1.
French Revolutionary Wars
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The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of sweeping military conflicts, lasting from 1792 until 1802, resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted the French First Republic against Britain, Austria and several other monarchies and they are divided in two periods, the War of the First Coalition and the War of the Second Coalition. Initially confined to Europe, the fighting gradually assumed a global dimension as the political ambitions of the Revolution expanded, French success in these conflicts ensured the spread of revolutionary principles over much of Europe. The Revolutionary Wars began from increasing political pressure on King Louis XVI of France to prove his loyalty to the new direction France was taking. In the spring of 1792, France declared war on Prussia and Austria, the victory rejuvenated the French nation and emboldened the National Convention to abolish the monarchy. A series of victories by the new French armies abruptly ended with defeat at Neerwinden in the spring of 1793, by 1795, the French had captured the Austrian Netherlands and knocked Spain and Prussia out of the war with the Peace of Basel. A hitherto unknown general called Napoleon Bonaparte began his first campaign in Italy in April 1796, in less than a year, French armies under Napoleon decimated the Habsburg forces and evicted them from the Italian peninsula, winning almost every battle and capturing 150,000 prisoners. With French forces marching towards Vienna, the Austrians sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Campo Formio, the War of the Second Coalition began with the French invasion of Egypt, headed by Napoleon, in 1798. The Allies took the opportunity presented by the French strategic effort in the Middle East to regain territories lost from the First Coalition. The war began well for the Allies in Europe, where they pushed the French out of Italy and invaded Switzerland—racking up victories at Magnano, Cassano. However, their efforts largely unraveled with the French victory at Zurich in September 1799, meanwhile, Napoleons forces annihilated a series of Egyptian and Ottoman armies at the battles of the Pyramids, Mount Tabor, and Abukir. These victories and the conquest of Egypt further enhanced Napoleons popularity back in France, however, the Royal Navy had managed to inflict a humiliating defeat on the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, further strengthening British control of the Mediterranean. Napoleons arrival from Egypt led to the fall of the Directory in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, Napoleon then reorganized the French army and launched a new assault against the Austrians in Italy during the spring of 1800. This latest effort culminated in a decisive French victory at the Battle of Marengo in June 1800, another crushing French triumph at Hohenlinden in Bavaria forced the Austrians to seek peace for a second time, leading to the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. With Austria and Russia out of the war, the United Kingdom found itself increasingly isolated and agreed to the Treaty of Amiens with Napoleons government in 1802, concluding the Revolutionary Wars. The lingering tensions proved too difficult to contain, however, in 1789–1792, the entire governmental structure of France was transformed to fall into line with the Revolutionary principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. As a result, one of the first major elements of the French state to be restructured was the army, the transformation of the army was best seen in the officer corps. Before the revolution 90% had been nobility, compared to only 3% in 1794, Revolutionary fervour was high, and was closely monitored by the Committee of Public Safety, which assigned Representatives on Mission to keep watch on generals
2.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
3.
Horace Vernet
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Émile Jean-Horace Vernet was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist Arab subjects. Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another painter, who was himself a son of Claude Joseph Vernet. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French Revolution, Vernet quickly developed a disdain for the high-minded seriousness of academic French art influenced by Classicism, and decided to paint subjects taken mostly from contemporary culture. Therefore, he began depicting the French soldier in a familiar, vernacular manner rather than in an idealized. Some of his paintings that represent French soldiers in a direct, less idealizing style, include Dog of the Regiment, Trumpeters Horse. He gained recognition during the Bourbon Restoration for a series of paintings commissioned by the duc dOrleans. Critics marvelled at the speed with which he painted. Many of his paintings made during early phase of his career were noted for their historical accuracy as well as their charged landscapes. Examples of paintings in style include his Four Battles series, The Battle of Jemappes, The Battle of Montmirail, The Battle of Hanau. Over the course of his career, Horace Vernet was honoured with dozens of important commissions. King Louis-Philippe was one of his most prolific patrons and his depictions of Algerian battles, such as the Capture of the Smahla and the Capture of Constantine, were well-received, as they were vivid depictions of the French army in the heat of battle. After the fall of the July Monarchy during the Revolution of 1848 and he continued to paint representations of the heroic French army during the Second Empire and maintained his commitment to representing war in an accessible and realistic way. He accompanied the French Army during the Crimean War, producing paintings, including one of the Battle of the Alma. Vernet died in his hometown of Paris in 1863, in Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter Holmes claims to be related to Vernet, stating, My ancestors were country squires. Was the sister of Vernet, the French artist, without further clarifying whether this is Claude Joseph Vernet, Carle Vernet, or Horace Vernet. Harkett, Daniel and Katie Hornstein, eds, Horace Vernet and the Thresholds of Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture. Dartmouth College Press/University Press of New England Ruutz-Rees, Janet E. Horace Vernet, works by Horace Vernet at Open Library
4.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
7.
French First Republic
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In the history of France, the First Republic, officially the French Republic, was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, under the Legislative Assembly, which was in power before the proclamation of the First Republic, France was engaged in war with Prussia and Austria. The foreign threat exacerbated Frances political turmoil amid the French Revolution and deepened the passion, in the violence of 10 August 1792, citizens stormed the Tuileries Palace, killing six hundred of the Kings Swiss guards and insisting on the removal of the king. A renewed fear of action prompted further violence, and in the first week of September 1792, mobs of Parisians broke into the citys prisons. This included nobles, clergymen, and political prisoners, but also numerous common criminals, such as prostitutes and petty thieves, many murdered in their cells—raped, stabbed and this became known as the September Massacres. The resulting Convention was founded with the purpose of abolishing the monarchy. The Conventions first act, on 10 August 1792, was to establish the French First Republic, the King, by then a private citizen bearing his family name of Capet, was subsequently put on trial for crimes of high treason starting in December 1792. On 16 January 1793 he was convicted, and on 21 January, throughout the winter of 1792 and spring of 1793, Paris was plagued by food riots and mass hunger. The new Convention did little to remedy the problem until late spring of 1793, despite growing discontent with the National Convention as a ruling body, in June the Convention drafted the Constitution of 1793, which was ratified by popular vote in early August. The Committees laws and policies took the revolution to unprecedented heights, after the arrest and execution of Robespierre in July 1794, the Jacobin club was closed, and the surviving Girondins were reinstated. A year later, the National Convention adopted the Constitution of the Year III and they reestablished freedom of worship, began releasing large numbers of prisoners, and most importantly, initiated elections for a new legislative body. On 3 November 1795, the Directory was established, the period known as the French Consulate began with the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799. Members of the Directory itself planned the coup, indicating clearly the failing power of the Directory, Napoleon Bonaparte was a co-conspirator in the coup, and became head of the government as the First Consul. He would later proclaim himself Emperor of the French, ending the First French Republic and ushering in the French First Empire
8.
