This battle temporarily transferred Rhine bridgehead control at Kehl to Austria, setting conditions for the subsequent 100-day siege that shaped the 1796 Rhine Campaign.
Key Facts
- Date
- 18 September 1796
- Theater
- Rhine Campaign of 1796, War of the First Coalition
- Austrian commander
- General Franz Petrasch
- French commander
- Jean Victor Marie Moreau
- Subsequent siege duration
- 100 days (from late October 1796)
- River contested
- Rhine, between Kehl and Strasbourg
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
By late summer 1796, Austrian forces had recovered most territory lost to France earlier that year. Control of the Rhine crossings at Kehl and Hüningen was strategically vital, as they provided French armies access to southwestern Germany. Austria sought to sever this link and prevent French forces from freely operating east of the Rhine.
On 18 September 1796, General Franz Petrasch led Austrian and Imperial troops in a storm assault on the French-held bridgeheads connecting Kehl and Strasbourg. Although the Austrians temporarily seized the tête-du-ponts, a strong French counter-attack forced them to withdraw, leaving France in control of the bridges while Austria held the surrounding territory.
Austrian control of the territory surrounding the bridgeheads trapped French forces on the east bank, compelling General Moreau to withdraw southward toward Basel. Following the Battle of Schliengen on 24 October 1796, most of Moreau's army crossed the Rhine at Hüningen, and Count Baillet Latour moved Austrian troops to Kehl to commence a 100-day siege.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Franz Petrasch.
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean Victor Marie Moreau.