Military History Encyclopedia Forum

[adrian4026]

It's odd how commanders can make glaringly contradictory decisions ( hindsight helps ).

Carnot 1796. His strategy is to force the Austrian's to divide their forces by advancing into Germany and Italy. However his orders to his 2 armies in Germany ( under Moreau and Jourdan ) put them in exactly the situation he is trying to lure the Austrians into.

The 2 armies are sent on divergent routes, Austrian commander Archduke Charles is able to concentrate his weaker army between the 2 French armies and defeat each in turn.

What would Moreau and Joudan have done if they had freedom of manouvre instead of being tightly controlled by Carnot and the French Directory.

I wonder what how events would have transpired if Jourdan had advanced south-east from Frankfurt, leaving the line of the Main to join up with Moreau, who by late July was north of Stuttgart.

Would this possibly lead to a situation where the French could besiege Vienna in 1796, or possiby the Austrians submit.

Even after the defeat of Jourdan at Amberg he could have marched to Mainz, linked up with the French forces besieging the city and accordingly held a position that would have allowed Moreau to stay East of the Rhine. However once again orders form the Directory far away and having no idea of the situation prevented him doing this.

Regards
Adrian.