Habsburg Monarchy
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen
9.
War of the First Coalition
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France declared war on the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792. In July 1792, an army under the Duke of Brunswick and composed mostly of Prussians joined the Austrian side and invaded France, France suffered reverses and internal strife and responded with draconian measures. The Committee of Public Safety formed and the en masse drafted all potential soldiers aged 18 to 25. The new French armies counterattacked, repelled the invaders, and advanced beyond France, the French established the Batavian Republic as a sister republic and gained Prussian recognition of French control of the Left Bank of the Rhine by the first Peace of Basel. With the Treaty of Campo Formio, the Holy Roman Empire ceded the Austrian Netherlands to France, Spain made a separate peace accord with France and the French Directory carried out plans to conquer more of the Holy Roman Empire. The First Coalition collapsed, leaving only Britain in the fighting against France. The key figure, the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, brother to the French Queen Marie Antoinette, had looked on the Revolution calmly. He became more concerned as the Revolution grew further radical, although he hoped to avoid war. Dumouriez prepared an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands, where he expected the population to rise against Austrian rule. However, the revolution had thoroughly disorganized the French army, which had insufficient forces for the invasion and its soldiers fled at the first sign of battle, deserting en masse, in one case murdering General Théobald Dillon. While the revolutionary government frantically raised fresh troops and reorganized its armies, in July 1792 the invasion commenced. Brunswicks army, composed mostly of Prussian veterans, took the fortresses of Longwy, although the battle was a tactical draw, it bought time for the revolutionaries and gave a great boost to French morale. Dumouriez went on the offensive in Belgium once again, winning a victory over the Austrians at Jemappes on 6 November 1792. On 21 January the revolutionary government executed Louis XVI after a trial and this united all European governments, including Spain, Naples, and the Netherlands against the Revolution. France declared war against Britain and the Netherlands on 1 February 1793, in the course of the year 1793 the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Portugal and Naples, and the Grand-Duke of Tuscany declared war against France. Thus the First Coalition was formed, the French government sent Citizen Genet to the United States to encourage them into entering the war on Frances side. The newly formed nation refused and remained throughout the conflict. After a victory in the Battle of Neerwinden in March, the Austrians suffered twin defeats at the battles of Wattignies, British land forces were defeated at the Battle of Hondschoote in September
10.
Battle of Valmy
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The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris, generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. The outcome was unexpected by contemporary observers – a vindication for the French revolutionaries. The victory emboldened the newly assembled National Convention to formally declare the end of monarchy in France, Valmy permitted the development of the Revolution and all its resultant ripple-effects, and for that it is regarded by historians as one of the most significant battles in history. As the French Revolution continued, the monarchies of Europe became concerned that revolutionary fervor would spread to their countries, the War of the First Coalition was an effort to stop the revolution, or at least contain it to France. King Frederick William II of Prussia had the support of Great Britain, the French commander Charles Dumouriez, meanwhile, had been marching his army northeast to attack the Austrian Netherlands, but this plan was abandoned because of the more immediate threat to Paris. A second army under General François Kellermann was ordered to link up with him in a mutual defense and these veterans provided a professional core to steady the enthusiastic volunteer battalions. Combined, Dumouriez Army of the North and Kellermanns Army of the Centre totalled approximately 54,000 troops. Heading towards them was Brunswicks coalition army of about 84,000, all veteran Prussian and Austrian troops augmented by large complements of Hessians and the French royalist Army of Condé. The invading army handily captured Longwy on 23 August and Verdun on 2 September, in response, Dumouriez halted his advance to the Netherlands and reversed course, approaching the enemy army from its rear. From Metz, Kellermann moved to his assistance, joining him at the village of Sainte-Menehould on 19 September, the French forces were now east of the Prussians, behind their lines. The unfavorable situation was compounded by bad weather and an increase in sickness among the troops. With few other options available, Brunswick turned back and prepared to do battle, the troops trudged laboriously through a heavy downpour – rain as of the days of Noah, in the words of Thomas Carlyle. Brunswick headed through the northern woods believing he could cut off Dumouriez, at the moment when the Prussian manœuvre was nearly completed, Kellermann advanced his left wing and took up a position on the slopes between Sainte-Menehould and Valmy. His command centered around an old windmill, and his veteran artillerists were well-placed upon its accommodating rise to begin the so-called Cannonade of Valmy, Brunswick moved toward them with about 34,000 of his troops. As they emerged from the woods, a gunnery duel ensued. The Prussian infantry made a cautious, and fruitless, effort to advance under fire across the open ground, as the Prussians wavered, a pivotal moment was reached when Kellermann raised his hat and made his famous cry of Vive la Nation. The cry was repeated again and again by all the French army, the French troops sang La Marseillaise and Ça Ira, and a cheer went up from the French line
11.
Siege of Lille (1792)
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The Siege of Lille saw a Republican French garrison under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie hold Lille against an assault by a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Though the city was bombarded, the French successfully withstood the Austrian attack in the War of the First Coalition action. Because the Austrians were unable to encircle the city, the French were able to continuously send in reinforcements. After news of the French victory over the Prussians at Valmy, Albert withdrew his troops, the next battle was at Jemappes in November. The Column of the Goddess monument was completed in 1845 to commemorate the siege, after the Kingdom of France captured Lille in 1668, the famous military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban was ordered to improve its defenses. The five-sided citadel was constructed between 1668 and 1672 at a cost of 1,500,000 florins and the result was announced by Vauban to be the Queen of Citadels. The citadel was surrounded by marshes, except where it adjoined the city, in 1670, parts of the old walls were torn down to make room for new fortifications. When the work was done, Lille was protected by 16 bastions, Vauban estimated that 12,000 soldiers were required to defend the huge fortifications, including 1,000 manning the citadel. On 19 August, Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette left his command at the Army of the North, on 17 August, the increasingly radicalized French Legislative Assembly had demanded that La Fayette report to Paris for questioning and on the 19th he was charged with treason. Not understanding that his enemies wanted to guillotine him, the Prussians and Austrians imprisoned La Fayette until 1797. His replacement in command was the more astute Charles François Dumouriez. Dumouriez dreamed of an invasion of the Austrian Netherlands. On 24 August, the politically-connected François Joseph Westermann arrived at headquarters with the news that Longwy had fallen to the Coalition the day before after a feeble defense, the Coalition forces bombarded Longwy into submission then gained a quick triumph in the Battle of Verdun on 2 September. At last Dumouriez realized that Brunswick might be headed to Paris and he also ordered Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville to join him with 10,000 soldiers from the Army of the North and Blaise Duval to bring 3,050 more. The Battle of Valmy occurred on 20 September, after which Brunswick withdrew from France, with Dumouriez absent, the French only had 6,000 troops under René Joseph Lanoue to defend Maubeuge. There were 4,000 soldiers led by Jacques Henri Moreton Chabrillant spread between Bruille-Saint-Amand, Saint-Amand-les-Eaux and Orchies as well as 4, 000–5,000 men in the Camp of Maulde. Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen decided to divert French strength away from Brunswicks invasion by launching attacks on the enemies before him, Saxe-Teschen counted 51 infantry battalions and 40 cavalry squadrons of which 14 battalions were in garrisons. On 3 September Anton Sztáray threatened Philippeville while Johann Peter Beaulieu menaced Quiévrain, when Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour advanced from Tournai toward Lille on 5 September, Moreton abandoned the Camp of Maulde and fell back behind the Scarpe River
12.
