Battle of Epierre

The Battle of Epierre (15 September 1793) was part of a larger War of the First Coalition campaign that pitted a Republican French army led by François Christophe de Kellermann against a Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont army commanded by the Duke of Montferrat. Under the overall leadership of the Austrian commander in chief Joseph Nikolaus De Vins, Montferrat launched an offensive in August 1793 to recapture Savoy from the French. Because the French were preoccupied with the Siege of Lyon, the Piedmontese recovered the Maurienne and Tarentaise Valleys, but they were stopped just short of Albertville and the reconquest of Savoy. In September, Kellermann launched a counterattack in which he adroitly switched his troops between valleys in order to drive back the Piedmontese. At Épierre, the French under Jean Denis Ledoyen defeated the Marquis of Cordon in a local action. By 8 October the Piedmontese abandoned all their gains and withdrew to the crests of the Graian Alps.