Editing Battle of Höchstädt (1800)

{{Short description|Battle of the War of the Second Coalition}}
{{About|the battle in 1800|the battles in 1703 and 1704|First Battle of Höchstädt|and|Battle of Blenheim}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Battle of Höchstädt
|coordinates={{coord|48|36|0|N|10|33|0|E|region:DE_type:event}}
|image=Bataille de Hochstett, 19 juin 1800.jpg
|image_size=260px
|caption=Battle of Höchstädt by [[Hippolyte Lecomte]], 1838
|partof=the [[War of the Second Coalition]]
|date=19 June 1800
|place=[[Höchstädt an der Donau|Höchstädt]], and surrounding villages of [[Blindheim]], [[Dillingen an der Donau|Dillingen]], and [[Donauwörth]], in present day Germany
|result=French victory
|combatant1={{flagicon|France|1794}} [[French First Republic|France]]
|combatant2={{flagicon|Holy Roman Empire}} [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]]
|commander1=[[Jean Victor Marie Moreau]]
|commander2=[[Pál Kray]]
|strength1=60,000
|strength2=30,000
|casualties1=approximately 2,000
|casualties2=5,000 dead, wounded and captured
|source=[[Digby Smith]], ''Battle of Höchstädt,'' <u>Napoleonic Wars Databook</u>. London: Greenhill Press, 1998, p. 178}}
{{Campaignbox Second Coalition}}
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| title = [[War of the Second Coalition]]:<br>
Austria
| caption = The color black indicates the current battle.

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| mark-title1 = [[Battle of Ostrach]] from 20 to 21 March 1799

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| mark-title2 = [[Battle of Feldkirch]] on 23 March 1799

| label3 =
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| mark-title3 = [[Battle of Stockach (1799)]] on 25 March 1799<br>[[Battle of Stockach (1800)]] on 3 May 1800

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| mark-title4 = [[Battle of Frauenfeld]] on 25 May 1799

| label5 =
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| mark-title5 = [[Battle of Winterthur]] on 27 May 1799

| label6 = Zurich
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| mark-title6 = [[First Battle of Zurich]] on 7 June 1799<br>[[Second Battle of Zurich]] from 25 to 26 September 1799

| label7 =
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| mark-title7 = [[Battle of Amsteg]] from 14 to 16 August 1799

| label8 =
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| mark-title8 = [[Battle of Mannheim (1799)]] on 18 September 1799

| label9 =
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| mark-title9 = [[Battle of Gotthard Pass]] from 24 to 26 September 1799

| label10 =
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| mark-title10 = [[Battle of Wiesloch (1799)]] on 3 December 1799

| label11 =
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| mark-title11 = [[Battle of Messkirch]] from 4 to 5 May 1800

| label12 =
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| mark-title12 = [[Battle of Biberach (1800)]] on 9 May 1800

| label13 =
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| mark-title13 = Battle of Höchstädt (1800) on 19 June 1800
| shape-color13 = black
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| label14 =
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| mark-title14 = [[Battle of Neuburg (1800)]] on 27 June 1800

| label15 =
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| mark-title15 = [[Battle of Ampfing (1800)]] on 1 December 1800

| label16 =
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| mark-title16 = [[Battle of Hohenlinden]] on 3 December 1800
}}

The '''Battle of Höchstädt''' was fought on 19 June 1800 on the north bank of the [[Danube]] near [[Höchstädt an der Donau|Höchstädt]], and resulted in a French victory under General [[Jean Victor Marie Moreau]] against the [[Habsburg monarchy|Austrians]] under Baron [[Pál Kray]]. The Austrians were subsequently forced back into the fortress town of [[Ulm]]. Instead of attacking the heavily fortified, walled city, which would result in massive losses of personnel and time, Moreau dislodged Kray's supporting forces defending the [[Danube]] passage further east.  As a line of retreat eastward disappeared, Kray quickly abandoned Ulm, and withdrew into [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. This opened the Danube pathway toward [[Vienna]].

The Danube passage connecting Ulm, [[Donauwörth]], [[Ingolstadt]] and [[Regensburg]] had strategic importance in the ongoing competition for European [[hegemony]] between France and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]; the army that commanded the Danube, especially its passage through [[Duchy of Württemberg|Württemberg]] and Bavaria, could command access to the important cities of [[Munich]] and the seat of [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]] authority: Vienna.  The result of the battle was the opposite of what had occurred on those same fields in 1704 during the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], when the [[Second Battle of Höchstädt]] had ensured the safety of Vienna and opened the pathway into France for the allied English and Austrian forces.