Flanders Campaign
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The Flanders Campaign was conducted from 6 November 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the French Revolutionary Wars. A coalition of states mobilised military forces all the French frontiers, with the intention to invade Revolutionary France. The largest of these forces assembled on the Franco-Flemish border, 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 the south of the Netherlands and Germany, the Austrians pulled back to the lower Rhine and the British to Hanover from where they were eventually evacuated. Austria and Prussia had been at war with France since 1792, although Britain, 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. 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 immediate aim was to eject the French from the Dutch Republic. Austria and Prussia broadly supported this aim, but both were short of money, initially, just fifteen hundred troops landed with York in February 1793. The Duke of York was obliged to follow objectives set by Pitts 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 condition, its States Army not having fought in a war for 45 years. Williams main concern therefore was the preservation of the House of Orange, 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. The price of failure or disloyalty was the guillotine, as the Austrians retreated, Dumouriez saw an opportunity with the Patriot exiles 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, on 16 February Dumouriezs republican Armée du Nord advanced from Antwerp and invaded Dutch Brabant. Dutch forces fell back to the line of the Meuse abandoning the fortress of Breda after a siege. Within nine days an initial British guards brigade had assembled and dispatched across the English Channel, landing at Hellevoetsluis under the command of general Lake. Meanwhile, while Dumouriez moved north into Brabant, a army under Francisco de Miranda laid siege to Maastricht on 23 February. However the Austrians had been reinforced to 39,000 and, now commanded by Saxe-Coburg, crossed the Ruhr River on 1 March, the next day the Austrians took Aachen before reaching Maastricht on the Meuse and forcing Miranda to lift the siege
13.
Chouannerie
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It played out in three phases and lasted from the spring of 1794 until 1800. The uprising was caused by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy. A first uprising attempt was carried out by the Association bretonne to defend the French monarchy and reinstate the specific laws, the first confrontations broke out in 1792 and evolved to a peasant revolt, then to guerrilla warfare and eventually to full-scale battles until the Republican victory in 1800. Shorter peasant uprisings in other such as in Aveyron and Lozère were also qualified as chouanneries. A petite chouannerie broke out in 1815 during the Hundred Days, the following spring, in the area around Quimper, a justice of the peace led several parishes in a rising in the name of King Louis XVI against the local authorities. During the summer of 1792, incidents occurred in the districts of Carhaix, Lannion, Pontrieux, Craon, Château-Gontier and Laval, at Saint-Ouën-des-Toits, in the district of Laval, Jean Cottereau led the insurgents. His nickname probably came from his imitation of the call of the tawny owl for a recognition-signal, a reward was put on his head, but nevertheless he reached England in March 1793. The republican administration recognised him and his brother as the leaders of the revolt, in January 1794, the Vendeans of the Vendée militaire, following the setback of the Virée de Galerne, tried to resist the infernal columns of General Turreau. During this time, groups of Chouans north of the Loire took up again in the areas crossed by the Vendeans. The Chouannerie was born on the borders of the Mayenne and of the Ille-et-Vilaine, near Fougères, Vitré, condemned to live in almost total secrecy, the Chouans knew that being captured by the Republicans would mean certain death. Most of them were motivated by a desire to avenge their relatives who had disappeared in the Virée de Galerne, in guerilla warfare, Chouans in groups of a few score or a few hundred men ambushed military detachments, couriers and stagecoaches carrying government funds. They attacked Republican towns, executed informers, constitutional priests and republicans, to oppose the Chouans, Republicans built strongholds or fortified towns which were defended by local territorial guards. They were led by general Jean Antoine Rossignol, chief commander of the Army of the Coasts of Brest, a law enacted on 23 March 1793 mandated that captured insurgents should be executed by firing squad or by guillotine within twenty-four hours. Rossignol also assembled groups of Fake Chouan outlaws in order to do as much as possible to discredit the real Chouans, murders were carried out throughout the whole war with a varying degree of intensity. For example, in the district of Fougères, in conflict between some 2,000 Chouans and a number of Republicans,219 people were assassinated or executed by Chouans and 300 by Republicans. This did not include deaths during fights, summary executions on the battlefield, the Chouannerie spread quickly to Brittany and reached the Côtes-dArmor, dominated by the Chevalier de Boishardy. On 15 March it reached Morbihan where Joseph de Fay and Béjarry assisted by Pierre Guillemot incited a peasant uprising aimed at Vannes, the insurgents were easily countered by the Republicans at the battle of Mangolérian. However, in the Finistère and the west of the Côtes-dArmor, the Basse-Cornouaille, the Léon, georges Cadoudal and Pierre-Mathurin Mercier, nicknamed la Vendée, rescued from the battle of Savenay, moved to the Morbihan where Boulainvilliers was appointed general-in-chief of the département
14.
