Alpine Thunder:
The Battle of Zurich 1799

Epilogue

by Major Wilbur E. Gray, US Army

Massena's refusal left Korsakov in a terrible quandary. Should he try to escape or should he try to defend the city? Further bad news that evening made his choice an easy one He and his council of war soon learned that Freiherr von Hotze's Austrian force had been overwhelmed on the Linthe by General Nicolas "John of God" Soult's 7,000 French. In fact, both von Hotze and his chief of staff had been shot dead when they personally lead some reinforcing troops in a futile charge to stop the French. Now Soult was hot footing it north in an attempt to linkup with Massena and encircle the city.

Korsakov therefore decided upon a breakout to the north, which was attempted the next day at 0600 hours. French artillery raked the flanks of the fleeing columns, supposedly with such "vigor and skill that they soon threw the Russians into disorder and confusion."

French infantry and cavalry attacks actually isolated LTG Sacken's command near the Niederdorf Gate, where they were cut down nearly to the last man. Sacken himself stayed with his troops and was hit in the head by a French musket ball (he survived his wounds). The remainder of Korsakov's army escaped, finally regrouping in the Rhine village of Dorflingen on 28 September. Korsakov immediately destroyed all bridges across the river and began to prepare defensive positions. He, along with most of his regimental commanders, were relieved by the Czar by the end of October, 1799. [18]

No one knows exactly what the French losses were during this battle, but Czarist casualties were extremely heavy, perhaps as much as 15,000 killed, wounded and taken prisoner. Records do show that the Russians left three generals, 142 officers and over 5000 soldiers behind on the fields of Zurich. The French also captured the entire Russian baggage train (over 289 vehicles), 118 caissons, 26 guns and nine regimental standards. This was decisive victory. [19]

Obviously, the effects of this battle were profound in the extreme. When Suvorov heard of the disaster he exclaimed, "Hotze! They are used to it, they are for ever being beaten. But Korsakov, Korsakov and his 30,000 men! What a victory for an enemy barely equal in numbers!" Then he immediately turned to the NE and avoided Massena's victorious army by marching to safety through the Pragel, Kinzig and Panixer Passes.

The battle also convinced Czar Paul I to abandon the Second Coalition. There would be defeats in the Netherlands (where General Hermann would actually manage to get himself captured), and the British had actually had the gall to occupy the island of Malta. As Grand Master of the Knights of St John, such disgraceful activity by his erstwhile ally could not be ignored! When news of Korsakov's defeat and Suvarov's retreat hit the Imperial Palace in St Petersburg, Paul declared he had nearly had enough and the coalition, for all practical purposes, collapsed. Thus was Republican France, and the revolutionary ideals for which it stood, safe for a few years more. [20]

But perhaps the most important result of this battle was something that was not recognized by its participants, at least not those on the loser's side. This was simply that Zurich was yet one more example of the fact that war had changed, and only a massive change in society's perception about it would allow autocratic Europe a reasonable chance of success. The rules of war, as it pertained to both the soldiers and the society that molded them, had now been republished in a new, revised edition. A precious few, such as Prussia's General Gerhard J.D. von Scharnhorst, recognized this, but were officially told to shut up and behave themselves.

Such a reaction was to be expected. After all, reactionary Europe was in many respects trying to preserve its own vision of society by destroying the very altemative that made such "new thinking" possible. And if the only way to beat the French was to become like them, then victory for the Revolution was assured. This was a tough pill to swallow for most, making rejection of such ideas all too easy.

Thus the majority learned nothing from the wars of the Revolution and defeats like Zurich. It was only after some extensive remedial study in the classrooms of Jena and Austerlitz that the need for change would become clear to all. But by then, of course, it was much too late.

Endnotes

[1] Haythornthwaite, Napoleon's Campaign in Italy (hereafter referred to as Italy,p. 20; Haythomthwaite,Austrian Army of the Napoleonic Wars: Infantry, p. 12, et al.
[2] Haythomthwaite, Italy, p. 19; Duffy, Russia's Military Way to the West (hereafter referred to as Russia), p. 208.
[3] Duffy, Russia, pp. 208-209.
[4] Ibid, pp. 206 and 194.
[5] Henniquin, pp. 136-137.
[6] Duffy, Russia, p. 212.
[7] Ibid, p. 214.
[8] Strachen, p. 14.
[9] Haythomthwaite, Frederick the Great's Army: Specialist Troops, p. 12; Duffy, The Military Life of Frederick the Great, pp. 44 and 139-140.
[10] Chandler, pp. 270-295; Esposito and Elting, unmarked page.
[11] Strachen, p. 40.
[12] Elting, p. 335-336.
[13] Duffy, Russia, p. 214.
[14] Hennequin, pp. 243-244. Most of the narrative concerning the battle is drawn from this work. Soult, by the way, evidently picked out his crossing points disguised as an infantry private, happily waving to the Austrian pickets on the other side of the Linthe.
[15] Duffy, Russia, p. 215.
[16] Hennequin, p. 270-271.
[17] Ibid, pp. 274-280.
[18] Ibid, p. 281-285. See also Viskovatov, pp. 15-22. Korsakov was also fired from his job as Colonel in Chief of the Rostov Musketeer Regiment.
[19] Henniquin, p. 284; Zwegintsov, p. 273.
[20] Osipov, p. 169. Quoting Suvorov.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chandler, David G., Napoleon's Marshals, New York, 1987.
Duffy, Christopher, Russia's Military Way to the West, Boston, 1985.
Duffy, Christopher, The Military Life of Frederick the Great, New York, 1985.
Elting, John R., Swords Around a Throne, New York, 1988.
Esposito, BG Vincent and Col. John R. Elting, A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars, London, 1964.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J., Austrian Army of the Napoleonic Wars: Infantry, London, 1986.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J., Frederick the Great's Army: Specialist Troops, London, 1992.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J., Napoleon's Campaign in Italy, London,1993.
Haythornthwaite, Philip J., Uniforms of the French Revolutionary Wars, London, 1981.
Hennequin, Le Capitaine Brevete L., Zurich: Massena en Suisse, Paris, 1911. Once again, a special thanks to George Nafziger for help in the translation of this document.
Miliutin, Count D.A., Istoria Vouj Rossis Frantsieya, St Petersburg, 1852.
Osipov, K., Aleksandr Suvorov, London, 1944.
Strachen, Hew, European Armies and the Conduct of War, London,1983.
Viskovatov, A.V., Istoricheskoi opisania Odezhdui i Vooruzhenia Rossiiskoi Voisk, Vol VII, St Petersburg, 1900.
Zwegintsov. V.V., Russkaya Armiya, Vol III, Paris, 1970

First presented as a lecture at Historicon 1993. The views expressed here are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Department of the Army or the United States Government.

Alpine Thunder The Battle of Zurich 1799

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