Flanders Campaign
Encyclopedia
This feature refers to the conflict that took place during the Wars of the French Revolution 1792–1801.
For the Low Countries campaigns of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97 see Nine Years' War
For Marlborough's campaigns in the Low Countries 1702–1710 see War of the Spanish Succession
For the Flanders campaigns during the First World War 1914–1918 see Battle of Flanders
The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 1793 to 1795 during the first years of the French Revolutionary War. A coalition of states mobilised military forces along all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France
and unseat the French First Republic
. The largest of these forces assembled in the Franco-Belgian border
region. In this theatre a combined army of Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch, Hessian, Imperial Austrian and, south of the river Sambre, Prussian troops faced the Republican Armée du Nord, and (further to the South) two smaller forces, the Armée des Ardennes
and the Armée de la Moselle
. The allies enjoyed several early victories, but were unable to advance beyond the French border fortresses and were eventually forced to withdraw by a series of French counter-offensives.
The Allies established a new front in southern Holland and Germany, but with failing supplies were forced to continue their retreat through the arduous winter of 1794/5. The Austrians pulled back to the lower Rhine and the British to Hanover
from where they were eventually evacuated. The victorious French pushed on to Amsterdam
and early in 1795 replaced the Dutch Republic
with a satellite state, the Batavian Republic
.
. Only after the execution of the French king Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 and the declaration of war by the Revolutionary Government did they finally mobilize. British Prime Minister Pitt the Younger
pledged to finance the formation of the First Coalition
, consisting of Britain
, the Dutch Republic
, Prussia
, Austria and member states of the Holy Roman Empire
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
and Spain. Allied armies mobilised along all of the French frontiers, the largest and most important in the Flanders
Franco-Belgian border region.
In the north, the allies immediate aim was to eject the French from Holland and the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) then march on Paris to end the French experiment with republican government. Austria and Prussia broadly supported this aim, but both were short of money. Britain agreed to invest a million pounds to finance a large Austrian army in the field plus a smaller Hanoverian corps, and dispatched an expeditionary force that eventually grew to approximately twenty thousand British troops under the command of the king's younger son, the Duke of York. Initially, just fifteen hundred troops landed with York in February 1793.
Overall Allied command was led by the Austrian commander Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, with a staff of Austrian advisers answering to Emperor Francis II and the Austrian Foreign Minister Johann, Baron Thugut
. The Duke of York was obliged to follow objectives set by Pitt's Foreign Minister Henry Dundas. Thus Allied military decisions in the campaign were tempered by political objectives from Vienna and London.
The defences of the Dutch Republic
were in poor condition, its army having not fought in a war for over 50 years; in Amsterdam, pro-French activists had created an ambivalent mood of dissent towards the Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange
. Thus his main concern was the preservation of the House of Orange.
Opposing the Allies, the armies of the French Republic were in a state of disruption; old soldiers of the Ancien Régime fought side by side with raw volunteers, urged on by revolutionary fervour from the Représentant en mission
. Many of the old officer class had emigrated, leaving the cavalry in particular in chaotic condition. Only the artillery arm, less affected by emigration, had survived intact. The problems would become even more acute following the introduction of mass conscription, the Levée en Masse
, in 1793. French commanders balanced between maintaining the security of the frontier, clamours for victory (which would protect the regime in Paris) and the desperate condition of the army, while they themselves were constantly under suspicion from the representatives. The price of failure or disloyalty was the guillotine
.
, French commander Charles François Dumouriez
had marched largely unopposed across most of the Austrian Netherlands, an area that roughly corresponds to present-day Belgium. As the Austrians retreated, Dumouriez saw an opportunity with Dutch revolutionaries to overthrow the weak Dutch Republic
by making a bold move north. A second French Division under Francisco de Miranda
manoeuvred against the Austrians and Hanoverians
in eastern Belgium.
without a fight, and the Stadtholder
, William V of Orange
called on England for help. Within just 9 days an initial British guards brigade had been assembled and dispatched across the English Channel, landing at Helvoetsluys under the command of Gerard Lake and the Duke of York. Meanwhile, while Dumouriez moved north into Holland, a separate army under Francisco de Miranda
laid siege to Maastricht
on the 23rd. However the Austrians had been reinforced to 39,000 and, now commanded by Saxe-Coburg, crossed the Ruhr River on 1 March and drove back the Republicans near Aldenhoven. The next day the Austrians took Aachen
before reaching Maastricht on the Meuse
and forcing Miranda to lift the siege.
In the northern part of this theatre, Coburg thwarted Dumouriez's ambitions with a series of victories that evicted the French from the Austrian Netherlands altogether. This successful offensive reached its climax when Dumouriez was defeated at the Battle of Neerwinden
on 18 March, and again at Louvain on the 21st. Dumouriez defected to the Allies on 6 April and was replaced as head of the Armée du Nord by Auguste Picot, Marquis de Dampierre
. France faced attacks on several fronts, and few expected the war to last very long. However, instead of pressing their advantage, the Allied advance became pedestrian. The large Coalition army on the Rhine under the Duke of Brunswick were reluctant to advance due to hopes for a political settlement. The Coalition Army in Flanders had the opportunity to brush past Dampierre's demoralised army, but the Austrian staff were not fully aware the degree of the French weakness and, while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Britain, Hanover and Prussia, turned instead to besiege fortresses along the French borders. Their first objective was Condé-sur-l'Escaut
, at the confluence of the Haine
and Scheldt
rivers.
On the Rhine front the Prussians besieged Mainz which held out from 14 April to 23 July 1793, and simultaneously mounted an offensive that swept through the Rhineland
, mopping up small and disorganized elements of the French army. Meanwhile in Flanders Coburg began investing the French fortification
s at Condé-sur-l'Escaut
, now reinforced by the Anglo-Hanoverian corps of the Duke of York and Prussian contingent of Alexander von Knobelsdorff
. Facing the allies, though his men desperately needed rest and reorganisation, Dampierre was cramped and controlled by the Representatives
. On 19 April he attacked the Allies across a wide front at St.Amand but was beaten off. On 8 May the French attempted once more to relieve Condé, but, after a fierce combat at Raismes
in which Dampierre was mortally wounded the attempt failed.
The arrival of York and Knobelsdorff raised Coburg's command to upwards of 90,000 men, which allowed Coburg to next move against Valenciennes
. On 23 May York's Anglo-Hanoverian force saw their debut action at the Battle of Famars
in the same region of the Pas-de-Calais, the French, now under Francois Lamarche, were driven back in a combined operation which prepared the way for the siege of Valenciennes
. Command of the Armée du Nord was given to Adam Custine
, who had enjoyed success on the Rhine in 1792, however Custine needed time to re-organise the demoralised army and fell back to the strong-hold of Caesar's Camp near Bohain. Stalemate ensued as Custine felt unable to take the offensive and the allies focused on the sieges of Condé and Valenciennes. In July these both fell, Condé on 10 July, Valenciennes on the 28th. Custine was promptly recalled to Paris to answer for his tardiness and guillotined.
attempted to repeat the success but were roughly handled by Jourdan
at Lincelles
until extricated by the British Guards brigade.
France was now at the mercy of the Coalition, the fall of Conde and Valenciennes had opened a gap in the frontier defences, the republican field armies were in disorder, however instead of concentrating, the Allies now dispersed their forces. In the south Knobelsdorf's Prussian contingent departed to join the main Prussian army on the Rhine front, while in the north York was under orders from Secretary of State Dundas
to lay siege to the French port of Dunkirk, which the British government planned to use as a military base and bargaining counter in any future peace negotiation. This led to conflict with Prince Coburg, who needed the occupying forces to protect his flank by accompanying his thrust towards Cambrai
. Lacking York's support the Austrians chose instead to besiege Le Quesnoy
, which was invested by Clerfayt on 19 August.
York's forces began the investment of Dunkirk
, though they were ill-prepared for a protracted siege and had still not received any heavy siege artillery. The Armée du Nord, now under command of Jean Nicolas Houchard
defeated York's exposed left flank under the Hanoverian Freytag
at the Battle of Hondschoote, forcing York to raise the siege and abandon his equipment. The Anglo-Hanoverians fell back in good order to Furnes
, where they were able to recover as there was no French pursuit. Houchard's plan had actually been to merely repulse the Duke of York so he could march south to relieve Le Quesnoy; on 12 September he defeated the Prince of Orange at Menin, capturing 40 guns and driving the Dutch in confusion towards Bruges and Ghent, but three days later his forces were routed in turn by Beaulieu
at Courtrai.
Further south Coburg meanwhile had captured Le Quesnoy
on 11 September, enabling him to move forces north to assist York, and winning a signal victory over one of Houchard's Divisions at Avesnes-le-Sec
. As if these disasters were not enough for the French, news reached Paris that in Alsace the Duke of Brunswick had defeated the French at Pirmasens. The Jacobins were stirred into a ferocity of panic. Laws were imposed that placed all lives and property at the disposal of the regime, for failing to follow up his victory at Hondschoote and the defeat at Menin, Houchard was accused of treason, arrested and guillotined in Paris on 17 November.
At the end of September Coburg began investing Maubeuge
, though the allied forces were now stretched. The Duke of York was unable to offer much support as his command was greatly weakened, not only by the strain of the campaign, but also by Dundas in London, who began withdrawing troops to re-assign to the West Indies. As a result Houchard's replacement Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
was able to concentrate his forces and narrowly defeat Coburg at the Battle of Wattignies, forcing the Austrians to lift the siege of Maubeuge. The Convention then ordered a general offensive towards York's base at Ostend. In mid October Vandamme
laid siege to Nieuport
, MacDonald took Werwicq and Dumonceau
drove the Hanoverians from Menin, however the French were forced back in sharp rebuffs at Cysoing on the 24th and Marchiennes 29th, which effectively brought an end to the year's campaigning.
was replaced by Karl Mack von Leiberich
. At the beginning of 1794 the allied field army numbered somewhat over one hundred thousand, the bulk of the army in positions between Tournai and Bettignies, with both flanks further extended with small outposts and cordons to the Meuse on the left and the Channel coast on the right. Facing them the Armée du Nord was now under the command of Jean-Charles Pichegru, and had been greatly reinforced by conscripts as the result of the Levée en masse
, giving the combined strength of the Armies of the North and Ardennes (excluding garrisons) as 200,000, nearly two to one of Coburg's force.
joined Coburg at Allied headquarters. The first action of the campaign was a French advance from Le Cateau 25 March, which was beaten off by Clerfayt after a sharp fight. Two weeks later the Allies began their advance with a series of covered marches and small actions to facilitate the investment of the fortress of Landrecies
. York advanced from St.Amand towards Le Cateau, Coburg led the centre column from Valenciennes and Le Quesnoy, and to his left the Prince of Orange led the besieging corps from Bavai through the Forest of Mormal towards Landrecies. On 17 April York drove Goguet from Vaux and Prémont, while the Austrian forces advanced in the direction of Wassigny against Balland. The Prince of Orange then began the Siege of Landrecies, while the Allied army covered the operation in a semi-circle. On the Left at the eastern end of the line lay the commands of Alvinczi and Kinsky, stretching from Maroilles
four miles east of Landrecies, south to Prisches, then south-west to the line of the Sambre. On the western bank of the river the line ran west from Catillon towards Le Cateau and Cambrai. The right of the Allied line was under the Duke of York and ended near Le Cateau. A line of outposts then ran north-west along the line of the Selle.
The French plan was to attack both flanks of the allies, while sending relief columns towards Landrecies. On 24 April a small force of British and Austrian cavalry drove back just such a force under Chapuis
at Villers-en-Cauchies
. Two days later Pichegru launched a three-pronged attempt to relieve Landrecies. Two of the columns in the east were repulsed by the forces of Kinsky, Alvinczi and the young Archduke Charles
, while Chapuis's third column advancing from Cambrai was all but destroyed by York at Beaumont (Troisvilles)
on the 26th.
, the last remaining obstacle to an advance on the French interior, but on the same day Pichegru began his overdue northern counter-offensive, defeating Clerfayt at the Battle of Mouscron and retaking Courtrai and Menin
.
For 10 days a lull descended as both sides consolidated before Coburg launched attacks to regain the northern positions on 10 May. Bonnaud
's French column was defeated by York at Willems, but Clerfayt failed to recapture Courtrai and was again driven back from the river Lys.
The Coalition forces planned to stem Pichegru's advance with a broad attack involving several isolated columns in a scheme devised by Mack. At the Battle of Tourcoing on 17/18 May this effort became a logistical disaster as communications broke down and columns were delayed, only a third of the allied force came into action, and were only extricated after the loss of 3,000 men. Pichegru being absent on the Sambre, French command at Tourcoing had devolved onto the shoulders of Joseph Souham
. On his return to the front Pichegru renewed the offensive to press his advantage but despite repeated attacks was held off at Tournai
on 22 May.
Although the allied front remained intact, subsequently the Austrian commitment to the war became increasingly weakened. The Prussians were already on the point of pulling out of the war due to Austrian duplicity in Bavaria. The Emperor was strongly influenced by Foreign Minister Baron Thugut
, and for Thugut political considerations always overrode military plans. In May 1794 his fixation was with profiting from the Third Partition of Poland
, and troops and generals began to be stripped from Coburg's command. Mack resigned as Chief of Staff in disgust on 23 May and was replaced by Christian August von Waldeck-Pyrmont, a supporter of Thugut. In a Council of War on 24 May the Emperor Francis II
called for a vote on withdrawal, then left for Vienna. Only the Duke of York dissented.
Thugut’s negative influence has been cited as one of the most decisive factors in the loss of the campaign, possibly more important than Tourcoing and Fleurus. The decision to retreat was taken despite news of great gains on the southern flank. On 24 May Mollendorf
's Prussians surprised the French at Kaiserslautern
, while on the same day Coburg's left wing under Kaunitz, after beating off repeated and futile attacks on the Sambre had counter-attacked and routed the French right wing completely at the Battle of Charleroi. With the northern flank temporarily stabilised Coburg moved forces south to support Kaunitz, who promptly resigned after being replaced by the Prince of Orange. Pichegru then benefited from the weakening of the Allied northern sector to return to the offensive and besiege Ypres. A series of supinely ineffective counter-attacks by Clerfayt through June were all beaten off by Souham.