War of the Pyrenees
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The War of the Pyrenees, also known as War of Roussillon or War of the Convention, was the Pyrenean front of the First Coalitions war against the First French Republic. It pitted Revolutionary France against the kingdoms of Spain and Portugal from March 1793 to July 1795 during the French Revolutionary Wars, the war was fought in the eastern Pyrenees, the western Pyrenees, at the French port of Toulon, and at sea. In 1793, a Spanish army invaded Roussillon in the eastern Pyrenees, the French army drove the Spanish back into Catalonia and inflicted a serious defeat on it in November 1794. After February 1795, the war in the eastern Pyrenees became a stalemate, in the western Pyrenees, the French began to win in 1794. By 1795, the French army controlled a portion of northeast Spain, the war was brutal in at least two ways. First, the Committee of Public Safety decreed that all French royalist prisoners be executed, Second, French generals who lost battles or otherwise displeased the all-powerful representatives-on-mission were sent to prison or the guillotine with alarming frequency. Army of the Eastern Pyrenees commanders and generals were especially unlucky in this regard, on 21 January 1793, the National Convention of France executed King Louis XVI of France by guillotine, enraging the other monarchs of Europe. France was already at war with Habsburg Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia, after winning the Battle of Jemappes, the French army occupied the Austrian Netherlands. Emboldened, the government decreed annexation of the territory, provoking a diplomatic break with Great Britain, on 1 February, France declared war on Britain and the Dutch Republic. On 7 March, France declared war on her ancient ally Spain, Spanish forces took part in the Siege of Toulon, which lasted from 18 September to 18 December 1793. The French were led by Dugommier while the Anglo-Spanish defenders were commanded by Admirals Juan de Lángara, Federico Gravina, Samuel Hood, the Allies abandoned the port after a young officer of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte took the fleets anchorage under cannon fire. The French navy lost 14 ships of the burned and 15 more captured. French casualties numbered 2,000 while Allied losses were twice as great, afterward, the victors massacred up to 2,000 French Royalists taken as prisoners. The Action of 14 February 1795 in the Gulf of Roses was a defeat for the French navy, at the outbreak of war, King Charles IV of Spain appointed Captain General Antonio Ricardos to command the Army of Catalonia in the eastern Pyrenees. Ricardos invaded the Cerdagne and captured Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans on 17 April 1793, three days later, he routed a French force at Céret on the Tech River. In despair, the elderly French commander in charge of Roussillon, on 30 April, the French government split the Army of the Pyrenees into the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees and the Army of the Western Pyrenees. In the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May 1793, Ricardos defeated Louis-Charles de Flers and this allowed the Spanish to invest the Fort de Bellegarde on 23 May. The Siege of Bellegarde ended when the French garrison surrendered on 24 June, in the Battle of Perpignan on 17 July, de Flers turned back the Spanish, though French losses were heavier
15.
Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars
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The War of the First Coalition broke out in autumn 1792, when several European powers formed an alliance against Republican France. The first major operation was the annexation of Nice by 30,000 French troops and this was reversed in mid-1793, when the Republican forces were withdrawn to deal with a revolt in Lyon, triggering a counter-invasion of Savoy by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. The conflict soon escalated with Austrian and Neapolitan forces being mobilised for an invasion of southern France to recover Nice, the Allied forces were bolstered by some 45,000 Austrians, Piedmontese, and Neapolitans, with additional support from the British Royal Navy. This two-pronged French offensive drove back the Allied force, despite their strong positions, a new offensive, again devised by General Bonaparte, was similarly successful despite its more complicated nature, calling for the co-ordination of the Army of Italy and the Army of the Alps. Further French assaults on the Allied positions were called off under orders from war minister Carnot, the commanders in the field were unhappy about this decision, but appeals were interrupted by the overthrow of the Committee of Public Safety and its leader, Maximilien de Robespierre. During the political chaos ensued in the French army, the Allies launched an assault on Savona. Ignoring Carnots orders, the commander of the Army of Italy launched a counter-offensive, following this the French consolidated the front and awaited further opportunities. The main focus of the war then shifted north to the Rhine, until 29 June 1795, nominally 107, 000-strong, the Army of Italy could only manage to field an effective force of about 30,000. Kellermann, who had resumed command, appealed to Carnot for reinforcements, instead, General Bonaparte was appointed to the general staff where he devised a third plan for an attack towards Vado and Ceva. Kellermann was replaced by General Schérer soon after and he carried out the attacks, following a short respite in hostilities Schérer resigned and Bonaparte was appointed commander-in-chief on 2 March 1796. The motives for Bonapartes appointment were most likely political, on 9 March, Bonaparte had married Joséphine de Beauharnais, who had shared her imprisonment with the woman who had become wife to Tallien, one of the then Directors of the French Republic. It was universally believed that Josephine had been introduced by her friend to the First Director, Barras, josephines letters claim Barras had promised the command to Bonaparte, before shed consented to marry him. Barras is cited by his colleagues as saying of Bonaparte, Advance this man or he will advance himself without you, Bonaparte had shown himself to be highly ambitious and had made a name for himself following 13 Vendémiaire in 1795. Bonaparte launched attacks almost immediately after he arrived on the front on 27 March and his 37,000 men and 60 guns were facing more than 50,000 Allied troops in the theatre. His only chance of support came from Kellermanns Army of the Alps, Bonaparte had no chance of gaining reinforcements as the Republican war effort was being concentrated on the massive offensives planned on the Rhine. At the Battle of Montenotte Bonaparte defeated the Austrians and fought a second engagement around Dego soon after, following these battles he launched an all-out invasion of Piedmont and won a further victory at Mondovì. Piedmont was forced to accept the Armistice of Cherasco on 28 April, knocking it out of the war and it had taken Bonaparte just a month to defeat Piedmont, a country which had resisted the French armies for over three years. Total loses during the campaign were 6,000 French troops
16.
