First Battle of Wissembourg ( 1793 ) In the First Battle of Wissembourg on 13 October 1793 , an Allied army commanded by Dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser attacked and defeated Jean Pascal Carlenc ' s French army defending behind the Lauter River . This engagement of the French Revolutionary Wars occurred on the eastern border of France about 60 km north of Strasbourg . Background . During the War of the First Coalition , General der Kavallerie Wurmser ' s Austro - Allied army threatened to invade Alsace . Accordingly , the French Army of the Rhine manned the Lines of Weissenburg , a line of earthworks dating back to the War of the Spanish Succession . The lines began near Wissembourg and stretched about 20 kilometers in an east - southeasterly direction to the Rhine River at Lauterbourg . This traces the modern - day France - Germany border . During this period , the Army of the Rhine ' s command structure remained chaotic . General of Division ( MG ) Charles de Landremont became commander on 18 August and served until 29 September when he was arrested for treason . Unlike his predecessor MG Alexandre , vicomte de Beauharnais who was guillotined in July 1794 , Landremont survived the experience , dying in 1818 . MG Meunier took command for two days until his replacement by MG Jean Carlenc on 2 October . MG Charles Pichegru replaced Carlenc on 27 October . At the same time , MG Lazare Hoche assumed overall command of both the Army of the Moselle and Pichegru ' s Army of the Rhine . On 20 August , a column made up of Austrians , Hessians , and French Émigrés clashed with 3 , 000 French at Jockgrim on the Rhine north of Lauterbourg . Feldmarschal - Leutnant Moritz Kavanaugh ' s Allied force included five infantry battalions , six light infantry companies , 13 cavalry squadrons , and 12 cannons . French General of Brigade Louis - Théobald Ilher led three battalions , six squadrons , and 10 guns . The Allies had the better of the encounter , losing 147 casualties . The French lost 103 men and 5 cannons captured , plus an unknown number of killed and wounded . While leading some dragoons , Ilher was killed by a Hessian Jäger . A flurry of actions followed as Wurmser drove in the French outposts and tapped at the main lines . Skirmishes occurred on 21 and 27 August , and on 7 , 11 , 12 , 14 , 19 , 20 , 23 , and 30 September . On 12 and 20 September , two battalions of the " Kaiser " Infantry Regiment led by Oberst ( Colonel ) Gerhard Rosselmini clashed with the French at Bad Bergzabern and Bienwaldmuhle . Battle . Action . On 13 October 1793 , Wurmser launched his main assault against the fortified French positions . The Allied forces succeeded in breaching the line , forcing a French withdrawal south to Hagenau . The French suffered 2 , 000 killed and wounded , plus 1 , 000 soldiers , 31 guns , and 12 colors captured . The Allies suffered 1 , 800 casualties . The day after the battle , an Allied force under Franz von Lauer laid siege to the nearby Fort - Louis in the Rhine river . The 4 , 500 - man French garrison surrendered the fortress on 14 November . The French government quickly rushed Hoche ' s Army of the Moselle into the area to help drive back Wurmser . This move precipitated the Second Battle of Wissembourg in December 1793 .