single strength in the mighty contest, which the campaign of 1796 was
to decide. The Austrian forces in Germany were commanded by the
emperor's brother, the Archduke Charles; those in Italy, by Beaulieu.
The French, on the other hand, sent Jourdan to the Lower Rhine, Moreau
to the Upper Rhine, Bonaparte to Italy, and commenced the attack on
every point with their wonted impetuosity.

The Austrians had again extended their lines as far as the Lower
Rhine. A corps under Prince Ferdinand of Wuertemberg was stationed in
the Bergland, in the narrow corner still left between the Rhine and
the Prussian line of demarcation. Marceau forced him to retire as far
as Altenkirchen, but the Archduke Charles hastening to his assistance
encountered Jourdan's entire force on the Lahn near Kloster Altenberg,
and, after a short contest, compelled it to give way. A great part of
the Austrian army of the Rhine under Wurmser having been, meanwhile,
drawn off and sent into Italy, the archduke was compelled to turn
hastily from Jourdan against Moreau, who had just despatched General
Ferino across the Lake of Constance, while he advanced upon Strasburg.
A small Swabian corps under Colonel Raglowich made an extraordinary
defence in Kehl (the first instance of extreme bravery given by the
imperial troops at that time), but was forced to yield to numbers. The
Austrian general, Sztarray, was, notwithstanding the gallantry
displayed on the occasion, also repulsed at Sasbach; the Wurtemberg
battalion was also driven from the steep pass of the Kniebes,[5]
across which Moreau penetrated through the Black Forest into the heart
of Swabia, and had already reached Freudenstadt, when the Austrian
general, Latour, marched up the Murg. He was, however, also repulsed.
The Archduke Charles now arrived in person in the country around
Pforzheim (on the skirts of the Black Forest), and sent forward his
columns to attack the French in the mountains, but in vain; the French