Atlantic campaign of May 1794
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The French lost seven battleships, the British none, but the battle distracted the British fleet long enough for the French convoy to safely reach port. By the spring of 1794, the French Republic, under the rule of the National Convention, was at war with all its neighbours. However, political upheaval had severely reduced the French Navys ability to fight coherently and supply shortages had devastated its morale, significantly weakening the fleet. Britain, by contrast, was at a state of readiness with a well-organised command structure. The French Atlantic Fleet, under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse, was tasked with keeping the British Channel Fleet occupied long enough for the convoy to reach France safely. For over a week the two battlefleets manoeuvred around one another, Villaret drawing Howe deeper westwards into the Atlantic and away from the convoy. Two partial but inconclusive fleet actions on 28 and 29 May followed, during which Howe seized the weather gage from Villaret, granting him freedom to choose the time and place of his next attack. The culminating action of the campaign took place over 400 nautical miles into the Atlantic and this final engagement saw Howe use the weather gage to attack Villaret directly while his opponent attempted to fight in a traditional line of battle formation. In the battle, the British fleet inflicted a defeat on the French after a bitterly contested day of fighting. Forcing Villaret to retreat, Howes force captured seven French battleships, one of which later sank, Villaret however, claimed strategic success as his delaying tactics had bought enough time for the convoy to reach France safely. In the winter of 1793, war and internal disorder had combined with poor weather to leave France facing starvation following the collapse of the harvest. Frances ongoing conflict with her neighbours precluded overland imports, the only nation willing, importing food from the Americas was a highly risky venture, as the British Royal Navy—at war with France since early 1793—patrolled much of the Atlantic passage. To provide effective protection for the vessels involved, a plan was agreed between France and the United States to collect the supplies over a period of months and transport them in a single convoy, a gathering point was arranged at Hampton Roads in the Chesapeake Bay. A squadron commanded by Admiral Pierre Vanstabel was dispatched to Hampton Roads to provide escort, Vanstabel would bring the convoy to the Bay of Biscay, where a second squadron under Joseph-Marie Nielly would reinforce him for the rest of the journey. Together, these officers mustered six ships of the line and numerous smaller craft, the main French battlefleet of 25 ships under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse would cruise the Bay of Biscay in order to challenge the British Channel Fleet if it attempted to intercept the supplies. The convoys passage was expected to take two months, and it included 117 merchant ships carrying enough food to feed France for a year. Lord Howe, admiral of the British Channel Fleet, was aware of the nature and destination long before it left the Chesapeake. April 1794 was a month of fevered activity on both sides of the English Channel as Villaret and Howe made their preparations for the coming campaign
17.
Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder
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After an extraordinary charge across the frozen Zuiderzee, the French cavalry captured 14 Dutch ships and 850 guns. A capture of ships by horsemen is a rare feat in military history. However, some say that no battle actually took place. The French units were the 8th Hussar Regiment and the 15th Line Infantry Regiment of the French Revolutionary Army, jean-Charles Pichegru was the leader of the French army that invaded the Dutch Republic. The Dutch fleet was commanded by H. Reintjes, the actual capture was accomplished by Jean-Guillaume de Winter and Louis Joseph Lahure. The action happened during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, Den Helder is located at the tip of the North Holland peninsula, south of the island of Texel, on what was then the shallow Zuiderzee bay. The Zuiderzee has been closed off and partly pumped out in the 20th century, the French Army entered Amsterdam on the 19 January 1795 to stay there over winter. Well informed, the found out that a Dutch fleet was anchored at Den Helder. The winter of 1794–1795 was exceptionally cold, causing the Zuiderzee to freeze, Pichegru ordered General of Brigade Jean-Guillaume de Winter to lead a squadron of the 8th Hussar. De Winter had been serving with the French since 1787, General de Winter arrived at Den Helder with his troops during the night of the 23 January 1795. The Dutch fleet was there as expected, trapped by ice, each hussar had brought on the croup of his horse an infantryman of the 15th Line Infantry Regiment. After a careful approach to awakening the Dutch sailors, Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Joseph Lahure launched the assault. The ice did not break, and the hussars and infantrymen were able to board the Dutch ships, the French captured the Dutch admiral and the vessels crews, the French suffered no casualties. The traditional narrative of French cavalry storming and capturing the ships at Den Helder is primarily based off French sources, however, the Dutch historian Johannes de Jonge claimed that the Dutch fleet had already received orders on the 21st of January to offer no resistance. Instead, some French hussars merely crossed the ice for a meeting with the Dutch officers to negotiate a handover, the legend of a capture on the ice is likely based on an 1819 publication by the Swiss general Antoine-Henri Jomini. The capture completed, the French conquest of the Netherlands was brought to an end and the French Army captured 14 warships,850 guns and it is one of the only times in recorded military history wherein cavalry captured a fleet. The ships of the line, frigates, and corvettes received French crews in February 1795, france returned all her prizes to the Batavian Republic in May 1795 against a payment of 100 million Florins. The incident occurred during the Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland and it took place on a sandbank near the channel between Texel and the mainland that was known as De Vlieter, near Wieringen
18.
Rhine Campaign of 1796
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After sending large reinforcements to Italy in May, Austria was forced onto the defensive. Both French armies penetrated deeply into southern Germany in August, in battles at Amberg on 24 August and Würzburg on 3 September Charles defeated Jourdan and compelled his army to retreat to the west bank of the Rhine. With Jourdan neutralized, Charles left Franz von Werneck to keep an eye on the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse, Moreau briskly repulsed Latour at Biberach and safely reached the Rhine before Charles cut him off from France. However, in the battles of Emmendingen and Schliengen in October, during the winter the Austrians reduced the French bridgeheads at Kehl and Huningue. Despite Charles splendid success in Germany, Austria was losing the war in Italy to a new French army commander named Napoleon Bonaparte, in a decree on 6 January 1796, Lazare Carnot gave Germany priority over Italy as a theater of war. Jean Baptiste Jourdan commanding the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse was instructed to besiege Mainz, farther south, Jean Victor Marie Moreau leading the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle was ordered to mask Mannheim and invade Swabia. On the secondary front, Napoleon Bonaparte was to invade Italy, neutralize the Kingdom of Sardinia, hopefully, the Italian army would cross the Alps via the County of Tyrol and join the other French armies in crushing the Austrian forces in southern Germany. By the spring of 1796, Jourdan and Moreau each had 70,000 men while Bonapartes army numbered 63,000, including reserves and garrisons. Additionally, François Christophe de Kellermann counted 20,000 troops in the Army of the Alps, the First French Republics finances were in poor shape so its armies were expected to invade new territories and then live off the conquered lands. At the end of the Rhine Campaign of 1795 the two called a truce. This accord lasted until 20 May 1796 when the Austrians announced that it would end on 31 May, the Army of the Lower Rhine was commanded by the 25-year-old Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and counted 90,000 troops. The 20, 000-man right wing under Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg was on the east bank of the Rhine behind the Sieg River observing the French bridgehead at Düsseldorf, the garrisons of Mainz Fortress and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress counted 10,000 more. The remainder of Charles army was posted on the west bank behind the Nahe River, dagobert Sigmund von Wurmser led the 80, 000-strong Army of the Upper Rhine. Its right wing occupied Kaiserslautern on the west bank while the wing under Anton Sztáray, Michael von Fröhlich and Louis Joseph. The original Austrian strategy was to capture Trier and to use their position on the west bank to strike at each of the French armies in turn, however, Wurmser was sent to Italy with 25,000 reinforcements after news arrived of Bonapartes early successes. In the new situation, the Aulic Council gave Archduke Charles command over both Austrian armies and ordered him to hold his ground. At the start of the campaign, the 80, 000-man Army of Sambre-et-Meuse held the west bank of the Rhine down to the Nahe, on the armys left flank, Jean Baptiste Kléber had 22,000 troops in an entrenched camp at Düsseldorf. Carnots grand plan called for the two French armies to press against the Austrian flanks, but first, Jourdans army would push south from Düsseldorf
19.
