page_title: Battle of Haguenau (1793)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Haguenau (1793) / Background
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Jean-Charles Pichegru (* 16. Februar 1761 in Arbois, Franche-Comté; † 5. April 1804 in Paris) war ein französischer General der Revolutionskriege, der eine führende Rolle bei der Eroberung der österreichischen Niederlande und Hollands spielte, später mit den Gegenrevolutionären konspirierte und ein Attentat gegen Napoleon Bonaparte plante. English: Jean-Charles Pichegru (16 February 1761, Arbois, Franche-Comté-5 April 1804, Paris) was a French General of the Revolutionary Wars, noted for his leading role in the conquest of the Austrian Netherlands and Holland, and later for his work against the Revolution and for his attempted coup against Napoleon Bonaparte.
context_page_description: The Battle of Haguenau saw a Republican French army commanded by Jean-Charles Pichegru mount a persistent offensive against a Coalition army under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser during the War of the First Coalition. In late November, Wurmser pulled back from his defenses behind the Zorn River and assumed a new position along the Moder River at Haguenau. After continuous fighting, Wurmser finally withdrew to the Lauter River after his western flank was turned in the Battle of Froeschwiller on 22 December. Haguenau is a city in Bas-Rhin department of France, located 29 kilometres north of Strasbourg.
  Consisting of troops from Habsburg Austria, Hesse-Kassel and Electoral Bavaria, plus French Royalists, the Coalition army broke through the French frontier defenses in the First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793 and overran Alsace as far as the Zorn River. The French government reacted to the emergency by appointing Pichegru to lead the Army of the Rhine and urging it to attack. Beginning on 18 November, Pichegru ordered continual attacks on the Coalition lines which slowly forced Wurmser's army back. The Battle of Berstheim was a notable action during the French offensive.
context_section_description: In the First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793, the Coalition army under Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser assaulted and defeated the French Army of the Rhine led by Jean Pascal Carlenc. The Coalition mustered 33,599 infantry and 9,635 cavalry while the French counted 45,312 foot soldiers and 6,278 horsemen. The mostly Austrian army with allied Hessians, Swabians and French Émigrés suffered 1,800 casualties while inflicting losses of 2,000 killed and wounded on the French. In addition the Coalition captured 1,000 soldiers, 31 guns and 12 colors. Another source gave a total of 43,185 Coalition troops and 34,400 French. A number of French officers behaved poorly. Right Wing commander Paul-Alexis Dubois retreated unnecessarily while Carlenc refused to order a counterattack without authorization from French political officials. The French army fell back south toward Strasbourg.
  On 23 October 1793, the chilling Louis Antoine de Saint-Just and his colleague Philippe-François-Joseph Le Bas arrived as representatives on mission with extraordinary powers. They immediately sent for Jean-Charles Pichegru, who commanded troops on the upper Rhine River, to lead the army. They stopped the practice of officers and men visiting Strasbourg and insisted on strict discipline. They also purged the army staff of noblemen and instituted a harsh regime of shooting and sacking officers. Meanwhile, a gang of revolutionaries dragged a guillotine from village to village visiting retribution on supposed enemies. The gang's activities became so extreme that even Saint-Just had to call for a stop. On 29 October 1793, Pichegru arrived at Strasbourg to assume command of the Army of the Rhine. Carlenc was dismissed and arrested, though he avoided the guillotine.
  On 30th the army's organization included the Advanced Guard under Jean Baptiste Meynier, Right Wing under Dubois, Left Wing under Claude Ferey and Center under Louis Dominique Munnier. Jean François Ravel de Puycontal led the artillery and pioneers. In the following order of battle, the numbered regular army infantry units are in demi brigades and the battalions named after their departments are National Guard units. The nominal total was 57,369 men while the number of soldiers fit for duty was 42,420.
  Ravel's command comprised the 5th Artillery Regiment, the 1st Battalion of the Bas-Rhin, one battalion of Pioneers and 22 Guides. The Advanced Guard consisted of the 6th, 12th, 48th and 105th Line Infantry, 1st and 2nd Grenadier Battalions, the Chasseurs du Rhin, the 1st Battalions of the Corrèze and Jura and the 2nd Battalion of the Lot-et-Garonne. Jean Claude Loubat de Bohan commanded a cavalry brigade that comprised the 8th, 11th and 17th Dragoon, 7th Hussar, and 8th and 10th Chasseurs à Cheval Regiments. The Right Wing included the 37th and 40th Line and 11th Light Infantry, the 1st Battalion of the Pyrenées-Orientales, the 3rd Battalions of the Charente-Inférieur, Haute-Saône and Rhône-et-Loire, the 5th Battalion of the Ain, the 7th Battalion of the Haute-Saône and a free company.
  The Left Wing counted the 13th and 27th Line and 7th Light Infantry, the 1st Battalions of the Haute-Rhin, Haute-Saône, Indre and Vosges, the 2nd Battalion of the Rhône-et-Loire, the 3rd Battalions of the Indre-et-Loire and Haut-Rhin, the 4th Battalions of the Jura and Seine-et-Loire and the 10th Battalion of the Vosges, the 7th Chasseurs à Cheval and one squadron each of the Gendarmes and 2nd Cavalry Regiments. In the Center, Jean Nicolas Mequillet's brigade consisted of the 3rd and 30th Line Infantry, the 1st Battalion of the Ain, the 3rd Battalions of the Ain and Doubs and the 12th Battalion of the Jura. Augustin-Joseph Isambert's brigade was made up of the 46th Line Infantry, the 2nd Battalions of the Eure-et-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme, the 3rd Battalion of the Bas-Rhin and the 11th Battalion of the Doubs. Paul Louis Darigot de la Ferrière's brigade had two battalions of the 93rd Line Infantry, the 1st Battalion of the Lot-et-Garonne, the 2nd Grenadier Battalion of the Rhône-et-Loire and the 5th Battalion of the Se
caption: Jean-Charles Pichegru
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