 At the battles of Altenkirchen ( 4 June 1796 ) and at Wetzlar saw two Republican French divisions commanded by Jean Baptiste Kléber attack a wing of the Habsburg army led by Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg . A frontal attack combined with a flanking maneuver forced the Austrians to retreat . Three future Marshals of France played significant roles in the engagement at Altenkirchen : François Joseph Lefebvre as a division commander , Jean @-@ de @-@ Dieu Soult as a brigadier and Michel Ney as leader of a flanking column . The battle occurred during the War of the First Coalition , part of a larger conflict called the Wars of the French Revolution . Altenkirchen is located in the state of Rhineland @-@ Palatinate in Germany about 50 kilometers ( 31 mi ) east of Bonn . Wetzlar is located in the Landgraviate of Hesse @-@ Kassel , a distance of 66 kilometers ( 41 mi ) north of Frankfurt . 
