Battle of Feldkirch

The Ill River runs through rugged terrain near Feldkirch.

Date	23 March 1799
Location	Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, Austria
Result	Austrian victory

Belligerents

Habsburg Austria

Republican France

Commanders and leaders

Franz Jelačić

André Masséna

Strength

5,500

12,000

Casualties and losses

900

1,500–3,000

The Battle of Feldkirch (23 March 1799) saw a Republican French corps led by André Masséna attack a weaker Habsburg Austrian force under Franz Jellacic. Defending fortified positions, the Austrians repulsed all of the French columns, though the struggle lasted until nightfall. This and other French setbacks in southern Germany soon caused Masséna to go on the defensive. The War of the Second Coalition combat occurred at the Austrian town of Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, located 158 kilometres (98 mi) west of Innsbruck.

On a flimsy pretext, a Republican French army invaded Switzerland in January 1798 and forced the country into an uneasy alliance marked by occasional revolts. By the start of hostilities with Austria in early 1799, Masséna was in command of the Army of Helvetia. Going on the offensive, the French inflicted defeats on the Austrians at Maienfeld, Chur and Feldkirch on 6 and 7 March. Ordered to attack Feldkirch in late March by his superior Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, Masséna attacked with troops under Nicolas Oudinot. Jourdan's defeats at Ostrach and soon forced the French to recoil.

The ostensible reason for the French Directory to order the invasion of Switzerland was that the Confederation was maltreating the people of the Canton of Vaud. However, the real reason was most likely the desire for the French government to get its hands on the Swiss treasury at Bern. Named to command the Army of Helvetia, Guillaume Brune with a division from the Army of Italy started marching north on 1 January 1798. Meanwhile, Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg's 15,000-man division was detached from the Army of the Rhine and began advancing on Bern from the north. During this time bogus negotiations were carried on to mislead the Swiss. On 5 February 1798, Brune officially took command of the still-separated divisions of Schauenburg and his former unit, now under Phipppe Romain Mesnard. Converging on Bern, both divisions entered the city on 5 March after scattered fighting.

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