of the French government, when more moderate measures were adopted, his indifference to the allied cause and his subsequent desertion of it would have had, at least, a greater appearance of consistency. On the contrary, his amicable disposition began to be discovered while the democratic faction still held the reins, and were guilty of the most excessive outrages against justice and humanity that ever disgraced the annals of any nation.-Could it have been supposed that an apprehension of pecuniary embarrassment, which he would feel in common with his allies, would so soon have induced him to desist from his attempts to remedy these tremendous evils, that he would so soon have relinquished the glorious enterprise of restoring monarchy in France, and giving security to other governments, and have resolved to leave them exposed to the incendiary efforts of a frantic troop, unless his services in the common cause should be dearly bought? This, however, was the real fact: and, in aggravation of his conduct, we now find him availing himself of the lavishness of the British government, the firmest and most valuable ally of his crown, by hiring out his troops to it at an immoderate price, while he was preparing for a reconciliation with France, that he might facilitate the execution of his views in Poland.—The nature of the treaty entered into by the Prussian monarch with the crown of England, having been already given in the English history, we need only add, that Frederic William sent his troops to the allied army, but that, from this time, he took no part in the war but as the subsidiary of Great Britain. We have already witnessed the enthusiasm which even the idea of liberty inspires, in the vast exertions of the French forces in the late campaign, with every advantage of well disciplined, veteran troops and experienced generals on the part of the allies: we have also seen it, in the present year, overpowering the enthusiastic ardour with which the Vendeans took the field for the support of the altar and the throne. And we shall now have occasion to remark the fatal effects arising from the same causes, favoured by the embarrassments which ensued from that opposition of interests and disunion of councils which are generally seen to be the bane of confederacies. The chief object of the French government now appears to have been, to extend the conquests which its forces had made in the low countries; and 1794 1794 and especially by such acquisitions of maritime fortresses and territories as might enable it to distress the allies by intercepting the communication between the confederate armies and England. With a view to the accomplishment of this, they augmented their forces in the Netherlands to above 200,000 men, and gave the command of them to Pichegru and Jourdan; generals who had recommended themselves to their appointments by their meritorious conduct in the late campaign.* The emperor dreaded the loss of his low-country provinces; the only part of his dominions calculated for foreign commerce. Therefore, when he was foiled in his attempt to rouse the spirit of patriotism in the German states; when he had endeavoured in vain to prevail on them to rise in a mass, to defend their frontier, to secure their rights, and restrain the progress of the French arms, he was constrained to rely on his own native strength: and, by a full exertion of it, with the assistance of Great Britain, his only steady ally, he was enabled to meet his enemy again on nearly equal terms. A campaign was now commencing which, in the opinion of the world, was to determine the fate of the Netherlands; an awful circumstance in itself, independent of its effects on the liberties and independency of Europe. At such a period, it might have been expected that a sense of the absolute necessity of unanimity and vigour, to give success to the confederates * The French armies were superior in numbers: but a great part of their troops were raised by virtue of the edict for rising in mass; whereas a greater portion of the Austrian and British troops were well-trained; and a considerable part of them were veteran troops, commanded by the ablest generals of the age.-The following statement is given us of the armies on each side. crown. confederates with such a disparity of force, would have induced them to repress all jealousy; and in particular, that a sense of the services which it had derived from the support of Great Britain would have disposed the house of Austria to make some sacrifice to the honour and interests of that On the contrary, when a council of war was held at Aeth,|| to settle a plan of operations, it was seen that the court of Vienna, not content with receiving the greatest benefit from the war, expected to have the sole direction of it.-A compliance with its wishes might, perhaps, have been advantageous to the common cause, by obviating the evils arising from distraction of councils and claims of precedency. But it was a matter in which the British court did not think it expedient to relinquish its pretensions. Some disputes arising between the duke of York and the Austrian generals relative to the chief command, after a reference to their respective courts, the matter was, at last, settled by his imperial majesty's consenting to take the field in person.* The emperor, after celebrating at Brussels his inauguration as duke of Brabant, to confirm the attachment of the people of that province to his person, reviewed the allied army, commanded, under himself, by the prince of Cobourg, the duke of York, the hereditary prince of Orange, and general Otto, at Cateau, and opened the campaign with the siege of Landrecies, a small but strong fortress in Hainault.