BATTLE // August 22, 1796

Battle of Theiningen

Name: Battle of Theiningen
Start: 1796-08-22
End: 1796-08-22
Location: Battle of Theiningen

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Significance

At Theiningen on 22–23 August 1796, a French division under Bernadotte faced an Austrian army under Archduke Charles that outnumbered it three-to-one. By repulsing the attempted encirclement and conducting a successful rearguard action, Bernadotte's force preserved the cohesion of the French Army of Sambre and Meuse and enabled its withdrawal toward the Rhine. The engagement therefore served a defensive operational function: preventing the destruction or isolation of a larger French force during a critical retreat phase of the 1796 German campaign.

Tactics

Bernadotte's division repulsed an attempted encirclement by the Austrian army and fought a rearguard action that held off the larger Habsburg force long enough to cover the withdrawal of the Army of Sambre and Meuse toward the Rhine.