Lt. Colonel Wiedersberg
Tirolean Jägers (1 company)
1st Border Hussars Croatian Slavic (4 squadrons)
7th Light Dragoons Waldeck (2 squadrons)
Sources
^See Blanning, p. 232; Deans, p. 645; Gallagher, p. 124; Phipps, p. 50; Rothenberg, p. 79; and Young, p. 230; Digby Smith, in his Napoleonic Wars Data Book, notes it as a French victory, p. 148.
^Digby Smith, The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998, p. 148.
^Smith names Richier Drouet, but he died at Jemappes in 1792.
^Each demi-brigade included, in theory, two battalions of "blues" (revolutionary recruits) and one of "whites" (battalions from the old royal army). Robert R. Bruce, Fighting techniques of the Napoleonic Age, 1792–1815, London, Thomas Dunne (St. Martin's Press), 2008, 978-0312375874, p. 17.
^Digby Smith, The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998, p. 148.
Bibliography
Source for Orders of Battle:
(in German) Kessinger, Roland. '"Die Schlacht von Stockach am 25. Maerz 1799". Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte. Salzburg: Öst. Milizverlag, 1997-. [2006].
Alison, Sir Archibald. A History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1850.
Blanning, Timothy, The French Revolutionary Wars, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
ISBN0-340-56911-5
Bruce, Robert R. Fighting techniques of the Napoleonic Age, 1792–1815. London: Thomas Dunne (St. Martin's Press), 2008, 978-0312375874
Deans, William. A History of France from earliest times to the present. V. 2, London: Thomas Jack, 1882.
Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. Napoleon: A History of the Art of War. Volume 3, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1904.
Gallagher, John, Napoleon's enfant terrible: General Dominique Vandamme. Tulsa, University of Oklahoma Press, 2008,
ISBN978-0-8061-3875-6.
Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste (1799). A Memoir of the operations of the army of the Danube under the command of General Jourdan, taken from the manuscripts of that officer. London:
Debrett's.
Phipps, Ramsey Weston. The Armies of the First French Republic. volume 5: "The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'etat of Brumaire, 1797–1799." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939.
Seaton, Albert. The Austro-Hungarian army of the Napoleonic wars. London: Osprey, 1973, 9780850451474.
Smith, Digby. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998,
ISBN1-85367-276-9
Thiers, Adolphe. The history of the French revolution, New York, Appleton, 1854, v. 4,
Young, John, D.D. A History of the Commencement, Progress, and Termination of the Late War between Great Britain and France which continued from the first day of February 1793 to the first of October 1801. In two volumes. Edinburg: Turnbull, 1802, vol. 2.
On 25 March 1799, French and Habsburg armies fought for control of the geographically strategic
Hegau in present-day
Baden-Württemberg. The battle has been called by various names:
First Battle of Stockach, the Battle by Stockach, and, in French chronicles, the Battle of Liptingen (or Leibtengen).
Stockach lies at the junction of east–west and north–south roads on the eastern side of the Black Forest. Strategically, control of the location offered access between the Swiss and Italian theaters and those in southern, central and northern Germany. French control would protect access to the Black forest and the Rhine, of strategic importance in the Directory's plans to force the Habsburg army back to Vienna.[2]
The day-long battle at Stockach and Engen pitted the two armies against each other for the second time in seven days. The Austrians still had the numerical superiority, but this time it was closer to two-to-one, instead of almost three-to-one. Jourdan had consolidated his force over a shorter line, and had the full Army of the Danube under his direct command. Charles, likewise, had shortened his line; although Hotze had not yet caught up with the archduke, he and his 10,000 men were approaching from the Austrians' left rear.[3]
2nd Cuirassiers Archduke Franz d'Este (6 squadrons)
11th Cuirassiers Ansbach (4 squadrons)
Detached (flanking) force
Lt. Colonel Wiedersberg
Tirolean Jägers (1 company)
1st Border Hussars Croatian Slavic (4 squadrons)
7th Light Dragoons Waldeck (2 squadrons)
Sources
^See Blanning, p. 232; Deans, p. 645; Gallagher, p. 124; Phipps, p. 50; Rothenberg, p. 79; and Young, p. 230; Digby Smith, in his Napoleonic Wars Data Book, notes it as a French victory, p. 148.
^Digby Smith, The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998, p. 148.
^Smith names Richier Drouet, but he died at Jemappes in 1792.
^Each demi-brigade included, in theory, two battalions of "blues" (revolutionary recruits) and one of "whites" (battalions from the old royal army). Robert R. Bruce, Fighting techniques of the Napoleonic Age, 1792–1815, London, Thomas Dunne (St. Martin's Press), 2008, 978-0312375874, p. 17.
^Digby Smith, The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998, p. 148.
Bibliography
Source for Orders of Battle:
(in German) Kessinger, Roland. '"Die Schlacht von Stockach am 25. Maerz 1799". Zeitschrift für Militärgeschichte. Salzburg: Öst. Milizverlag, 1997-. [2006].
Alison, Sir Archibald. A History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons. New York: A.S. Barnes, 1850.
Blanning, Timothy, The French Revolutionary Wars, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
ISBN0-340-56911-5
Bruce, Robert R. Fighting techniques of the Napoleonic Age, 1792–1815. London: Thomas Dunne (St. Martin's Press), 2008, 978-0312375874
Deans, William. A History of France from earliest times to the present. V. 2, London: Thomas Jack, 1882.
Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. Napoleon: A History of the Art of War. Volume 3, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 1904.
Gallagher, John, Napoleon's enfant terrible: General Dominique Vandamme. Tulsa, University of Oklahoma Press, 2008,
ISBN978-0-8061-3875-6.
Jourdan, Jean-Baptiste (1799). A Memoir of the operations of the army of the Danube under the command of General Jourdan, taken from the manuscripts of that officer. London:
Debrett's.
Phipps, Ramsey Weston. The Armies of the First French Republic. volume 5: "The armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt and the coup d'etat of Brumaire, 1797–1799." Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1939.
Seaton, Albert. The Austro-Hungarian army of the Napoleonic wars. London: Osprey, 1973, 9780850451474.
Smith, Digby. The Greenhill Napoleonic Wars Data Book: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815, Greenhill, PA, Stackpole, 1998,
ISBN1-85367-276-9
Thiers, Adolphe. The history of the French revolution, New York, Appleton, 1854, v. 4,
Young, John, D.D. A History of the Commencement, Progress, and Termination of the Late War between Great Britain and France which continued from the first day of February 1793 to the first of October 1801. In two volumes. Edinburg: Turnbull, 1802, vol. 2.