Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, initial commander-in-chief of the Army of the Danube
Active
2 March – 11 December 1799
Disbanded
24 November 1799–11 December 1799 units merged into Army of the Rhine; Army remained on paper until 11 December 1799, when its commander was reassigned.[1]
Country
First Republic
Type
Field Army
Role
Invasion of southwestern Germany
Size
approximately 25,000
Engagements
Battle of Ostrach (without Vandamme's detached flank) Battle of Stockach (1799) Battle of Winterthur (Most of Advance Guard, plus elements of I. Division and part of Reserves) First Battle of Zürich (Advance Guard and elements of I. Division) Second Battle of Zürich (Advance Guard, elements of I. and III. Divisions and Reserve)
Commanders
Notable commanders
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan André Masséna Louis Marie Turreau
Military unit
v
t
e
War of the Second Coalition
Nicopolis
Corfu
Ostrach
Feldkirch
1st Stockach
Verona
Magnano
Cassano
Bassignana
1st Marengo
Frauenfeld
Winterthur
1st Zurich
Modena
Trebbia
2nd Marengo
Mantua
Novi
Amsteg
Callantsoog
Vlieter incident
Krabbendam
Mannheim
Bergen
Gotthard Pass
2nd Zurich
Linth River
Muottental
Alkmaar
Castricum
2nd Novi
Genola
3rd Novi
Wiesloch
Genoa
Hohentwiel
2nd Stockach
Messkirch
Biberach
Fort Bard
Chiusella
Iller River
Montebello
3rd Marengo
Höchstädt
Neuburg
Ampfing
Hohenlinden
Mincio
Copenhagen
Algeciras (1st • 2nd)
Porto Ferrajo
Mediterranean Campaign
Egyptian Campaign
Italian and Swiss
Swiss Campaign
Italian Campaign
Dutch Campaign
The Army of the Danube was a field army of the French First Republic. Originally named the Army of Observation, it was expanded with elements of the Army of Mainz (Mayence) and the Army of Helvetia (Switzerland). The army had three divisions plus an advance guard, a reserve, and an artillery park.[2] The artillery park was under the command of Jean Ambroise Baston de Lariboisière and consisted of 33 cannons and 19 howitzers operated by 1,329 non-commissioned officers and cannoneers as well as 60 officers. There were approximately 25,000 members of the Army, the role of which was to invade southwestern Germany, precipitating the War of the Second Coalition.
The Army crossed the Rhine River on 1 March 1799 under the command of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, in the order of battle below. As elements crossed the Rhine, they took the name "Army of the Danube". The crossing was completed by 7 March.[2] After passing through the Black Forest, the Army fought two battles in quick succession, the Battle of Ostrach, on 20–21 March, and Stockach, on 25–26 March. It suffered badly in both engagements and, following the action at Stockach, withdrew to the Black Forest. Jourdan established his headquarters at Hornberg, and the Reserve cavalry and the cavalry of the Advance Guard quartered near Offenburg, where the horses could find better forage.[3]
Initially, the Army included six future Marshals of France: its commander-in-chief, Jourdan; François Joseph Lefebvre; Jean-Baptiste Drouet; Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr; Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor; and Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier.[4] After the defeat at Ostrach, the Army was reorganized and command shifted to another future marshal, André Masséna.[5] Under Masséna's command, elements of the army participated in skirmishes in Switzerland, the eleven-hour Battle of Winterthur and the First and Second Battles of Zürich.[6] The Army was disbanded in November 1799 and its units dispersed among other French field armies by mid-December.[1]
^ abAdolphe Thiers. The History of the French Revolution. New York: Appleton, 1854, v. 4., pp. 370, 401–402; Smith, "Clash at Winterthur." Databook, pp. 156–157.
^ abJean-Baptiste Jourdan. A Memoir of the Operations of the Army of the Danube under the Command of General Jourdan, Taken from the Manuscripts of that Officer. London: Debrett, 1799, p. 140.
^Digby Smith. Napoleonic Wars Databook: Actions and Losses in Personnel, Colours, Standards and Artillery, 1792–1815. Mechanicsburg PA: Stackpole, 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9, pp. 147–148.
^Smith, Databook, p. 150.
^Smith, "Clash at Winterthur." Databook, p. 156–157.
^Lina Hug and Richard Stead. Switzerland. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902, p. 361. Lawrence Shadwell. Mountain warfare illustrated by the campaign of 1799 in Switzerland: being a translation of the Swiss narrative, compiled from the works of the Archduke Charles, Jomini, and others... London: Henry S. King, 1875. pp. 110–111.
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