After the defeat of the French in Southern Germany, the Tyrol, and Italy, by the Archduke Charles, Hotze, and Suwarow, they were to be driven out of Switzerland. Marshal Massena, who had succeeded Schauenburg in the command of the French troops, had at the commencement of the war seized Graubünden, and forced it, free state though it was, to join the Helvetic Republic to which it so strongly objected. But in May, 1799, it was recaptured by Hotze, a gallant swordsman of Swiss birth;[87] who had risen to the rank of field-marshal in the Austrian army. Hotze drove the French from the central highlands, Roverea likewise taking a prominent part in the expedition. About this time the Archduke Charles entered Switzerland at Schaffhausen, and, carrying all before him, advanced to Zurich. This city, after various skirmishes in its neighbourhood, he seized on the 4th of June, forcing Massena to retire to the heights beyond the Limmat river. But now a cessation of hostilities intervened for some months, owing to differences between Austria and Russia, and with this came a change of tactics. Archduke Charles withdrew, and his place was taken by Korsakow with a Russian army forty thousand strong. A plan was now agreed upon under which Suwarow should join Korsakow from Italy, and they should then combine their forces in a grand attack on the French, on September 26th. This Massena was determined to prevent. By admirable manoeuvring he disposed his eight divisions about Eastern and Central Switzerland, his force amounting to no fewer than seventy-five thousand men. The highlands of Schwyz, Uri, and Glarus, were held by Lecourbe, a skilled strategist, thoroughly at home in the Alps, and the entrance to the St. Gothard pass was blocked. Marshal Soult gave battle to Hotze in the marshy district between Lake Zurich and Walensee, on the 25th of September, with the result that Hotze was slain, and the Austrian force retired from Swiss soil. Wherever the Austrians had gained a footing, the reactionists had taken advantage of it to re-establish the _status quo_. On the 25th and 26th of September, Massena attacked the Russian forces under Korsakow, at Zurich. This second battle of Zurich--the fighting was continued (from outside) into the very streets--resulted in the complete defeat of Korsakow. Fortunately the city itself, having remained neutral, escaped violent treatment, but Lavater was unfortunate enough to be struck by a shot during the engagement, whilst carrying help to some wounded soldiers.[88] [Illustration: DILIGENCE CROSSING THE SIMPLON PASS.]