 Given the size of the attacking force , Charles had to withdraw far enough into Bavaria to align his northern flank in a perpendicular line with Wartensleben 's autonomous corps . His own front would prevent Moreau from flanking Wartensleben from the south and together they could resist the French onslaught . In the course of this withdrawal , most of the Swabian Circle was abandoned to the French . At the end of July , eight thousand of Charles ' men executed a dawn attack on the camp of the remaining three thousand Swabian and French immigrant troops , disarmed them , and impounded their weapons . As Charles withdrew further east , the neutral zone expanded , eventually encompassing most of southern German states and the Ernestine Duchies . 
