The Battle of Glarus (also variously known as the Combat of Näfels and the Combat of Netstal)Petrushevsky. Generalissimo Prince Suvorov (; 1884 ed.), vol. 3, ch. 34 (p. 250) was a meeting engagement fought on 1 October 1799. The battle ended the Austro-Russian invasion of the Helvetic Republic, which was the last campaign that involved the Russian commander Alexander Suvorov.Peter Hoffmann: Alexander Suvorov. The undefeated general. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1986, , p. 6 ("Suvorov never lost a battle as a commander [...]"), 199 (battle of Näfels suppressed). The French (Gabriel Molitor's brigade and Honoré Gazan's division) were led by Jean-de-Dieu Soult.
Initially, Suvorov's rearguard, led by Andrei Rosenberg, was able to fend off a French attack led by André Masséna in the Battle of the Muota Valley. Suvorov's vanguard under Pyotr Bagration managed to overwhelm French forces in the Battle of the Klön Valley, and then at Glarus by capturing Netstal, but came to a stalemate near Näfels and Mollis, whereupon Suvorov ordered Bagration to disengage. The battle of Glarus includes the combat of Netstal, which was won by the Allies, and the combat of Näfels where they suffered a defeat. The last combat also includes the engagement at Mollis. Suvorov completed the main operational task by taking Glarus, which deprived the French of hope for decisive success. Suvorov began a retreat from Switzerland to seek for Alexander Korsakov and the Austrians as he had planned before. Suvorov was forced to abandon Switzerland both because of Masséna's domination in the TO (which was achieved thanks to the Second Battle of Zurich and the Battle of the Linth River) and because of the lack of supplies and ammunition., The capture of Glarus ensured safe passage out of the country, namely up the Sernftal via Engi, Elm and the Panix Pass to Ilanz and beyond. In his report to Emperor Paul IResolution of the official reports of Prince Suvorov on his campaign in Switzerland. In: Ludwig Ferdinand Huber (Red.): Allgemeine Zeitung. Stuttgart, December 26, 1799, p. 1593 (); Georg Fuchs (ed.): Correspondence of the Kai. Soot. Generalissimo, Prince Italiisky Count Alexander Wassiljewitsch Suworoff-Rimniksky on the Russian-Austrian campaign in 1799. [...] Translated from the Russian by a Prussian officer. 2nd part, Carl Heymann, Glogau/Leipzig 1835, P. 223 (). Suvorov did not mention the setback at Näfels. Instead, the report portrayed his Alpine campaign as a series of his victories.
Background
The Helvetic Revolution of 1798Holger Böning: The dream of freedom and equality. Helvetic Revolution and Republic (1798–1803) - Switzerland on the way to bourgeois democracy. Orell Füssli, Zurich 1998, ; led to a radical change in the Swiss constitution and to the military occupation of the country by France. According to the Glarus pastor Markus Freuler, this was because the old constitution "was no longer arbitrary to a large part of Switzerland and was no longer appropriate to the spirit of the people," and because only an external power was able to "carry out this important work".Marcus Freuler: Short history of the changed fate and warlike appearances that affected the old canton of Glarus from the year 1798 to 1801 [!]. Buchdruckerei Glarus 1800, p. 5 (). At that time, the Canton of Glarus, where Anna Göldi was executed as a witch in 1782, renounced its rights to rule in numerous bailiwicks, but stuck to its old constitution. When its militia troops were defeated at Wollerau, it only escaped military occupation by accepting the new constitution. The city of Glarus became the capital of the Greater Canton of Linth,With the districts of Werdenberg, Neu St. Johann, Mels, Schwanden, Glarus, Schänis and Rapperswil. as per Freuler under the "wise direction" of Government Representative Joachim Heer.Marcus Freuler: Short history of the changed fate and warlike appearances that affected the old canton of Glarus from the year 1798 until 1801 [!]. Buchdruckerei Glarus 1800, p. 9 (). But despite the promises made, after the Austrians' advance to Graubünden, French troops were stationed there. In April 1799, the confiscation of Glarus artillery led to an uprising. When the Austrians replaced the French as an occupying power in May, the canton of Glarus returned to the Ancien Régime for a short time, with even the instigator of the judicial murder of Anna Göldi receiving government honors.Anna Göldi's employer Johann Jakob Tschudi. Joachim Heer: The canton of Glarus under the Helvetic period. In: Yearbook of the Historical Association of the Canton of Glarus. 6/1870, pp. 13–67 (3rd period: May 20th to Autumn 1799, e-periodica.ch), here p. 24. In August the French then invaded again.There is a gap in the Helvetic Archives of the Glarus State Archives from May to October 1799.
During the Egyptian Expedition of Bonaparte, Great Britain expanded its struggle against the revolutionary France through alliances with Austria, Russia and others monarchical states, leading to the War of the Second Coalition. In 1799, the 68-year-old Field Marshal Alexander Suvorov, as head of the Austro-Russian army in Italy, won a series of battles against troops from France and its subsidiary republics. As the "always willful and irritable old man"Heinrich von Sybel: History of the revolutionary period from 1789 to 1800. 5th volume, Ebner & Seubert, Stuttgart 1879, p. 382 (). became a burden for the coalition, he was supposed to join (at the suggestion of the British foreign minister Lord Grenville) with his compatriot Lieutenant General Alexander Korsakov and the Austrian Field Marshal Lieutenant Friedrich HotzeFrom Richterswil, original name Konrad Hotz, younger brother of the doctor Johannes Hotze, political opponent of his cousin Heinrich Pestalozzi. at Zurich and invade France with them. Previously, Feldzeugmeister Archduke Charles of Austria had led the Austrian troops in the Helvetic Republic against Divisional General André Masséna, and threw him back to the Linth-Limmat line (First Battle of Zurich), but was then replaced by Korsakov.