==Background==
{{main|French Revolutionary Wars}}

Although the [[First Coalition]] forces achieved several initial victories at [[Battle of Verdun (1792)|Verdun]], [[Battle of Kaiserslautern|Kaiserslautern]], [[Battle of Neerwinden (1793)|Neerwinden]], [[Battle of Mainz|Mainz]], [[Battle of Amberg|Amberg]] and [[Battle of Würzburg|Würzburg]], the efforts of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in northern [[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars|Italy]] pushed Austrian forces back and resulted in the negotiation of the [[Peace of Leoben]] (17&nbsp;April 1797) and the subsequent [[Treaty of Campo Formio]] (October 1797).<ref>Timothy Blanning, ''The French Revolutionary Wars'', New York, Oxford University Press, pp. 41–59.</ref>  This treaty proved difficult to administer. Austria was slow to give up some of the Venetian territories. A Congress convened at [[Rastatt]] for the purposes of deciding which southwestern German states would be [[German mediatization|mediatised]] to compensate the dynastic houses for territorial losses, but was unable to make any progress. Supported by French republican forces, Swiss [[Insurgency|insurgents]] staged several uprisings, ultimately causing the overthrow of the [[Old Swiss Confederation|Swiss Confederation]] after 18&nbsp;months of civil war.<ref>Blanning, pp. 200–280.</ref> By early 1799, the [[French Directory]] had become impatient with stalling tactics employed by Austria. An uprising in [[Naples]] raised further alarms, and recent gains in Switzerland suggested the timing was fortuitous for the French to venture on another campaign in northern Italy and southwestern Germany.<ref>Blanning, p. 200.</ref>
[[File:Hohentwiel-luftbild.jpg|thumbnail|The Battles of Stockach and Engen in May 1800, followed by a larger battle at [[Meßkirch]], followed the Hohentwiel capitulation to the French]]
At the beginning of 1800, the armies of France and Austria faced each other across the [[Rhine]].  Feldzeugmeister Pál Kray led approximately 120,000 troops. In addition to his Austrian regulars, his force included 12,000 men from the [[Electorate of Bavaria]], 6,000 troops from the [[Duchy of Württemberg]], 5,000 soldiers of low quality from the [[Archbishopric of Mainz]], and 7,000 militiamen from the [[County of Tyrol]]. Of these, 25,000 men were deployed east of [[Lake Constance|Lake Constance (Bodensee)]] to protect the [[Vorarlberg]]. Kray posted his main body of 95,000 soldiers in the L-shaped angle where the Rhine changes direction from a westward flow along the northern border of Switzerland to a northward flow along the eastern border of France. Unwisely, Kray set up his main magazine at [[Stockach]], near the northwestern end of [[Lake Constance]], only a day's march from French-held Switzerland.<ref>James R. Arnold, ''Marengo and Hohenlinden: Napoleon's Rise to Power'', Pen & Sword Military, 2005, pp.  197–199.</ref>

General of Division [[Jean Victor Marie Moreau]] commanded a modestly-equipped army of 137,000 French troops. Of these, 108,000 troops were available for field operations while the other 29,000 watched the Swiss border and held the Rhine fortresses. [[Napoleon|Napoleon Bonaparte]] offered a plan of operations based on outflanking the Austrians by a push from Switzerland, but Moreau declined to follow it. Rather, Moreau planned to cross the Rhine near [[Basel]] where the river swung to the north. A French column would distract Kray from Moreau's true intentions by crossing the Rhine from the west. Bonaparte wanted [[Claude Lecourbe]]'s corps to be detached to Italy after the initial battles, but Moreau had other plans.<ref name=Arnold199>Arnold, 199–201</ref>  Through a series of complicated maneuvers in which he flanked, double flanked, and reflanked Kray's army, Moreau's forces lay on the eastern slope of the [[Black Forest]], while portions of Kray's army was still guarding the passes on the other side.<ref>W.M. Sloane, ''Life of Napoleon.'' France, 1896, p. 109.</ref>  [[Battle of Stockach (1800)|Battles at Engen and Stockach]] were fought on 3 May 1800 between Moreau's and Kray's armies.  The fighting near [[Engen, Germany|Engen]] resulted in a stalemate with heavy losses on both sides. However, while the two main armies were engaged at Engen, Lecourbe captured Stockach from its Austrian defenders under [[Joseph Louis, Prince of Lorraine-Vaudémont]]. The loss of this main supply base at Stockach compelled Kray to retreat north to [[Meßkirch]], where his army enjoyed a more favorable defensive position. It also meant, however, that any retreat by Kray into Austria via Switzerland and the [[Vorarlberg]] was cut off.<ref>Sloane, 109</ref>

