Battle of Ettlingen The Battle of Ettlingen on 9 July 1796 was fought during the French Revolutionary Wars between the armies of the First French Republic and Habsburg Austria near the town of Malsch , 9 km southwest of Ettlingen . The Austrians under Archduke Charles , Duke of Teschen tried to halt the eastward advance of Jean Moreau ' s French army . After a tough fight , the Austrian commander conceded victory to the French and retreated east toward Stuttgart . Background . Forces . June 1796 found General of Division ( MG ) Jean - Baptiste Jourdan ' s French Army of Sambre - et - Meuse operating on the middle Rhine while Moreau ' s Army of Rhin - et - Moselle threatened to cross the lower Rhine . To defend southern Germany , Feldzeugmeister ( FZM ) Archduke Charles ' Army of the Lower Rhine defended the Lahn River near Koblenz and FZM Maximilian Baillet de Latour ' s Army of the Upper Rhine held the line of the river opposite Strasbourg . French successes . Moreau ' s army included 71 , 581 infantry and 6 , 515 cavalry . He formed these into a Right Wing led by MG Pierre Ferino , a Center commanded by MG Louis Desaix , and a Left Wing under MG Laurent de Gouvion Saint - Cyr . Desaix and the Center won clashes at Maudach , northwest of Speyer on 15 June and Renchen on 28 June . Meanwhile , Moreau staged a successful assault crossing of the Rhine at Kehl on 24 June . Leaving FZM Wilhelm von Wartensleben to lead the Army of the Lower Rhine , Archduke Charles soon arrived from the north with reinforcements and took command of the Army of the Upper Rhine from Latour . Rastatt . At Rastatt on 5 July , the 19 , 000 infantry and 1 , 500 cavalry of MG Alexandre Taponier ' s reinforced division of the Left Wing sparred with 6 , 000 Austrians led by Feldmarschal - Leutnant ( FML ) Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg and FML Johann Mészáros . Rather than directly attacking his enemies , Taponier turned both Austrian flanks , forcing his enemies to pull back east toward Ettlingen . Casualties on both sides were light . The Austrians lost 200 soldiers and 3 guns captured . Battle . Austrian army . On 9 July , Archduke Charles stood to fight at Malsch , 10 km west of Rastatt on 9 July . The archduke commanded 32 , 000 troops organized in 25 infantry battalions ( bns ) and 24 cavalry squadrons ( sqns ) . The line infantry was made up of the " Archduke Charles " Infantry Regiment ( IR ) # 3 ( 1 bn ) , " Carl Schröder " IR # 7 ( 2 bns ) , " Manfredini " IR # 12 ( 3 bns ) , " Reisky " IR # 13 ( 4 bns ) , " d ' Alton " IR # 15 , " Nádasdy " IR # 39 ( 3 bns ) , " Franz Kinsky " IR # 47 ( 3 bns ) , and " Pellegrini " IR # 49 ( 3 bns ) . The " Riera " , " Retz " , " Reisinger " , " Apfaltrern " , and " Candiani " Grenadier battalions formed the elite infantry . The cavalry units were the " Archduke Franz " Cuirassier Regiment # 29 ( 4 sqns ) , " Grand Duke Albert " Carabinier Regt # 5 ( 4 sqns ) , " Archduke John " Dragoon Regt # 26 ( 4 sqns ) , " Siebenburgen " Hussar Regt # 47 ( 6 sqns ) , and " Waldeck " Dragoon Regt # 39 ( 6 sqns ) . Combat . Moreau had 36 , 000 men available in 45 battalions and 55 squadrons . It is not clear which divisions participated in the fighting . To open the battle , Archduke Charles launched an assault against the French center . After serious fighting , this attack failed to dislodge the French . When Saint - Cyr sent troops to outflank the Austrians , Archduke Charles ordered a withdrawal east - southeast to Pforzheim . Result . French losses numbered 2 , 000 killed and wounded , plus 400 captured . The Austrians suffered 1 , 300 killed and wounded , with 1 , 300 captured . The Austrian retreat continued for 60 km to Stuttgart . East of that city , the two armies skirmished at Bad Cannstatt on 21 July . The Austrians subsequently fell back another 80 km . The next clash would be the Battle of Neresheim .