Battle of Froeschwiller (1793)
Part of War of the First Coalition

Battle of Froeschwiller (painting by Frédéric Régamey, 1905)
Date18–22 December 1793
Location
Froeschwiller, France
Result French victory
Belligerents
French First Republic Republican France Habsburg monarchy Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
French First Republic Lazare Hoche
French First Republic Charles Pichegru		 Habsburg monarchy Count von Wurmser
Units involved
French First Republic Army of the Moselle
French First Republic Army of the Rhine		 Habsburg monarchy Army of the Rhine
Strength
25,000[1] 15,000[1]
Casualties and losses
1,000[1] 2,000
16 guns[1]

The Battle of Froeschwiller (18–22 December 1793) saw Republican French armies led by Lazare Hoche and Charles Pichegru attack a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser. On the 18th, a French attack pushed back the Austrians a short distance. After more fighting, a powerful assault on the 22nd forced the entire Austrian army to withdraw to Wissembourg. The action occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. Froeschwiller is a village in Bas-Rhin department of France, situated about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north of Strasbourg.

Battle of Froeschwiller at 22nd December 1793: French infantry taking the town of Froeschwiller (by Frédéric Regamey, 1905)

The Austrian victory in the First Battle of Wissembourg threatened to overrun the territory of Alsace. Hoche assumed command of the Army of the Moselle and attacked the Prussian army in the Battle of Kaiserslautern without success. However, the French took advantage of the lack of cooperation between the Prussians and their Austrian allies. Hoche sent 12,000 troops under Alexandre Camille Taponier through the Palatinate Forest to attack Wurmser's right flank at Froeschwiller. On 22 December, Hoche launched a successful assault with five divisions while Pichegru's Army of the Rhine attacked Wurmser from the south. The Second Battle of Wissembourg on 25–26 December would decide the fate of Alsace.

References

  • Phipps, Ramsay Weston (2011). The Armies of the First French Republic: Volume II The Armées du Moselle, du Rhin, de Sambre-et-Meuse, de Rhin-et-Moselle. USA: Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908692-25-2.
  • Rickard, J. (2009). "Battle of Froeschwiller, 18-22 December 1793". historyofwar.org. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  • Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) (in German). Vienna and Leipzig: C. W. Stern. Retrieved 16 August 2023.

48°56′40″N 7°43′22″E / 48.94444°N 7.72278°E / 48.94444; 7.72278


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