Battle of Glarus (1799)

For the 1388 battle, see Battle of Näfels.

Battle of Glarus
Part of Suvorov's Swiss campaign (War of the Second Coalition)
Painting of the battle from Molitor's possession
Date October 1, 1799 Location Glarus, Switzerland Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Russian Empire Habsburg monarchy	France Helvetic Republic
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Suvorov Pyotr Bagration Franz Xaver von Auffenberg	Jean-de-Dieu Soult Gabriel Molitor Honoré Gazan
Strength
4,160	5,497
Casualties and losses
450 killed 1,700 wounded	320 killed 830 wounded

The Battle of Glarus (also uncollectively the Combat of Näfels/Netstal), fought on October 1, 1799, was the bloodiest battle of the War of the Second Coalition. The battle ended the Austro-Russian invasion of the Helvetic Republic and was the last campaign which involved the Russian undefeated general Alexander Suvorov. Initially, Suvorov's rearguard, led by Andrei Rosenberg and André Masséna, was able to fend off a French attack led by Adolphe Mortier in the Battle of the Muota Valley. Suvorov's vanguard under Pyotr Bagration managed to overwhelm French forces at Glarus, also capturing Netstal, but came to a stalemate near Näfels and Mollis. Despite the main goal of capturing Glarus accomplised, Suvorov began a retreat via the Panixer Pass. In his report to Emperor Paul I Suvorov did not mention the battle, instead the report portrayed his Alpine campaign as a series of brilliant victories, even though he considered a retreat to Italy, which would have been an admission of complete failure.

Background

Fighting in Zurich, September 26, 1799

Suvorov's campaign in Switzerland

The Helvetic Revolution of 1798 led to a radical change in the Swiss constitution and to the military occupation of the country by France. According to Glarus pastor Markus Freuler, this was because the old constitution "was no longer arbitrary to a large part of Switzerland and was no longer appropriate to the spirit of the people," and because only an external power was able to "carry out this important work." At that time, the state of Glarus, where Anna Göldi was executed as a witch in 1782, renounced its rights to rule in numerous bailiwicks, but stuck to its old constitution. When its Militia troops were defeated at Wollerau, it only escaped military occupation by accepting the new constitution. The Flecken Glarus became the capital of the Greater Canton of Linth, loudly Freuler under the "wise direction" of Government Governor Joachim Heer. But despite the promises made, after the Austrians' advance, Graubünden for the quartering of French troops. In April 1799, the confiscation of Glarus artillery led to an uprising. When the Austrians replaced the French as occupying power in May, the state of Glarus returned to the Ancien Régime for a short time, with even the instigator of the judicial murder of Anna Göldi receiving government honors. In August the French then invaded again.

During the Egyptian Expedition Bonaparte's, Great Britain expanded its struggle against the revolutionary France through alliances with Austria, Russia and others monarchical ruled states led to the Second Coalition War. In 1799, the 68-year-old Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov, as head of the Austro-Russian army in Italy, won a series of battles against troops from France and its subsidiary republics. As the "always willful and irritable old man" but became a burden for the coalition, he should join at the suggestion of the British Foreign Minister Lord Grenville. Zurich to his compatriot Lieutenant General Alexander Korsakov and the Austrian Field Marshal Lieutenant Friedrich Hotze and invade France with them. Previously, Feldzeugmeister Archduke Charles of Austria had led the French troops in the Helvetic Republic under Obergeneral André Massena to the Linth-Limmat line was thrown back (First Battle of Zurich), but was then replaced by Korsakov.

Contrary to a popular thesis, the Austrians had no influence on Suvorov using the route which was blocked at Gotthard chose. As a result, he found himself after the French had offered him strong resistance on the pass, but - contrary to the legend - only weak resistance in the Schöllenen, in Altdorf in a dead end. He tried to reach Schwyz via the Chinzig Chulm, but learned in the Muotatal about Korsakov's defeats against Massena in the Second Battle of Zurich and Hotzes against Divisional general Jean-de-Dieu Soult at Schänis on 25/26. September. Massena's troops prevented him from marching north, and Division General Claude-Jacques Lecourbe prevented him from retreating south. The route over the Pragelpass and the Klöntal into the Linthtal offered a way out. The 29-year-old Gabriel Molitor, who had recently been appointed Brigade General, had driven two Austrian military leaders out of the latter since September 25: Major General Franjo Jelačić towards Sargans and Field Marshal Lieutenant Friedrich Linken direction Surselva. In defending Jelačić, Molitor was supported by the 2nd Helvetic half-brigade. After requesting reinforcements from Massena and Soult, On September 30, Molitor held the Austrian Brigade of Major General Franz Klöntal on.

The existing reports describe the Battle of Näfels from different perspectives. Russian sources heroize the defeat of Suvorov and blame it on the Austrians. In Switzerland, supporters of the Ancien Régime viewed the field marshal as a liberator, while supporters of the Helvetic Republic viewed him as "Attila of our century," as Heinrich Zschokke called him. The latter was probably mainly because of Suvorov's massacre of prisoners and civilians during the Russo-Turkish War.

According to locals

Under the watchful eyes of the Austro-Russians, the Glarner-Zeitung wrote on October 3: «The 1st Wine Month was a terrible day, the Imperial Austrians received help from the Russian peoples, under the command of the famous hero Suwarow Italy across the Gotthard, united, they attacked the Franks at the beginning of Lake Klöntaler, and defeated them not only there, but also in all places, behind and near Riederen, Durschen, Nettstall, etc. The whole day from morning to evening one heard nothing other than cannoning and shooting, the Franks retreated as far as Näfels and Mollis, as well as over the Ennetberg and Frohnalp of the high mountains Schilt.» The newspaper described the field marshal as follows: Suvarov, a Russian senior general, small in stature, old, with ice-gray hair, common ordinary in conversation and dress like a soldier, but big in spirit, big in heroic deeds. This year he is showing the greatness of his military spirit in Italy, and it will soon develop in Switzerland [!]. The K. K. and Russian troops have their positions near Riederen, Nettstall and Glarus; the Franks, on the other hand, with Näfels and Mollis.»

Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor

Pyotr Bagration

The Neue Helvetische Tagblatt summarized this report and added: "This morning October 1 the Franks finally had to give way, the Russians and the Imperials moved in here in Glarus at 9 o'clock in the morning; But the Franks gave them every foothold, and since the Russians had no more ammunition, but only had to operate with the bayonet and did not carry any cannons with them, the Franks did 8, so they lost a lot of people.»

After freedom of the press was restored, the quoted Freuler published a chronicle of the small war that old-minded locals had waged against the French. Ninety named Glarus residents were killed and 56 wounded, most of them near Wollerau in 1798. The priest also mentioned a single incident involving women and children, in which a stray cannonball killed and wounded two people in Ennetbühls. Freuler only reported briefly on the much more important battle of Näfels, although he first made the vanquished the victors: "The Russians, with 1,800 men. Troops attacked the Franks lying on the lake, and chased them to Riederen, where the Franks resisted and wanted to stop the enemy's further advance, but the Russians attacked them one after the other with their bayonets and had to leave. When they gave way, they stormed across the Durschen to Nettstall, across the Untere Bruck, which the Franks set on fire to cover their retreat; But regardless of this, the Russians crossed the Linth River and pursued the enemy all day long on both sides of the river to Näfels and Mollis with alternating success. Four times they had to give way to Nettstall due to the fierce resistance of the Franks, but each time they stormed them, forcing them to retreat to Näfels, Oberurnen and Mollis, so that the Russians maintained the battlefield. Their advance also threatened to cut off about a thousand French people in the Sernftal and upper Linth Valley, who then fled over Glarus, the Ennetbühlser Brücke and the Ennetberge, throwing their ammunition wagons into the water.

An unknown person wrote to his nephew in Jura

On September 30 we learned that Suvorov was with a strong column of The Russian Italian Army came through the Klöntal mountain gorge. We believed that the French would defend these narrow and almost inaccessible gorges well, but we were wrong. On the morning of October 1st, we heard shooting and soon we saw them retreating behind Riedern towards Netstal. The French burned the bridge at Riedern, which protected the city of Glarus a little. The fight took place on the other side of the Löntsch. I went to Galgenbühl Sun Hill with my brother. All the other fights were just child's play compared to this one. The Russians ran into the fire without knowing the danger. This time the French had guns and the Russians had almost none. They pursued the French to below Näfels. This village was conquered and recaptured twice. To cover their retreat, the French also burned down the beautiful covered bridge at Netstal, but they were able to hold on in Näfels. The Russians, however, had over 2,500 wounded

The Helvetic Directorate was informed about the Battle of Näfels from the neighboring district capital Schänis. Johannes Theiler from Zurich, government commissioner for the canton of Linth, reported on October 2 that the previous day "after a stubborn encounter near Lake Klönthal, in which the enemy lost 2,000 men, the French were nevertheless repelled as far as Ober-Urnen, with losses of c. 800 men injured and dead". Late in the evening, however, after the French had received a half-brigade of reinforcements, the enemy was repulsed again "beyond Netstall." The French are "not only in possession of the Kerenzerberg to Walenstadt," but have also "gained a firm foothold throughout the entire Sarganserland up on this side of the Rhine." Now the troops are "inactive because of the bad weather." Also from Schänis, cantonal judge Xaver Gmür reported on October 4 to Rapperswiler Christoph Fuchs, who had previously been the acting government governor of the canton of Linth, Without the brave stance of the 2nd Swiss half-brigade, the French would have had to retreat and probably also Weesen lost. According to Gmür, the ratio of Russian losses to French losses was eight to one.

Master cobbler Levi Feldtmann from Schwanden wrote a poem in Knittelversen with the title The Entry of the Russian Army Into Our Country. The manufacturer Johann Heinrich Blumer, who fled to Zurich, owned the Haus in der Wiese (Wiesli 5) in Glarus, where Suworow spent the last night before his retreat and Molitor also took up residence several times. Blumer learned from his manager Paulus Wichser that the Russian attack was a matter of winning or dying "because of great hunger," but that the French had advantageous positions. According to the family chronicle of master carpenter Balthasar Joseph Tschudi from Ennenda, who visited the Russian camp in Netstal, there were wounded people lying there "almost in all the cellars and lairs."

Overall, the reports give the impression that the locals who remained in the valley watched the battle as powerless spectators. The weather was obviously wet enough that not many houses burned down, but not wet enough to prevent the French from firing.

After Archduke Karl

French at Klöntalersee

Archduke Karl wrote in his History of the 1799 campaign in Germany and Switzerland: "Side columns climbed the mountains during the night and appeared in the rear of the French on October 1st. Molitor had to give way: but, attacked with disorder by the Austrians and Russians, he did not lose his composure; stood up again and turned away the boldest of those pursuing him. Then he crossed the Linth at Nets-Thal; set the bridge on fire; defended it until it collapsed, and finally took positions near Näffels and Mollis. The allies wanted to take possession of the latter place and with it the road. They laboriously built a footbridge over the Linth; put 1 battalion over it, and drove the French out of Mollis: but could not hold on there, as division general Honoré Gazan brought the rest of his troops from the lower Linth to support Molitor.»

