Battle of Linth River

Battle of Linth River
Part of the Italian and Swiss expedition during the War of the Second Coalition
Crossing of the Linth at Bilten, morning of 25 September 1799 by Siméon Fort, 1837
Date 25–26 September 1799[1] Location Bilten, Helvetic Republic 47°09′N 9°01′E / 47.150°N 9.017°E / 47.150; 9.017 Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Austria Russia Swiss rebels
Commanders and leaders
Jean-de-Dieu Soult Gabriel Molitor	Friedrich Hotze † Franz Petrasch Franz von Auffenberg Friedrich von Linkin Franz Jellacic Vasily Titov
Strength
Total: 14,500 Linth River: 11,500[1] Mollis: 3,000[2]	Total: 19,000 Linth River: 10,000[1] Mollis: 9,000[2]
Casualties and losses
Total: 1,100 Linth River: 600[1] Mollis: 500[2]	Total: 6,500, 32 guns, 4 flags Linth River: 5,000, 25 guns[1] Mollis: 1,500, 7 guns[2]

The Battle of (the) Linth River (25–26 September 1799) saw a French division under General of Division Jean-de-Dieu Soult face a force of Austrian, Imperial Russian, and Swiss rebel soldiers led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze in Switzerland. Soult carefully planned and his troops carried out a successful assault crossing of the Linth River between Lake Zurich and the Walensee. Hotze's death early in the action disorganized the Allied defenders who were defeated and forced to retreat, abandoning supplies accumulated for Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov's approaching army. On the same day, General of Division André Masséna's French Army of Helvetia defeated Lieutenant General Alexander Korsakov's Russian army in the Second Battle of Zurich and a French brigade turned back another Austrian force near Mollis. Both Korsakov's Russians and Hotze's survivors, led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Petrasch withdrew north of the Rhine River.

These defeats were the result of a mismanaged Allied strategy that planned to unite the forces of Korsakov and Hotze with Suvorov's Russian army coming north from Italy. In accordance with the strategy, Feldzeugmeister Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen's powerful Austrian army had marched from Zürich to southern Germany a few weeks before. Masséna and Soult won their victories in the narrow time window between Charles' departure and Suvorov's arrival. On 24 September, Suvorov's Russians captured the Gotthard Pass and marched into Switzerland. However, with Korsakov and Petrasch driven out of the country, Masséna turned his full attention upon Suvorov's army, setting the stage for an epic alpine campaign.