Battle of Ampfing ( 1800 ) The Battle of Ampfing on 1 December 1800 saw Paul Grenier ' s two divisions of the First French Republic defending against the Austrian army southwest of the town of Ampfing during the French Revolutionary Wars . The Austrians , under the leadership of Archduke John of Austria , forced their enemies to retreat , though they sustained greater losses than the French . Ampfing is located 63 kilometers east of Munich and eight km west of Mühldorf am Inn . After the expiration of the summer truce in November 1800 , both the Austrian and French armies rushed to come to grips with each other in the terrain east of Munich . Archduke John managed to bring the bulk of his army against Grenier ' s left wing of Jean Moreau ' s French army near Ampfing . Outnumbered , two French divisions fought a stubborn rear guard action for six hours before retreating in good order . Instead of being sobered by their 3 , 000 casualties , Archduke John and his staff became convinced that the enemy was on the run . The Austrian general ordered a pursuit of the French through forested terrain . But , instead of fleeing , Moreau and his troops were waiting for the Austrians . The two armies met in the decisive Battle of Hohenlinden two days later . Background . Armistice . On 15 July 1800 , France and Austria agreed to a truce that ended the summer campaign in southern Germany . Both armies prepared for a renewal of hostilities , but an extension of the truce was signed on 20 September . At this time , the Bavarian fortresses of Ingolstadt , Ulm , and Philippsburg were handed over to the French . But this allowed Austria to augment their field forces with 20 , 000 line infantry belonging to the garrisons . In the meantime , peace negotiations were carried out which ultimately failed . Operations . The summer armistice held until 12 November 1800 , when the French notified their enemies of their intention to end the truce in two weeks . Back in July , Emperor Francis II dismissed Feldzeugmeister ( FZM ) Pál Kray and appointed the 18 year old General - Major Archduke John to command the Austrian army . To bolster the young man , the emperor named FZM Franz von Lauer deputy commander while Oberst ( Colonel ) Franz von Weyrother became Chief of Staff . The Austrians distributed 124 , 000 soldiers in an arc from Würzburg in the north to Innsbruck in the south . Feldmarschal - Leutnant ( FML ) Joseph - Sebastien von Simbschen held Würzburg with 12 , 000 troops . FML Johann von Klenau and 14 , 000 soldiers defended the north bank of the Danube near Regensburg . Archduke John ' s main army , with 49 , 000 infantry and 16 , 500 cavalry , lay behind the Inn River near Braunau am Inn and Passau . Lieutenant General Christian Zweibrücken ' s 16 , 000 Bavarians , Württembergers , Austrians , and French Émigrés lay to the southwest of the main army , guarding the line of the Inn . Farther to the southwest , FML Johann von Hiller occupied Innsbruck with 16 , 000 troops . To counter the Austrians , the French fielded an even larger array of forces . From Frankfurt am Main , General of Division ( MG ) Pierre Augereau and 16 , 000 troops threatened Simbschen ' s northern wing . MG Jean Moreau controlled 107 , 000 of the main army , deployed in four wings . MG Gilbert Bruneteau de Saint - Suzanne ' s 24 , 000 - strong detached force occupied the north bank of the Danube near Ingolstadt , MG Grenier ' s 24 , 000 - man Left Wing deployed on the west bank of the Isar River near Landshut . Moreau massed the 36 , 000 soldiers of the Center around Munich under his personal control . The Right Wing of MG Claude Lecourbe defended the line of the upper Lech River farther west . Lastly , MG Jacques MacDonald with the 18 , 000 - strong Army of the Grisons menaced Hiller ' s force from Switzerland . Unlike most French armies of the Revolutionary period , Moreau ' s troops enjoyed a well - organized supply service . Though the onset of winter lengthened the army sick list , the months - long truce allowed many units to approach full strength . Many French officers were confident of success . Moreau planned a broad - front advance eastward to the Inn , fighting any enemies he found . He would lead with his left to allow Lecourbe ' s Right Wing to advance unmolested , since it had a greater distance