Battle of Höchst (1795)

At the Battle of Höchst (11–12 October 1795), the Habsburg Austrian army commanded by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt outmaneuvered the French Republican Army of Sambre-et-Meuse commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan. Although the French attacked first, they were unable to dislodge an Austrian flanking column. Afterward Jourdan's army retreated to the north. The clash happened during the War of the First Coalition, part of a wider conflict known as the French Revolutionary Wars. Modern-day Höchst is a suburb and administrative district of Frankfurt am Main in the state of Hesse in Germany. Höchst is about 12 kilometers (7 mi) west of the Frankfurt city center.

In 1795 the French employed two independent armies in thrusts across the Rhine. After winning a bridgehead on the east bank, the northern French army under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan advanced south to the Main River. At this point, the commander of the southern French army, Jean-Charles Pichegru proved uncooperative. This allowed Clerfayt to move the bulk of the Austrian forces against Jourdan. Clerfayt crossed the Main to the east, gaining a dangerously exposed position on the French left flank. After being repulsed at Höchst, the French withdrew northward, eventually abandoning the east bank of the Rhine altogether. The next actions were the Siege of Mannheim, on 19 October, and the Battle of Mainz on 29 October.