The Archduke Charles, too weak singly to encounter the armies of
Moreau and Jourdan, had, meanwhile, boldly resolved to keep his
opponents as long as possible separate, and, on the first favorable
opportunity, to attack one with the whole of his forces, while he kept
the other at bay with a small division of his army. In pursuance of
this plan, he sent Wartensleben against Jourdan, and, meanwhile, drew
Moreau after him into Bavaria, where, leaving General Latour with a
small corps to keep him in check at Rain on the Lech, he recrossed the
Danube at Ingolstadt with the flower of his army and hastily advanced
against Jourdan, who was thus taken unawares. At Teiningen, he
surprised the French avant-garde under Bernadotte, which he compelled
to retire. At Amberg, he encountered Jourdan, whom he completely
routed, A.D. 1796. The French retreated through the city, on the other
side of which they formed an immense square against the imperial
cavalry under Wernek; it was broken on the third charge, and a
terrible slaughter took place, three thousand of the French being
killed and one thousand taken prisoner. The peasantry had already
flown to arms, and assisted in cutting down the fugitives. Jourdan
again made a stand at Wurzburg, where Wernek stormed his batteries at
the head of his grenadiers and a complete rout ensued, September 3.
The French lost six thousand dead and two thousand prisoners. The
peasantry rose _en masse_, and hunted down the fugitives.[10] On the
Upper Rhone, Dr. Roeder placed himself at the head of the peasantry,
but, encountering a superior French corps at Mellrichstadt, was
defeated and killed. The French suffered most in the Spessart, called
by them, on that account, La petite Vendee. The peasantry were here
headed by an aged forester named Philip Witt, and, protected by their
forests, exterminated numbers of the flying foe. The imperial troops
were also unremitting in their pursuit, again defeated Bernadotte at
Aschaffenburg and chased Jourdan through Nassau across the Rhine.