According to Jomini

Under the title "Beautiful Defense of Molitor in the Klöntal and in Näfels" one reads from the Vaudois military theorist Antoine-Henri Jomini, who served the Helvetic Republic, France and most recently as General-in-Chief in Russia: "The First Division Suvorov's, which had joined the Auffenberg brigade, finished the clearing of the Klöntal and threw the French back on the Linth. Calm in the midst of the danger that beset him, and conscious of the importance and danger of his position, Molitor put up the most skillful resistance, giving up only foot by foot of ground, burning down the bridge at Netstal and retreating behind that at Näfels. Jomini continued: "The advance guard Suvorov followed the French to Näfels, where Prince Bagration attacked them on October 1st. Perhaps never before had they shown more fortitude and bravery: assured of Gazan's support, Molitor forgot ten days of fatigue, privation and dogged fighting [...] The position was conquered and retaken. The outnumbered Republicans fought bitterly to buy time for Gazan's division to arrive from Shenis; In this battle, the 2nd Helvetic Half-Brigade, electrified by the memories that the name Näfels awakened in it, covered itself in glory alongside the French. After Gazan finally left Weesen, he forced the Russians to retreat to Glarus.»

According to Molitor

Waiting for reinforcements: Molitor with Dragoon and Hussar

French Grenadier in the Linth

Immediately afterwards, the most detailed report on the battle was written by Molitor, who, as the victor, did not need to embellish much. According to his information, he still controlled the eastern end of the Klöntalersee on the morning of October 1. Although he had recalled most of the troops that were supposed to follow Jelačić and the Left, he only had three battalions and six companies. Because he noticed "that the Russians were sending a strong column over the mountains to encircle my right flank and cut off our retreat into the Glarus valley," he was forced to retreat to the Linth "in order to cover the passage of Näfels and thereby prevent the union of Suworow with Jelačić, across the banks of Lake Walen, or with Korsakov, who was still on the Thur had to be located."

Molitor had left a reserve battalion at the Näfels Bridge and half a battalion each in Engi and Kerenzen to observe the retreat of the Linken and Jelačić. He used his remaining units as follows: "[...] on the covered bridge of Netstal, built in 1767 by Hans Ulrich Grubenmann. According to Fred Heer, Molitor had Schanze (fortress construction) raised at the bridges of Näfels, Netstal and Glarus before the battle. which had been prepared for immediate demolition one and a half battalions with four guns moved to the right bank over [...] Two and a half other battalions with three guns lined up in staggered order on the left bank behind Netstal.

Molitor further wrote: "When we arrived at the Linth, the Netstal bridge presented itself as bait to the enemy; He fell there en masse, and immediately the bridge exploded with everything that tried to cross it: This order, carried out in a timely manner, plunged the Russians into great disorder, which was soon increased by the fire of the one and a half battalions and the artillery, which [ ...] from the right bank covered the enemy's flank and delayed his deployment. Finally, however, his masses formed up and attacked our troops on the left bank with fury: But these [...] held their ground with fearless cold-bloodedness. The enemy's attacks multiplied; One of his columns was overthrown by several others who, excited by the presence of their General Suvorov, rushed into our bayonets with blind boldness.

Six times the Russians succeeded in throwing the French back to Näfels, and six times the French drove them back to Netstal with the bayonet, "always supported by our well-fed fire from the right bank, which the enemy found difficult to respond to." This cooperation between the units on both sides of the Linth enabled him to hold his ground in the narrow valley where the enemy could not use all of his forces at the same time.

According to Clausewitz

The reports of the Archduke, Jomini and Molitor were summarized by the Military Science Major General Carl von Clausewitz, who served not only in his homeland Prussia but also in Russia, as follows: "The 1st. In October the allies attacked General Molitor again and forced him to retreat first behind the Netsthal bridge and then on both sides of the Linth to Näfels and Mollis. But this retreat took place under the most stubborn resistance, and although the Russians continually attacked the French with bayonets and, as Molitor himself says in his report, were often between his men, he still did not lose any of his guns and was able to keep his distance. In the evening at Näfels and Mollis to hold their own against Bagration, who was following him, whereupon Gazan rushed in with a pair of battalions to support him and forced Bagration to give up the already conquered villages of Näfels and Mollis.»

According to Suvorov

Covered wooden bridge at Netstal before destruction

Railless wooden bridge between Näfels and Mollis

The fact that he pursued them under a chestnut tree near Riedern must have arisen from Gachot's imagination. Quite possible that the eccentric general slept through this blackest day of his career.

Probably on October 2 he wrote a pessimistic picture of his situation, in which it is said that the Austrians can no longer be counted on: "We now only have the duty to unite with Korssakoff and, if possible, to save him. This is [...] in Schaffhausen and may have declined even further. His equipment and ammunition were lost. Our supply of cartridges is exhausted - we have almost no artillery at all. We have neither food nor wagons. The resistance, or rather the pursuit of the enemy, continues." Accordingly, the paper even talks about returning from Chur or immediately to Italy.

On October 7, Suvorov reported to Archduke Karl from Panix that he had learned of Korsakov's defeat in the Muota Valley. Molitor occupied the narrows on the Klöntalersee: "[...] however, we drove the enemy out of the imaginary defiles and pushed him to Mollis and Näffels, where we were on October 1st. moved in." Meanwhile, General of the Infantry Andrei Rosenberg pushed the French out of the Muotatal. "In these stubborn battles, however, we used up all our ammunition and were therefore forced to avoid new battles. This even caused me to give up the union with General Jellachich via Mollis and Wallenstadt, since this could only be carried out through new battles [...]» Suvorov apparently had to advance towards Lake Zurich, contrary to what Brigadier General François Louis Dedon believed was no longer even considered.

