Archduke Charles’ 1796 Campaign
in Germany (2004)
Book Review
by David Hollins, UK
 |
(translated by George Nafziger):
I have often banged the drum for the 1796 campaign in Germany as it is an ideal campaign scenario for wargamers as it allows small forces to be divided and combined in all directions across a road network with some large obstacles, notably the Danube breaking the theatre up. As a primarily strategic operation, which culminated in one decisive battle in which the Austrians had achieved numerical superiority through the use of the Manoeuvre of the Central position, it was studied by many military historians prior to 1914. These included Jomini, who translated the Archduke’s account into French and is said in several reference books dated around 1900, to have been as influenced by Charles as by Napoleon in his analysis of war. The problem has however been that Jomini’s translation is quite rare and the original work is in German. George Nafziger has previously translated Jourdan’s account and now (hooray!), has translated the narrative volume of Charles’ Grundsatze der Strategie (the other volume is a rather mathematical analysis of the principles of fighting war). Wisely, he opted used the 1840 Jomini translation, so that he can thereby include Jomini’s notes. Considering that this has been through two translations and started in a fairly formal early 19th century German, this work actually reads very well. The original work, Grundsätze der Strategie erlautert durch die Darstellung des Feldzuges von 1796 in Deutschland, sought in two volumes to draw the lessons of Charles’ victorious campaign and to create a mathematical system of strategy from it. Nafziger has left out the mathematical volume and this is just the narrative volume. Nevertheless, the Archduke stops at various points to highlight the key strategic issues and, as Jomini notes several times, is remarkably frank in criticising his own moves (something of a rarity in military works of any period, let alone the Rev/Nap sector and of course stands in sharp contrast to Napoleon’s scapegoating of others). Indeed, the frank criticism was such that the censors initially refused to pass this “anonymous” work until the Archduke revealed himself as its author. After losing Wurmser’s troops, when they were sent to Italy, Charles was forced on to the defensive facing the march of two French armies under Jourdan in central Germany and Moreau in the south. The campaign is a study in effective strategy and also how, contrary to the popular mythology, the Austrian staff system directed the movements of 4 separate forces on different axes of movement over an area, which would also form the backdrop to the first stage of Napoleon’s 1805 campaign. In particular, the road network (which is like a short ladder on its side) was employed to create the conditions for the classic Manoeuvre of the Central Position to allow Charles to defeat a numerically superior force in detail, crushing Jourdan at Wurzburg and then defeating Moreau at Emmendingen to force both back across the Rhine. It was achieved on a scale, which Napoleon never managed. The book itself is the classic campaign history and includes several useful OBs, although they only list units, not actual num-bers, and there are also some additional notes by Nafziger, mostly about the Saxon contingent with Charles’ army in the opening stages. My only criticism would be that there are no maps - however there is a decent map in the fairly accessible: “The operations of war explained and illustrated” by Sir Edward Bruce Hamley, which was published in various editions from 1866-1927. For an account of the decisive battle, Wurzburg on 3rd September 1796, there is my article on the free sample articles part of Magweb. The campaign area itself would make a good scenario for wargamers for almost any army/campaign of the period and given the current weakness of the USD, this is a bargain discussion of the real one. Book Reviews
L. Eysturlid: The Formative Influences, Theories and Campaigns of the Archduke Carl of Austria (2000) Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 81 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by First Empire. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com |