German to English Other Military / Defense military encounter in 1799

I am translating an account of the 1799 campaign during the French revolutionary wars. The Austrians are preparing to bridge a river to get troops across to attack the French. "Ein oesterreiches Batallion in Gross Dettingen beantwortete dieses Feuer mit vollen Lagen." French sentries have become aware of something going on in the middle of the night and fire small arms in the direction of the noise. This is the response to that small arms fire. The next sentence says the artillery joined in. Many thanks in advance for your ideas.