Key Facts
- Duration
- 26 October 1796 – 9 January 1797
- Besieging force strength
- 40,000 Habsburg and Württemberg troops
- Fortress architect
- Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban (17th century)
- Key sortie date
- 22 November 1796
- Outcome
- French garrison capitulated and withdrew
Strategic Narrative Overview
Count Baillet de Latour moved north after the Battle of Schliengen to open the siege. On 22 November, French defenders under Desaix launched a sortie that nearly seized the Austrian artillery park but failed to break the siege. In early December, Austrian engineers extended a grand parallel and constructed a semicircular ring of batteries. By late December, these batteries connected with the captured Bonnet de Prêtre fortification, allowing enfilade bombardment that steadily dismantled French defenses.
01 / The Origins
By autumn 1796, Archduke Charles had driven French forces back to the Rhine after a summer of maneuver across south Germany. The fortifications at Kehl, built by Vauban, formed a critical bridgehead linking the Rhine to Strasbourg and gave French armies access to southwestern Germany. Francis II and the Aulic Council refused an armistice proposed by Moreau, compelling Charles to besiege both Kehl and Hüningen simultaneously rather than redirect troops to relieve Mantua.
03 / The Outcome
Subjected to intense enfilade fire that riddled the fortifications, the French garrison capitulated and withdrew on 9 January 1797. Habsburg forces secured the Kehl bridgehead and its Rhine crossing, removing a major French foothold east of Strasbourg. The prolonged siege had, however, kept the Austrian army pinned to the Rhine throughout the winter, delaying reinforcement of the Italian theater where Mantua remained under pressure.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour, Archduke Charles.
Side B
1 belligerent
Jean Victor Marie Moreau, Louis Desaix.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.