Zattel (Schwyz)

The battle of Morgarten took place on November 15, 1315 near Sattel in Morgarten (now part of Oberägeri). It all started when the forces of the Swiss Confederation, consisting of 1,500 infantry archers, ambushed a group of Austrian soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire near the Morgarten Pass. The Swiss, led by Werner Stauffacher, completely defeated the Austrians, who were under the command of the Duke of Leopold I of Austria.

The Allies prepared a checkpoint and an ambush in the area between Lake Egeri and the Morgarten Pass, where a narrow path led between a steep slope and a swamp. When about 1,500 people attacked from above with stones, logs and halberds, the knights were unable to defend themselves and suffered a crushing defeat, while foot soldiers in the rear fled back to the city of Zug. The chronicler described allies unfamiliar with the customs of knightly battles as brutally killing everything that moves, and everyone who cannot escape. This created a reputation for confederates as barbarians, but at the same time cruel and respected fighters.

Within a month after the battle, in December 1315, the Confederates renewed the Union's oath given in 1291, ushering in the growth phase of the old Swiss Confederation. Forty years later, cities such as Lucerne, Zug, Zurich and Bern joined the confederation.

The Confederate victory in their virtual autonomy gave them a respite of sixty years before the next Habsburg attack as a result of the Battle of Zempach (1386).

The French invasion of Switzerland in 1798 quickly put an end to the ancient regime. The victories of the French over the major cities of the Swiss plateau led to the creation on 12 April 1798 of the Helvetian Republic, supported by the French. After the proclamation of the Republic, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden rejected it and gathered an army to fight the French. Under Aloise von Reading, they were able to gather about 10,000 people. This army was deployed along the defensive line from the NAPF to Rapperswil. General Reading besieged Lucerne, controlled by the French, and crossed the Bruenig Pass to Berner Oberland to support the Bernese armies. At the same time, French General Balthazar Alexis Henri Antoine of Schauenburg came out of occupied Zurich to attack Zug, Lucerne and Sattel Pass. Although the Reading Army won victories at Rothenthurm and Morgarten, the victories of Schauenburg near Zattel allowed him to threaten the city of Schwyz. On May 4, 1798, the Schwyz city council capitulated. [3]

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