On 4 and 5 May, the French launched repeated and fruitless assaults on the [[Meßkirch]]. At nearby [[Sauldorf|Krumbach]], where the Austrians also had the superiority of position and force, the 1st [[Demi-brigade|Demi-Brigade]] took the village and the heights around it, which gave them a commanding aspect over Meßkirch.  Subsequently, Kray withdrew his forces to [[Sigmaringen]], followed closely by the French. Fighting at nearby [[Battle of Biberach (1800)|Biberach an der Ris]] ensued on 9 May; action principally consisted of the 25,000 man-strong French "Center", commanded by [[Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr]] against a Habsburg force of similar size.<ref>Sloane, pp. 109–110.</ref>  Again, on 10 May, the Austrians withdrew with heavy losses, this time to Ulm.<ref>Digby Smith, ''Napoleonic Wars Databook.'' London: Greenhill Press, 1998, p. 178.</ref>

==Order of battle==

===French===
[[File:Jean_Victor_Marie_Moreau_(1792).jpg|thumbnail|Jean Victor Moreau commanded the French Army of the Rhine.]]
Sources are unclear which forces were present.  Certainly, it was approximately 40,000 troops, and possibly 60,000, well above the 10,000–30,000 total Austrian and Württemberg numbers.  Contemporary accounts place the 94th Demi-brigade at the center of action in Gremheim, a village between [[Höchstadt|Höchstädt]] and [[Donauwörth]], about half a mile (800m) from [[Blindheim]].<ref>History, p. 183.</ref>  This suggests the presence of General Claude Jacques Lecourbe's Corps, including the forces of generals [[Anne Gilbert de Laval|Laval]], [[Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor|Molitor]], [[Henri-Antoine Jardon|Jardon]], and [[Dominique Vandamme|VanDamme]].<ref>Smith, p. 177.</ref>  This is also confirmed in an extract of Moreau's dispatch to the [[French Minister of War]], published in the ''[[London Chronicle]]'', 10 June 1800.  "The 6th [[Chasseur|chasseurs]], 13th cavalry, 4th [[Hussar|hussars]] and 11th chasseurs distinguished themselves in this affair.  The rest of the division, and that of LeClere, passed rapidly the Danube... General Grenier was equally well prepared."<ref>"Extract of a letter from Gen. Moreau to the Minister of War, Neresheim, June 20." ''The London Chronicle'' vol. 87., Found in Willem Lodewyk,  Van-Es, ''The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte ...: With a Concise History of the Events'' W. Day, 1810 – France, pp. 31–35.{{primary source inline|date=June 2022}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=June 2022}}  In his ''Art of War'',  Baron [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]] also refers to General [[François Louis Dedon-Duclos|Dedon-Duclos]] as having a key role in the French success at Höchstädt.<ref>Baron [[Antoine-Henri Jomini]], ''The Art of War'', Wilder Publications, 2008, p. 173. Originally published in English in 1862.</ref>

===Austrian===

The Allied force included approximately 20,000 Habsburg regulars and [[Württemberg|Württemberg's]] contingent of troops raised for the war:<ref name="Smith, 178">Smith, 178.</ref>

*FZM Count [[Anton Sztáray]], commanding
** FML von [[Ferdinand August Freiherr von Hügel]]'s Württemberg Contingent, including
***General Beulwitz, Infantry Regiment Beulwitz, Seckendorf and Seeger (1 battalion each)
***Füss-Jägers (three companies);
***[[Garde du Corps]] (1 squadron)
***3 squadrons of light horse
***Contingent regiments commanded by von Zobel, von Mylius, and von Oberniz (1 battalion each)
***20 guns
**Austrian regulars
***Royal Regiment Albert, Number 3 (6 squadrons)
***Hohenzollern Number 8 (6 squadrons)
***[[Hussar]] Regiment Vécsey Number 4 (8 squadron)
***[[Blankenstein]] Number 6 (8 squadron)