In identical letters on October 9, Suvorov reported to the kings of Naples and Sardinia, the French attacked Rosenberg at the same time "as the same [meaning: Suvorov himself] under General Derfelden's Command defeated General Molitor near Glaris. [...] In this way I opened the direct route to Zurich, where I suspected Korsakoff's corps; But since I learned that it had been forced to change its position by superior enemy forces, I directed myself to Graubünden [...]." The letter concludes with the words: "In this way I have now come very close to my main goal and have gained the opportunity: to operate with united forces against the enemy, so that I hope that in a short time your. To be able to inform Your Majesty of the complete execution of the plan prescribed to me.»

The letters show how Suvorov felt about the truth. To the Archduke he described Korsakov's defeat as a mere change of position. In his letter to the kings, he pushed back the date on which news of the battle at Zurich arrived by three days. But above all he made the failed advance to Näfels and the occupation of Glarus without a fight to Siegen, in which later authors followed him.

In the description of October 1, which is a report from Suvorov to Paul I. contains, the crucial hours are missing. It only says: "[...] early in the morning the enemy was disturbed by rifle fire from the patrols sent forward, and immediately retaliated with a powerful rifle volley. Thereupon the advance guard, after uniting with the first detachment of General Schweikowsky's troops, advanced again to the battle. Despite his resistance and although he made good use of the impractical terrain and the reinforcements it gave him, the enemy was pushed back [...] The battle lasted until 10 o'clock in the evening when Major General Prince Bagration dropped outposts as night fell and that Camp set up.» The fact that Suvorov only described the beginning and the end of the day supports the assumption that he spent it in bed. However, he seems to have recognized the danger of the enemy.

The day of the battle coincided with Paul I's 45th birthday together. In another version of the report, Suvorov wrote that on "the solemn day of the most joyful birth of Yours. imperial. "Your Majesty [...] Massena was defeated, and on the other side, the enemy suffered a continuous defeat for almost 24 hours at Lake Seruta [!]", proves once again the devotion and loyalty of the subjects to their most merciful Monarchs.

According to Miliutin

The best Russian representation of the battle can be found in a work that Dmitry Milyutin wrote in 1852 on behalf of the emperor and which Hartmann later commented critically on. This is largely the case Miliutin's report is an adaptation of Molitor's, garnished with (alleged) heroic deeds of the head of a musketeer regiment, Major General Nikolai Kamenski.

The later Russian War Minister Miliutin describes the fighting at Lake Klöntal much more dramatically than the French general: "In the heat of the battle, many slipped on the rocks and fell backwards into the depths. The narrow road between the foot of the heights and the shore of the lake was covered with Russian and French corpses. The diary of Grenadier Captain Nikolaj Grjazew, published in 2013, the story of its origins «until today is unclear," only mentions piles of dead Russians. Conversely, only there is talk of a bayonet attack on a withdrawing column, in which the "worthless blood of the French" poured in streams over the valley.

A belittling depiction of Russian grenadiers and Cossacks at Lake Klöntal

The following episode described by Miliutin corresponds to the quoted report of a Swiss eyewitness: "A small French detachment had taken up a position between Glarus and Schwanden to observe Lincken's Austrian column. To secure the retreat of this detachment, Molitor burned the bridge near Riedern and took a position behind the village of Netstall. He stayed here with the greatest persistence until the troops from Glarus united with him. The Netstal bridge sent Miliutin flying into the air like Molitor. The French then took up an advantageous position south of Näfels, "with the right flank leaning against the mountains and the left leaning against the Linth." A dense Tirailleur chain was spread out "behind fences, in canals and ditches". The cannons would have painted the street. Grjazew's diary leaves the enemy in the battle for Näfels - probably according to the facts - the remains of the Letzi use as breastwork. According to Miliutin swam through the construction of the Bocksteg mentioned by Molitor Cossacks the Linth, as French combat swimmers had done when Soult crossed the bridge near Bilten on September 25. In contrast, in the painting of the battle from Molitor's possession, one Cossack on horseback tries to attack the other To reach the shore.

According to Miliutin, the arrival of Gazan's advance guard gave the enemy a numerical advantage. He further wrote: "The French troops, which were on the right bank of the Linth, were also reinforced by a Helvetic half-brigade, pushed Kamenski's battalion out of the village of Mollis again, crossed the river on the bridge and attacked the Russian troops, which had occupied Näfels, on the flank. Miliutin had Molitor's six counterattacks end in Näfels and not in Netstal. In Gryazev's diary, he boasts, together with Kamensky, "a hero who had hardly appeared in the war so far" (note from another hand ?) – to have saved the Russians through a nighttime fire attack.

Retreat

Suvorov House near Glarus

Withdrawal of the Russians from Glarus Tirailleur chains, in the foreground the advancing French

In order not to be cut off from Rosenberg, Suvorov moved into a camp south of Netstal after the Battle of Näfels. His headquarters was in Glarus, from October 1 to 4 in the Suworowhäuschen (Landstrasse 97), last night in the aforementioned Haus in der Wiese. As a precaution, Soult made arrangements for a possible one Retreat towards Lake Zurich, but the Russians made no further attempt to break through.

