   the battle of amberg, fought on 24 august 1796, resulted in an austrian victory by archduke charles over a french army led by jean-baptiste jourdan. this french revolutionary wars engagement marked a turning point in the campaign, which had previously seen french successes. == background == === plans === the french planned an invasion of southern germany in 1796. general of division (mg) jourdan with the army of sambre-et-meuse would advance from the middle rhine while mg jean moreau would cross the river farther south with the army of rhin-et-moselle. jourdan held a bridgehead over the rhine at neuwied while mg jean-baptiste klÃ©ber commanded his left wing based on an entrenched camp at dÃ¼sseldorf. moreau's army comprised 71,581 infantry and 6,515 cavalry. he organized these into a right wing under mg pierre ferino, a center led by mg louis desaix, and a left wing commanded by mg laurent de gouvion saint-cyr.smith, p 111 field marshal archduke charles commanded the army of the lower rhine. charles and his deputy, feldzeugmeister (fzm) wilhelm von wartensleben faced jourdan along the lahn river. this stream flows in a southwesterly direction into the rhine near koblenz. to the south, fzm maximilien, count baillet de latour positioned his army of the upper rhine to defend against moreau. === june operations === on 4 june 1796, 11,000 soldiers of the army of the sambre-et-meuse, under francois lefebvre pushed back a 6,500-man austrian force at altenkirchen, north of the lahn. on 6 june, the french placed ehrenbreitstein fortress under siege. at wetzlar on the lahn, lefebvre ran into charles' concentration of 36,000 austrians on 15 
1796_in_Austria 1796_in_France Battles_involving_Austria Battles_involving_France Battles_of_the_French_Revolutionary_Wars Battles_of_the_War_of_the_First_Coalition Conflicts_in_1796 War_of_the_First_Coalition