Total Austrian-Württemberg force: 20,000 men.<ref name="Smith, 178"/>

==Dispositions==
Kray assumed that Moreau would follow him to the fortress at Ulm, on the Danube, where he arrayed most of the Austrian regulars and Württemberg contingent and supplies. This position gave him ready access to both shores of the river and effectively, he assumed, blocked Moreau's path into Bavaria.  At several points east on the Danube, he posted modest forces to protect the river crossings there, and to dismantle, if necessary, the stone bridges across the river. Several bridges crossed the river between Ulm and [[Donauwörth]], which lay downstream to the east, and each presented a strategic point at which to rupture Kray's potential line of march into Bavaria: [[Leipheim]], [[Günzburg]], [[Gundelfingen an der Donau|Gundelfingen]], [[Lauingen]], [[Dillingen an der Donau|Dillingen]], [[Höchstädt an der Donau|Höchstädt]], Gremheim, and [[Elchingen]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''Extract of a letter from Gen. Moreau...''</ref>

According to Moreau's narrative, he intended to force Kray to either come to battle outside Ulm, or to abandon the city. Ulm obstructed unfettered French access into Bavaria, and blocked the main force of the Army of the Rhine.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>  To keep his forces secure, accepted military wisdom required that Moreau secure at least half of the crossings of the river, and that his troops follow a line of march perpendicular to the river.  This would prevent them from having to fight a battle (or a skirmish) with their backs to the river. The more bridges his force could take, the more secure the approach on Ulm.<ref>Jomini, p. 173.</ref>

==General engagement==

Moreau appeared to march toward Ulm, which lay some twenty miles east of [[Sigmaringen]] and [[Biberach an der Riß|Biberach an der Ris]], where his army and Kray's had engaged a few days earlier. Instead of striking directly at the well-fortified and supplied city, however, his force suddenly veered to the east and struck at the smaller forces posted between Ulm and Donauwörth.<ref>David Eggenberger, "Höchstädt II", ''An Encyclopedia of Battles'', Dover Publications, 2014, p. 193.</ref> Lecourbe first secured posts in [[Landsberg am Lech|Landsberg]] and [[Augsburg]], and left sufficient rearguard troops to protect himself from [[Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Plauen|Prince Reuss-Plauen]], who remained in the [[Tyrol]], guarding mountain access to Vienna. He then approached Dettingen, Blindheim (Blenheim) and Höchstädt.  The Corps of General [[Paul Grenier|Grenier]] has been posted with their right flank to the Danube and [[Günzburg|Gunzburg]], and their left flank at [[Kisdorf|Kinsdorf]].  General [[Antoine Richepanse|Richepanse]]  protected both shores of the [[Iller]], covering the road from Ulm south to [[Memmingen]], and secured communication with Switzerland; there, he withstood considerable skirmishing with the Austrians. Three divisions of reserve remained at the hamlets of Kamlack and Mindel, to support the attack made by General Lecourbe on Ulm, in a case it should succeed, or Grenier's attack upon Gunzburg, in case Lecourbe should not succeed.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Lecourbe made several feints on the bridge at Dillingheim, but his reconnaissance suggested instead that he focus on the bridges at Gremsheim, Blindheim and Höchstädt, which he did the next day.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>  A small group of 80 or so men from the 94th Demi-brigade managed a spectacular crossing of the river. After stripping their clothing and weapons, and loading them into a small raft, the naked men swam the river, pulling their raft behind them. Once reaching the other side, they took possession of several guns and some ammunition, wood, and materials.  Here they held their position until some artillery men managed to scramble across the wreck of the bridge at Gremsheim and support them. The [[Pioneer (military)|pioneers]] and bridge builders reconstructed the bridges under Austrian fire, allowing the remainder of the 94th to cross the river.<ref>"Höchstädt", ''History of the Wars of the French Revolution: Including Sketches of the Civil History of Great Britain and France, from the Revolutionary Movements, 1788, to the Restoration of a General Peace, 1815'', Kuhl, France, 1820, p. 181.</ref>  This accomplishment seemed to mark the turning point of the action, at least it did to Moreau, who mentioned it at length in his dispatch.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> A full Austrian corps maintained a stand at Höchstädt, but were dislodged by repeated attacks of [[carabine]]rs, [[cuirassier]]s and [[Hussar|hussars]], who took about 2,000 of the Austrians and Würtembergers as prisoners, along with some cannons and standards.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Aftermath==
[[File:Leopold Kupelwieser 001.jpg|thumbnail|left|Emperor Francis II replaced Paul Kray (1735–1804) with his brother, Archduke John (above), after the Kray's losses in the Danube campaign.]]
Once the French had secured the downstream shores of the Danube, Kray had no choice but to evacuate his corps from Ulm, leaving only a small garrison behind. The French invested the fortress at Ulm immediately, and on the 20th, the 6th Chasseurs captured a [[convoy]] of 300 wagons loaded with grain.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>  A few days later, a general armistice halted all fighting. [[Francis II of Austria|Emperor Francis II]] dismissed Pál Kray and appointed his brother, the 18-year-old [[Archduke John]], to command the Austrian army. To bolster the inexperienced archduke, the Emperor named [[Franz von Lauer]] as deputy commander and [[Oberst]] ([[Colonel]]) [[Franz von Weyrother]] as [[chief of staff]].<ref>Arnold, pp. 205, 213.</ref>