On the southern flank the French armies of the Moselle and Ardennes were combined with part of the right wing of the Nord under Jourdan, and after the sixth attempt were finally able to cross the Sambre and lay siege to Charleroi
. The following day Ypres surrendered to Pichegru. Coburg decided to concentrate most of his forces on the Sambre to drive Jourdan back, leaving York at Tournai and Clerfayt at Deynse to face Pichegru and cover the right. Clerfayt was soon driven from Deynes and retreated behind Ghent, obliging York to withdraw behind the Scheldt.
In the south Coburg launched a series of attacks against Jourdan's combined Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
which were narrowly beaten off at the Battle of Fleurus
26 June. This proved the decisive turning point. With French gains in both north and south the Austrians called off the attack before a clear result and retreated East towards Brussels. It was the beginning of a general retreat to the Rhineland
, the Austrians all but abandoning their century long control of the Austrian Netherlands. York's Anglo-Hanoverians on the right were obliged to withdraw in order to defend Antwerp, abandoning Ostend, the garrison of which under Lord Moira were able to break through encircling French forces and rejoin York on the Scheldt.
The loss of Austrian support led to the collapse of the campaign. None of the other Coalition partners had sufficient forces in the theatre to check the French advance, and they began to retreat northwards, abandoning Brussels
. Jourdan pressed the whole Austrian line in repeated actions through the early days of July, encouraging Coburg's retreat back to Tirlemont and beyond, while York withdrew to the river Dyle. Although still ostensibly subordinate to Austrian command, the Dutch and Anglo-Hanoverian forces were now separated and moved to protect Holland. Malines fell on the 15th, Antwerp was evacuated on the 24th, the same day the Duke of York crossed the Dutch frontier at Rozendahl, while the Austrians crossed the Meuse at Maastricht.
and persuaded to withdraw to the River Meuse. On 18 September Clerfayt was defeated at the Sprimont
on the banks of the Ourthe, followed by a further defeat at the hands of Jourdan on the Roer, 2 October, causing the Austrians to retreat to the Rhine and finally ending Austrian presence in the Low Countries.
By autumn, in the Netherlands the French had taken Eindhoven and paused their pursuit on the River Waal. The Dutch surrendered Bois-le-Duc on 10 October without any struggle, York planned a counter-offensive with Austrian assistance to relieve Nimeguen, but this was abandoned when the Hanoverian contingent backed out. York was recalled and replaced by General Harcourt
. At this stage the Prussians were in peace talks with the French, and Austria looked to be ready to follow suit. Pitt angrily rejected any suggestion of negotiating with France, but the British position in Holland looked increasingly insecure.
In December as temperatures plummeted the rivers froze solid, allowing the French to resume their advance. On the 10th Delmas attacked the Dutch defences on Bommel, and by the 28th had captured the whole of the island. On 19 January 1795 the Republicans reached Amsterdam
, which had already been taken over by Dutch revolutionaries
, causing a pro-French Batavian Revolution. The stadtholder
, William V, Prince of Orange
fled to exile in England, and Dutch revolutionaries under general Herman Willem Daendels
, proclaimed the Batavian Republic
.
, a part of Hanover
. There they waited for orders from Britain. Pitt, realizing that any imminent success on the continent was virtually impossible, at last gave the order to withdraw back to Britain, taking with them the remnants of the Dutch, German and Austrian troops that had retreated with them. York's army had lost more than 20,000 men in the two years of fighting.
For the British and the Austrians the campaign proved disastrous. Austria had lost one of its most valuable territories the Austrian Netherlands (largely constituting modern Belgium) while the British had lost their closest ally on the European continent – the Dutch Republic
. It would be more than twenty years before a friendly pro-British government was installed in Amsterdam again.
In the British popular imagination York was widely (and inaccurately) portrayed as an incompetent dilettante
, whose lack of military knowledge had led to disaster, although historians such as Alfred Burne
and Richard Glover strongly challenge this misconception. The campaign however led to his ridicule in popular culture, although it did not stop from holding future military commands.
There were several reasons for the Allied failure in the campaign. Varying and conflicting objectives of the commanders, poor coordination between the various nations, appalling conditions of the army, and outside interference from civilian politicians such as Henry Dundas
for the British and Thugut
for the Empire. Also towards the end of the campaign in particular the gradual confidence and flexibility of the French armies compared to the more professional but outdated Allied forces became apparent.
The campaign demonstrated the numerous weaknesses of the British army after years of neglect, and a massive progamme of reform was instigated by the York in his new role as Commander-in-Chief
.
Both the British and the Austrians abandoned the Low Countries
as their major theatre of operations, a drastic switch in strategy as it had previously been their main theatre in other European wars. Britain instead decided to use its maritime power to strike against French colonies in the West Indies. The Austrians now made the Italian front their main line of defence. Britain did briefly attempt to undertake an invasion of the Netherlands
in 1799, again under the Duke of York, but this swiftly floundered and they were forced to conclude the Convention of Alkmaar
and withdraw again.
, though it existed at least 200 years before the War, Alfred Burne
mentions a virtually identical rhyme The King of France went up the Hill recorded in 1594. There remains some considerable debate whether the rhyme refers to the later 1799 Helder campaign when York again led a British army into the Low Countries.
For the British, lessons received in the campaign led to widespread army reforms on all levels, spearheaded by the Duke of York as Commander-in-Chief. The tight, professional army that later served in the Peninsular was created on the foundation of lessons learned in 1794.
The Allies would not see such an opportunity to topple the French Republic again until 1814. For Austria and the Empire, the loss of the Austrian Netherlands was to have long-term effects. Not only did they abandon a province with all its associated wealth and resources, Republican domination in this region put a tremendous pressure on the order of the Holy Roman Empire, and was an instrumental factor in its later collapse in 1806. French control of Holland enabled its armies to penetrate deep into Germany over the following years and later enabled Napoleon to establish the Continental System
. For the French too, victory in the field served to solidify the perilous state of government at home. Following this campaign, the Army of the Sambre et Meuse became the chief offensive force, while the Nord was reduced to largely garrison status. Of the commanders, Coburg would never serve in the field again, nor too Pichegru who became discredited and later died in prison after involvement in plotting against Napoleon. The Duke of York was to lead a second expedition to Holland in the Helder Campaign in 1799, but after its failure was to remain as Commander-in-Chief at the Horse Guards for the rest of his career.
Many officers who would later rise to prominence received their baptism of fire on the fields of Flanders, including several of Napoleon's marshals – Bernadotte
, Jourdan
, Ney
, MacDonald, Murat
and Mortier
. For the Austrians the Archduke Charles
was given his first command there after replacing the wounded Alvinczi in 1794, while in the Hanoverian army Scharnhorst
first saw action under the Duke of York.
In the British Army, the most notable debut was the future Duke of Wellington, who joined with his regiment the Thirty Third foot late in 1794 and served at the Battle of Boxtel
. He was to draw on these experiences during his own later more successful campaigns in India
and the Peninsular War
.
For the Low Countries campaigns of the War of the Grand Alliance 1688–97 see Nine Years' War
For Marlborough's campaigns in the Low Countries 1702–1710 see War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
For the Flanders campaigns during the First World War 1914–1918 see Battle of Flanders
Battle of Flanders
The Battle of Flanders is the name of three battles fought Flanders region in northern France and Belgium during the First World War.*First Battle of Flanders - The First Battle of Ypres - a battle fought during the Race to the Sea.*Second Battle of Flanders - The Battle of Passchendaele - an...
The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 1793 to 1795 during the first years of the French Revolutionary War. A coalition of states mobilised military forces along all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and unseat the French First Republic
French First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
. The largest of these forces assembled in the Franco-Belgian border
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
region. In this theatre a combined army of Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch, Hessian, Imperial Austrian and, south of the river Sambre, Prussian troops faced the Republican Armée du Nord, and (further to the South) two smaller forces, the Armée des Ardennes
Army of the Ardennes
The Army of the Ardennes was a French Revolutionary Army formed in 1792 by splitting off the right wing of the Army of the North, commanded from July to August that year by La Fayette...
and the Armée de la Moselle
Army of the Moselle
The Army of the Moselle was a French Revolutionary Army. Originally known as the Armée du Centre, it was renamed by decree of the National Convention on 1 October 1792 and kept under that name in the decrees of 1 March and 30 April 1793...
. The allies enjoyed several early victories, but were unable to advance beyond the French border fortresses and were eventually forced to withdraw by a series of French counter-offensives.
The Allies established a new front in southern Holland and Germany, but with failing supplies were forced to continue their retreat through the arduous winter of 1794/5. The Austrians pulled back to the lower Rhine and the British to Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
from where they were eventually evacuated. The victorious French pushed on to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and early in 1795 replaced the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
with a satellite state, the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
.
Background
Austria and Prussia had been at war with France since 1792, though initially Britain and the Dutch Republic maintained a neutral policy towards the revolution in FranceFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. Only after the execution of the French king Louis XVI on 21 January 1793 and the declaration of war by the Revolutionary Government did they finally mobilize. British Prime Minister Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
pledged to finance the formation of the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, consisting of Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
, the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
, Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
, Austria and member states of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, the Kingdom of Sardinia
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...
and Spain. Allied armies mobilised along all of the French frontiers, the largest and most important in the Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
Franco-Belgian border region.
In the north, the allies immediate aim was to eject the French from Holland and the Austrian Netherlands (modern Belgium) then march on Paris to end the French experiment with republican government. Austria and Prussia broadly supported this aim, but both were short of money. Britain agreed to invest a million pounds to finance a large Austrian army in the field plus a smaller Hanoverian corps, and dispatched an expeditionary force that eventually grew to approximately twenty thousand British troops under the command of the king's younger son, the Duke of York. Initially, just fifteen hundred troops landed with York in February 1793.
Overall Allied command was led by the Austrian commander Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, with a staff of Austrian advisers answering to Emperor Francis II and the Austrian Foreign Minister Johann, Baron Thugut
Johann Amadeus Francis de Paula, Baron of Thugut
Johann Amadeus Franz de Paula Thugut was an Austrian diplomat.-Early life:He was born in Linz. His origin and name have been the subject of legends more or less malicious and probably the inventions of enemies...
. The Duke of York was obliged to follow objectives set by Pitt's Foreign Minister Henry Dundas. Thus Allied military decisions in the campaign were tempered by political objectives from Vienna and London.
The defences of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
were in poor condition, its army having not fought in a war for over 50 years; in Amsterdam, pro-French activists had created an ambivalent mood of dissent towards the Stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange
William V, Prince of Orange
William V , Prince of Orange-Nassau was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and between 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. He was succeeded by his son William I...
. Thus his main concern was the preservation of the House of Orange.
Opposing the Allies, the armies of the French Republic were in a state of disruption; old soldiers of the Ancien Régime fought side by side with raw volunteers, urged on by revolutionary fervour from the Représentant en mission
Représentant en mission
During the French Revolution, a représentant en mission was an extraordinary envoy of the Legislative Assembly...
. Many of the old officer class had emigrated, leaving the cavalry in particular in chaotic condition. Only the artillery arm, less affected by emigration, had survived intact. The problems would become even more acute following the introduction of mass conscription, the Levée en Masse
Levée en masse
Levée en masse is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793.- Terminology :...
, in 1793. French commanders balanced between maintaining the security of the frontier, clamours for victory (which would protect the regime in Paris) and the desperate condition of the army, while they themselves were constantly under suspicion from the representatives. The price of failure or disloyalty was the guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
.
1793 campaign
By the end of 1792, following his surprise victory over the Imperial command under the Duke of Saxe-Teschen and Clerfayt at the Battle of JemappesBattle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes took place near the town of Jemappes in Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons. General Charles François Dumouriez, in command of the French Revolutionary Army, defeated the greatly outnumbered Austrian army of Field Marshal Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen and his second-in-command...
, French commander Charles François Dumouriez
Charles François Dumouriez
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He shared the victory at Valmy with General François Christophe Kellermann, but later deserted the Revolutionary Army and became a royalist intriguer during the reign of Napoleon.-Early life:Dumouriez...
had marched largely unopposed across most of the Austrian Netherlands, an area that roughly corresponds to present-day Belgium. As the Austrians retreated, Dumouriez saw an opportunity with Dutch revolutionaries to overthrow the weak Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
by making a bold move north. A second French Division under Francisco de Miranda
Francisco de Miranda
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda Ravelo y Rodríguez de Espinoza , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda , was a Venezuelan revolutionary...
manoeuvred against the Austrians and Hanoverians
Electorate of Hanover
The Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the ninth Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation...
in eastern Belgium.
Dumouriez's invasion of Holland
On 16 February Dumouriez's republican Armée du Nord advanced from Antwerp and invaded Holland. Dutch forces fell back to the line of the Meuse abandoning the fortress of BredaBreda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
without a fight, and the Stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
, William V of Orange
William V, Prince of Orange
William V , Prince of Orange-Nassau was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and between 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. He was succeeded by his son William I...
called on England for help. Within just 9 days an initial British guards brigade had been assembled and dispatched across the English Channel, landing at Helvoetsluys under the command of Gerard Lake and the Duke of York. Meanwhile, while Dumouriez moved north into Holland, a separate army under Francisco de Miranda
Francisco de Miranda
Sebastián Francisco de Miranda Ravelo y Rodríguez de Espinoza , commonly known as Francisco de Miranda , was a Venezuelan revolutionary...
laid siege to Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
on the 23rd. However the Austrians had been reinforced to 39,000 and, now commanded by Saxe-Coburg, crossed the Ruhr River on 1 March and drove back the Republicans near Aldenhoven. The next day the Austrians took Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
before reaching Maastricht on the Meuse
Meuse
Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
and forcing Miranda to lift the siege.
In the northern part of this theatre, Coburg thwarted Dumouriez's ambitions with a series of victories that evicted the French from the Austrian Netherlands altogether. This successful offensive reached its climax when Dumouriez was defeated at the Battle of Neerwinden
Battle of Neerwinden (1793)
The Battle of Neerwinden took place on near the village of Neerwinden in present-day Belgium between the Austrians under Prince Josias of Coburg and the French under General Dumouriez...
on 18 March, and again at Louvain on the 21st. Dumouriez defected to the Allies on 6 April and was replaced as head of the Armée du Nord by Auguste Picot, Marquis de Dampierre
Augustin-Marie Picot
Auguste Marie Henri Picot, Marquis de Dampierre was a general of the French Revolution.Picot was born in Paris into a military family and was commissioned as a junior officer in the Gardes Français 17 May 1772...
. France faced attacks on several fronts, and few expected the war to last very long. However, instead of pressing their advantage, the Allied advance became pedestrian. The large Coalition army on the Rhine under the Duke of Brunswick were reluctant to advance due to hopes for a political settlement. The Coalition Army in Flanders had the opportunity to brush past Dampierre's demoralised army, but the Austrian staff were not fully aware the degree of the French weakness and, while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Britain, Hanover and Prussia, turned instead to besiege fortresses along the French borders. Their first objective was Condé-sur-l'Escaut
Condé-sur-l'Escaut
-Administration:Condé-sur-l'Escaut is the eastern member of the agglomerated Valenciennes metropolitan area, which together administers 35 communes.-References:...
, at the confluence of the Haine
Haine
The Haine is a river in southern Belgium and northern France , right tributary of the river Scheldt. The Haine gave its name to the County of Hainaut, and the present province of Hainaut. Its source is in Anderlues, Belgium...
and Scheldt
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
rivers.
Coalition spring offensive
At the beginning of April the Allied powers met in conference at Antwerp to agree their strategy against France. Coburg was a reluctant leader and had hoped to end the war through diplomacy with Dumouriez, he even issued a proclamation declaring he was the 'ally of all friends of order, abjuring all projects of conquest in the Emperors name', which he was immediately forced to recant on by his political masters. The British desired Dunkirk as an indemnity against the war, and proposed that they would support Coburg's military campaign provided the Austrians supported their politically-inspired designs on Dunkirk. Coburg eventually proposed they attack Condé and Valenciennes in turn, then move against Dunkirk.On the Rhine front the Prussians besieged Mainz which held out from 14 April to 23 July 1793, and simultaneously mounted an offensive that swept through the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, mopping up small and disorganized elements of the French army. Meanwhile in Flanders Coburg began investing the French fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
s at Condé-sur-l'Escaut
Condé-sur-l'Escaut
-Administration:Condé-sur-l'Escaut is the eastern member of the agglomerated Valenciennes metropolitan area, which together administers 35 communes.-References:...
, now reinforced by the Anglo-Hanoverian corps of the Duke of York and Prussian contingent of Alexander von Knobelsdorff
Alexander von Knobelsdorff
Alexander Friedrich von Knobelsdorff was a Prussian field marshal....
. Facing the allies, though his men desperately needed rest and reorganisation, Dampierre was cramped and controlled by the Representatives
Représentant en mission
During the French Revolution, a représentant en mission was an extraordinary envoy of the Legislative Assembly...
. On 19 April he attacked the Allies across a wide front at St.Amand but was beaten off. On 8 May the French attempted once more to relieve Condé, but, after a fierce combat at Raismes
Battle of Raismes (1793)
The Battle of Raismes took place on 8 May 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the Wars of the French Revolution, between the French Republican army of the Marquis de Dampierre and the Allied Coalition army of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, and resulted in an Allied Victory.-Background:Following the...
in which Dampierre was mortally wounded the attempt failed.
The arrival of York and Knobelsdorff raised Coburg's command to upwards of 90,000 men, which allowed Coburg to next move against Valenciennes
Valenciennes
Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...
. On 23 May York's Anglo-Hanoverian force saw their debut action at the Battle of Famars
Battle of Famars
The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North led by General François Joseph Drouet Lamarche...
in the same region of the Pas-de-Calais, the French, now under Francois Lamarche, were driven back in a combined operation which prepared the way for the siege of Valenciennes
Siege of Valenciennes (1793)
The siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, commanded by the Duke of York...
. Command of the Armée du Nord was given to Adam Custine
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine was a French general. Born in Metz, he began his military career as a captain in the Seven Years' War, where he learned to admire the modern military organisation of Prussia....
, who had enjoyed success on the Rhine in 1792, however Custine needed time to re-organise the demoralised army and fell back to the strong-hold of Caesar's Camp near Bohain. Stalemate ensued as Custine felt unable to take the offensive and the allies focused on the sieges of Condé and Valenciennes. In July these both fell, Condé on 10 July, Valenciennes on the 28th. Custine was promptly recalled to Paris to answer for his tardiness and guillotined.
Autumn Campaign
On 7/8 August the French, now under Charles Kilmaine were driven from Caesar's Camp north of Cambrai. The following week in the Tourcoing sector Dutch troops under the Prince of OrangeWilliam I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
attempted to repeat the success but were roughly handled by Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
at Lincelles
Battle of Lincelles
The Battle of Lincelles was an action that took place as part of a larger manoeuvre on 17th August 1793 in the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition...
until extricated by the British Guards brigade.
France was now at the mercy of the Coalition, the fall of Conde and Valenciennes had opened a gap in the frontier defences, the republican field armies were in disorder, however instead of concentrating, the Allies now dispersed their forces. In the south Knobelsdorf's Prussian contingent departed to join the main Prussian army on the Rhine front, while in the north York was under orders from Secretary of State Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC and Baron Dunira was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and the last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom....
to lay siege to the French port of Dunkirk, which the British government planned to use as a military base and bargaining counter in any future peace negotiation. This led to conflict with Prince Coburg, who needed the occupying forces to protect his flank by accompanying his thrust towards Cambrai
Cambrai
Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...
. Lacking York's support the Austrians chose instead to besiege Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Le Quesnoy's inhabitants are known as Quercitains.- Economy :The town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold...
, which was invested by Clerfayt on 19 August.
York's forces began the investment of Dunkirk
Siege of Dunkirk (1793)
See also the Battle of HondschooteThe Siege of Dunkirk took place in 1793 when British, Hanoverian, Austrian, and Hesse-Kassel troops under the command of Prince Frederick, Duke of York besieged the fortified French border port of Dunkirk as part as the Flanders campaign of the French Revolutionary...
, though they were ill-prepared for a protracted siege and had still not received any heavy siege artillery. The Armée du Nord, now under command of Jean Nicolas Houchard
Jean Nicolas Houchard
Jean Nicolas Houchard was a French General of the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars.-Biography:...
defeated York's exposed left flank under the Hanoverian Freytag
Heinrich Wilhelm von Freytag
Heinrich Wilhelm von Freytag was an officer in the service of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg .-Career:...
at the Battle of Hondschoote, forcing York to raise the siege and abandon his equipment. The Anglo-Hanoverians fell back in good order to Furnes
Furnes
Furnes is a village in the Ringsaker municipality of Hedmark County , Norway.-History:Furnes is situated between Hamar and Brumunddal. Furnes was also a former municipality in Hedmark county. Furnes was separated from Vang in 1891. It was merged with Ringsaker January 1, 1964.Furnes's own parish...
, where they were able to recover as there was no French pursuit. Houchard's plan had actually been to merely repulse the Duke of York so he could march south to relieve Le Quesnoy; on 12 September he defeated the Prince of Orange at Menin, capturing 40 guns and driving the Dutch in confusion towards Bruges and Ghent, but three days later his forces were routed in turn by Beaulieu
Johann Peter Beaulieu
Johann Peter Beaulieu de Marconnay, also Jean Pierre Beaulieu de Marconnay, born 26 October 1725 – died 22 December 1819, was an Austrian military officer. He joined the Austrian army and fought against the Prussians during the Seven Years War. A cultured man, he later battled Belgian rebels...
at Courtrai.
Further south Coburg meanwhile had captured Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy
Le Quesnoy is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Le Quesnoy's inhabitants are known as Quercitains.- Economy :The town of Le Quesnoy has somehow missed much of the Industrial Revolution. Unlike the neighboring towns of Valenciennes or Maubeuge, iron/steel works did not take hold...
on 11 September, enabling him to move forces north to assist York, and winning a signal victory over one of Houchard's Divisions at Avesnes-le-Sec
Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec
The Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec was a battle between French forces under General Nicolas Declaye, and Austrian forces under Johann I of Liechtenstein and Count Heinrich von Bellegarde. The Austrian cavalrymen made a huge charge against the French, and defeated them in a major cavalry charge...
. As if these disasters were not enough for the French, news reached Paris that in Alsace the Duke of Brunswick had defeated the French at Pirmasens. The Jacobins were stirred into a ferocity of panic. Laws were imposed that placed all lives and property at the disposal of the regime, for failing to follow up his victory at Hondschoote and the defeat at Menin, Houchard was accused of treason, arrested and guillotined in Paris on 17 November.
At the end of September Coburg began investing Maubeuge
Maubeuge
Maubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
, though the allied forces were now stretched. The Duke of York was unable to offer much support as his command was greatly weakened, not only by the strain of the campaign, but also by Dundas in London, who began withdrawing troops to re-assign to the West Indies. As a result Houchard's replacement Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
was able to concentrate his forces and narrowly defeat Coburg at the Battle of Wattignies, forcing the Austrians to lift the siege of Maubeuge. The Convention then ordered a general offensive towards York's base at Ostend. In mid October Vandamme
Dominique Vandamme
General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars....
laid siege to Nieuport
Nieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...
, MacDonald took Werwicq and Dumonceau
Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau
Count Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendal Count Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendal Count Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau de Bergendal (7 November 1760, Brussels – 29 December 1821, Forest was a general from the Southern Netherlands, in the service of France and the Netherlands.- Life :...
drove the Hanoverians from Menin, however the French were forced back in sharp rebuffs at Cysoing on the 24th and Marchiennes 29th, which effectively brought an end to the year's campaigning.
1794 Campaign
Over the winter both sides re-organised. Reinforcements were transported from Britain in order to shore-up the Coalition line. In the Austrian army Coburg's Chief-of-Staff Prince HohenlohePrince Hohenlohe
Prince Hohenlohe may refer to:* Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst , Imperial Chancellor under William II* Frederick Louis, Prince of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen , commander at Jena...
was replaced by Karl Mack von Leiberich
Karl Mack von Leiberich
Karl Mack von Leiberich, Freiherr was an Austrian soldier. He is best remembered as the commander of the Austrian forces that capitulated to Napoleon's Grande Armée in the Battle of Ulm in 1805. Historians of the late 20th century widely agree that he was among the poorest of the commanders of the...
. At the beginning of 1794 the allied field army numbered somewhat over one hundred thousand, the bulk of the army in positions between Tournai and Bettignies, with both flanks further extended with small outposts and cordons to the Meuse on the left and the Channel coast on the right. Facing them the Armée du Nord was now under the command of Jean-Charles Pichegru, and had been greatly reinforced by conscripts as the result of the Levée en masse
Levée en masse
Levée en masse is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793.- Terminology :...
, giving the combined strength of the Armies of the North and Ardennes (excluding garrisons) as 200,000, nearly two to one of Coburg's force.
Siege of Landrecies
At the beginning of April Austrian troops were greatly encouraged when the Emperor Francis IIFrancis II
Francis II may refer to:* Francis II, Duke of Brittany * Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua * Francis II of France * Francis II, Duke of Lorraine * Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena...
joined Coburg at Allied headquarters. The first action of the campaign was a French advance from Le Cateau 25 March, which was beaten off by Clerfayt after a sharp fight. Two weeks later the Allies began their advance with a series of covered marches and small actions to facilitate the investment of the fortress of Landrecies
Landrecies
Landrecies is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is the site of a skirmish between the British I Corps under Douglas Haig and the German Fifth Army on 25 August 1914.-Heraldry:-People:...
. York advanced from St.Amand towards Le Cateau, Coburg led the centre column from Valenciennes and Le Quesnoy, and to his left the Prince of Orange led the besieging corps from Bavai through the Forest of Mormal towards Landrecies. On 17 April York drove Goguet from Vaux and Prémont, while the Austrian forces advanced in the direction of Wassigny against Balland. The Prince of Orange then began the Siege of Landrecies, while the Allied army covered the operation in a semi-circle. On the Left at the eastern end of the line lay the commands of Alvinczi and Kinsky, stretching from Maroilles
Maroilles, Nord
Maroilles is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-Heraldry:-References:*...
four miles east of Landrecies, south to Prisches, then south-west to the line of the Sambre. On the western bank of the river the line ran west from Catillon towards Le Cateau and Cambrai. The right of the Allied line was under the Duke of York and ended near Le Cateau. A line of outposts then ran north-west along the line of the Selle.
The French plan was to attack both flanks of the allies, while sending relief columns towards Landrecies. On 24 April a small force of British and Austrian cavalry drove back just such a force under Chapuis
Charles Bertin Gaston Chapuis de Tourville
Charles Bertin Gaston Chapuis de Tourville , Divisional General during the French Revolution and the First French Empire.He became Field Marshal on 12 July 1792 and divisional general on 8 March 1793. He died on 22 November 1809....
at Villers-en-Cauchies
Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies
In the Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies, fought on 24 April 1794, a small Anglo-Austrian cavalry force routed a vastly more numerous French division during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars...
. Two days later Pichegru launched a three-pronged attempt to relieve Landrecies. Two of the columns in the east were repulsed by the forces of Kinsky, Alvinczi and the young Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the third son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...
, while Chapuis's third column advancing from Cambrai was all but destroyed by York at Beaumont (Troisvilles)
Battle of Beaumont (1794)
The Battle of Beaumont-en-Cambresis 26th April 1794 was an action forming part of a multi-pronged attempt to relieve the besieged fortress of Landrecies, during the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary War...
on the 26th.
The French counter-offensive
Landrecies fell on 29 April and Coburg turned his attention to MaubeugeMaubeuge
Maubeuge is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It is situated on both banks of the Sambre , east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border.-History:...
, the last remaining obstacle to an advance on the French interior, but on the same day Pichegru began his overdue northern counter-offensive, defeating Clerfayt at the Battle of Mouscron and retaking Courtrai and Menin
Menen
Menen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/Belgian border. On January 1, 2006, Menen had a total population of 32,413...
.
For 10 days a lull descended as both sides consolidated before Coburg launched attacks to regain the northern positions on 10 May. Bonnaud
Bonnaud
Bonnaud is a commune in the Jura department in Franche-Comté in eastern France.-References:*...
's French column was defeated by York at Willems, but Clerfayt failed to recapture Courtrai and was again driven back from the river Lys.
