First Battle of Zurich The Helvetic Republic in 1798 became a battlefield of the French Revolutionary Wars . In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 – 7 June 1799 , French general André Masséna was forced to yield the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles and retreat beyond the Limmat , where he managed to fortify his positions , resulting in a stalemate . During the summer , Russian troops under general Korsakov replaced the Austrian troops , and in the Second Battle of Zurich , the French regained control of the city , along with the rest of Switzerland . Background . After pushing the Army of the Danube out of the northern portion of the Swiss plateau — the territory north of the Rhine and south of the Danube — following the battles at Ostrach and Stockach , Archduke Charles ' sizable force — about 110 , 000 strong — crossed the Danube west of Schaffhausen , and prepared to join with the Voralberg Corps of Friedrich , Baron von Hotze before Zürich . During the month of May Andre Masséna , now commander of both the French Army of Switzerland and the Army of the Danube began pulling back his forces to concentrate towards Zurich . Charles crossed the Rhine at Stein with an advanced corps of 21 battalions and 13 squadrons under Nauendorf on 20 May , while two days later in the East Hotze crossed at Meiningen and Balzers with 18 battalions and 13 squadrons . On the 23rd the Archduke led 15 more battalions and 10 squadrons over the Rhine at Büsingen . Learning of the double - pronged advance , Masséna seized the opportunity to drive a wedge between the two Austrian commands and on 25 May launched attacks against Hotze ' s Corps to the East and Nauendorf ' s to the north . Hotze ' s advance troops under Petrasch were driven from Frauenfeld by Soult , while against the Archduke Michel Ney erupted from Winterthur , seized Andelfingen and threw back Nauendorf from Pfyn . Although the French were forced to withdraw on the appearance of Austrian reserves , nevertheless for a loss of 771 men they ' d inflicted some 2 , 000 casualties and 3 , 000 prisoners on the Austrians . On the 27th Ney was wounded and his men driven from Winterthur , Masséna thereafter concentrated his forces at Zurich , closely pressed by the Archduke Charles and Hotze . By the end of the month the French lay as follows : Soult ' s Division was on the Zurichberg overlooking the open country to the north from an entrenched camp constructed by Andréossi . To his left Oudinot ' s Division lay in support , with Gazan ' s brigade in the town of Zurich itself . Tharreau ' s Division continued the line across the Aare , with troops under Lorge guarding the left of the Rhine to Basel . To Soult ' s right Chabran guarded the south of Lake Zurich , with outposts stretched to link with the troops of Lecourbe at Lucerne and the Andermatt valley . In all some 52 , 000 French and Swiss troops . The entrenchments on the Zurichberg were in a 5 mile long semi - circle from Riesbach to Hongg , but were incomplete . Charles decided to launch his main attack by the surest ( though difficult ) route , directly against the Zurichberg with his left and centre , holding his right wing back to protect his line of retreat . Advance of Jelačić against Wytikon . On 2 June The Archduke Charles became aware that Hotze ' s advance guard under Jelačić was advancing up against the main French positions near Wytikon , and sent a message ordering him not to attack until all his other troops were ready , however from 3 . 00am on the 3rd Jelačić was already engaged against Humbert ' s brigade by the time these instructions arrived and the action soon grew into a desperate fight . After 4 hours Soult ' s men were driven from Wytikon and the fighting continued all through the day . As things began to look serious for Soult , Masséna , musket in hand , led a counter - attack at the head of his reserve grenadiers . The combined effort eventually pushed back the Austrians and secured the camp after a bloody fight , the French losing 500 killed and wounded , including Masséna ' s Chief of Staff Chérin mortally wounded . Attack on the Zurichberg . The next day on 4 June , Charles crossed the Glatt and launched a broad attack in five columns . On the Austrian left , the First column - Jelačić ( five battalions and three squadrons ) marched against Zurich along the high road and succeeded in breaking through the Rapperschwyl gate but was driven back by Gazan ' s brigade of Oudinot ' s Division , and despite repeated attacks made no further headway . To its right , the Second Column - Bey ( four battalions and three squadrons ) seized the village of Hirslanden and attempted to climb the slopes ; however , the French under Brunet counterattacked and forced the Austrians back to join the First Column . The Third Column - Prince of Lorraine found its direct route of march impractical and was diverted via Fallanden and Pfaffhausen . However , the attack failed before a murderous fire from the entrenchments . The Fourth Column - Hotze ( seven battalions and 12 squadrons ) crossed the Glatt at Dubendorf behind the third column , and advancing through Stottbach , drove the French from Schwamendingen . The Fifth Column - The Prince of Reuss ( 10 battalions and 20 squadrons ) carried Seebach and Oerlikon then detached part of its command under Rosenberg on its left at Orlikon to join in the assault on Zurich . Oudinot , though missing half of his force in Zurich , nevertheless threw himself on Rosenberg , attempting to drive in the Austrian flank . After a desperate fight , the French were driven back , Oudinot carried from the field wounded by a ball in the chest . Charles ' right flank under Nauendorf ( 15 battalions and 9 squadrons ) remained held back to guard Glattfelden . On the Zurichberg , Soult ' s Division was assailed by three columns and pinned down to their trenches . Repeated assaults were beaten off and the fighting bogged down into an intense firefight . At 2 . 00 pm , Charles assembled five battalions from his reserve including his own Guard of Honour and directed Graf Oliver Wallis to lead these storming up the hill . Leaving one battalion to watch the bridges , Wallis led the other four up a steep and narrow ravine against the French defences . The combat degenerated into close hand - to - hand fighting , with soldiers using the butts of their muskets against the French abatis . At last at 8 . 00 pm after a desperate fight the Austrians were able to break through and pour into the camp behind . Sword in hand , Soult and his staff placed themselves at the head of a few companies of troops , launched a counter - attack against the rear of the Austrian column and drove them back to the bottom of the hill . Masséna urged his artillery to redouble their efforts and brought up his reserve of grenadiers . The Austrian attack crumbled ; those in the camp were scattered , those behind driven back . Over the course of the day , Charles lost 2 , 000 men , including three generals wounded , and 1 , 200 prisoners . The French lost more than 1 , 200 killed and wounded . Aftermath . After the bloody fighting on the 4th Charles fell back a short distance to recover and devise a second attack for the 6th . Masséna used the time on the 5th to regroup , and that night as the Austrians assembled for their attack he withdraw to a strong position in front of Zurich , abandoning 28 guns commandeered from Zurich . His forces were now more concentrated , while the lake would oblige his opponent to divided his forces . At noon on the 6th following a parley the French were allowed to exit Zurich without interference , Masséna withdrew to the Uetliberg and along the banks of the Limmat . In Zurich Charles found 149 cannon of various calibres .