Battle of Biberach ( 1800 ) The Battle of Biberach on 9 May 1800 saw a First French Republic corps under Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr engage part of a Habsburg Austrian army led by Pál Kray . After an engagement in which the Austrians suffered twice as many casualties as the French , Kray withdrew to the east . The combat occurred during the War of the Second Coalition , part of the French Revolutionary Wars . Biberach an der Riss is located southwest of Ulm . In late April 1800 , a French army under the command of Jean Victor Marie Moreau crossed the Rhine River near Basel . At Stockach and Engen on 3 May , Moreau captured Kray ' s base of supplies and forced him into retreat . Two days later , Kray confronted his pursuers at Battle of Messkirch but was beaten again . On the 9th , the corps of Gouvion Saint - Cyr caught up with a part of Kray ' s army and the two sides battled again . Background . At the start of 1800 , the armies of France and Austria glared at each other across the Rhine . Feldzeugmeister Pál Kray commanded about 120 , 000 troops . Aside from regular Austrian soldiers , he led 12 , 000 troops from the Electorate of Bavaria , 6 , 000 men from the Duchy of Württemberg , 5 , 000 militia from the Archbishopric of Mainz , and 7 , 000 militia from the County of Tyrol . Of these , 25 , 000 men were positioned east of Lake Constance ( Bodensee ) to defend the Voralberg . Kray ' s remaining 95 , 000 soldiers lay in the L - shaped angle where the Rhine changes direction from a westerly flow along the northern border of Switzerland to a northerly flow along the eastern border of France . Unwisely , Kray set up his main supply base at Stockach , only a long day ' s march from French - held Switzerland . General of Division Jean Victor Marie Moreau led a well - equipped army of 137 , 000 French soldiers . Of these , 108 , 000 men were available for field operations while the remaining 29 , 000 watched the borders of Switzerland and guarded the Rhine fortresses . First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte suggested a plan of operations based on outflanking the Austrians by a thrust from Switzerland , but Moreau would have none of it . Instead Moreau planned to cross the Rhine near Basel where the river turned to the north . Meanwhile , a French column would distract Kray by advancing across the Rhine from the west . Bonaparte also wanted Moreau to detach a corps under Claude Lecourbe to Italy , but Moreau had other plans for this body of troops . Forces . At the beginning of March , Bonaparte ordered Moreau to form his army into several all - arms army corps . By 20 March 1800 , Moreau organized four corps , with the last one serving as an army reserve . The Right Wing was led by Lecourbe and included four divisions . These units were General of Division Dominique Vandamme ' s 9 , 632 infantry and 540 cavalry , General of Division Joseph Hélie Désiré Perruquet de Montrichard ' s 6 , 998 infantry , General of Division Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge ' s 8 , 238 infantry and 464 cavalry , and General of Division Étienne Marie Antoine Champion de Nansouty ' s 1 , 500 grenadiers and 1 , 280 cavalry . The Center was led by General of Division Laurent Gouvion Saint - Cyr and comprised four divisions . These were General of Division Michel Ney ' s 7 , 270 infantry and 569 cavalry , General of Division Louis Baraguey d ' Hilliers ' 8 , 340 infantry and 542 cavalry , General of Division Jean Victor Tharreau ' s 8 , 326 infantry and 611 cavalry , and General of Brigade Nicolas Emault de Rignac Des Bruslys ' 2 , 474 light infantry and 1 , 616 cavalry . The Left Wing was commanded by General of Division Gilles Joseph Martin Brunteau Saint - Suzanne and included four divisions . These units were General of Division Claude Sylvestre Colaud ' s 2 , 740 infantry and 981 cavalry , General of Division Joseph Souham ' s 4 , 687 infantry and 1 , 394 cavalry , General of Division Claude Juste Alexandre Legrand ' s 5 , 286 infantry and 1 , 094 cavalry , and General of Division Henri François Delaborde ' s 2 , 573 infantry and 286 cavalry . Moreau personally directed the Reserve which was made up of three infantry and one cavalry divisions . These were General of Division Antoine Guillaume Delmas de la Coste ' s 8 , 635 infantry and 1 , 031 cavalry , General of Division Antoine Richepanse ' s 6 , 848 infantry and 1 , 187 cavalry , General of Division Charles Leclerc ' s 6 , 035 infantry and 963 cavalry , and General of Division Jean - Joseph Ange d ' Hautpoul ' s 1 , 504 heavy cavalry . There were additional troops under Moreau ' s overall leadership . These included General of Division Louis - Antoine - Choin de Montchoisy ' s 7 , 715 infantry and 519 cavalry , detached to hold Switzerland . Fortresses in Alsace and along the Rhine were defended by forces under Generals of Division François Xavier Jacob Freytag , 2 , 935 infantry ; Joseph Gilot , 750 cavalry ; Alexandre Paul Guerin de Joyeuse de Chateauneuf - Randon , 3 , 430 infantry and 485 cavalry ; Antoine Laroche Dubouscat , 3 , 001 infantry and 91 cavalry ; and Jean François Leval , 5 , 640 infantry and 426 cavalry .