Battle of Kehl (1796)
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In this action of the War of the First Coalition, the French drove the Swabians from their positions in Kehl and subsequently controlled the bridgehead on both sides of the Rhine. In the 1790s, the Rhine was wild, unpredictable, and difficult to cross, in places more than four or more times wider than it is in the twenty-first century. Its channels and tributaries wound through marsh and meadow and created islands of trees, the fortifications at Kehl and Strasbourg had been constructed by the fortress architect Sébastien le Préstre de Vauban in the seventeenth century. The crossings had been contested before, in 1678 during the French-Dutch war, in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession, critical to success of the French plan would be the armys ability to cross the Rhine at will. At the end of the Rhine Campaign of 1795, the two called a truce, which lasted until 20 May 1796, when the Austrians announced that it would end on 31 May. The Rhine River flows west along the border between the German states and the Swiss Cantons, a few miles north and east of Basel, the terrain flattens. In 1796, the plain on both sides of the river, some 19 miles wide, was dotted with villages and farms, at both far edges of the flood plain, especially on the eastern side, the old mountains created dark shadows on the horizon. Tributaries cut through the terrain of the Black Forest, creating deep defiles in the mountains. The tributaries then wind in rivulets through the plain to the river. The Rhine River itself looked different in the 1790s than it does in the twenty-first century, between 1927 and 1975, a canal was constructed to control the water level. In the 1790s, the river was wild and unpredictable, in places four or more times wider than the twenty-first century incarnation of the river. Its channels wound through marsh and meadow, and created islands of trees and it was crossable at Kehl, by Strasbourg, and Hüningen, by Basel, where systems of viaducts and causeways made access reliable. The German-speaking states on the east bank of the Rhine were part of the vast complex of territories in central Europe called the Holy Roman Empire, the considerable number of territories in the Empire included more than 1,000 entities. When viewed on a map, the Empire resembled a patchwork carpet, both the Habsburg domains and Hohenzollern Prussia also included territories outside the Empire. There were also territories completely surrounded by France that belonged to Württemberg, the Archbishopric of Trier, archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen and brother of the Holy Roman Emperor, served as commander-in-chief. In total, Charles’ troops stretched in a line from Switzerland to the North Sea, compared to French coverage, Charles had half the number of troops covering a 211-mile front, stretching from Renchen, near Basel to Bingen. To the north, Wilhelm von Wartensleben’s autonomous corps stretched in a line between Mainz and Giessen. It was an army entirely dependent for support upon the countryside it occupied for provisions, until 1796, wages were paid in the worthless assignat, after April 1796, although pay was made in metallic value, wages were still in arrears
20.
Battle of Ettlingen
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The Austrians under Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen tried to halt the northward advance of Jean Victor Marie Moreaus French Army of Rhin-et-Moselle along the east bank of the Rhine River. After a tough fight, the Austrian commander found that his left flank was turned and he conceded victory to the French and retreated east toward Stuttgart. Ettlingen is located 10 kilometres south of Karlsruhe, the Rhine Campaign of 1796 saw Moreaus army facing the Austrian Army of the Upper Rhine under Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour in the south. Meanwhile, Jean-Baptiste Jourdans French Army of Sambre-et-Meuse opposed the Army of the Lower Rhine under Archduke Charles in the north, Jourdan drubbed Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg at Altenkirchen on 4 June, compelling Archduke Charles to rush to the rescue with reinforcements. Charles defeated Jourdan at Wetzlar on the 15th, forcing him to back to the west bank of the Rhine. At this time there was a shake up in the high command, in Charles absence, Moreau successfully crossed the Rhine at Kehl on the night of 23–24 June and beat Latour at Rastatt on 5 July. Leaving Wilhelm von Wartensleben in charge in the north, Charles rushed south to confront Moreau along the Alb River near Ettlingen. After an all-day combat, the Austrians held the advantage on their right wing near Malsch, the Army of the Lower Rhine had a 20, 000-strong right wing under Duke Ferdinand Frederick Augustus of Württemberg on the east bank observing the French bridgehead at Düsseldorf. The archdukes remaining 70,000 troops lay on the west bank along the Nahe River with powerful garrisons in Mainz and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. The Army of Rhin-et-Moselle led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau was deployed with its right flank at Huningue, its center on the Queich River, the French grand strategy designed by Minister of War Lazare Carnot was for each of their two armies to turn the Austrian flanks. The strategic plan called for Jourdan to start by advancing by his wing and was designed to accomplish two goals. First, it was hoped that this would cause the Austrians to abandon the west bank of the Rhine, second, the move would draw Austrian strength north and allow Moreaus army a better chance to cross the Rhine in the south. Until this time, the Army of Rhine-et-Moselle consisted of independent divisions, when Moreau assumed command he reorganized the army into three corps or wings plus a small reserve. Over the objections of all three men, he named Louis Desaix, Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr and Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino wing commanders, the system soon proved its worth. Moreaus other innovation was to many of the heavy cavalry regiments in the army reserve. The Chasseurs à Cheval, Dragoon and Hussar regiments remained attached to the infantry divisions, on 8 June, Ferinos Right Wing had three divisions led by François Antoine Louis Bourcier, Henri François Delaborde and Augustin Tuncq. Desaixs Center had three divisions commanded by Michel de Beaupuy, Antoine Guillaume Delmas and Charles Antoine Xaintrailles, Saint-Cyrs Left Wing had two divisions under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme and Alexandre Camille Taponier. Altogether, Moreaus Army of Rhin-et-Moselle numbered 71,581 foot soldiers and 6,515 cavalry, counting artillery and other elements, Moreaus total was 79,592 soldiers while Jourdan commanded 77,792 men
21.
