Key Facts
- Duration
- 27 November 1796 – 1 February 1797
- French troops sent to Italy
- ~12,000 (14 demi-brigades)
- French commander killed
- Jean Charles Abbatucci, killed in December sortie
- Concurrent siege
- Siege of Kehl, concluded 9 January 1797
- Distance from Basel
- ~4.0 km north of Basel
Strategic Narrative Overview
Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg was assigned the Hüningen siege while Charles led the larger operation at Kehl. Fürstenberg constructed extensive earthworks and three major artillery batteries that subjected the fortress to continuous bombardment. A French sortie in early December was repelled and French commander Abbatucci was killed in the action. After Kehl fell on 9 January 1797, its troops marched south to reinforce Fürstenberg's force in preparation for a full assault on the battered fortress.
01 / The Origins
Revolutionary France clashed with a Coalition of European monarchies beginning in 1792, partly over fears for Louis XVI and his wife, sister of the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1796, French forces under Moreau pushed deep into the German states before Archduke Charles's Austrian army counterattacked, driving the French back to the Rhine by autumn. Charles sought an armistice to free troops for Italy, but Emperor Francis II and the Aulic Council refused, ordering simultaneous sieges of the Rhine bridgeheads at Kehl and Hüningen.
03 / The Outcome
Facing an imminent major assault, French commander Georges Joseph Dufour capitulated on 1 February 1797. The French evacuated, removing all remaining items of value, leaving the Austrians in possession of a largely ruined fortification. The prolonged winter sieges had tied Austrian forces to the Rhine for months, preventing timely reinforcement of Wurmser at Mantua and allowing Moreau to dispatch roughly 12,000 troops to the Italian theater.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg, Archduke Charles.
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean Charles Abbatucci, Georges Joseph Dufour, Jean Victor Moreau.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.