Three days of conflict resulted in a victory by the Prussians and their Electoral Saxon allies as they turned back repeated French attacks.

The War of the First Coalition combat was fought near the city of Kaiserslautern in the modern-day state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, which is located about 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Mannheim.

On 28 November, French troops moved on Brunswick's defenses from the north, northwest and west, but for two days the Coalition army fended off the piecemeal attacks of their adversaries.

Hoche finally got his entire army into action on the 30th, but the professional Prussian soldiers proved more than a match for the enthusiastic but indifferently-trained French.

After the setback, Hoche changed his strategy and turned a large part of his army against Wurmser's exposed western flank in Alsace.

The 36,850-man Coalition army of Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick successfully concluded the siege of Mainz on 23 July 1793.

Blamed for the loss of Mainz, Beauharnais fell into a funk, begged to be relieved of command and on 23 August 1793 he was replaced by Charles-Hyacinthe Le Clerc de Landremont.

[5] Brunswick pressed forward toward the fortress of Bitche, driving back the Corps of the Vosges and the Army of the Moselle.

The late commander of the Corps of the Vosges Jean René Moreaux was named to succeed him, but declined because an old wound had reopened.

The representatives on mission wanted Eustache Charles d'Aoust to replace Delauney but Lazare Hoche arrived from Paris to take command on 31 October.

Hoche used rough language with his subordinates; at this time he wrote one of his division commanders Jean-Jacques Ambert, "Listen, bugger of a sans-culotte...".

Leopold Alexander von Wartensleben's column of 1,200 picked soldiers overran the outer defenses with the help of a French traitor.

The same day, the French divisions of Alexandre Camille Taponier and Louis Pierre Huet bumped into 13,000 Prussians under Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth at Biesingen, north of Mandelbachtal.

[15] Despite the setback at Biesingen, Brunswick's troops were pulling back into winter quarters and Hoche entered Blieskastel on 18 November.

Alarmed at the French offensive and anxious that they intended to relieve Landau by moving via Pirmasens, Brunswick made up his mind to offer battle at Kaiserslautern.

[14] In fact, Hoche hoped to raise the siege of Landau by striking east from Zweibrücken (Deux-Ponts) and then down the Queich River.

From Zweibrücken he launched his army toward Pirmasens on the 24th only to have to march back to his starting point the next day when he did not find Brunswick.

[16] The Duke of Brunswick's army consisted of 35¾ battalions, 54 squadrons and 10 artillery batteries, a total of 26,000 Prussians, Saxons and allies.

Finally, a brigade under Leopold Heinrich von der Goltz guarded the Pigeonnier height west of Wissembourg.

Another division was placed on the Kaiserberg, while Duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar was left to defend the western approaches to Kaiserslautern.

[19] After leaving Rodenbach, Hoche's column encountered impassable roads in the Voog Forest and had to detour around the obstacle.

Hoche's chief of staff Gabriel Marie Joseph, comte d'Hédouville brought up some French cavalry squadrons from the Osterberg and hit the Saxons in their right flank.

Unknown to the French, Kospoth's division marched south from Lauterecken to Schallodenbach, from which the Prussian could attack Ambert in the rear.

During the day, Wartensleben's troops reinforced the Duke of Saxe-Weimar's position on the Galgenberg and helped drive Taponier's men back into the woods.

[21] On the left flank, leading four battalions against the Buchberg near Erlenbach, Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor failed to capture the position and was repulsed after a sanguinary fight with the Saxons.

[25] While holding the woods in the center, the division of Huet had difficulty maintaining its position, suffering under a storm of grapeshot.

He detailed Ambert and five battalions to cover the withdrawal from the Mayberg height while the army filed to the west bank across the Sambach bridge and another span built near the Lamperts mill.

Fortunately for him, Hoche remained in favor with the Committee of Public Safety and was not arrested and executed like Custine and Houchard.

Maximilien Robespierre declared that Hoche's behavior showed that he was a true sans-culotte and another 10,000 reinforcements were sent him from the Army of the Ardennes.

[27] François Joseph Lefebvre was promoted to general of brigade for excellent work, as was Édouard Huet for repelling the Prussian assault at Bitche.