The Coalition forces planned to stem Pichegru's advance with a broad attack involving several isolated columns in a scheme devised by Mack. At the Battle of Tourcoing on 17/18 May this effort became a logistical disaster as communications broke down and columns were delayed, only a third of the allied force came into action, and were only extricated after the loss of 3,000 men. Pichegru being absent on the Sambre, French command at Tourcoing had devolved onto the shoulders of Joseph Souham
Joseph Souham
Joseph Souham was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born at Lubersac and died at Versailles.-French revolutionary years:...
. On his return to the front Pichegru renewed the offensive to press his advantage but despite repeated attacks was held off at Tournai
Battle of Tournay
The Battle of Tournay or Tournai was fought on 22 May 1794 as part of the Flanders Campaign in the Belgian province of Hainaut on the Schelde River between French forces under General Pichegru and Coalition forces under Prince Josias of Coburg, in which the Coalition forces were victorious.In the...
on 22 May.
Although the allied front remained intact, subsequently the Austrian commitment to the war became increasingly weakened. The Prussians were already on the point of pulling out of the war due to Austrian duplicity in Bavaria. The Emperor was strongly influenced by Foreign Minister Baron Thugut
Johann Amadeus Francis de Paula, Baron of Thugut
Johann Amadeus Franz de Paula Thugut was an Austrian diplomat.-Early life:He was born in Linz. His origin and name have been the subject of legends more or less malicious and probably the inventions of enemies...
, and for Thugut political considerations always overrode military plans. In May 1794 his fixation was with profiting from the Third Partition of Poland
Third Partition of Poland
The Third Partition of Poland or Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1795 as the third and last of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Background:...
, and troops and generals began to be stripped from Coburg's command. Mack resigned as Chief of Staff in disgust on 23 May and was replaced by Christian August von Waldeck-Pyrmont, a supporter of Thugut. In a Council of War on 24 May the Emperor Francis II
Francis II
Francis II may refer to:* Francis II, Duke of Brittany * Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua * Francis II of France * Francis II, Duke of Lorraine * Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena...
called for a vote on withdrawal, then left for Vienna. Only the Duke of York dissented.
Thugut’s negative influence has been cited as one of the most decisive factors in the loss of the campaign, possibly more important than Tourcoing and Fleurus. The decision to retreat was taken despite news of great gains on the southern flank. On 24 May Mollendorf
Möllendorf
The noble family von Möllendorf has been prominent in the history of Brandenburg and Prussia. The von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff family descends from an adopted son of a member of the Möllendorf family.In 1427 two members of the family are mentioned in a list of Privy Councillors of the Margraviate...
's Prussians surprised the French at Kaiserslautern
Battle of Kaiserslautern
The Battle of Kaiserslautern was a battle of the War of the First Coalition , fought near the German city of Kaiserslautern...
, while on the same day Coburg's left wing under Kaunitz, after beating off repeated and futile attacks on the Sambre had counter-attacked and routed the French right wing completely at the Battle of Charleroi. With the northern flank temporarily stabilised Coburg moved forces south to support Kaunitz, who promptly resigned after being replaced by the Prince of Orange. Pichegru then benefited from the weakening of the Allied northern sector to return to the offensive and besiege Ypres. A series of supinely ineffective counter-attacks by Clerfayt through June were all beaten off by Souham.
On the southern flank the French armies of the Moselle and Ardennes were combined with part of the right wing of the Nord under Jourdan, and after the sixth attempt were finally able to cross the Sambre and lay siege to Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
. The following day Ypres surrendered to Pichegru. Coburg decided to concentrate most of his forces on the Sambre to drive Jourdan back, leaving York at Tournai and Clerfayt at Deynse to face Pichegru and cover the right. Clerfayt was soon driven from Deynes and retreated behind Ghent, obliging York to withdraw behind the Scheldt.
In the south Coburg launched a series of attacks against Jourdan's combined Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
Army of Sambre-et-Meuse
The Army of Sambre-et-Meuse is the best known of the armies of the French Revolution. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining three forces: the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of Moselle, and the right wing of the Army of the North. It had a brief but celebrated existence...
which were narrowly beaten off at the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars...
26 June. This proved the decisive turning point. With French gains in both north and south the Austrians called off the attack before a clear result and retreated East towards Brussels. It was the beginning of a general retreat to the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, the Austrians all but abandoning their century long control of the Austrian Netherlands. York's Anglo-Hanoverians on the right were obliged to withdraw in order to defend Antwerp, abandoning Ostend, the garrison of which under Lord Moira were able to break through encircling French forces and rejoin York on the Scheldt.
The loss of Austrian support led to the collapse of the campaign. None of the other Coalition partners had sufficient forces in the theatre to check the French advance, and they began to retreat northwards, abandoning Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Jourdan pressed the whole Austrian line in repeated actions through the early days of July, encouraging Coburg's retreat back to Tirlemont and beyond, while York withdrew to the river Dyle. Although still ostensibly subordinate to Austrian command, the Dutch and Anglo-Hanoverian forces were now separated and moved to protect Holland. Malines fell on the 15th, Antwerp was evacuated on the 24th, the same day the Duke of York crossed the Dutch frontier at Rozendahl, while the Austrians crossed the Meuse at Maastricht.
Fall of the Dutch Republic
In August 1794 a pause in operations descended as the French focused their efforts against the Belgian channel forts, and York attempted in vain to encourage Austrian support. Under pressure from Britain, the Emperor dismissed Coburg, however his place was filled temporarily by the even more unpopular Clerfayt. After the fall of Le Quesnoy and Landrecies to the French Pichegru renewed his offensive on 28th, obliging York to pull back to the line of the River Aa where he was attacked at BoxtelBattle of Boxtel
The Battle of Boxtel was a battle fought during the First Coalition in the Dutch province North Brabant, on the 15 September 1794. It was part of the Flanders Campaign of 1793-94 in which British, Dutch and Austrian troops had attempted to launch an invasion of France through Flanders...
and persuaded to withdraw to the River Meuse. On 18 September Clerfayt was defeated at the Sprimont
Battle of Sprimont
The battle of Sprimont, battle of Esneux or battle of the Ourthe was a battle between French Republican and Austrian troops on the plateau between the valleys of the Vesdre, the Ourthe and the Amblève, 20 km to the south of Liège...
on the banks of the Ourthe, followed by a further defeat at the hands of Jourdan on the Roer, 2 October, causing the Austrians to retreat to the Rhine and finally ending Austrian presence in the Low Countries.
By autumn, in the Netherlands the French had taken Eindhoven and paused their pursuit on the River Waal. The Dutch surrendered Bois-le-Duc on 10 October without any struggle, York planned a counter-offensive with Austrian assistance to relieve Nimeguen, but this was abandoned when the Hanoverian contingent backed out. York was recalled and replaced by General Harcourt
William Harcourt, 3rd Earl Harcourt
Field Marshal William Harcourt, 3rd Earl Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, GCB was a British nobleman and soldier. He was the younger son of Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt.-Seven Years War:...
. At this stage the Prussians were in peace talks with the French, and Austria looked to be ready to follow suit. Pitt angrily rejected any suggestion of negotiating with France, but the British position in Holland looked increasingly insecure.
