But Moreau, who appreciated the difficulties of forcing the passage
of a large river in the face of an active enemy, believed that the
risk was too great, and therefore refused to attempt the execution of
Bonaparte's plan. Instead, he proposed the following plan. His left,
under Ste. Suzanne, was to cross the Rhine at Kehl, and his centre,
under St. Cyr, at Brisach. Both corps were to push forward, attack
Kienmayer, and drive him into the defiles of the Black Forest. Moreau
calculated that these attacks would lead Kray to believe that the
French forces were massing in front of his right wing, and would cause
him to re-enforce Kienmayer. Having driven the Austrians back into
the Black Forest, and thus given the impression that the principal
attack of the French would be made from the direction of Strasburg,
Ste. Suzanne and St. Cyr were to withdraw suddenly. The former was to
recross the Rhine at Kehl, ascend the river, cross again to the German
side at Brisach, and take the position formerly occupied by St. Cyr;
the latter was to make a flank march over the spurs and hills towards
Schaffhausen by way of St. Blazien. Meanwhile Moreau with the reserve
was to cross the Rhine at Bâle and march towards Schaffhausen, where,
upon his arrival, his right, under Lecourbe, was to cross the river
and join him. As soon as these movements were completed, Ste. Suzanne
was to march towards Lake Constance by way of Friburg, Neustadt, and
Loffingen. By this series of complicated manoeuvres, Moreau expected to
unite the bulk of his forces in the vicinity of Schaffhausen, and to
march thence against the flank of Kray in the Black Forest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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