First Battle of Höchstädt

The First Battle of Höchstädt took place on 20 September 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Fought near Höchstädt an der Donau in Bavaria, a combined Franco-Bavarian force under Claude Louis Hector de Villars defeated an Imperial army led by Hermann Otto II of Limburg Stirum.

During the summer of 1703, a Franco-Bavarian offensive along the Danube potentially threatened the Habsburg capital of Vienna. In response, Imperial forces under Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden entered Bavaria, and captured Augsburg. He then ordered Limburg Stirum to cross the Danube at Donauwörth with 18,000 men, and join an attack on the Franco-Bavarian camp at Nordendorf. The latter arrived in Höchstädt on 19 September, but Villars and Maximilian had already reached Donauwörth.

Early on the morning on 20 September, Limburg Stirum found the main Franco-Bavarian army of 15,000 was advancing on him from Donauwörth, with a corps of 8,000 under the Marquis d'Husson in his rear. He therefore decided to withdraw north to Nördlingen, but was attacked by d'Husson as he did so. The Imperials drove their outnumbered opponents back, before the main Franco-Bavarian force arrived on the battlefield at 11:00 am. Attempts to block the road north nearly succeeded, before a stubborn rearguard action by Prussian troops under Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau enabled the rest of the infantry to make an orderly retreat.

The Imperials lost around 4,500 men compared to 1,500 for the Franco-Bavarians, as well as much of their baggage, but Maximilian opted not to pursue. The 1704 Battle of Blenheim was fought over much of the same ground.