Despite saving the army in Belgium through his unauthorized initiative, Gaspard Lefebvre faced immediate backlash from General Alquier, who sought to have the young officer court-martialed for insubordination. However, Paris recognized Alquier's incompetence and recalled him in December 1794, promoting the twenty-four-year-old Lefebvre to command the entire Army of the Rhine. Inheriting a force plagued by poor logistics and indiscipline, Lefebvre ruthlessly requisitioned supplies from the countryside and looked north for a strategic solution. In an unauthorized diplomatic maneuver, he marched into the Netherlands in early 1795, securing the Franco-Dutch Alliance. This move not only opened new supply lines but also added 20,000 Dutch soldiers to his ranks, stabilizing the army just as the campaign season renewed.

In May 1795, the Austrian General Hohenberg returned with a massive force of 55,000 men, aiming to exploit the uneven distribution of French troops around the Palatine Forest. Recognizing that the Austrians intended to crush his weaker eastern divisions and roll back French gains, Lefebvre devised a high-risk strategy. He ordered his disparate divisions to hold the line while he personally led the elite VI Division on a treacherous march through the Vosges mountains to flank the enemy. As he maneuvered his forces, Lefebvre also dealt with personal rejection from a Walloon noblewoman, Elsie, vowing not to return to her until he had broken the Austrian army.

The climax of the campaign occurred at the Battle of Gundershoffen, where the French II Division was on the verge of collapse against General Trauttenberg’s Austrian forces. Just as a defeat seemed imminent, Lefebvre’s cavalry emerged from the woodlands and struck the Austrian northern flank, shattering their formations. The surprise attack allowed the French infantry to counter-charge, turning the battle into a total rout. The victory forced Trauttenberg to retreat east of the Rhine and compelled Hohenberg to withdraw to avoid encirclement. Through his decisive intervention, Lefebvre secured the French advance up to the Rhine, once again salvaging a victory from the jaws of defeat.