The campaign culminating in Kray's evacuation of Ulm was one of Moreau's most resounding triumphs. Napoleon Bonaparte had given Moreau specific instructions about the conduct of the campaign, all of which Moreau had ignored. Regardless, their combined efforts damaged Habsburg military operations. In early 1800, while Moreau wrecked Austrian defenses in Germany, [[Massena]] and [[Louis Desaix|Desaix]] ran into stiff Austrian offensives in [[Northern Italy]]. Napoleon brought in the reserve corps and defeated the Austrians at [[Battle of Marengo|Marengo]]. The battle near Höchstädt, five days after the Austrian failure at Marengo, allowed the French to take [[Munich]]. The combined efforts forced the Habsburgs to accept an [[armistice]], which ended hostilities for the rest of the summer, but the French extracted massive levies on the Bavarians. Despite these significant losses—both of them decisive—the Austrians were reluctant to accept disadvantageous peace terms. In mid-November, the French ended the truce and Moreau inflicted another significant and decisive defeat at [[Battle of Hohenlinden|Hohenlinden]], on 3 December 1800.<ref>Gregory Fremont Barnes. ''Napoleon Bonaparte''.  Osprey Publishing, 2012, p. 73.</ref>  The subsequent [[Peace of Lunéville]] stripped Austria of much of her Italian territories, obliged the [[Habsburg]]s to recognize the French satellites in the [[Low Countries]], Switzerland, and northern Italy, and laid the groundwork for the mediatization of the small independent ecclesiastical and secular imperial polities by the duchies of [[Duchy of Baden|Baden]] and Württemberg, and the Electorate of Bavaria.<ref>Rothenberg, pp. 43–44.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ulm Campaign|Ulm Campaign 1805]]
*[[Battle of Blenheim]] also called Second Battle of Höchstädt
*[[First Battle of Höchstädt]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Sources==

===Books and encyclopedia===
* Arnold, James R. ''Marengo & Hohenlinden.'' Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword, 2005. {{ISBN|978-0967098500}}
* Barnes, Gregory Fremont. ''Napoleon Bonaparte.'' Osprey Publishing, 2012.  {{ISBN|978-0340569115}}
* [[T. C. W. Blanning|Blanning, Timothy]]. ''The French Revolutionary Wars'', New York, Oxford University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0340569115}}
* Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). ''The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2.'' Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. {{ISBN|978-0700630349}}
* Eggenberger, David. "Höchstädt II", ''An Encyclopedia of Battles'', Dover Publications, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0486249131}}
* Herold, J. Christopher.  ''The Age of Napoleon''. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1963. {{ISBN|978-0618154616}}
*''History of the Wars of the French Revolution: Including Sketches of the Civil History of Great Britain and France, from the Revolutionary Movements, 1788, to the Restoration of a General Peace, 1815'', Kuhl, France, 1820.
* [[Antoine-Henri Jomini|Jomini, Antoine-Henri (Baron)]]. ''The Art of War,''Wilder Publications, 2008, p.&nbsp;173. Originally published in English in 1862.  {{ISBN|978-1934255582}}
*[[Gunther E. Rothenberg|Rothenberg, Gunther Erich]]. ''The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon.'' Indiana University Press, 1980. {{ISBN|978-0253202604}}
* [[William Milligan Sloane|Sloane, W.M.]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=IHiVWpZEHZEC&q=WM+Sloane+Napoleon ''Life of Napoleon'']. France, 1896 (reprint, 1910), p.&nbsp;109.
*[[Digby Smith|Smith, Digby]]. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book''. London: Greenhill, 1998.  {{ISBN|978-1853672767}}
* van Ess-Lodewyk, Willem. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_y_xO1MTHYC&q=Willem+Lodewyk ''Extract of a letter from Gen. Moreau to the Minister of War, Neresheim, June 20. The London Chronicle.''] W. Day, 1810.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Höchstädt 1800}}
[[Category:Battles of the War of the Second Coalition involving Austria]]
[[Category:Dillingen (district)]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1800]]
[[Category:1800 in the Habsburg monarchy]]
[[Category:1800 in France]]
[[Category:1800 in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1800s in Bavaria]]
[[Category:Military history of Bavaria]]
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