Contrary to popular thesis,Fred Heer says: Uninvited guests. The Glarus region as a theater of war or: How the war came to our country. In: Uninvited guests - the war year 1799. (= Yearbook 97. Historical Association Canton Glarus 2017). Küng Druck AG, Näfels 2017, , pp. 128–185, here p. 182 (001%3A2017%3A97#185 e-periodica.ch). the Austrians had no influence on Suvorov choosing the route over the Gotthard to cross the Alps, which could be blocked at Lake Uri;Otto Hartmann: The Russian share in the 1799 campaign in Switzerland. A contribution to the history of this campaign and to the criticism of its historians. A. Munk, Zurich 1892, pp. 23 f., 76–93 (). on the other hand, Suvorov ended up in Switzerland not of his own free will, since after the Battle of Novi he intended to go to Liguria to complete his victory. On the pass, the French offered him strong resistance, but in the Schöllenen – contrary to legend – only weak resistance.Theodor von Bernhardi: Memorabilia from the life of the emperor. Russian General of the Infantry Carl Friedrich Grafen von Toll. 2nd edition. 1st volume, Otto Wigand, Leipzig 1865, pp. 87–89 (); Otto Hartmann: The Russian share in the 1799 campaign in Switzerland. A contribution to the history of this campaign and to the criticism of its historians. A. Munk, Zurich 1892, pp. 112–123 (). The Russian historical painting and the 12 m high Suvorov monument in the Schöllenen present false facts. In total, 9,000 men under Divisional General Claude Lecourbe are said to have inflicted losses on the 21,000 Russians and Austrians at a ratio of 1 to 3 (2,000 men to 6,000). At the time of the Second Battle of Zurich and the Battle of Linth River (September 2526), Suvorov had only reached Wassen.Dmitri Miliutin: Geschichte des Krieges Rußlands mit Frankreich unter der Regierung Kaiser Paul's I. im Jahre 1799. Übersetzung Chr. Schmitt, 4. Band, 6. Theil, Jos. Lindauer, München 1857, S. 43. To break the deadlock near Altdorf,Altdorf fell victim to a fire on April 4, 1799. he attempted to reach Schwyz via the Kinzig Pass. But he learned in the Muotatal about Korsakov's defeat against Masséna in the Second Battle of Zurich and Hotze's against Divisional General Jean-de-Dieu Soult at Schänis (Linth) on 25/26 September. Masséna's troops prevented him from marching north, and Lecourbe prevented him from retreating south. The route over the Pragelpass and the Klöntal into the Linth Valley offered a way out. The 29-year-old Gabriel Molitor, who had recently been appointed Brigade General, had driven two Austrian military leaders out of the latter since September 25: Major General Franjo Jelačić towards Sargans and Field Marshal Lieutenant Friedrich Linken in the direction of Surselva. After receiving reinforcements from Masséna and Soult,George Sand (pseudonym of Aurore Dupin): Histoire de ma vie. 2nd volume, Michel Lévy frères, Paris 1856, p. 183 f. (gallica.bnf.fr); Otto Hartmann: The Russian share in the 1799 campaign in Switzerland. A contribution to the history of this campaign and to the criticism of its historians. A. Munk, Zurich 1892, p. 144/Note 1 (); Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg: Soult against Suworow 1799. 205th New Year's Bulletin of the Fireworks Society (Artillery College) in Zurich for the year 2014. Beer, Zurich 2013, p. 54 f. on 30 September, Molitor held the Austrian brigade of Major General Franz Xaver von Auffenberg in the Klöntal. Auffenberg's brigade was followed by the vanguard of Major General Bagration, who helped drive the French out of the Klöntal.
The existing reports describe the Battle of Näfels/Glarus/Netstal from different perspectives. Some Russian sources heroize the defeat of Suvorov and blame it on the Austrians. In Switzerland, supporters of the Ancien Régime viewed the field marshal as a liberator, while supporters of the Helvetic Republic viewed him as "Attila of our century," as Heinrich Zschokke called him.Johann Konrad Escher, Paul Usteri (ed.): Neues helvetisches Tagblatt. Bern, October 14, 1799, p. 96 (.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=dsr-002%3A1799%3A2#126 e-periodica.ch). At that time Zschokke was a government commissioner in the Canton of Waldstätten.
Summary seven versions
According to locals
Under the eyes of the Austro-Russian troops, the journal Glarner-Zeitung wrote on 3 October:Glarner-Zeitung. No. 34, October 3, 1799 (State Archives of the Canton of Glarus, PA 2. A 1:4), p. 141 f.
The newspaper described the field marshal as follows:
The Neue Helvetische TagblattOfficial organ of the Helvetische Republic. summarized this report and added:
After freedom of the press was restored, Freuler published a chronicle of the guerilla war that old-minded locals had waged against the French. 90 named Glarus residents were killed and 56 wounded, most of them near Wollerau in 1798. The priest also mentioned a single incident involving women and children, in which a stray cannonball killed and wounded two people in Ennetbühls. Freuler only reported briefly on the much more important battle of Näfels: