Battle of Aldenhoven
Errata
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The following text was ommitted from page 14 of issue 68 of First Empire--Dave Watkins The text was inserted into the article at the specified place in the MagWeb.com archive.--Russ Lockwood Insert on page 14, following the first column: (…) happened to a dragoon, who tried to flee with his child in front of him on his horse. Both fell from the horse, hit by several bullets. Another Frenchman had chopped his head off with a sabre when he, after being pardoned and handing over his musket, pulled out a pistol and treacherously shot an Austrian soldier. [2]
When the Archduke Charles arrived in front of the French positions at Eschweiler with the remaining troops under his command, he came under gunfire from a redoubt on the Röhe Hill, a strong position overlooking the whole valley. French artillery was apparently two batteries strong, commanded by capitaine de bombardiers Antoine-Alexandre Hanicque. This redoubt was part of a line of entrenchments erected between the villages Hehlrath and Rüd, to block the road from Eschweiler to Aachen. The Austrians brought up their own guns, and an ineffective cannonade followed, with only
slight loss on both sides. This lasted until about 11.30 am, when FML Prinz von Württemberg arrived on the scene with his force and deployed. The Austrians apparently believed the French positions at Eschweiler to be very strong, and they were formidable indeed. Therefore FM (…)
Insert on page 14, following the second column:
(…) both chasseurs à cheval regiments which had covered the retreat from Koslar and Aldenhoven (6me and 12me Régiment de Chasseurs à Cheval, for details see further below), and the 5me and 7me Régiment de Dragons, totalling about eight squadrons. The French were commanded by Lieutenant-General de la Noüe, who had retreated here after being dislodged from his forward positions in front of Jülich. Probably counting on reinforcements, underestimating the strength of the Austrian troops in front of him, and overestimating the quality of his own troops, De la Noüe ordered his French gunners only to retreat after having fired all their ammunition and having nailed the guns. In case of a retreat, two dragoon squadrons were assigned to cover the retreating gunners.
FM Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld kept French attention by deploying the 2. Treffen just out of range in front of the redoubts, preparing for a frontal attack. (…) 2 These stories are all taken from Beyer, Peter sr., Der Kampf um Eschweiler während der Schlacht bei Aldenhoven am 1. März 1793 (Eschweiler 1918)
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