After Suvorov had called on Molitor on September 29 to surrender in order not to be encircled, this fate now threatened him: According to Massena's plan, Soult was to accompany him with the Molitor brigade and the Division Gazan from the north, Brigadier General Louis-Henri Loison from the south and Division General Édouard Mortier attack with two half-brigades from the Klöntal. Loison reached Luchsingen from the Klausenpass on October 1 with a battalion from the Lecourbe division.

The day after the Battle of Näfels, the Russians held a war council at which eight out of ten generals advocated retreat to the Surselva. Above all, according to his adjutant Colonel Komarowski, this was done by the 20-year-old Grand Prince Konstantin, who took part in Suvorov's campaign as a volunteer. The Russian colonel Paul Tiesenhausen remembered: «Standing in this valley we could clearly see both On the sides the French columns rushed to the crest of the mountains, in front of us Glarus [or. to reach the entrance to the Sernftal. To avoid this danger, another attack on Waasen Weesen had to be avoided and we had to hurry to reach the place [Glarus] before the enemy, otherwise we would be in danger We ran, surrounded by him, to see every way out of this cauldron cut off and perhaps to be destroyed on our part in a desperate fight due to the overwhelmingly overwhelming force. It was probably the most critical moment for us in this campaign, which everyone felt to the core. It was also here where the old venerable field marshal, sensing all the danger that threatened us, reached into his gray hair and exclaimed to those around him: 'One never says of a man before his death that he was always happy' [...]»

According to Gryazev's diary, it was assumed that Suvorov had already decided in the Muota Valley to leave "this miserable Switzerland" by the shortest route. The momentum of the battle then led to the advance to Näfels "against his and our will". The unexpected attacks by the French on Rosenberg in the Muotatal would have resulted in a delay of two days in the withdrawal.

Clausewitz attributed it to Suvorov's "hatred of the Austrians" that "like a stubborn Tartar-Khan with his horde, he suddenly diverted and rode home."

The early onset of winter made crossing the 2407m high Panixer Pass hell. Auffenberg, who had to pass it first, had advised against retreating this way because the soldiers were not only "completely without ammunition, money, bread," but also "for the most part without shoes."

Massena reported to the Directorate in Paris: «Since General Suvorov was informed of my plan and of the movements of Generals Loison and Mortier and was exhausted by the bloody battles that he had fought from Bellinzona to Glarus had had to deliver without ceasing, the country could neither provide him with food nor provide him with any help and he had already had to leave behind most of his luggage, his mules and his ammunition, and had had to throw some of his artillery into the lakes, he wanted to take advantage of the only way out that remained to him, [...] to withdraw via Schwanden into the valley of Engi and to Graubünden, hitting those of his wounded who still had the least strength and left us in Muotathal, Glarus and all the surrounding villages more than two thousand of them who were no longer able to walk.»

Battle of two worlds

Republicans: voluntariness and Equality

Russian grenadier NCO and Officer

In the French revolutionary armies people addressed each other as "citizens". The soldiers were volunteers, no one could become an officer without war experience. In the just after The Russian army, which was reorganized according to the Prussian model, faced extremely unequal castes.

In a report for the French, Tadeusz Kościuszko wrote about the Russians: "They are machines that only move on the orders of their officers." The principle is to always attack first. When the soldiers are allowed to advance on the enemy, they are given plenty of brandy to encourage them to fight; "Then they attack with courage and a kind of fury, and would rather be killed than retreat. The only way to shake them is to kill many of their officers. Then the fear of being cut down one by one takes hold of them and causes them to seek salvation in flight." The officers are also mostly brave, but "very few have education or even minimal military knowledge; "There are many lowlifes, fops and daredevils among them; in general they are all cruel and barbaric." Poland's national hero (who died in Solothurn in 1817) concluded: "In short, the superior knowledge of the French generals, the incomparable bravery of the Republican soldier are the best guarantors of the victory.»

Wilhelm Meyer described the two armies in the Second Battle of Zurich. After that, the majority of the French soldiers were very young, while the Russians were 25 to 40 years old. Most French generals were "at their strongest, some of them only in their early manhood" and had "quick orientation, correct sense of proportion, skill in the use of various types of weapons". According to Meyer, the French were always happy. They were trained "joking and playing, as it were". "The distracted style of fencing" – the tirailleur – "had become second nature to the lively, active, skilful Frenchman." They would have climbed the steepest valley edges and mountains and fell into the flanks of the enemy operating along the roads "with uncommon ease". The Russians, on the other hand, according to Meyer, "were forcibly trained into stiff puppet creatures." Under Suvorov they primarily practiced the bayonet attack. Their line infantry were not trained in tirailing. An "immoderate cargo train" made Suvorov's army cumbersome.

According to British Lt. Col. William Stewart, who took part in the Second Battle of Zurich, the Russians suffered losses "beyond any proportion I could have imagined had I not witnessed them myself," because they were «courageous soldiers, unconcerned with their lives, ready to be led to anything, but completely ignorant of the use of their musket as a firearm». Also the later Russian general Carlo Giuseppe Trinchieri di Venanzone, who was called Lieutenant Suvorov had taken part in the Alpine campaign, reported "that the Russian infantry were brave beyond expression and excelled in bayonet charges on the plain, but at that time they did not know how to fire a rifle shot."

The smooth-bore, flintlock muzzle-loading rifles fired cartridges that contained the gunpowder and the bullet in a paper case. The French Musket Model 1777 (caliber 18 mm) was more precise than the Russian one. According to Meyer, there were accidents with the Russians because they loaded extremely quickly, too Their powder was "of extremely poor quality". They had bayonets almost twice as long as the French. In addition, their officers also wore the halberd-like spontoon, which had long since been abolished in France, their NCOs that "Short rifle" similar to the spontoon. The Cossacks sometimes stabbed the wounded to death with their lances, "but they were not heroes in front of the enemy."

Suvorov only had small-caliber mountain guns from Piedmont, which had to be dismantled for transport on mule-back, as well as light Austrian cannons. These did not achieve the same effect as Molitor's Field gun system Gribeauval, especially if these were loaded with grapeshot.

The French infantryman could be recognized by his dark blue coat, the Russian by his dark green coat. Neither of them were yet wearing shakos, which were supposed to protect against saber blows, but rather black felt hats that were opened up. The French grenadiers had red horsehair bushes on them. (Bear skin hats, according to Meyer, were only seen at parades.) The headgear of the Russian grenadiers was high, pointed tin caps.

In contrast to the red Swiss which the mediation government provided to Napoleon, the soldiers of the demi-brigades auxiliaires helvétiques wore blue coats like the French infantrymen. They came from all parts of the country. Senior officers from the canton of Linth, none of whom served in the 2nd half-brigade, were Colonel Melchior Zwicki von Mollis, the battalion commanders Friedrich Spelti and Christian Tschudi from Glarus, the captains Jakob Ackermann from Mühlehorn, Anton Eck von Schänis, Melchior Galati from Glarus, Hans Jenny von Schwanden, Hans Kamm von Kerenzen, Jakob Mechler from the March district, Xaver Reding from Näfels and a Tschudi from Schwanden.

About the attack on the Gotthard Pass, where the Russians faced fewer than a thousand French, reports Grjatsev's diary: «As for the enemy prisoners, we had none in this battle: bayonet relieved us of the unnecessary trouble of carrying them with us, especially since there were no Austrians here with us, and apart from them none of us took on this menial duty. »

High death toll

The numbers given at the beginning of the article about troop strength and losses are an estimate that appears plausible.

According to Suvorov's Austrian Lieutenant Colonel Franz Weyrother, around 7,000 men were "held inactive" by 2,000 Frenchmen at Näfels. Molitor wrote of the victory of 3,000 French over 15,000 Russians. Koch reduced the number of Russians to 6,000 From there could They were taken over by the presumptive editor of Grjazew's diary. Reding left Bagration initially Even only had 2,400 Austrians and 1,760 Russian grenadiers and Jäger, but then "probably" received reinforcements from the Schweikowski division.

According to Clausewitz, Suworow had 10,000 men at his disposal on October 1, but he only used some of them. According to Hennequin, the total strength of his army from September 1 to the beginning of October was 706 officers and 20,579 soldiers 575 officers and 15,479 soldiers reduced. Before his withdrawal from Glarus (October 4), around ten battalions or 6,000-7,000 men from the Gazan Division confronted him. These could have been supported by three other battalions of the same army unit stationed in Schänis. The other generals subordinate to Soult were too far away: Mortier in the Muotatal, Brunet and Drouet in Einsiedeln, Laval in Lichtensteig.

The painting in Molitor's possession shows a murderous fight in which the opponents interlock with each other. The French general estimated his own losses at 140 killed and 400 wounded, including all three battalion chiefs of his 84th demi-brigade and many officers, and the Russian losses at 400 killed, 1,700 wounded and 200 prisoners. Bodart even estimated that both parties together lost 3,300 men through death or wounding. For comparison: For the battles near Zurich, the same author mentions "bloody losses" of 3,500 and 10,000 men, respectively, for Schänis and Muotatal of 2,000 and 1,500 men, respectively. According to Ross, 36% of the soldiers engaged at Näfels suffered fatal or non-fatal injuries, compared to slightly less than 7% on average for all battles between 1792 and 1802 . The battles in which the people of Glarus supported the Austrians from May to August 1799, as well as the battle at Wollerau the year before were, against this background, insignificant skirmishes.

According to Molitor, the 2nd Helvetic half-brigade lost eight officers and 40 soldiers at the Näfels bridge, according to their commander, Colonel Johannes Tobler from Ermatingen, a total of 75 out of 300 men, without the fallen captain Hans Pfander from Belp and eight wounded officers. Maag and Feldmann estimated the Swiss's losses at 20 officers and 97 soldiers, including the seriously wounded adjutant major Zingg.

Even the two commanders were not spared: Bagration suffered a "grapeshot contusion" on his thigh in the Klöntal. And a wound opened in Molitor during the battle, which resulted from a bullet through the thigh in 1795.

According to government commissioner Theiler, the Russians brought around 1,200 French prisoners from the Muotatal to Glarus and left behind 2,600 wounded, prisoners and dead. Of the slightly wounded Russians, 800-900 are said to have crossed the Panixer Pass and 400-500 were taken prisoner.

According to Hennequin, when he arrived in Chur, Suvorov had barely 14,000 men left (including 10,000 infantry). During the 16 days in Switzerland he had lost around 6,000 men, over a third of them at Näfels.

Judgments

Massena wrote to Molitor on October 31: «[...] it will not be forgotten that you with your only brigade resisted the Austro-Russians for several days, that you beat them, that you took prisoners from them, that you with tenacity and cold blood defended important positions for the army and that in this way you prepared the defeat of Suvarov. Therefore, today receive the expression of the lively satisfaction of the government for your actions, which it could not overlook and which she knew how to assess correctly.»

Suvorov's British backers were devastating in their judgment of the field marshal: William Wickham, Under Secretary of State and Envoy in Switzerland, saw the Russians on October 11 in Feldkirch, "every soldier loaded with the plunder of the poor inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Glarus by whom they had been received as friends and deliverers". Everyone calls the French way of imposing contributions on the country a mercy compared to the plundering that Suvorov tolerates. On October 17, Wickham wrote to Foreign Minister Grenville that Suvorov's habit of eating an early lunch and then sleeping late was incompatible with the conduct of military operation, and in fact, the Russian had as head of the Army of Italy never visited a post or scouted a position. After the British envoy in Vienna, Lord Minto, made the acquaintance of Suvorov in Prague, he reported to Wickham on December: "Instead of a big one General and great man I find an ignorant, scheming charlatan who, by the way, is completely crazy [...]» Minto even wrote to his wife on January 3, 1800, that Suvorov was the worst madman who ever walked around free. He owes all his success in Italy to the Austrian officers on his staff.

According to a nephew of the Russian Lieutenant General Vioménil, who was initially slated to head the Army of Italy, Suvorov played the madman because he wanted to be original in every way. In order to be adored by the soldiers, he indulged them in everything, so that there was never an army with less discipline and more excesses.

Weyrother judged that Suvorov did not have to wait for Rosenberg and the pack animals to arrive, since "Glarus provided unexpectedly good and better meat, potatoes and bread than they earned." Rather, "this unexpectedly good hospitality may have been the innocent cause of the stay, which was in every respect so disadvantageous and disgraceful." "General timidity, supported by grand princely cowardice," overruled the field marshal, "who until then alone recognized the reasons that called for the offensive march to Walenstadt." Suvorov should not have brought forward the "completely false" argument about the lack of ammunition, "since otherwise he would praise the advantage of the naked rifle so much." Weyrother called the Grand Duke (who was educated by a member of the Swiss Directorate Frédéric-César de La Harpe) and his entourage people "whose brains were as empty of military knowledge as their chins were of hair, even though the feathered hat made them a general."

Auffenberg wrote in connection with the battle: "FM ended here. Suvorov, his victorious career, could no longer be persuaded to make an attack, no matter how advantageous [...] and, after leaving behind all the wounded, all his artillery and ammunition, he retreated over the Panix Mountain to Graubünden, during which a few 100 men froze to death, and almost all of his cavalry were destroyed.»

The Suvorov literature does not even describe the defeat at Näfels as a battle. So Duffy, entitled «The Breakout from the Klöntal and the Check at Näfels» created the false impression that the final result was one to one.

Fred Heer wrote without ifs and buts: "The fact that the Russian campaign in Switzerland became a fiasco cannot be blamed on Suvorov." Alexander Statiev, on the other hand, judged: «Suvorov did not expect problems in the Alps because he was convinced that he could defeat the small French would easily sweep away garrisons stationed on its path. However, due to inexperience in mountain warfare, Suvorov's corps had to contend with enormous strategic, tactical and logistics challenges, lost half of its troop strength and was unable to achieve its objectives. Conclusion of the Russian-Canadian military scientist: "Although all previous battles in the Swiss campaign ended in Russian victories, the failure to break out of the Alps at Näfels was a strategic defeat that destroyed all of these victories because it was the final nail in the coffin of the strategic plan, which required the cooperation of the allied forces in Switzerland.»

Glarus

in Zurich

The 21-year-old Maurice-François Dupin, grandson of Moritz of Saxony and father of the writer George Sand, provided Molitor with courier services as chasseur à cheval. He wrote to his mother about the Glarnerland: "You can hear the roar of the torrents that fall from the rocks, the whistle of the wind in the forests. But no more shepherds' songs, no more mooing of the flocks. The wooden houses had been hastily abandoned. Everything had fled from our sight. The residents had retreated into the interior of the mountains with their cattle. No living creature in the villages. This canton presented the picture of the saddest desert.»

After Suvorov's withdrawal, the interim government governor Johann Peter Zwicky ordered that every community in the Glarus and Schwanden districts should "immediately remove and have the dead horses lying in their pens and other animals left in the open fields and on the streets removed and locked up." Since delayering was a dishonest profession, he declared in a further decree that this did not apply to the "so necessary assistance in the removal of these animals that would otherwise contaminate everything."

The Neues Helvetische Tagblatt reported from Glarus: "For 14 days, 60,000 men have passed through the land where neither grain nor wine grows, all food has been used up, and the hay has also run out, so that almost all of them become dairy cattle have to sell or slaughter.»

Netstal wrote to the Swiss Directorate: "When they moved in, the Russians plundered quite a bit; A house was also burned down and we had to maintain over 1200 horses for 4 days. We lost most of the hay from both powers and because of bad weather the troops in the camp also needed a lot more than just hay, wood, potatoes, fences and stables are damaged [sic]; Many Franconian soldiers also allowed themselves excesses.» General Molitor ordered that Mollis and Näfels had to take over Netstal's share of the deliveries of hay, wood, etc. The Netstal municipality's behavior towards the French troops was "bourgeois and republican". She has already delivered a lot and suffered more than the others, although her "lucky circumstances" are not the best.

On the initiative of the new 24-year-old government governor Niklaus Heer, brother of the late Joachim Heer, the pastors in Glarus and Ennenda called for money, food, household goods, clothes and other necessities of life for "the small, poor community without this Riederen» to donate - a "love tax" that brought in a fairly significant amount of money and goods.

In a "Call from the suffering humanity in the canton of Linth to the compassionate Swiss" in the "Wochenblatt für den Kanton Linth" it says about the Glarnerland: "[...] these valleys, otherwise so rich in sources of prosperity, wide through industry and trade and wide, they too are now lying down [...] and the mountains of them are, as it were, raising their hands up to you for help [...]»

