Battle of Ostrach
21 March 1799

March 21: Plans and Attacks

by Roland Kessinger, Germany

Jourdan was not aware that the main Austrian army was very close to him. He expected Charles to arrive two or three days later at the Ostrach-Rotach position so he gave no special orders for March 21st.

Charles, on the other hand, prepared his attack for March 21st . He wanted to advance in three columns. The northern right column was commanded by FML Fuerstenberg (10 batts., 12 coys., 16 sqdns.). This column should assemble between Herbertingen and Fulgenstadt and should separate in two smaller columns to Mengen and to Einhardt. GM Merveldt commanded the advance guard of this column. The main column in the centre (22 batts., 40 sqdns.) was under the direct control of the Archduke.

It was to move from Saulgau along the main road to Ostrach and force the passage of the river there. FML Nauendorf was given command over the advance guard of this column. The southern right column (13 batts., 10 coys., 34 sqdns.) was directed by FZM Wallis and was to advance from Altshausen to Ostrach and meet the column of the Archduke there. GM Schwarzenberg commanded the advance guard of that column. Further to the south near Lake Constance was the small brigade of GM Piacek consisting only of light troops that had to deal with Ferino’s division and to cover Ravensburg. Charles, plan was to attack Jourdan and push him back from Ostrach. Jourdan’s Army of the Danube had to be driven out of Germany before Charles could move into Switzerland, the main strategic target in his eyes.

First Austrian Attacks

Around 2 o’clock in the morning of March 21st the Austrian advance guard opened fire. The Austrians advanced in three columns. The main Austrian attack was pushed forward by the strongest centre column under the Archduke’s direct command along the Saulgau-Ostrach road. The advance guard of this column under FML Nauendorf consisted of the two brigades of GM Gyulay and GM Kienmayer. They were pushing back the left column of Levèbvre’s advance guard (parts of the 25th demi-brigade legère, the 1st Chasseurs a Cheval and the 4th Hussars) from Bolstern to Ostrach.

Around 4 o’clock Levèbvre tried to build up a line of defence at the wooded hills between Tafertsweier and Ostrach. Approximately 30 minutes later GM Gylulay attacked with IR 31 Benjovsky at the head of the Austrian column this French position. At the same time GM Kienmayer charged the French cavalry with the Vecsay and Meszaros Hussars.

The left column of Lefèbvre’s advance guard eventually had to retreat to Ostrach. Around 5 o’clock the French advance guard reached the village and Lefèbvre informed Jourdan that he was being severely attacked. On getting this news Jourdan ordered General de Division Souham (2 nd division) to send immediately one demi-brigade and one company of horse artillery to reinforce Lefèbvre’s division from Pfullendorf to Ostrach. Since Jourdan was also afraid that Charles might send another corps through the marsh south of Ostrach he gave Souham orders to send a detachment to defend this position.

Souham used the brigade of General de Brigade Decaen for these tasks. The 7th demi-brigade of Decaen‘s brigade was sent at 6 o’clock from the camp near Pfullendorf to Ostrach. The battalion of the 2nd demi-brigade that was already in an advanced position at Waldbeuren had to move further south-east to Ruschweiler together with the 1st Dragoons. Only 1 company of this battalion and 1 squadron of the 1st Dragoons remained at Waldbeuren. To fill the gap, General de Brigade Decaen sent the remaining troops of his brigade from the camp near Pfullendorf (1 battalion 2 nd demi-brigade and 3 guns of the horse artillery) to Waldbeuren.

The Fate of Fontaine’s Advance Guard Column

The fast retreat of the left column of Lefèbvre’s advance-guard made it impossible for the right column under Adjutant-General Fontaine (4 coys. 25 demi-brigade legère, 1 bat. 53 rd demi-brigade, 3 sqdns. 5th Hussars, 1 sqdn. 1st Chasseurs a Cheval, 2 sqdns. 17th Dragoons) to reach Ostrach before the Austrians. During the night Fontaine’s column was concentrated around Hosskirch and blocked the way from Ostrach to Altshausen from where the left Austrian attack column under FZM Wallis arrived. Fontaine’s troops were attacked by the advance guard of the left Austrian column under GM Schwarzenberg early in the morning. But the pressure on Fontaine was not that severe so he moved only slowly back to Ostrach.

