First Battle of Biberach
2 October 1796

Orders of Battle

by Jens-Florian Ebert and Roland Kessinger, Germany

The Austrian Army Commander-in-chief: FZM Latour Left Wing: FML Mercantin GM Bolza CR 13 Modena Chevauxlegers (6 sqdns, 911) CR 32 Erzherzog Ferdinand Hussars (2 sqdns, 221) CR 39 Waldeck Dragoons (2 sqdns,?) IR49 Pellegrini (1st & 2nd batts, 862) IR3 Erzherzog Karl (1 batt, 300) 2. Slavonia District Grenzer (combined battalion) (630) Emigre Corps Condé: Duc d’Enghien Infanterie noble (1 1/2 batts) Hohenlohe Infantry (1 batt) Legion Mirabeau (1 batt) Cavallerie noble (4 sqdns) Chevalier de la Couronne (4 sqdns) Escadron de la Dauphin (1 sqdn) Strength: 7 1/2 bat, 19 sqdns Centre: FML Baillet GM Hegel CR32 Erzherzog Ferdinand Hussars (8 sqdns, 829) CR6 Kaiser Karabiniers (2 sqdns [Chevauxleger Division], 261) CR26 Erzherzog Johann Dragoons (2 sqdns, 277) Szekler Grenzer kB (3 cos, ?) IR 35 Wenkheim (2 batts, 1,332) IR 23 Toscana (2 batts, 919) IR 7 K. Schröder (2 batts, 1,347) Strength: 6 1/2 bat, 12 sqdns Reserve: FZM Latour FML Fürstenberg CR26 Erzherzog Johann Dragoons(2 sqdns, 256) IR3 Erzherzog Karl (2 batts, 1,583) IR12 Hohenlohe (1 batt, 976) Strength: 3 batts, 2 sqdns Right Wing: FML Kospoth GM Zopf CR39 Waldeck Dragoons (4 sqdns, ?) CR3 Kaiser Dragoons (2 sqdns, ?) IR1 Kaiser (3rd Battalion, 1,089) IR11 M. Wallis (1st Battalion, 759) IR21 Gemmingen (1 batt, 1,040) IR56 W. Colloredo (3rd Battaion, 986) Bavarian Contingent (2 batts, 906) Detachement Oberst (Colonel) Nostitz CR 1 Kaiser Dragoons (4 sqdns, ?) Szekler Grenzer (Combined battalion) (3 cos, ?) Strength: 6 1/2 bat, 8 sqdns (Note: The unit strengths refer to the strength at the beginning of October, probably after the battle) The French Army of the Rhine and Moselle Commander-in-Chief: GD Moreau Chief of staff: GB Reynier Commander of the Artillery: GB Eblé Commander of the technical troops: Chef de Brigade Chambarhillac Left wing corps: GD Desaix Division GD Beaupuy GB Decaen 10e légère 10e Demi-Brigade 4e Chasseurs a Cheval GB Joba 62e Demi-Brigade 103e Demi-Brigade GB Fauconnet 8e Chasseurs a Cheval 6e Dragons Division GD Ste. Suzanne GB Frimont 16e légère 50e Demi-Brigade 7e Hussards GB Eickenmayer 97e Demi-brigade 10e Dragons 17e Dragons Strength: 21 bat, 24 sqdns (16,500) Centre Corps: GD St. Cyr Division GB Vandamme GB Girard-dit-Vieux 21e légère 26e légère 9e Hussards (2 sqdns) 2e Chasseurs a Cheval GB Vandamme 100e Demi-Brigade 11e Hussards (1 sqdn) 20e Chasseurs a Cheval Division GD Taponier 44e Demi-Brigade under Mainoni GB Lecourbe 84e Demi-Brigade 106e Demi-Brigade GB Laboissiére 17e Demi-Brigade 31e Demi-Brigade Reserve: GD Bourcier Chef de Brigade Nansouty 2e Cavalerie de bataille Regt 9e Cavalerie de bataille Regt GB Forest 1er Carabiniers 2e Carabiniers Strength (Centre and Reserve): 24 bat, 28 sqdns (19,300) (Note: While the Austrian OB is definite, the French OB had been reconstructed from many sources. There are detailed French OBs from the beginning of the campaign in various printed sources, but none are available for October 1796) Selected Sources To the best of our knowledge, aside from the general account in Phipps: Armies of the First French republic Volume II, there are no accounts of the battle available in English. Therefore the following list only contains some French (a) and German (b and c) sources. a) Gouvion Saint-Cyr; Memoires sur les campagnes des Armées du Rhine et de Rhine-et-Moselle de 1792-1797; Paris 1829, chapt. 13. b) Moritz Edlen von Angeli: Erzherzog Karl als Feldherr; Wien und Leipzig, 1896. c) Karl von Martens: Geschichte der innerhalb der gegenwärtigen Grenzen des Königreich Württemberg vorgefallenen kriegerischen Ereignisse; Stuttgart, 1847. Acknowledgement The authors thank Dave Hollins for some fruitful discussions and the assistance in translating the manuscript. First Battle of Biberach 2 October 1796 Introduction The 1796 Campaign Moreau Retreats The Battle Orders of Battle Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 70 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com