Soult carefully planned and his troops carried out a successful assault crossing of the Linth River between Lake Zurich and the Walensee.

Hotze's death early in the action disorganized the Allied defenders who were defeated and forced to retreat, abandoning supplies accumulated for Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov's approaching army.

Both Korsakov's Russians and Hotze's survivors, led by Feldmarschall-Leutnant Franz Petrasch withdrew north of the Rhine River.

These defeats were the result of a mismanaged Allied strategy that planned to unite the forces of Korsakov and Hotze with Suvorov's Russian army coming north from Italy.

In accordance with the strategy, Feldzeugmeister Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen's powerful Austrian army had marched from Zürich to southern Germany a few weeks before.

Masséna and Soult won their victories in the narrow time window between Charles' departure and Suvorov's arrival.

However, with Korsakov and Petrasch driven out of the country, Masséna turned his full attention upon Suvorov's army, setting the stage for an epic alpine campaign.

[4] On 7 August 1799, when the scheme was divulged to Archduke Charles, that general voiced his worries about the Russians, "I don't know how they will manage, especially if we take ourselves off any distance".

British agent William Wickham, who hoped to raise 20,000 pro-Allied Swiss troops, was disappointed that only 2,000 were recruited.

[7] The Russian commander in chief wanted to pursue the beaten French army and chase it from Italy, but the Austrians put him off.

In response to the loss of the Gotthard Pass, Suvorov sent Feldzeugmeister Paul Kray and 10,000 troops marching north on 18 August.

The northern shore of Lake Zurich was defended by 2,500 Austrian soldiers and Swiss rebels under Feldmarschall-Leutnant Duke Alexander of Württemberg, 2,000 Russians, and a small squadron of vessels under Colonel James Ernest Williams.

Of the 18,000 soldiers under his command, Hotze personally led the 8,000 troops holding the Linth between Lake Zurich on the west and the Walensee on the east.

Strauch's brigade was not part of Hotze's command; instead he reported to Feldmarschall-Leutnant Karl Joseph Hadik von Futak from the Army of Italy.

[6] Masséna's Army of Helvetia included divisions under Generals of Division Soult, Joseph Chabran, Louis Klein, Jean Thomas Guillaume Lorge, Claude Lecourbe, Louis Marie Turreau, Philippe Romain Ménard, Louis-Antoine Choin de Montchoisy, and Generals of Brigade Édouard Mortier and Jean Joseph Amable Humbert.

Turreau's 9,600 men occupied the Canton of Valais to the far southwest and Montchoisy's 2,500 troops garrisoned places in the rear.

General of Brigade Gabriel Jean Joseph Molitor's troops were on Soult's right defending the upper Linth.

Helped by Jellacic's turning movement, Hotze would break through the French positions on the Linth and advance up the west shore of Lake Zurich.

The next day, Korsakov's army broke out and marched north to Eglisau on the Rhine, losing its wagon train and much of its artillery.

[16] Hotze's subordinates were Petrasch who defended the Linth between Uznach and Weesen and Alexander of Württemberg who held the north shore of Lake Zurich.

For ten days prior to his attack, Soult dressed himself in the uniform of a private soldier and spent one hour on sentry duty at a different forward post, carefully observing the Austrian positions.

On 22 September, Adjutant General Jean-Pierre Dellard of the 36th Line approached Soult and told him that he suspected a battle was imminent.

An artillery battery was built opposite Rapperswil in order to limit the Austrian squadron's movements on Lake Zurich.

Dellard gave the signal for the boats to cross the river then led his party to attack an Austrian camp, with musicians drumming and trumpeting, and the others firing their pistols.

On the way, Hotze rode into two French battalions in a forest and was shot dead,[21] together with his chief of staff, Colonel Plunket.

At St. Gallen, the Russians headed for northwest to Konstanz while the Swiss marched northeast to Rheineck at the southeast end of Lake Constance.

Since he had not heard from Hotze or Suvorov, Linkin ordered a retreat and his troops retraced their steps up the Sernftal and over the mountains to the Rhine valley.

[25] Ironically, Molitor was unable to pursue because he received a report of an enemy column coming over the Pragel Pass into his rear.

[26] Historian Ramsay Weston Phipps harshly criticized Korsakov and Petrasch for their rapid and lengthy retreat after the battles at Zürich and the Linth River.

He noted that the two forces were badly defeated, but that it was important that they try to hold "each inch of ground" because their leaders knew Suvorov was approaching.