to cover . Once the French wings closed up to the Inn River , his troops would look for crossing sites . The aggressive Weyrother persuaded Archduke John and Lauer to launch an offensive . The Austrian chief of staff planned to strike in the direction of Landshut . From there , the Austrians would either wheel left to smash the French left flank or possibly get across their enemies ' line of communications to the west of Munich . However , in the last days of November , the Austrian army proved unable to advance with the necessary speed to turn the French north flank . Aware that their adversaries were also advancing , Lauer convinced the archduke to convert the flank march into a direct advance on Munich . Battle . By the evening of 30 November , the Austrian advance occupied Ampfing . At dawn on 1 December , FML Johann Riesch left the town with 12 battalions of infantry and 12 squadrons of cavalry , or approximately 14 , 000 men . FML Ludwig Baillet de Latour - Merlemont led 9 battalions and 18 squadrons , or 12 , 000 soldiers , on Riesch ' s right flank . Latour quickly overran the French outposts and nearly surprised MG Michel Ney ' s division in its camp . Despite odds of four - to - one , the 19th Cavalry Regiment charged their attackers , which included the " Latour " Dragoon Regiment # 11 . The cavalry charge gave Ney enough time to place General of Brigade ( BG ) Gabriel Desperrières ' brigade in line of battle to meet the first shock . Ney ' s division included 8 , 200 infantry , 1 , 100 cavalry , and 14 cannons , but one of his three brigades was detached to the south at Wasserburg am Inn . Desperrières conducted an able defense , counterattacking when the 13th Dragoons rode to his support . Meanwhile , Ney directed the fighting on a second brigade front . At noon , a horse artillery battery led by BG Jean Baptiste Eblé arrived and its accurate fire quickly dismounted four Austrian guns and destroyed three caissons . Later , two pieces were overrun by hussars , but the French gunners rallied and recaptured the pieces in a horseback charge . While Latour battered against Ney , Riesch launched attacks against the 4 , 100 foot soldiers , 2 , 000 horsemen , and 16 guns belonging to Jean Hardÿ ' s division . A brigade belonging to MG Claude Legrand ' s division marched up and helped block Riesch ' s attempt to turn Hardÿ ' s flank . During the fighting , a shellburst wounded Hardÿ and caused him to hand over command to BG Louis Bastoul . With both French divisions being slowly pressed back by superior numbers , Grenier gave orders for a withdrawal . Grenier directed a well - managed retreat along the road to Haag in Oberbayern , the units falling back in echelon . To save some artillery from capture , the 2nd Dragoons charged their pursuers and captured 100 Austrians . After falling back eight km , the French soldiers reached the open ground around Haag where they took up a defensive position . All told , the battle lasted six hours . In addition to the " Latour " Dragoons , the most heavily engaged Austrian units were the " Archduke Charles " Infantry Regiment ( IR ) # 3 and the " Waldeck " Dragoons # 7 from Riesch ' s column , plus IR # 60 and the " Vecsey " Hussars # 4 from FZM Johann Kollowrat ' s column . Result . The Austrians suffered 303 killed , 1 , 690 wounded , and 1 , 077 captured . The French lost 193 killed , 817 wounded , and 697 captured . Expecting to fight a major battle the following day , the Austrian generals were surprised to find that the French evacuated Haag and vanished into the deep woods . Though Lauer counseled caution , the victory elated Archduke John , Weyrother , and the army staff . They became convinced that they only faced French rear guards . " This erroneous idea prompted Austrian headquarters to ignore all normal precautions in the haste to come to grips . " John ordered a pursuit toward Hohenlinden by the columns of Riesch , Latour , and Kollowrat , while drawing in FML Michael von Kienmayer ' s 16 , 000 - strong column to form his northern flank . Instead of running away , Moreau waited for the Austrians in the Hohenlinden plain with four divisions and his cavalry reserve . Two more French divisions stood ready farther south . The showdown Battle of Hohenlinden on 3 December would decide the winner of the war .