Battle of Neresheim
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The Battle of Neresheim saw a victory of Republican French army under Jean Victor Marie Moreau over the Habsburg Austrian army of Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen. Pursued by Moreaus Army of Rhin-et-Moselle, Charles launched an attack against the French, while the Austrian left wing saw some success, the battle degenerated into a stalemate and the archduke withdrew further into the Electorate of Bavaria. Neresheim is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany a distance of 57 kilometres northeast of Ulm, the action took place during the War of the First Coalition, part of a larger conflict called the French Revolutionary Wars. In the Rhine Campaign of 1796, two French armies successfully breached the Rhine River to invade Germany, Moreaus army in the south, Charles hoped to concentrate superior strength against one of the two French armies. To keep his enemies separated, the archduke wished to lure Moreau south of the Danube River by crossing to the south bank, to allow his columns to cross the river safely, Charles attacked the French, hoping to push them back. Though he failed to defeat the French, the battle gave the archduke enough space to get his troops over the Danube without interference, though he had a chance to join his army to Jourdans in the north, Moreau soon crossed to the south bank in pursuit. On 8 June 1796, the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle commanded by Jean Victor Marie Moreau numbered 71,581 foot soldiers and 6,515 cavalry, not counting artillerists. The army was formed into a Right Wing under Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino, a Center led by Louis Desaix and a Left Wing directed by Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr. Saint-Cyrs two divisions were under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme,7,438 infantry and 895 cavalry, with artillerymen, Moreaus host counted a total of 79,592 soldiers. Originally, the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle was opposed by 82,776 Austrians, but 25,330 Austrians were soon transferred to Italy and Wurmser went with this force on 18 June. Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour was appointed the new commander of the Army of the Upper Rhine. The former leader of the Army of the Lower Rhine, Archduke Charles, on 24 June 1796, the Army of Rhin-et-Moselle mounted a successful assault crossing of the Rhine River in the Battle of Kehl. The French sustained losses of 150 killed, wounded and missing out of 10,065 engaged, the Swabian Regional Contingent defenders numbered 7,000 soldiers in eight foot battalions, eight horse squadrons and two artillery batteries. The Swabians suffered over 700 casualties and lost 14 guns and 22 munition wagons, Moreaus forces inflicted a second defeat on a force of 9,000 Swabians and their Austrian allies under Anton Sztáray at Renchen on 28 June. This time the French reported only 200 casualties while inflicting 550 killed and wounded on their enemies, in addition, the French captured 850 soldiers, seven guns and two munition wagons. During this period of maneuvering, Moreau switched the positions of two of his wings, Ferino still commanded the Right Wing, but Desaix now commanded the Left Wing while Saint-Cyr led the Center. On 30 June, Latours Army of the Upper Rhine was divided into a Left Wing under Michael von Fröhlich, a Center led by Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg, fröhlichs wing was made up of eight battalions and 12 squadrons of Austrians organized in two brigades. Fürstenbergs command consisted of 17 battalions, five companies and 10 squadrons, including Swabians and Bavarians, Latours wing had 25 battalions and 58 squadrons organized into five divisions under Prince von Fürstemberg, Johann Mészáros von Szoboszló, Johann Sigismund Riesch, Karl von Riese, and Sztáray
22.
Second Battle of Kehl (1796)
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The Second Battle of Kehl occurred on 18 September 1796, when General Franz Petraschs Austrian and Imperial troops stormed the French-held bridgehead over the Rhine river. The village of Kehl, which is now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, was part of Baden-Durlach. Across the river, Strasbourg, an Alsatian city, was a French Revolutionary stronghold and this battle was part of the Rhine Campaign of 1796, in the French Revolutionary War of the First Coalition. In the 1790s, the Rhine was wild, unpredictable, and its channels and tributaries created islands of trees and vegetation that were alternately submerged by floods or exposed during the dry seasons. A complex of bridges, gates, fortifications and barrage dams linked Kehl with Strasbourg and these had been constructed by the fortress architect Sébastien le Préstre de Vauban in the seventeenth century. Critical to French success would be the ability to cross the Rhine at will. In late summer of 1796, the Austrian force reacquired most of the territory lost to the French earlier in the summer, the situation remained in status quo until late October. Control of the territory there prevented the French from crossing to safety in Strasbourg. Immediately after the Battle of Schliengen, while most of Moreaus army retreated south to cross the Rhine at Hüningen, although initially the republican French experienced several victories, the campaigns of 1793 through 1795 had been less successful. However, the Coalition partners had difficulty coordinating their war aims, in 1794 and 1795, French victories in northern Italy salvaged French enthusiasm for the war, and forced the Coalition to withdraw further into Central Europe. At the end of the Rhine Campaign of 1795, the Habsburg Austrian Coalition and this agreement lasted until 20 May 1796, when the Austrians announced that the truce would end on 31 May. The Austrian Coalitions Army of the Lower Rhine included 90,000 troops, the garrisons of Mainz Fortress and Ehrenbreitstein Fortress included 10,000 more. The remainder of the Imperial and Coalition army, the 80, 000-strong Army of the Upper Rhine, the original Austrian strategy was to capture Trier and to use their position on the west bank to strike at each of the French armies in turn. On the French side, the 80, 000-man Army of Sambre-et-Meuse held the west bank of the Rhine down to the Nahe, on the armys left flank, Jean Baptiste Kléber had 22,000 troops in an entrenched camp at Düsseldorf. Pierre Marie Barthélemy Ferino led Moreaus right wing at Hüningen, Louis Desaix commanded the center, ferinos wing consisted of three infantry and cavalry divisions under François Antoine Louis Bourcier and Henri François Delaborde. Desaixs command included three divisions led by Michel de Beaupuy, Antoine Guillaume Delmas and Charles Antoine Xaintrailles, saint-Cyrs wing had two divisions commanded by Guillaume Philibert Duhesme and Alexandre Camille Taponier. According to plan, Jourdans army feinted toward Mannheim, and Charles repositioned his troops, Moreau reinforced the bridgehead with his forward guard, and his troops poured into Baden unhindered. Worried that his supply lines would be overextended or his army would be flanked, at this point, in July, the jealousies and competition between the French generals came into play
23.
Battle of Biberach (1796)
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The French army paused in its retreat toward the Rhine River to savage the pursuing Austrians. The action occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, Biberach an der Riss is located 35 kilometres southwest of Ulm. During the summer of 1796, the two armies of Jean-Baptiste Jourdan in the north and Moreau in the south advanced into southern Germany and they were opposed by Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen who oversaw two Austrian armies under Latour and Wilhelm von Wartensleben. At the Battle of Amberg on 24 August 1796, Charles, after Jourdan was beaten again at the Battle of Würzburg on 3 September, Moreau was forced to abandon southern Bavaria to avoid being cut off from France. As the outnumbered Latour doggedly followed the French retreat, Moreau lashed out at him at Biberach. For a loss of 500 soldiers killed and wounded, Moreaus troops inflicted 300 killed and wounded on their enemies and captured 4,000 prisoners,18 artillery pieces, after the engagement, Latour followed the French at a more respectful distance. The next action was the Battle of Emmendingen on 19 October
24.
