Battle of Höchst (1795)

Battle of Höchst (1795)
Part of War of the First Coalition
Date 11–12 October 1795 Location Höchst (Frankfurt am Main), Germany Result Austrian victory
Belligerents
Republican France	Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
J.-B. Jourdan Jean Baptiste Kléber Louis Klein François Lefebvre	Count of Clerfayt Adam Boros Count of Nauendorf Karl Joseph Hadik
Units involved
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse	Army of the Lower Rhine
Strength
Campaign: 63,615 Höchst: 10,000 Niedernhausen: 5,000	Campaign: unknown Höchst: 5,500 Niedernhausen: 8,000
Casualties and losses
Höchst: 500 Niedernhausen: 468, 5 guns Steinbach: unknown	Höchst: 225 Niedernhausen: unknown Steinbach: 92, 3 guns

At the Battle of Höchst (11–12 October 1795), the Habsburg Austrian army commanded by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt outmaneuvered the French Republican Army of Sambre-et-Meuse commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. Although the French attacked first, they were unable to dislodge an Austrian flanking column. Afterward Jourdan's army retreated to the north. The clash happened during the War of the First Coalition, part of a wider conflict known as the French Revolutionary Wars. The district of Höchst is located within the city limits of Frankfurt am Main in the state of Hesse in Germany. Höchst is about 12 kilometers (7 mi) west of the Frankfurt city center.

In 1795 the French employed two independent armies in thrusts across the Rhine. After winning a bridgehead on the east bank, the northern French army under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan advanced south to the Main River. At this point, the commander of the southern French army, Jean-Charles Pichegru proved uncooperative. This allowed Clerfayt to move the bulk of the Austrian forces against Jourdan. Clerfayt crossed the Main to the east, gaining a dangerously exposed position on the French left flank. After being repulsed at Höchst, the French withdrew northward, eventually abandoning the east bank of the Rhine altogether. The next actions were the Siege of Mannheim, on 19 October, and the Battle of Mainz on 29 October.

In the fall of 1795, the French Directory ordered General of Division Jean-Baptiste Jourdan with the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse and General of Division Jean-Charles Pichegru with the Army of the Rhine and Moselle to launch converging assaults across the Rhine. While Jourdan attacked in the north near Düsseldorf, Pichegru could mount his offensive anywhere in the south between Mannheim and Strasbourg. The operations were designed to catch Feldmarschall Count of Clerfayt's defending Austrian army in a great pincer. Between the two thrusts, the Siege of Mainz dragged on. Several French divisions led by General of Division Jean Baptiste Kléber placed the Fortress of Mainz under blockade on 14 December 1794, but the French lacked the heavy artillery to reduce the city's defenses. In any case, the French were unable to encircle the city since the Austrians held the east bank of the Rhine.

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