In December as temperatures plummeted the rivers froze solid, allowing the French to resume their advance. On the 10th Delmas attacked the Dutch defences on Bommel, and by the 28th had captured the whole of the island. On 19 January 1795 the Republicans reached Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, which had already been taken over by Dutch revolutionaries
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
, causing a pro-French Batavian Revolution. The stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
, William V, Prince of Orange
William V, Prince of Orange
William V , Prince of Orange-Nassau was the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, and between 1795 and 1806 he led the Government of the Dutch Republic in Exile in London. He was succeeded by his son William I...
fled to exile in England, and Dutch revolutionaries under general Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811....
, proclaimed the Batavian Republic
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
.
British Evacuation
The British continued their retreat northwards, by now ill-equipped and poorly clothed. By Spring 1795 they had left Dutch territory entirely, and reached the port of BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, a part of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
. There they waited for orders from Britain. Pitt, realizing that any imminent success on the continent was virtually impossible, at last gave the order to withdraw back to Britain, taking with them the remnants of the Dutch, German and Austrian troops that had retreated with them. York's army had lost more than 20,000 men in the two years of fighting.
Aftermath
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
. It would be more than twenty years before a friendly pro-British government was installed in Amsterdam again.
In the British popular imagination York was widely (and inaccurately) portrayed as an incompetent dilettante
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
, whose lack of military knowledge had led to disaster, although historians such as Alfred Burne
Alfred Burne
Alfred Higgins Burne was a soldier and military historian. He invented the concept of Inherent Military Probability; in battles and campaigns where there is some doubt over what action was taken, Burne believed that the action taken would be one which a trained staff officer of the twentieth...
and Richard Glover strongly challenge this misconception. The campaign however led to his ridicule in popular culture, although it did not stop from holding future military commands.
There were several reasons for the Allied failure in the campaign. Varying and conflicting objectives of the commanders, poor coordination between the various nations, appalling conditions of the army, and outside interference from civilian politicians such as Henry Dundas
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville PC and Baron Dunira was a Scottish lawyer and politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War and the last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom....
for the British and Thugut
Johann Amadeus Francis de Paula, Baron of Thugut
Johann Amadeus Franz de Paula Thugut was an Austrian diplomat.-Early life:He was born in Linz. His origin and name have been the subject of legends more or less malicious and probably the inventions of enemies...
for the Empire. Also towards the end of the campaign in particular the gradual confidence and flexibility of the French armies compared to the more professional but outdated Allied forces became apparent.
The campaign demonstrated the numerous weaknesses of the British army after years of neglect, and a massive progamme of reform was instigated by the York in his new role as Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
.
Both the British and the Austrians abandoned the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
as their major theatre of operations, a drastic switch in strategy as it had previously been their main theatre in other European wars. Britain instead decided to use its maritime power to strike against French colonies in the West Indies. The Austrians now made the Italian front their main line of defence. Britain did briefly attempt to undertake an invasion of the Netherlands
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...
in 1799, again under the Duke of York, but this swiftly floundered and they were forced to conclude the Convention of Alkmaar
Convention of Alkmaar
The Convention of Alkmaar was a 1799 agreement concluded between the commanders of the expeditionary forces of Great Britain and Russia on the one hand, and of those of the First French Republic and the Batavian Republic on the other, in Alkmaar, by which the British and Russians agreed to withdraw...
and withdraw again.
Legacy
One of the lasting associations with the campaign is the nursery rhyme The Grand Old Duke of YorkThe Grand Old Duke of York
‘The Grand Old Duke of York’ is an English children's nursery rhyme, often performed as an action song. The Duke of the title has been argued to be a number of the holders of that office, particularly Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany and its lyrics have become proverbial for futile action...
, though it existed at least 200 years before the War, Alfred Burne
Alfred Burne
Alfred Higgins Burne was a soldier and military historian. He invented the concept of Inherent Military Probability; in battles and campaigns where there is some doubt over what action was taken, Burne believed that the action taken would be one which a trained staff officer of the twentieth...
mentions a virtually identical rhyme The King of France went up the Hill recorded in 1594. There remains some considerable debate whether the rhyme refers to the later 1799 Helder campaign when York again led a British army into the Low Countries.
For the British, lessons received in the campaign led to widespread army reforms on all levels, spearheaded by the Duke of York as Commander-in-Chief. The tight, professional army that later served in the Peninsular was created on the foundation of lessons learned in 1794.
The Allies would not see such an opportunity to topple the French Republic again until 1814. For Austria and the Empire, the loss of the Austrian Netherlands was to have long-term effects. Not only did they abandon a province with all its associated wealth and resources, Republican domination in this region put a tremendous pressure on the order of the Holy Roman Empire, and was an instrumental factor in its later collapse in 1806. French control of Holland enabled its armies to penetrate deep into Germany over the following years and later enabled Napoleon to establish the Continental System
Continental System
The Continental System or Continental Blockade was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a large-scale embargo against British trade, which began on November 21, 1806...
. For the French too, victory in the field served to solidify the perilous state of government at home. Following this campaign, the Army of the Sambre et Meuse became the chief offensive force, while the Nord was reduced to largely garrison status. Of the commanders, Coburg would never serve in the field again, nor too Pichegru who became discredited and later died in prison after involvement in plotting against Napoleon. The Duke of York was to lead a second expedition to Holland in the Helder Campaign in 1799, but after its failure was to remain as Commander-in-Chief at the Horse Guards for the rest of his career.
Many officers who would later rise to prominence received their baptism of fire on the fields of Flanders, including several of Napoleon's marshals – Bernadotte
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...
, Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Comte Jourdan , enlisted as a private in the French royal army and rose to command armies during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emperor Napoleon I of France named him a Marshal of France in 1804 and he also fought in the Napoleonic Wars. After 1815, he became reconciled...
, Ney
Michel Ney
Michel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, MacDonald, Murat
Joachim Murat
Joachim-Napoléon Murat , Marshal of France and Grand Admiral or Admiral of France, 1st Prince Murat, was Grand Duke of Berg from 1806 to 1808 and then King of Naples from 1808 to 1815...
and Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier
Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, 1st Duc de Trévise was a French general and Marshal of France under Napoleon I.-Biography:...
. For the Austrians the Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles of Austria commonly refers to Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen .The title may also refer to:*Archduke Carl Christian of Austria *Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria *Archduke Charles Joseph of Austria...
was given his first command there after replacing the wounded Alvinczi in 1794, while in the Hanoverian army Scharnhorst
Gerhard von Scharnhorst
Gerhard Johann David Waitz von Scharnhorst was a general in Prussian service, Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for both his writings, his reforms of the Prussian army, and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars....
first saw action under the Duke of York.
In the British Army, the most notable debut was the future Duke of Wellington, who joined with his regiment the Thirty Third foot late in 1794 and served at the Battle of Boxtel
Battle of Boxtel
The Battle of Boxtel was a battle fought during the First Coalition in the Dutch province North Brabant, on the 15 September 1794. It was part of the Flanders Campaign of 1793-94 in which British, Dutch and Austrian troops had attempted to launch an invasion of France through Flanders...
. He was to draw on these experiences during his own later more successful campaigns in India
Second Anglo-Maratha War
The Second Anglo-Maratha War was the second conflict between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.-Background:...
and the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
.