A French victory over Austrian forces in April 1797, rendered strategically redundant when the Preliminaries of Leoben armistice was signed days before the battle.
Key Facts
- Date
- 20–21 April 1797
- Combined casualties (killed/wounded)
- ~6,000 total (approx. 3,000 per side)
- Austrian prisoners taken
- 2,000
- Artillery pieces captured
- 13
- French commander
- General Jean Victor Marie Moreau
- Austrian commander
- Anton Count Sztáray de Nagy-Mihaly
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the War of the First Coalition, French and Austrian forces remained in opposition along the Rhine frontier. General Moreau commanded the French Army of the Rhine and Moselle and sought to press an offensive crossing of the Rhine near Diersheim, unaware that Napoleon Bonaparte had already signed the Preliminaries of Leoben with Austria just days earlier.
On 20–21 April 1797, French Republican forces under Moreau crossed the Rhine and engaged the Habsburg army commanded by Sztáray near the village of Diersheim. Both sides suffered approximately 3,000 killed or wounded in hard fighting before the Austrians retreated, losing 2,000 prisoners and 13 artillery pieces. Austrian General Wilhelm von Immens was killed and Sztáray was badly wounded.
Although France achieved a tactical victory, the battle was strategically pointless because the Preliminaries of Leoben had already called for a truce. The engagement enhanced Moreau's military reputation despite its futility, and the losses on both sides served no diplomatic or strategic purpose given the imminent end of the campaign.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Jean Victor Marie Moreau.
Side B
1 belligerent
Anton Count Sztáray de Nagy-Mihaly, Wilhelm von Immens.