Battle of Amsteg 1799
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 August 1799 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1799 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Switzerland | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 46.7833, 8.6667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Amsteg (14–16 August 1799) saw a Republican French division under General of Division Claude Lecourbe face a brigade of Habsburg Austrian soldiers led by General-major Joseph Anton von Simbschen. Lecourbe's offensive began on 14 August when six columns of French infantry advanced on the upper Reuss valley from the north and east. By 16 August, Lecourbe's forces had driven Simbschen's Austrians from the valley and seized control of the strategic Gotthard Pass between Italy and Switzerland.
On 4 June, the First Battle of Zurich was fought between André Masséna's French Army of Helvetia and an Austrian army led by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. After the battle, Massena relinquished Zürich and retreated to a strong defensive position to the west of the city. At about the same time, the French commander ordered Lecourbe to abandon the Gotthard Pass and pull back to Lucerne. In August, Masséna had second thoughts and wanted Lecourbe to recapture the Gotthard Pass. The French commander feared an Austro-Russian stroke from Italy across the pass, so he ordered an offensive to occupy the area. Louis Marie Turreau's division advanced northeast from the Canton of Valais in support of Lecourbe.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Amsteg (revision 1370431926), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Devil's Bridge 1799 · 16 km
- Battle of Schwyz 1799 · 26 km
- Battle of Gotthard Pass 1799 · 26 km
- Battle of Morgarten 1315 · 34 km
- Battle of Oberwald 1799 · 37 km
- Second Battle of Ulrichen 1419 · 42 km
Browse more: battles in Switzerland · Europe · Early modern battles