Battle of Rastatt (1796)

The Battle of Rastatt (5 July 1796) saw part of a Republican French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau clash with elements of the Habsburg army under Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour which were defending the line of the Murg River. Leading a wing of Moreau's army, Louis Desaix attacked the Austrians and drove them back to the Alb River in the War of the First Coalition action. Rastatt is a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, located 89 kilometers (55 mi) south of Mannheim and 94 kilometres (58 mi) west of Stuttgart.

In the Rhine Campaign of 1796, Moreau's army made a successful assault crossing of the Rhine River at Kehl on 24 June. Moreau expanded his bridgehead, sending Desaix north, Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr east and Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino south. The French won a clash over Anton Sztáray at Renchen on the 28th before moving against Latour at Rastatt. Soon afterward, Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen joined Latour with reinforcements from the north. The Battle of Ettlingen on 9 July determined whether Moreau would continue his invasion of Germany.