At the beginning of 1800, on the initiative of the Interior Minister of the Helvetic Republic, Albrecht Rengger, thousands of children from the cantons Waldstätten, Linth and Säntis, who were born as a result of the war their families could no longer be fed, were placed with foster parents in other parts of the country. 1250 of them came from Glarus. The later Federal Councilor Joachim Heer, the grandson of the government governor of the same name, described the state of the country after the warlike events of the summer and autumn of 1799 as follows: "The state - both the Helvetic Republic and the canton - without any financial resources, the communities exhausted by cruel requisitions; the wealthy sucked dry by an incredible billeting burden; the farmer stripped of livestock and fodder supplies; the poorer class without food and as a result of the complete stagnation of industry, without earnings [...]»

Variety

• In a Farewell Speech to General Suvorov, Zschokke wrote: «When you arrived in Altdorf, you said very modestly: You wanted to become the Savior, Redeemer and Savior of Switzerland [...] Savior You were, because you cured many thousands of Swiss people of their folly who hoped that you and the imperial family would bring us freedom and order and happiness and peace. You were our Redeemer, because your brave soldiers redeemed us from our hay and our livestock and our clothing and our money." He finally made them happy and happy "when you left again with a suit and jacket."
• Paul I appointed Suvorov generalissimo on October 28. But he canceled the anti-French coalition. On the return journey to Russia, Suvorov fell ill and fell into disgrace for violating regulations. Four weeks after his return he died on May 18, 1800 - "unnoticed by the official Petersburg".
• On November 9, 1799, Bonaparte, returning home from Egypt, seized power in France and declared the Revolution over (Coup of the 18th Brumaire VIII). In 1803 he dissolved the Helvetic Republic as Médiateur de la Confédération de Suisse. This and the collapse of his Empire in 1814/15 made it easier for the losers of Näfels to suppress the memory of this decisive battle.
• After Paul I. had actually sided with France through a policy of armed neutrality, he was murdered on March 23, 1801. Switzerland and the new cantons that emerged from former subject territories owe the fact that they survived the fall of Napoleon to his son and successor Alexander I. (he was also a student of La Harpe).
• Molitor, who, like Zschokke, had shown understanding for the opponents of the Helvetic Empire, was involved in the suppression of the Spanish Revolution in 1823, for which he received the Marshal's baton.
• There is no monograph about the Battle of Näfels. Hartmann's 1892 criticism of the Russian Suvorov cult was not taken into account by Reding, Duffy or Fred Heer, but only in a footnote or in the bibliography mentioned. The Rapport des opérations de la brigade du général Molitor didn't even know Hartmann.

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• Alexander Mikaberidze: «The Lion of the Russian Army:» Life and Military Career of General Prince Peter Bagration 1765–1812. Diss. phil., Florida State University, 2003 (yumpu.com), S. 159–165.
• Beat Glaus: Der Kanton Linth der Helvetik. Historischer Verein des Kantons Schwyz, Schwyz 2005, ISBN 3-033-00438-5.
• Zürich 1799. Eine Stadt erlebt den Krieg. (= Stadtgeschichte und Städtebau in Zürich 7.) Stadt Zürich, 2005, ISBN 3-905384-08-6 (Digitalisat).
• Steven T. Ross: The A to Z of the Wars of the French Revolution. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland 2010, ISBN 978-1-4616-7238-8, S. 20, 36 (Digital link).
• Boris Bouget: Un débat méconnu au XVIIIe siècle, l'armement des officiers et des bas-officiers d'infanterie. In: Guy Saupin, Éric Schnakenbourg (Hrsg.): Expériences de la guerre, pratiques de la paix. Hommages à Jean-Pierre Bois. Presses universitaires de Rennes 2013, S. 81–96 (books.openedition.org).
• Werner Ort: Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848). Eine Biografie. Hier + jetzt, Baden 2013, ISBN 978-3-03919-273-1.
• Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg, Elena M. Tarkhanowa et al. (Hrsg.): Mit Suworow in der Schweiz. Das Tagebuch des Hauptmanns Nikolaj A. Grjazew vom russischen Alpenfeldzug des Jahre 1799 [...]. Merker im Effingerhof, Lenzburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-85648-146-9, S. 162–169 (überarbeitete Aufzeichnungen eines Beteiligten, russisch/deutsch)
• Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg: Soult gegen Suworow 1799. 205. Neujahrsblatt der Feuerwerker-Gesellschaft (Artillerie-Kollegium) in Zürich auf das Jahr 2014. Beer, Zürich 2013, S. 54 f., 57.
• Andreas Bräm: Glarus Nord (= Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kantons Glarus. Band 2). Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte GSK, Bern 2017 (gsk.ch, PDF), S. 153, 165 f.
• Fred Heer: Ungebetene Gäste. Das Glarnerland als Kriegsschauplatz oder: Wie der Krieg in unser Land kam. In: Ungebetene Gäste – das Kriegsjahr 1799. (= Jahrbuch 97. Historischer Verein Kanton Glarus 2017). Küng Druck AG, Näfels 2017, ISBN 978-3-85546-328-2, S. 128–185, hier S. 155–158 (e-periodica.ch).
• Alexander Statiev: The Alpine Campaign of 1799 as a Stepping Stone to a Doctrine of Mountain Warfare. In: Tallinn University Press (Hrsg.): Estonian Yearbook of Military History. 9 (15) 2019, ISSN 2228-0669, S. 29–65, doi:10.22601/SAA.2019.08.02, hier S. 51–54, 64 f. (nicht in Übersetzungen erhältliche russische Literatur).
• Flurin Clalüna, Andrea Spalinger: Die Schweiz, wie sie nie war: Gedankenexperimente zur Geschichte des Landes. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 29. Juli 2023.