Battle of Messkirch

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Battle of Messkirch (1800)
Part of War of the Second Coalition
Battle of Meßkirch
Date 5 May 1800 Location Meßkirch, present-day Germany 47°59′34″N 9°6′45″E / 47.99278°N 9.11250°E / 47.99278; 9.11250 Result French victory
Belligerents
Republican France	Habsburg Austria
Commanders and leaders
Jean Victor Moreau	Paul Kray
Strength
52,000[1]	48,000[1]
Casualties and losses
3,000 killed or wounded[1]	2,400 killed or wounded 1,600 captured[1]
class=notpageimage| Location within Germany

War of the Second Coalition:
Austria

200km
125miles

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Zurich

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The color black indicates the current battle.

The Battle of Messkirch (5 May 1800) saw a Republican French army led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau attack a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Paul Kray. At the start of the 1800 campaign in Germany, Moreau's 108,000-strong field army faced Kray's 120,000-man army on opposite sides of the Rhine River. By a series of maneuvers, Moreau crossed the Rhine and concentrated superior forces to defeat Kray at the Battles of Stockach and Engen on 3 May. After Kray retreated a short distance to the north, the two adversaries met again at Meßkirch. After a well-contested fight, Kray withdrew again, conceding victory to the French.