Battle of Ostrach
21 March 1799

March 20: First Clashes

by Roland Kessinger, Germany

On March 20th Jourdan ordered his army to take position on the Ostrach-Rotach line. The advance-guard division under Lefèbvre, in the centre, got the order to cover the western (left) bank of the Ostrach River near the small village of Ostrach. He should especially control the roads that led from the river to Magenbuch to cover the 2 nd division under Souham and the reserve division under d’Hautpoul that were encamped near Pfullendorf.

On the left wing the 3rd division under St. Cyr should take position at Mengen and join with the "Flanquers de Gauche" under Vandamme that still operated on the left bank of the Danube. Vandamme should reach Sigmaringen on the Danube the same day, but he was too far away to be able to reach that position.

Ferino’s 1st divsion had to take position behind the Rotach forming the right flank and to cover the roads to Ravensburg.

All three divisions that covered the Ostrach-Rotach position had to push their advance guard over the rivers and attack the Austrian outposts. Ferino found the Austrians near Markdorf and attacked them with General de Brigade Tharreau's brigade, he captured 200 Austrians with little loss; Archduke Charles had only sent the small brigade of GM Piacek in the Ravensburg area to delay Ferino’s advance. While Charles was concentrating his troops near Saulgau and Altshausen, Jourdan was still afraid that there was a strong Austrian force near the northern bank of Lake Constance. So his strong 1st division was far away from the decisive point one day later dealing with a very small part of the Austrian advance guard.

On the French left flank St. Cyr pushed some of his troops (3 coys. of the 1st demi-brigade) over the Ostrach. He was able to occupy the small villages of Hohentengen, Beizkofen and Oelkofen directly next to the river against weak Austrian resistance.

Fighting was not very severe there and the Austrians only lost 12 prisoners. In the centre Lefèbvre found more resistance pushing his advance-guard eastwards from Ostrach. He advanced in two columns. The right one followed the road from Ostrach to Altshausen over Hosskirch. The Austrian advance guard brigade under GM Schwarzenberg covered that village and the French troops (4 coys. 25th demi-brigade légère, 1 esc. 1st Chasseurs a Cheval, 1 esc. 4 th Hussars) were only able to enter Hosskirch after severe fighting. GM Schwarzenberg later, during the day, reinforced his outposts so Lefèbvre had to send 1 battalion of the 53 rd demi-brigade, the 17th Dragoons and 3 guns of the light artillery forward to hold his position between Hosskirch and Koenigseggwald until evening.

The left column of Levèbvre‘s advance guard (1 bat. 25th demi-brigade légère, 1st Chasseurs a Cheval, 4th Hussars) followed the road from Ostrach to Saulgau. This column met the Austrian outposts at Bachhaupten and pushed them back to the monastery of Siessen. During the night this column moved back behind the small village of Bolstern. At the end of the day a part of the left column occupied the village of Friedberg while another part made contact with the right column near Hosskirch.

Positions at the Evening of March 20th

On the evening of March 20th the French Army of the Danube had the following position: General Vandamme was with his "Flanquers de Gauche" (1st demi-brigade legère, 8th demi-brigade, 2 squadrons (from 2nd Dragoons and 8th or 10th Chasseurs a Cheval?)) still far away north of the Danube. Jourdan was afraid that some Austrian troops might approach along the Danube to outflank his position from the north.

Therefore St. Cyr on the left French flank had to send out troops to the Danube to watch for Austrian units arriving from this side. A small detachment of 2 squadrons under Adjutant-General Debilly was sent to Bingen Northeast of Sigmaringen make contact with Vandamme. The brigade of General de Brigade Walter (108th demi-brigade, 2nd Dragoons) was used to cover the Danube. One battalion of the 108th was sent to Scheer while the rest of this brigade had to control the road on the Right Bank of the Danube from Mengen to Herbertingen. This dislocation further weakened St. Cyr’s 3rd division along the Ostrach River. Only the brigade of Legrand (1st demi-brigade, 50th demi-brigade, 8th Chasseurs a Cheval, 10th Chasseurs a Cheval) remained along the Ostrach taking position in front of Mengen.

The four battalions of Legrand‘s infantry held the hills in front of and to the right of Mengen parallel to the Ostrach River. His cavalry covered the plain between these hills and the Ostrach. Three companies of the 1st demi-brigade occupied the villages of Hohentengen, Beizkofen and Oelkofen on the right bank.

In the centre, the outposts of Levèbvre’s advance-guard division held a line between Friedberg, Bachhaupten, Bolstern, Hosskirch and Koenigseggwald. The 25th demi-brigade légère and 1 battalion of the 53rd held this line of outposts. The rest of Lefèbvre's infantry (1 bat. 53 rd demi-brigade, 67th demi-brigade) was located on the left bank of the Ostrach near the village of Ostrach.

The 2 nd division of Souham was in a camp near Pfullendorf in the second line. During the day of March 20th General de Brigade Decaen (right brigade of 2 nd division) remarked that there were some undefended routes from Ravensburg to Pfullendorf to the south of the latter town. Furthermore there was the possibility that the Austrians might push some troops through the marsh where the Ostrach and the Rotach rise to outflank the French position at the Ostrach.

So Decaen’s brigade had to move south of Pfullendorf while the other (left) brigade of the 2 nd division under General de Brigade Goulus stayed north of Pfullendorf. One battalion of the 2nd demi-brigade and the 7th demi-brigade of Decaen’s brigade rested between Pfullendorf and Wattenreute during the night while the other battalion of the 2nd demi-brigade was pushed forward to Waldbeuren.

The reserve-division of General de Division d’Hautpoul stayed in a plain near Pfullendorf. The heavy cavalry of this division could not be used in the broken terrain along the Ostrach-Rotach position, so d’Hautpoul’s division was held back in the second line to cover a possible retreat. This possible disadvantage was in reality a great advantage for the French in the Ostrach-Rotach position since the Austrians had a much better heavy cavalry at that time which they couldn’t use in the following actions around Ostrach.

The right French wing was formed along the Rotach by the 1st division of General de Division Ferino. Ferino had his headquarter at Markdorf and had to cover the northern bank of Lake Constance.

The main Austrian force was in a camp at Ratzenreute some kilometres east of Saulgau. Another smaller part of the Austrian army was in a second camp at Altshausen. Charles was now ready to attack Jourdan at his Ostrach-Rotach position.

Battle of Ostrach 21 March 1799

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