page_title: Battle of Linth River
section_title: Operations
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Linth River / Background / Operations
caption_attribution_description: Friedrich von Hotze (1739-1799) austrian general
context_page_description: The Battle of Linth River saw a Republican French division under General of Division Jean-de-Dieu Soult face a force of Habsburg Austrian, Imperial Russian, and Swiss soldiers led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze in Switzerland. Soult carefully planned and his troops carried out a successful assault crossing of the Linth River between Lake Zurich and the Walensee. Hotze's death early in the action disorganized the Allied defenders who were defeated and forced to retreat, abandoning supplies accumulated for Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov's approaching army. On the same day, General of Division André Masséna's French Army of Helvetia defeated Lieutenant General Alexander Korsakov's Russian army in the Second Battle of Zurich and a French brigade turned back another Austrian force near Mollis. Both Korsakov's Russians and Hotze's survivors, led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Petrasch withdrew north of the Rhine River.
  These defeats were the result of a mismanaged Allied strategy that planned to unite the forces of Korsakov and Hotze with Suvorov's Russian army coming north from Italy.
context_section_description: After the departure of Archduke Charles' army, the Allied troops in Switzerland were positioned as follows. Korsakov's 26,000-man Russian army held the line of the Limmat and Aare Rivers from Zürich northwest to the Rhine River. The northern shore of Lake Zurich was defended by 2,500 Austrians and Swiss under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Duke Alexander of Württemberg, 2,000 Russians, and a small squadron of vessels under Colonel James Ernest Williams. Of the 18,000 soldiers under his command, Hotze personally led the 8,000 troops holding the Linth between Lake Zurich on the west and the Walensee on the east. The remaining 10,000 Austrians belonged to Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich von Linkin's division. Of these, General-major Franz Jellacic commanded 4,500 troops at Sargans while Linkin controlled the 5,500 soldiers in the Vorderrhein valley. General-major Franz Xaver von Auffenberg 2,000-man brigade was detailed to cooperate with Suvorov while Linkin personally directed General-major Joseph Anton von Simbschen's 3,500-strong brigade. Colonel Gottfried von Strauch's 4,570 Austrians were also directed to support Suvorov. Strauch's brigade was not part of Hotze's command; instead he reported to Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak from the Army of Italy.
  Masséna's Army of Helvetia included divisions under Generals of Division Soult, Joseph Chabran, Louis Klein, Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge, Claude Lecourbe, Louis Marie Turreau, Philippe Romain Ménard, Louis-Antoine Choin de Montchoisy, and Generals of Brigade Édouard Mortier and Jean Joseph Amable Humbert. The main body under Massena numbered 34,000 in the divisions of Klein, Lorge, Ménard, Mortier, and Humbert. The main body faced Korsakov from Zürich down the Limmat and Aare Rivers to the Rhine. Chabran's 9,700 troops guarded the Rhine west to Basel. Turreau's 9,600 men occupied the Canton of Valais to the far southwest and Montchoisy's 2,500 troops garrisoned places in the rear. Lecourbe had 11,800 soldiers in his division. General of Brigade Charles-Étienne Gudin guarded the Gotthard Pass and General of Brigade Louis Henri Loison held the upper Reuss River valley. Soult's 12,700 men faced Hotze along the Linth between Lake Zurich and the Walensee. General of Brigade Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor's troops were on Soult's right defending the upper Linth. Molitor's brigade belonged to Lecourbe's division, though it was well to the east of Gudin and Loison. Molitor's brigade numbered 2,599 men.
  The line held by Soult and Molitor formed a vulnerable salient in the French defenses. This would be attacked by Linkin whose Austrians would move north across the mountains from the Vorderrhein into the Sernftal to support Hotze. Jellacic would march west along the south shore of the Walensee to outflank the French positions on the Linth. Helped by Jellacic's turning movement, Hotze would break through the French positions on the Linth and advance up the west shore of Lake Zurich. Once Hotze's forces arrived near Zurich, Korsakov would attack Masséna's main body. Suvorov selected the Gotthard Pass as his entry point into Switzerland, though it was too rough for wheeled vehicles. He was assisted by Auffenberg's brigade which would march from Disentis to Amsteg in the upper Reuss valley. Suvorov's main column was equipped with 25 Piedmontese 2-pounder mountain cannons. The rest of Suvorov's artillery was sent across the Splügen Pass.
  Masséna learned from a spy that Korsakov planned to attack him on 26 September 1799. Therefore, he made up his mind to assault Korsakov's position at Zurich a day earlier. The French commander in chief had no clue that Suvorov was advancing from Italy into Switzerland. At 5:00 am on 25 September, the Second Battle of Zurich began with an assault crossing of the Limmat at Dietikon. Korsakov was completely outgeneraled and the Russians ended the day within the walls of Zürich. The next day, Korsakov's army broke out and marched north to Eglisau on the Rhine, losing its wagon train and much of its artillery. Lecourbe's troops had already been defeat
caption: Friedrich von Hotze
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