†-When Pichegru was preparing for its relief, and had chosen an advantageous position for that purpose, the allies, divided into columns, attacked him with such impetuosity that, after a brave defence, they drove him from his intrenchments. -On the ensuing day,‡ a division of the enemy attacked the hereditary prince: but they were received with exemplary firmness and were forced to retreat. The same event attended an attack on the prince of Cobourg's division: general Alvinzy was forced to give way to the impetuosity of the enemy's onset; but the support given him by sir Robert Lawrie's cavalry turned the fortune of the action in favour of the allies. Each party now prepared for the greatest exertions.-Pichegru having chosen a strong position, called Cæsar's Camp, near Cambray, as an advantageous station for guarding the French frontier and receiving his expected reinforcements, 1794 || In March. + April 17. April 18. + April 21. Annual Register. 15. 1794 reinforcements, the allies hastened to give him battle before these should arrive. The duke of York, who gave the first attack, forced him to fall back to Cambray, after a well-fought action.-On the ensuing day the French general ordered separate attacks to be made on the divisions of the duke of York and prince Cobourg; which were conducted by his forces with their characteristic impetuosity: but they were foiled in both by the firmness of the allies.-Determined, if possible, to retrieve the honour which he had lost by these repulses, Pichegru attacked Clairfait's division at Moucron; and, after a desperate engagement, he succeeded in driving the Austrians from their ground. In consequence of this victory, Courtray and Menin fell into the hands of the French. But the allies were consoled under these losses by their success before Landrecies; which surrendered to them after a siege of thirteen days.† The war now daily grew warmer: each successive battle seemed to add to the animosity of the combatants.-Ten days after the affair of Moucron, Pichegru attacked the duke of York, with an army of 30,000 men near Tournay. Repeated and various assaults were made; but he was repulsed in all.—Defeat seemed only to exasperate the French general, and stimulate him to greater efforts. On the following day, he gave battle to Clairfait near Courtray. In the beginning of one of the severest battles fought in the course of this war, the Austrians had a manifest advantage; the French being obliged to retreat to Courtray, after sustaining the fight near twelve hours. But, although they had been constrained to give way, yet they rallied with the firmness of veterans; and, returning to the charge, they forced the Austrian general to abandon his ground. Clairfait, then, thinking only of defence, fell back into Flanders, and chose a position which enabled him to cover Ghent, Bruges, and Ostend. It was now seen, in the unexampled energy displayed by the French government, that although it was administered by a faction which had enslaved the nation, yet, from its peculiar circumstances, it had the advantages derived from the ardour which the idea of liberty inspires, together with the absolute command conveyed by despotism. The people, whose blind enthusiasm in the cause of the revolution prevented them from being sensible of their chains, paid enormous taxes, and submitted to the the levy in mass, with chearfulness, because they deemed these expedients essential to its success. And we find the administration wisely availing itself of these favourable circumstances. Knowing that their own fate depended on the success of their arms, they poured in such supplies of men as continually made good the great loss which their armies sustained in every action. Their generals, moreover, were animated with enthusiasm as well as rivalship in fame: and they succeeded not only by the judgment and military skill which their movements exhibited, but by the rapidity of them, which left their enemy no time to refresh or to recruit their armies. Four days after the battle near Tournay, Pichegru sent a strong body of troops across the Sambre to attack general Kaunitz, who was stationed to cover Mons. A hard-fought action ensued, † in the event of which the French were repulsed with the loss of 4000 men. This victory revived the spirits of the allies: and, in the confidence which it inspired, they formed a plan for forcing the enemy to abandon the conquests which they had made in the Austrian Netherlands.-With a view to this, it was determined in a council of war to attack the grand French army, which was encamped on the banks of the Margne, in five columns.However judicious the plan might be, it failed in the execution, either from the complex nature of it, or the want of a proper understanding among the several commanders, and the disadvantage which they laboured under from the intelligence given the French general of their intended movements. In the commencement of their operations, the two divisions under the duke of York and general Otto crossed the Sambre and made themselves master of several of the enemy's posts, after a stout resistance: but nothing material was, in the mean-time, done by the other divisions, to enable these to maintain their ground.-On the ensuing day, the French general renewed the battle with redoubled force, when the allies, jaded by their vast exertions, were unprepared to receive them.-A large body of troops was sent against Otto's division, at the same time that the British and Hanoverians were attacked in different quarters. Whilst perplexed and distressed by their complicated movements, the duke of York was surrounded by the numerous forces of the enemy. His troops behaved with their accustomed + May 14. VOL. III. 3 I + May 17. 1794 |