When his column arrived at Ostrach the Austrians were already there, so Fontaine could only move south along the river to escape. He couldn’t find a crossing over the Ostrach so he had to make his way back to Riedhausen and further south to Wilhelmsdorf where he met the troops of General de Brigade Decaen from the 2 nd division.

Near Riedhausen, around noon, there was a clash with a small detachment from GM Schwarzenberg’s advance guard and near Esenhausen Decaen’s troops were attacked by Schwarzenberg’s 2 nd Uhlans. These were the only engagements of Fontaine’s and Decaen’s troops, and they remained idle for the rest of the day. Charles didn’t want to push troops through the marsh between Riedhausen and Wilhelmsdorf so Jourdan’s men were wasted at this position.

To the North: St. Cyr against Fuerstenberg

While the troops of Levèbvre were pushed back to Ostrach, the Austrian advance guard of FML Fuerstenberg’s right column under GM Merveldt attacked St. Cyr’s 3 companies of the 1st demi-brigade at 7 o’clock at Hohentengen, Beizkofen, Enzkofen an Ursendorf.

After a small engagement the red mantles of the Wurmser free corps were able to occupy these villages on the right bank of the Ostrach. At this time Jourdan had already informed St. Cyr that Lefèbvre’s division had been severely attacked. Therefore, Jourdan ordered that St. Cyr should concentrate his division and prepare it for battle.

Further, St. Cyr should have pay special attention to a forest on his right flank in order to maintain communication with Lefèbvre. St. Cyr responded that the “Flanquers de Gauche” of Vandamme still hadn’t arrived at their ordered position at the Danube near Sigmaringen and that he therefore still had to cover this area which weakened his division.

St. Cyr’s Counter-Attack

At 8 o’clock Adjutant-General Debilly who operated on the left bank of the Danube informed St. Cyr that there was no Austrian activity on this side of the river and that the small Austrian detachment that was at Herbertingen wasn’t moving. After he got this information St. Cyr decided to release the pressure from Lefèbvre’s division with a counter attack against the Austrian right wing.

He used the brigade of General de Brigade Legrand to advance from Hohentengen in the direction of Friedberg. Legrand was able to throw the Austrians out of Hohentengen, Beizkofen and Oelkofen. Then he moved out of Enzkofen to advance to Friedberg when he met a small detachment from some companies of the 25th demi-brigade legère and some Hussars of the 4th regiment that were cut off at Friedberg and were falling back on St. Cyr’s division. The officer who commanded this small detachment informed St. Cyr that the division of Lefèbvre already had to re-cross the Ostrach. His detachment was cut off from Lefèbvre’s troops early in the morning since another part of GM Merveldt’s advance guard made its way from Saulgau to Einhardt on the Ostrach river between Friedberg and Ostrach.

While St. Cyr got this news FML Fuerstenberg had sent five battalions (probably IR 35 Wenkheim and the Wurmser free corps) and 12 squadrons to recapture the terrain on his right flank. St. Cyr didn’t want to engage in a major battle with his minor forces and fell back towards the Ostrach.

In some of the small villages there was heavy fighting between the French and the Austrians, but ultimately Fuerstenberg’s troops were able to push the French back over the Ostrach. Around 12 o’clock the Austrian troops took their position along the northern part of the Ostrach near Hohentengen. IR 35 Wenkheim occupied the highs of Hohentengen. Colonel Keglevich was sent with a small detachment of light troops to Herbertingen on the important main road just south of the Danube.

St. Cyr was able to delay an Austrian crossing at Bremen and Beizkofen until 2pm but then had to retreat since another part of FML Fuerstenberg’s column had been able to cross the Ostrach further south at Einhardt. This crossing was a threat for St. Cyr’s right wing and he had to prepare a solid defence for his line of retreat to Messkirch.

At the same time the pressure of the two other Austrian attack columns had broken the French centre near Ostrach.

Defence of Ostrach

The heaviest fighting during the day occurred at Ostrach where Charles wanted to cross the river. Since the early morning the French prepared their defence at this strategically important position.

After Jourdan had given orders to General Souham at Pfullendorf around 6 o’clock he arrived at 7 o’clock in the morning at the headquarters of Lefèbvre at Ostrach. Meanwhile the left column of Lefèbvre’s advance guard had been pushed back to the villages of Ostrach, Jettkofen and Einhardt. Lefèbvre’s division prepared, at around 7 o’clock, to defend the Ostrach River between these three villages.

The Ostrach Village lies on the left (western) bank of the river and the important bridge over the river was on the eastern entrance to the village. 4 companies of the 25th demi-brigade légère under Chef de Battalion Drouin were sent over the bridge to cover it, whereas the other 10 available companies of this demi-brigade were distributed along the left bank of the Ostrach between Ostrach and the crossings of Wangen and Einhardt. One battalion of the 67th demi-brigade was positioned in an assault column behind Ostrach to, if necessary, reinforce the four companies of the 25th demi-brigade légère that defended the bridge if necessary.

Another battalion of the 67th took position at the entrance of the forest opposite the village of Jettkofen. One battalion of the 53 rd demi-brigade was sent next to this forest to extend the French line of defence further north.

The other battalion of the 53 rd stayed in reserve. The remaining cavalry of the advance guard (4th Hussars, 1st Chasseurs a Cheval, 2 sqdns. 17th Dragoons) took position under General de Division Klein at the right flank south of Ostrach.

The artillery was positioned on several plateaux near Ostrach to sweep the entrance of this village. This was the position of the advance guard division at approximately 7 o’clock in the morning when Jourdan arrived. (With the exception of Fontaine’s column that was on its way further south along the Ostrach.)

On the other side of the river the Austrians were now ready to attack. Shortly after his Austrian advance guard had reached the hills east of Ostrach (IR 31 Benjowsky) Nauendorf ordered an attack without waiting for any orders from the Archduke. For three hours the French were able to hold the bridge of Ostrach but around 10 o’clock in the morning their resistance at the bridge broke down and the Austrians were able to get over the river. GM Kempf had send two battalions of IR 1 Kaiser forward to attack the bridge. Meanwhile most of the Austrian troops of the left column and the centre column had arrived near Ostrach and 6 more battalions supported Kempf’s attack.

After IR 1 Kaiser had crossed the bridge 3 battalions and 12 squadrons soon followed. Nevertheless Chef de Brigade Bontemps who commanded the battalion of the 67th behind Ostrach was able to re-enter the village once more. Street fighting in Ostrach continued until approximately 11 o‘clock when the Austrians brought up reinforcements and Jourdan saw that he no longer could resist at this point. He ordered the retreat of the advance-guard division to Pfullendorf shortly before 12 o’clock.

Austrian Crossings of the Ostrach

Simultaneously to their attack at Ostrach, other Austrain troops tried to force a second crossing at several points further to the north. GM Gyulay was able to occupy Jettkofen with one battalion of IR 1 Kaiser and two Grenzer battalions (most probably 1st battalion 6th Warasdin-St. Georg Regiment Grenzer and 3 rd battalion 8th Gradiska Regiment Grenzer). Levèbvre recognised that the Austrians were trying to cross the river north of Ostrach and had sent the one battalion of the 53 rd that was still in reserve to Wangen.

Further he sent his cavalry, from his right wing south of Ostrach, north to his left wing to support his infantry in the defence of the Ostrach River. While he was inspecting his lines near Jettkofen he was shot in his right arm. General de Brigade Soult took over the command of his division.

At this moment the 7th demi-brigade arrived from Pfullendorf. One battalion of this demi-brigade was sent to Ostrach while the other one should cover the roads from Einhardt, Wangen and Jettkofen to Magenbuch. To carry out this order, Adjutant-general Molitor was sent with this battalion from the Pfullendorf-Ostrach road to the north. But Molitor arrived too late, meeting some French troops that had had to withdraw from Wangen and Einhardt, the Austrians had crossed the Ostrach River there around 11 o’clock. This, together with the flood of reinforcements the Austrians had got over at Ostrach, was the final information for Jourdan to decide to give the order to Soult that he should move back his division to Pfullendorf.

Retreat of the French Centre

Now came a difficult moment for the French centre as they had to retreat in front of a numerically superior enemy. Fortunately for Jourdan the Austrians could only push their troops in small detachments over the Ostrach since the 7th company 3 rd battalion of sappers managed to destroy all bridges near Ostrach.

Therefore, Soult’s division could make its way to Pfullendorf with little hindrance. D’Hautpoul’s reserve division was held ready to cover the retreat near Pfullendorf but the heavy cavalry units were not needed. Charles was satisfied that he had forced the crossing of the Ostrach and didn’t pursue Soult to hard. At the evening the Austrians camped between Magenbuch and Kalkreute approximately 10 kilometres east of Pfullendorf.

St. Cyr’s Retreat

The retreat of Soult’s division after 12 o’clock left the right flank of St. Cyr’s 3 rd division totally uncovered. Already, part of FML Fuerstenberg’s column had been able to cross the Ostrach at Einhardt and soon after 11 o’clock the first Austrian troops arrived at the convent of Habsthal. Therefore, St. Cyr had to sent Adjutant-General Saligny with the 50th demi-brigade and some chasseurs a cheval to cover his right flank and keep open the road from Mengen to Pfullendorf.

Saligny was able to hold his position near this road for some time since FML Fuerstenberg sent only a small part of his troops from Einhardt to the north to Rosna while the rest were marching to Magenbuch. During the afternoon Fuerstenberg pushed some more troops to the north and Saligny lost ground. To support Saligny General de Brigade Legrand moved the 1st demi-brigade right towards Saligny’s 50th . This movement was possible as General de Brigade Walter arrived at the former position of the 1st demi-brigade near Mengen with the 108th demi-brigade after he had recognised that there was no Austrian activity at the French left flank near the Danube.

Even after this movement there still remained some pressure on the right flank of the 50th demi-brigade but night ended the battle there.

After the troops of St. Cyr’s left brigade under Walter had arrived in their new position he ordered their retreat towards Messkirch. When they reached their rest position at the heights near Krauchenwies the right brigade of Legrand followed and the 3rd division was reunited next to Krauchenwies during the night.

Retreat of Decaen’s Brigade

During the afternoon the brigade of General de Brigade Decaen held its position along the south border of the large marsh between Waldbeuren and Wilhelmsdorf. General de Division Souham was also moving with this brigade of his division to observe the defile of Wilhelmsdorf.

After Decaen had united his troops with the small column of Adjutant-General Fontaine of the advance guard near Esenhausen where they combined to stop the advance of some light troops of GM Schwarzenberg. This was all that Decan could contribute to the Battle of Ostrach. During the evening the 2 nd demi-brigade of Decaen moved back to Pfullendorf whereas the 1st Dragoons camped south of Pfullendorf at Grossstadelhofen.

Ferino’s Division

During the whole day of March 21st the 1st division of Ferino was not attacked in its position along the Rotach. The light troops of GM Piacek only demonstrated in front of Ferino’s troops to simulate the presence of a larger Austrian corps. Besides these movements everything was quiet at this point. In the evening Ferino was informed by Jourdan of the events at Ostrach. Ferino got the order to withdraw westwards along Lake Constance and to take a new position there the following day.

Losses

The losses in the Battle of Ostrach were severe on both sides. According to a German source of 1914 the Austrians lost 2257 men whereas the French losses were 2113.

Battle of Ostrach 21 March 1799

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