Battle of Stockach
25 March 1799
Part 1

First Austrian Counterattack

by Roland Kessinger, Germany

Initially, Archduke Charles knew that he faced a serious problem on his right wing and had to stabilise it, although he did not know what proportion of Jourdan’s army was now heading up the Liptingen-Stockach road. He decided to abandon his other plans and concentrate his efforts to his right, leading this part of his army in person to inspire his battered troops.

Around 9 a.m., FZM Wallis, commanding the right wing, received reports from GM Merveldt about the destruction of his advance guard. Wallis reacted immediately by aligning his wing just south of the Graue Wald (Grey Forest), a large forest between Stockach and Neuhaus, so as to stop to stop any further French advance along a line between Raithaslach, Mahlspuren and Zizenhausen.

FML Petrasch was ordered to cover the right with two battalions each of IR49 Kerpen from his division and IR21 Gemmingen of FML Furstenberg’s division. Petrasch took a position on the right (east) side of the Stockach-Liptingen main road near Zizenhausen.

On the other wing were FML Anhalt-Kothen’s Dragoons, who were to cover the Austrian position. The 2. Erzherzog Ferdinand Light Dragoons were sent from Raithaslach towards Heudorf, while the 6. Coburg Light Dragoons stayed near Raithaslach. In the centre FML Furstenberg was ordered to reassemble the fugitives and establish defences near the main road. IR 35 Wenkheim from Furstenberg’s division was placed left (west) of the main road.

After his success near Neuhaus, GB Mortier pushed further south with 25e legere, the 1er Chasseurs a Cheval and both 4e and 5e Hussars at the head of Soult’s division. During the Austrian retreat, 1er Chasseurs a Cheval had attacked the Austrian rear guard (mainly 1. Kaiser Hussars and 1. Uhlans) between Neuhaus and the Graue Wald. Between 9 and 11 a.m., Mortier could advance with 25e legere along the Liptingen-Stockach main road towards Mahlspuren (approx. 6 km) without meeting further resistance. After he had crossed the Graue Wald, he took up a position near Raithaslach around 11.30 a.m. 1er Chasseurs a Cheval with six 4pdrs and two howitzers were sent to Mortier’s right towards Raithaslach, while 17e Dragoons reinforced Mortier’s left near the source of the Stockacher Aach stream. 5e Hussars were sent further west towards Dornsberg (northeast of Aach) to cover the extreme right of Soult and to establish contact with Souham.

The rest of Soult’s infantry (53e and 67e) followed the 25e legere along the main road, where Soult was focusing his infantry, supported some guns, which had been pushed forward though the forest.

However, at the Raithaslach-Mahlspuren-Zizenhausen position just north of Stockach the Austrians were waiting and two hours of ferpociious fighting would now follow. FML Furstenberg was initially tasked with halting ye French advance. With the remnants of IR1 Kaiser and IR31 Benjowsky near Raithaslach, he advanced around 12 noon along the main road and on its left (east) side to assault a hill. At the head of his troops, FML Furstenberg was killed during the attack and Oberst Prince v. Anhalt-Bernburg, commander of IR1, was fatally wounded.

The attack failed, but GM Stipsitz immediately took command of FML Furstenberg’s division (IR1 Kaiser, IR31 Benjowsky and IR35 Wenkheim). FML Anhalt-Kothen, who commanded a cavalry division in the Raithaslach area soon realised that his cavalry was of no great use in the broken terrain, so he offered to take command of part of this division.

In the fighting which followed, Anhalt-Kothen led infantry instead of his cavalry, aided by some of his junior officers, who marched with the infantry on foot, including Leutnant Fichtel and Leutnant Sekendorf from 2. Erzherzog Ferdinand Light Dragoons and Leutnant Schmidt from 6. Coburg Light Dragoons. The rest of Anhalt-Kothen’s Division stayed near Raithaslach, where despite the ground, 2. Erzherzog Ferdinand and 6. Coburg Light Dragoons appear to have been engaged in some minor clashes with French cavalry attempting to reach Raithaslach, but by the end of the day, the two Austrian units had sustained just 45 losses in total.

Stalemate around Raithaslach-Mahlspuren After the first Austrian counterattack under FML Furstenberg had failed, there was some indecisive fighting in the Raithaslach-Mahlspuren area for two hours until 2 p.m. The disposition of French units during this clash is not clear, but it seems that 25e legere and 53e and 63e DB were engaged. After 25e legere (General de Brigade Mortier) had been halted by the Austrian right wing, a battalion each of 53e and 67e DB (General de Brigade Laval) were sent forward to support the light infantry as the whole French force became fully engaged.

