Battle of Hohenlinden

On 3 December 1800 in the Hohenlinden forest in Bavaria, General Moreau inflicted crushing defeat on Archduke John of Austria. In deep winter, 56,000 French ambushed in the woods defeated 64,000 Austrians engaged on a cleared road; Richepanse struck the enemy rear while Austrian center and wings were caught in a pincer.

After Marengo (June 1800) in Italy, the War of the Second Coalition continued in Germany. Moreau, commanding the Army of the Rhine, pushed Austrians back at Hohenstaufen and pursued toward Munich. Archduke John concentrated forces for a decisive battle before winter; Moreau deliberately chose the wooded terrain of Hohenlinden to offset apparent numerical inferiority.

Moreau concealed most of his army in the forest and left Ney holding the center on the Ebersberg road. Austrians advanced in columns on the cleared highway; Richepanse, diverted to their rear, attacked from the east while Decaen and Grouchy struck the flanks. Snow, forest, and French coordination turned the Austrian march into disaster: about 12,000 prisoners and 70 guns captured.

Hohenlinden hastened the end of the Second Coalition: Austria negotiated the Treaty of Lunéville (February 1801) after Marengo and this defeat. Moreau, Bonaparte's rival, gained immense prestige but was later exiled and killed in a duel. Victory confirmed French military supremacy in central Europe and isolated Great Britain as the sole remaining belligerent.