Battle of Fishguard
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The Battle of Fishguard was a military invasion of Great Britain by Revolutionary France during the War of the First Coalition. The brief campaign, on 22 –24 February 1797, is the most recent landing on British soil by a foreign force. The French General Lazare Hoche had devised a three-pronged attack on Britain in support of the Society of United Irishmen, two forces would land in Britain as a diversionary effort, while the main body would land in Ireland. Adverse weather and ill-discipline halted two of the forces but the third, aimed at landing in Wales and marching on Bristol, in a related naval action, the British captured two of the expeditions vessels, a frigate and a corvette. General Hoche proposed to land 15,000 French troops in Ireland to support the United Irishmen at Bantry Bay, as a diversionary attack to draw away British reinforcements, two smaller forces would land in Britain, one in northern England near Newcastle and the other in Wales. In December 1796, Hoches expedition arrived at Bantry Bay, unable to land even a single soldier, Hoche decided to set sail and return to France. However, the invasion went ahead and, on 16 February. The Wales-bound invasion force consisted of 1,400 troops from La Legion Noire under the command of Irish-American Colonel William Tate. He had fought against the British during the American War of Independence, under his command was the Seconde Légion des Francs, more commonly known as Légion Noire due to their using captured British uniforms dyed very dark brown or black. Tates age has been misrepresented by most historians, following E. H. Stuart Jones in his The Last Invasion of Britain, in which Jones claimed Tate was about 70 years old, the naval operation was led by Commodore Castagnier. His four warships were some of the newest in the French fleet, the frigates Vengeance and Résistance, the corvette Constance, and a smaller lugger called the Vautour. Castagniers orders from the Directory were to land Colonel Tates troops, all were well-armed, and some of the officers were Irish. They landed at Carregwastad Head near Fishguard in Pembrokeshire on 22 February, in reality, the Legion Noire landed under the cover of darkness at the secluded bay of Carregwastad, three miles west of Fishguard. By 2 a. m. on 23 February, the French had put ashore 17 boatloads of troops, one rowing boat was lost in the surf, taking with it several artillery pieces and their ammunition. Upon landing, discipline broke down amongst the irregulars, many of whom deserted to loot nearby settlements, the remaining troops confronted a quickly assembled group of around 500 British reservists, militia and sailors under the command of John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor. Many local civilians also organised and armed themselves, landowner William Knox had raised the Fishguard & Newport Volunteer Infantry in 1794 in response to the British Governments call to arms. By 1797, there were four companies totalling nearly 300 men, to command this regiment, William Knox appointed his 28-year-old son, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Knox, a man who had bought his commission and had no combat experience. The import of this news was slow to dawn on Knox, at Haverfordwest, Lieutenant-Colonel Colby of the Pembrokeshire Militia had summoned together a force of 250 soldiers
25.
Battle of Diersheim (1797)
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The Battle of Diersheim saw a First French Republic army led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau clash with a Habsburg Austrian army commanded by Anton Count Sztáray de Nagy-Mihaly. Though both sides suffered about 3,000 casualties in the fighting, the Austrians finally retreated with the loss of 13 artillery pieces. Austrian General Wilhelm von Immens was killed and Sztáray badly wounded, the combat at Diersheim was a waste of lives because Napoleon Bonaparte signed the Preliminaries of Leoben with Austria a few days earlier, calling for a truce. However, Moreaus reputation was enhanced by his hard-won victory which occurred during the War of the First Coalition, Diersheim is one of a number of villages that make up the municipality of Rheinau. Diersheim lies one kilometer southwest of the Rhine River and about 9 kilometres northeast of Kehl, rickard, J. Battle of Diersheim, 20-21 April 1797. A Biographical Dictionary of all Austrian Generals during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars 1792-1815, Sztáray de Nagy-Mihály et Sztára, Anton Graf
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Battle of Saorgio (1793)
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The local Sardinian commander in the Maritime Alps was Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André. Saorge is now located in France about 70 kilometres northeast of Nice, in April 1794 the French seized the positions from the Austro-Sardinians in the Second Battle of Saorgio. The winter of 1792 found two French armies facing the Kingdom of Sardinia, on the north was the Army of the Alps under François Christophe Kellermann occupying Savoy. On the south lay the Army of Italy under Jacques Bernard dAnselme at Nice with a strength of 26,806 men. Anselme wanted to mount an expedition to Rome but the French government desired to attack the island of Sardinia instead. The government ordered Anselme suspended on 16 December 1792 and his replacement was Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet. Anselme was arrested on 12 April 1793 but managed to survive the Reign of Terror, meanwhile, Brunet led the expedition to Sardinia which began on 8 January and ended in complete failure within two months. Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duke of Biron assumed command of the Army of Italy on 10 February, despite this, the Austrian government suspected Victor Amadeus of desiring a separate peace with France. In fact, the French tried to drive a wedge between Sardinia and Austria, but the execution of King Louis XVI by guillotine on 21 January 1793 caused Victor Amadeus to rebuff France. In the spring, the defenses of Sardinia were organized from north to south as follows, the Duke of Montferrat held the Little St Bernard Pass which protected the Aosta Valley. The Marquis of Cordon covered the Susa Valley with 14 battalions and his headquarters were at Susa and a 16-gun fort overlooked the Mont Cenis Pass. Giovanni Marchese di Provera guarded the Agnel Pass near Monte Viso, leopold Lorenz Bartholomaus von Strassoldo shielded the Stura di Demonte Valley with 12 battalions posted near Demonte. Farthest south, Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André employed 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers to defend Saorgio, on 28 February 1793 there was a clash at Levens in which Birons 12,000 Frenchmen defeated 7,000 Sardinians under the Count of Saint-André. Both sides suffered 800 casualties while the Sardinians also lost two of their six artillery pieces, at this period, the Sardinians were more familiar with mountain warfare while the French columns, moving separately, often lost themselves in the forests, rough terrain and foggy valleys. Birons offensive was helped when the Army of the Alps took responsibility over the Barcelonette valley, moving east, the French overran the lower Var and Vésubie valleys and occupied Sospel. In March the Army of Italy counted 17,000 troops present for duty in 25 infantry battalions, already a rising star, André Masséna had charge of five battalions. In its strange policy of moving commanders around before they could master their armies, though the duke was loyal to the French Revolution, the Jacobins planned to bring him down because he was a prominent aristocrat. They finally succeeded and Biron went to the guillotine on 31 December 1793, the Sardinian infantry regiments normally had two battalions, numbering about 500 men each
France
Habsburg Monarchy
