The Austrians under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen tried to halt the northward advance of Jean Victor Marie Moreau's French Army of Rhin-et-Moselle along the east bank of the Rhine River.

Jourdan drubbed Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg at Altenkirchen on 4 June, compelling Archduke Charles to rush to the rescue with reinforcements.

In Charles' absence, Moreau successfully crossed the Rhine at Kehl on the night of 23–24 June and beat Latour at Rastatt on 5 July.

Leaving Wilhelm von Wartensleben in charge in the north, Charles rushed south to confront Moreau along the Alb River near Ettlingen.

The Army of the Lower Rhine had a 20,000-strong right wing under Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg on the east bank observing the French bridgehead at Düsseldorf.

The archduke's remaining 70,000 troops lay on the west bank along the Nahe River with powerful garrisons in Mainz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

[1] The French grand strategy designed by Minister of War Lazare Carnot was for each of their two armies to turn the Austrian flanks.

Second, the move would draw Austrian strength north and allow Moreau's army a better chance to cross the Rhine in the south.

Over the objections of all three men, he named Louis Desaix, Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr and Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino wing commanders.

By 6 June Kléber's wing was on the Lahn River and Archduke Charles began evacuating the west bank of the Rhine in order to concentrate against the French incursion.

Jourdan and Kléber's advance had caused their opponents to abandon the west bank of the Rhine and had drawn Charles north, as planned.

Meanwhile, Moreau mounted operations against the Austrian fortifications opposite Mannheim in order to lead his enemies into thinking that it was the main attack.

The 7,000 defending troops of the Swabian Regional Contingent put up a stout fight but were defeated with the loss of 700 soldiers, 14 guns and 22 munition wagons.

The French sustained 200 casualties[10] while allied losses amounted to 550 killed and wounded plus 850 men, seven guns and two munition wagons captured.

[11] Having blocked Jourdan, Archduke Charles began moving troops south to oppose the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle as early as 21 June.

[12] The French irruption caused Fröhlich and Condé to retreat up the Rhine and Kinzig Rivers while Sztáray and the Swabians fell back to Freudenstadt.

The next day his wing moved in an easterly direction, seizing enemy positions at Oppenau, on the Kniebis Mountain and at Freudenstadt.

[12] At Rastatt, the French employed 19,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to spar with 6,000 Austrians led by Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg and Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló.

The Austrians were in a vulnerable situation but Moreau delayed for three days at Rastatt, allowing[15] Charles to bring up 25 battalions and 39 squadrons.

In Beaupuy's division, Dominique Joba led the 10th, 62nd and 103rd Line and the 10th Light Demi Brigades while Gilles Joseph Martin Brunteau Saint-Suzanne commanded the 4th and 8th Chasseurs à Cheval and the 6th Dragoons.

In Delmas' division Jean Marie Rodolph Eickemeyer directed the 50th and 97th Line and 16th Light Infantry Demi Brigades while Maurice Frimont led the 7th Hussar and 10th and 17th Dragoon Regiments.

Taponier's division consisted of the brigades of Henri François Lambert, Antoine Laroche Dubouscat and Claude Lecourbe.

[19] On 3 July, the Army of the Upper Rhine was organized into divisions under Fröhlich, Fürstenberg, Sztáray and Johann Sigismund Riesch.

[21] Sztáray commanded the 2nd Column which consisted of an Advanced Guard under Devay, two brigades led by Latour-Merlemont and the Prince of Lorraine and two unbrigaded mounted units, four squadrons each of the Archduke John Dragoons Nr.

[13] The French commander planned to pin the Austrians in the Rhine plain while turning their left flank among the mountains of the Black Forest.

[22] Moreau accompanied Desaix's Left Wing with the divisions of Delmas and Sainte-Suzanne (vice Beaupuy), Bourcier's Reserve and Saint-Cyr's cavalry and horse artillery which were ineffective in the mountains.

[23] In the evening the Austrians were pushing Desaix back when bad news from the left flank caused Charles to call a halt.

Finding that the Saxons were marching south along the Enz River to turn his right flank, he sent Taponier with six battalions[24] and 150 hussars east to Wildbad.

[24] Employing elements of the 84th and 106th Line,[23] the French wing commander ordered the troops not to press home their assault, but to retreat every time they came against strong resistance.

[27] Even so, Charles not only lost the services of the 30,000 men in the fortresses but also of the Swabians, Saxons and other German allies when he retreated from the Rhine.