A History of the British Army, vol. 4

20 September 1792

Battle of Valmy

CONTENTS

Failure of the Prussian Army owing to internal Dissension ; Action of Valmy . ; ‘ 5 : :

CH. I HISTORY OF THE ARMY 47

intimidation the Party of Terror assured to itself an overwhelming majority in the elections at Paris, and the Commune arrogated to itself the government of France. Meanwhile Servan had ordered Dumouriez to station his army on the rugged heights of the Argonne, a strong but by no means impregnable position, as the best chance of checking the invasion of the Allies. But there was in reality little to be feared. On the very next day Brunswick, then arrived before Verdun, declared his intention not to pass the Meuse. Even the immediate and unexpected surrender of Verdun availed nothing to change his resolution ; for, though King Frederick William insisted upon prosecuting the advance, Brunswick by calculated inactivity was still determined to have his own way. ‘There is no need to enter into details of the campaign, which was remarkable chiefly for the glaring blunders committed by both sides; for the beginning and end of the story is that the Prussian army was paralysed by the discord between its General and its King. The climax came at the action of Valmy, when, after a trifling cannonade which cost neither side above two hundred men, the Prussian troops returned to camp, complaining bitterly that they were not allowed to fight, while the French boasted loudly that they had beaten the veterans of Frederick the Great.

CH. I HISTORY OF THE ARMY 47

As a matter. of fact, Dumouriez, though he carried a bold face before his army, felt his situation to be so perilous that on the day following Valmy he opened negotiations with the Prussians, in the hope of gaining time. Brunswick joyfully welcomed these overtures ; while Frederick William himself, growing nervous over Catherine’s ominous silence as to Poland, began to wish that the war were over. Dumouriez saw his opportunity and pressed it ; Danton, who had the charge of foreign affairs at Paris, perceived with unerring good sense the advantage of detaching Prussia from Austria, and despatched emissaries to pursue the negotiations. Thus a week was gained, and that week was decisive. In the expectation of a rapid march to Paris, no sufficient pro-

CHAPTER eI

Tue date of the first check of the Allies at Valmy may be said to mark definitely the launching of the revolu- tionary crusade upon Europe. On the day that followed it the Convention met, and, though the Jacobins had not the majority which they expected over the Girondists, yet both parties were agreed upon the main principle of their policy, namely, the overthrow of all kings and the affiliation to France of the republics that were to sup- plant them—in brief, the conquest and emancipation of the world. Dumouriez’s agents had transmitted from all parts of Italy most encouraging reports of the spread of revolutionary ideas in that quarter ; and events appeared fully to justify them. In fulfilment, therefore, of Dumouriez’s aspirations after a natural frontier, General Montesquiou invaded Savoy on the night of the 21st of September with nineteen thousand men, and within a week was in possession of the country, practically un- resisted. At the same time General Anselme entered the county of Nice with ten thousand men, and was received with warm welcome by the inhabitants. Lastly, General Custine, who had been appointed to command the army of the Rhine, had marked the growth of revolutionary sentiments among the people of the Fcclesiastical States, and obtained permission to enter them with eighteen thousand men. A noble by birth, Custine had embraced the revolutionary cause with the exaggerated ardour of a renegade, and with the thirst after new sensations of the jaded man of pleasure. “War to the tyrant’s palace ; peace to the poor man’s 50

26 June 1794

Battle of Fleurus (1794)

CONTENTS

Fall of Ypres ; Coburg marches for the shan Dundas sends a Force under Moira to Ostend Defeat of Clerfaye at Deynse : Retreat of the Duke of York from Toenail : Defeat of Coburg at Fleurus ; he retires on Brussels Evacuation of Ostend by the British

CH. XI HISTORY OF THE ARMY 283

During these days the Duke of York remained in painful suspense at Tournai, until the news of Clerfaye’s defeat on the 23rd warned him to move northward without delay. As Craig had perceived, the French by crossing the Scheldt at Oudenarde could prevent the Duke of York from joining Clerfaye, crush both armies in detail, and then, passing eastward, could annihilate Coburg. The Duke therefore called in Kray’s Austrians June 24. for the defence of Tournai, and marched north-eastward on the right bank of the Scheldt to Renaix, where he learned that on the same day a French corps had June 25. summoned Oudenarde. On the morrow Pichegru crossed the Lys at Deynse with the main body of his army, and striking south from thence encamped on the 27th at Huysse, between four and five miles north of June 27. Oudenarde. On that same night came a message from Coburg to the Duke of York that on the previous day June 26. he had made his attack on the French about Charleroi and had failed. This was the battle of Fleurus, which had been suddenly broken off by the Austrian com- mander before decisive advantage had been gained by either side; and it is still a question whether Coburg’s action was dictated by the requirements of Thugut’s policy or by his own military judgment. However that may be, he retreated in good order upon Brussels, halting on the 27th in a position running from Soignies June 27. on the west through Braine L’Alleud to Gembloux on

CH. XI HISTORY OF THE ARMY 283

On the morning of the 28th the enemy appeared in force before Oudenarde, showing every sign of making the dreaded movement across the river; and the Duke despatched orders to Moira to join Clerfaye immediately. For two days Pichegru continued his menaces on the Scheldt, and then suddenly on the evening» of the 30th he retired, having received orders from Paris to occupy Nieuport, Ostend, and the island of Walcheren in force, with a view to the invasion of England. Ostend, which, together with Nieuport, Henry Dundas had kept under his own orders, was evacuated in good time, while directions to that purport were still on their way from England. Moira’s instructions extended no further than to the defence of Ostend, but, in the critical circumstances of the case, he proposed to join his force to Clerfaye, and to act with him against the French left. Clerfaye at first welcomed the offer, but, on hearing of the misfortune of Fleurus, declared that he could make no engagement with the British whatever. This was unpleasant for Moira, who had counted on the help of the Austrians in protecting the transport of his camp- equipage on the canal from Bruges toGhent. The situa- tion was dangerous, for the French were in force at three different places within two hours’ march of the canal, bent upon preventing his junction with Clerfaye. Without a moment’s hesitation Moira sent his baggage northward

VOL. IV U

It cannot be said that either of them was sorry to take leave of the other. Even in 1793 their relations had not been too cordial, for the Austrians, in their jealousy, would never allow foreign troops to pass through their fortified towns, even during a forced march; and thus the British were frequently con- demned to make long and fatiguing detours. But the betrayal of the Duke of York’s column on the 18th of May, and the subsequent operations, deliberately con- trived to hasten the evacuation of the Netherlands, converted the dislike of the British for the Austrians into the bitterest hatred and contempt. At headquarters, again, the presence of a soldier such as Craig, with ideas far more enlightened than those of the Austrians, and with some means of insisting upon them through the medium of the Duke of York, can hardly have contributed to harmony. It may be added that the Austrian troops were as severe in their criticism of their chiefs, and particularly of Waldeck, as were any of the British, proclaiming loudly that the abandonment of Belgium was due to French gold.? In fact the Austrian army, between heavy losses and deep distrust of its leaders, was utterly demoralised ; nor is it sur- prising that this should have been so. It is indeed more than probable that, if Coburg had wished to make a stand after the action of Fleurus, his men would not have supported him. Of course Coburg had to bear the responsibility for all this, and to digest as best he might some very bitter reproaches from the Duke of

15–17 November 1796

Battle of Arcole

IRELAND

Napoleon’s Victories at Arcola

VOL. IV 2G

England; in the West Indies where, without proper 1795. clothing or comfort of any kind, they were exposed at the best to tropical sun, tropical rain, mosquitos, sand- flies, chigoes, and the myriad torments of the torrid zone, it was insufferable. For a few months they en- dured it, in conflict continually with a human enemy as dangerous and as cunning as a Red Indian ; but the best of them—the men that spared themselves least—soon fell dead, and the exhausted remnant refused to fight. The like was seen in Italy in 1796, where even the victorious remnant of Bonaparte’s army declined to follow him, when, standard in hand, he tried to lead them over the bridge of Arcola ; and the same story was repeated by the veterans of that same army in Egypt in 1801. There is a limit to human endurance, and what is pardoned to Bonaparte’s French in Italy must not be too harshly judged in the British soldier, who was subjected to a far harder trial, in the West Indies. Nor should we be less careful in criticism of the Generals. At first sight it seems blameworthy in them that they should not have sacrificed one or more of the islands for the greater security of the rest. But this would have signified either the removal of the whole population that remained loyal to the British, or the abandonment of them to massacre by the brigands. The former alternative would have been impossible for want of shipping ; the latter would have alienated every planter and loyal negro in the West Indies. Moreover, the despatches of the Secretary of State for War led the commanders constantly to expect large reinforce- ments from home, which encouraged them always to hope that another week of tenacity might be rewarded by the arrival of the promised succours. Again, the local legislatures of the various islands retained their powers in time of war ; and the civil Governors, under their com- missions as Commanders-in-chief, interfered whenever they possibly could with the conduct of operations. The legislature of Grenada even at the end of July, 1795, refused to permit martial law to be proclaimed, until

CH. XIX HISTORY OF THE ARMY 519

The various Acts had hardly been passed before there came news of further misfortune in Italy. The third force sent to relieve Mantua under General Alvintzy, after defeating Bonaparte at Caldiero on the 12th of November, had been beaten by him at Arcola on the 16th and 17th and finally driven back a Nov. 16-17. few days later. The victory of the French had not been decisive ; indeed the Directory regarded it as so doubtful that on the 25th they sent an emissary, Nov. 25. General Clarke, to Bonaparte to obtain from him pass- ports, so as to open negotiations for peace at Vienna. Meanwhile Lord Malmesbury’s overtures at Paris had been checked by a question from the French Directors whether he were empowered to act on behalf of the Court of Vienna as well as that of St. James’s. Malmesbury was obliged to refer to Grenville for the answer, and on the 7th of November Grenville wrote Nov. 7. to Sir Morton Eden insisting that Austria should take part in the negotiations in Paris, and threatening, in case of her refusal, that England would make a separate peace. This announcement roused Thugut to the highest pitch of anger and suspicion, and he resolved to break with England and to throw himself wholly upon Russia. The man, to do him justice, possessed courage, and was determined to fight on until he had attained his desires; wherefore he dismissed Clarke without listening to his proposals, and strained every nerve to reinforce Alvintzy for a fourth attempt to re- lieve Mantua. But Thugut was not destined so easily to free Austria from the golden chains that bound

14–15 January 1797

Battle of Rivoli

IRELAND

French Victory at Rivoli; Fall of Mantua . French Raid upon Fishguard ; Dundas’s Project for an Expedition to oar America .

CH. XIX HISTORY OF THE ARMY 519

This fearful danger, therefore, by great good fortune passed away ; but Camden’s nerve had not unnaturally been shaken by the safe coming and going of Hoche’s expedition, and he renewed his entreaties for reinforce- ments especially of regular troops. ‘ You know our nakedness in the matter of regular troops,” answered Portland plaintively ; ‘‘we could not have spared you above a thousand regular infantry unless we sent the Guards.” Shortly afterwards arrived more bad news from Italy. Alvintzy had made a fourth attempt to relieve Mantua, always upon the old false principles, had been beaten at Rivoli on the 14th of January, and had retired with an army in miserable plight and utterly - demoralised to Friuli and Innsbrtick.?, Mantua capitu- lated on the 2nd of February; and at Vienna all except Thugut were in blank despair. He was now more than ever embittered against England, for in December 1796 there had been delay, owing to financial difficulties in London, in payment of the loan promised to the Emperor. Those difficulties culminated in the third week in February, when the Bank of England was compelled to suspend cash-payments; but confidence was restored by an agreement of the principal bankers and merchants to accept bank-notes; and the restriction on cash-payments was shortly afterwards authorised by Act of Parliament.

3 December 1800

Battle of Hohenlinden

PAGE

Battle of Hohenlinden ; Austria sues for Peace at any Price.