Battle of Winterthur (1799)

Battle of Winterthur, Switzerland
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars – Second Coalition
Topographic map of battle ground shows the many lakes and rivers of the Swiss plateau, which stretches southeast to west-northwest, from the Switzerland's border with France, to the shores of Lake Constance. On the southern flank of the plateau, the alps block access to the Italian states; on the north flank of the plateau, a series of moderate hills rim the Rhine. The battleground, south of Lake Constance, is depicted with a star. The Battle helped to secure Austria's control of the northeastern Swiss Plateau.
Date 27 May 1799 Location Winterthur, Switzerland Result Austrian victory
Belligerents
Habsburg Monarchy	French First Republic
Commanders and leaders
Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf	Michel Ney, Commanding elements of the Army of the Danube
Strength
8,000	7,000
Casualties and losses
1,000 killed, wounded or missing.	800 men killed, wounded or missing, four guns.
Source for statistics: Digby Smith. "Clash at Winterthur," Napoleonic Wars Databook: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole, 1998, , p. 157.

Coordinates: 47°30′N 8°45′E / 47.500°N 8.750°E / 47.500; 8.750

The Battle of Winterthur (27 May 1799) was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube and elements of the Habsburg army, commanded by Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze, during the War of the Second Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. The small town of Winterthur lies 18 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of Zürich, in Switzerland. Because of its position at the junction of seven cross-roads, the army that held the town controlled access to most of Switzerland and points crossing the Rhine into southern Germany. Although the forces involved were small, the ability of the Austrians to sustain their 11-hour assault on the French line resulted in the consolidation of three Austrian forces on the plateau north of Zürich, leading to the French defeat a few days later.

By mid-May 1799, the Austrians had wrested control of parts of Switzerland from the French as forces under the command of Hotze and Count Heinrich von Bellegarde pushed them out of the Grisons. After defeating Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's 25,000-man Army of the Danube at the battles of Ostrach and , the main Austrian army, under command of Archduke Charles, crossed the Rhine at the Swiss town of Schaffhausen and prepared to unite with the armies of Hotze and Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf, on the plains surrounding Zürich.

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