Battle of Hohenlinden (1800)

The Battle of Hohenlinden near Munich was fought on December 3, 1800, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It resulted in a French victory under General Moreau against the Austrians under Archduke Karl, forcing him to sign an armistice.

In terms of the number of troops involved it was the largest in the French Revolutionary Wars and quite possibly European history until the Battle of Wagram in 1809. Moreau's 180,000 strong army engaged some 120,000 Austrians.

The battle hinged on an ambush on a road through a forest. The French had 6 000 dead and wounded while the Austrians suffered 8 000 casualties, lost 12 000 prisoners and 200 cannons. This decisive victory, coupled with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte's victory at Marengo, ended the War of the Second Coalition. The following February (1801), the Austrians signed the Treaty of Lunéville, accepting French control up to the Rhine and the French puppet republics in Italy and the Netherlands. The subsequent Treaty of Amiens between France and Britain began the longest break in the wars of the Napoleonic period.