In the broken terrain, the various engagements have become muddled. The Austrians had numerical superiority in the Raithaslach-Mahlspuren area, but were unable to apply the force of their closed-up, so the opposing lines moved forth and back for approximately two hours until the Austrians finally gained the upper hand and around 2 p.m., the decisive Austrian counterattack started. On the left (western) side of the Stockach-Liptingen road, IR 35 Wenkheim under Oberst von Ulm and GM Stipsitz began its advance, apparently engaging 25e legere.

At the same time, FML Petrasch attacked the French position on the other side of the main road near Zizenhausen with IR49 Kerpen and IR21 Gemmingen. The 67e DB appears to have been nearest the main road with the 53e further east. The French line was already cracking, when the Archduke arrived on the Austrian right with reinforcements from the Reserve.

Charles deploys his Reserves

Around 9 a.m. , the Archduke received reports about events on his right wing and immediately abandoned a planned reconnaissance in force towards Engen. He ordered his advance guard commanders, FML Nauendorf and GM Schwarzenberg, to fall back on the main army, while he rode back from Eigeltingen to his left wing, where he also allocated to its commander, FML Staader, part of the Reserve (under FML V. Kollowrat). Around 10 a.m. , Staader directed three Grenadier Battalions to take a new position on top of the Nellenburg hill, while the other three Battalions remained at the bottom of the same hill. From this central position, the Grenadiers could defend the Austrian centre at Nellenburg hill, while also supporting FML Nauendorf’s troops, or they could be shifted to the left or right wing.

It did not take Charles long to appreciate that Soult’s attack on his right wing was the main French attack and that his right wing was taking a battering. He took command back of Kollowrat’s Grenadiers and together with the heavy cavalry division of FML Riesch, rushed them to the right wing to stabilise the situation. The two Grenadier Battalions Tegethoff and Bojakowsky formed the head of Kollowrat’s column moving up the main road. The Grenadiers arrived on the high ground around Raithaslach-Mahlspuren around 2p.m, just at that time when GM Stipsitz and FML Petrasch started their attack up the road. For the next two hours (until 4p.m.) the Austrian Grenadiers pushed forward along the main road in closed order columns, while IRs 21, 35, and 49 advanced left and right of the road in open order through the forests. Following the Grenadiers on the main road was the heavy cavalry division of FML Riesch. Charles himself would later describe this as "an unusual tactical move".

The Austrian counterattack was very successful. Although 25e legere was able to delay the advance of IR35 on the western side of the road for some time and 67e DB blocked the Grenadiers, while 53e DB faced FML Petrasch’s troops right of the road, the French still began to crack around 2 p.m. near Mahlspuren and they had to fall back to the open ground between Neuhaus and Liptingen, where the road exited the Graue Wald, around 4 p.m. and it was only here that Soult could re-establish proper order amongst his Division. The Austrians had gained the momentum and once the two Grenadier Battalions at the head of the column (Tegethoff and Bojakowsky) had reached the end of the Graue Wald, they deployed on the left of the road towards the small Homburg hill.

The next two battalions (Teschner and Lippe) deployed on the right (east) of the road on another small hill northwest of Neuhaus. The two lead battalions then had to storm the Homburg hill, which was defended by some French tirailleurs, so Kollowrat ordered a half-company of the Tegethoff Grenadiers to advance first in open order (i.e.: as skirmishers), while the rest followed in closed order. They quickly stormed the hill and the Bojakowsky Grenadiers occupied the hill, to the left of Tegethoff.

The next Battalion, Sebottendorf, was ordered to the left of the main road on the Neuhaus hill and clear the forest south of Liptingen of the remaining French troops, while establishing contact with FML Nauendorf’s troops further to the south. As the Grenadiers deployed on the edge of the Graue Wald around 4 p.m., the other Austrian infantry regiments (IRs 21, 35, and 49) emerged from the woodland through which they had been marching.

Rounding up French prisoners and sending them back to Stockach also delayed their advance. After suffering heavy casualties that morning, IR1 and IR42 were left in reserve north of Mahlspuren and would take no further part in the fighting. IR31 had effectively been knocked out too, although some elements from it were employed by FML Alex Wurttemberg on the outer right, advancing with his cavalry from Mainwangen towards Schwandorf.

Concluded next issue.

More Battle of Stockach: Part 1 25 March 1799

Battle of Stockach: Part 2 25 March 1799

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