1.
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
2.
Le Boulou
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Le Boulou is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It is situated 12 km from the Spanish border, the town of Le Boulou is located in the canton of Céret and in the arrondissement of Céret, in the south of Pyrénées-Orientales. The name of the town in catalan is El Voló, in the 10th century, the territory of Le Boulou appears to be shared between the lord of Saint-Jean-Pla-de-Corts, lady Minimilla, and the church of Elne. Le Boulou is then ruled by the lords of Montesquieu from the 11th to the 14th centuries and it finally becomes part of the crown lands. At the end of the 17th century, Bernard de Kennedy, following the court of James II of England in France, decides to settle in Le Boulou and his grandson, Côme de Kennedy, is granted a title of lord of Le Boulou in 1755. Cômes son, Joseph de Kennedy is the running lord during the French Revolution, but his house is used as a headquarter by the Spanish general Antonio Ricardos during the first battle of Boulou in 1793. Accused of betrayal, Joseph de Kennedy is sent to the guillotine on 2 May 1794, communes of the Pyrénées-Orientales department INSEE
3.
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
4.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
5.
Kingdom of Portugal
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The Kingdom of Portugal was a monarchy on the Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of modern Portugal. It was in existence from 1139 until 1910, after 1248, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves and between 1815 and 1822, it was known as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. The name is often applied to the Portuguese Empire, the realms extensive overseas colonies. The nucleus of the Portuguese state was the County of Portugal, established in the 9th century as part of the Reconquista, by Vímara Peres, a vassal of the King of Asturias. The county became part of the Kingdom of León in 1097, the kingdom was ruled by the Alfonsine Dynasty until the 1383–85 Crisis, after which the monarchy passed to the House of Aviz. During the 15th and 16th century, Portuguese exploration established a vast colonial empire, from 1580 to 1640, the kingdom of Portugal was in personal union with Habsburg Spain. After the Portuguese Restoration War of 1640–1668, the passed to the House of Braganza and after to the House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg. From this time, the influence of Portugal declined, but it remained a major due to its most valuable colony. Portugal was an absolute monarchy before 1822. It rotated between absolute and constitutional monarchy from 1822 until 1834, and was a constitutional monarchy after 1834. The Kingdom of Portugal finds its origins in the County of Portugal, the Portuguese County was a semi-autonomous county of the Kingdom of León. Independence from León took place in three stages, The first on 26 July 1139 when Afonso Henriques was acclaimed King of the Portuguese internally, the second was on 5 October 1143, when Alfonso VII of León and Castile recognized Afonso Henriques as king through the Treaty of Zamora. The third, in 1179, was the Papal Bull Manifestis Probatum, once Portugal was independent, D. Afonso Is descendants, members of the Portuguese House of Burgundy, would rule Portugal until 1383. Even after the change in houses, all the monarchs of Portugal were descended from Afonso I, one way or another. With the start of the 20th century, Republicanism grew in numbers and support in Lisbon among progressive politicians, however a minority with regard to the rest of the country, this height of republicanism would benefit politically from the Lisbon Regicide on 1 February 1908. When returning from the Ducal Palace at Vila Viçosa, King Carlos I, with the death of the king and his heir, Carlos Is second son would become king as King Manuel II of Portugal. Manuels reign, however, would be short-lived, ending by force with the 5 October 1910 revolution, sending Manuel into exile in England, on 19 January 1919, the Monarchy of the North was proclaimed in Porto. The monarchy would be deposed a month later and no other monarchist counterrevolution in Portugal has happened since, after centuries of Portuguese dominion in Angola, the Kingdom of Kongo was made a vassal state of the Portuguese kingdom, its king pledging allegiance to the King of Portugal
6.
John Forbes (Portuguese general)
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John Forbes, also known in Portuguese as João Forbes, of Skelater, usually known as Forbes-Skelater, was a Scottish general in the Portuguese service. Forbes was the son of Patrick Forbes of Skelater in Aberdeenshire. He entered the army when a boy of fifteen as a volunteer at the siege of Maestricht, and was successful in winning a commission. He was essentially a soldier of fortune, and when Portugal applied to Britain for officers to reorganise her army under the Count of Lippe Buckeburg, he was one of the first to volunteer. Forbes remained in Portugal after the termination of the Seven Years War, as a Roman Catholic who had married a Portuguese lady, he had no difficulty in getting employment. When Portugal decided to join the French Revolutionary Wars, a corps was sent to assist the Spanish army in the War of the Pyrenees, under the command of Forbes. The Portuguese soldiers behaved well, but the commanders of the Spanish army were always at variance, the French republicans defeated the combined Spanish-Portuguese army, and Forbes returned to Portugal with his corps. He died there on 8 April 1808 and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Forbes, John
7.
Battle of Mas Deu
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The Spanish drove the outnumbered French soldiers out of their camp near Mas Deu and compelled them to retreat to Perpignan. The victory enabled the Spanish forces to lay siege to the Fort de Bellegarde, for the next month, Ricardos was preoccupied by the Siege of Bellegarde. Mas Deu is a former Knights Templar establishment east of the town of Trouillas in Pyrénées-Orientales, the action was fought during the War of the Pyrenees, part of the War of the First Coalition. On April 17,1793, Captain General Antonio Ricardos began the invasion of France when he descended on Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans in the French Cerdagne with 4500 Spanish troops, the six battalions and eight grenadier companies led by Ricardos chased 400 French soldiers out of the village. The Spanish next headed for Céret on the Tech where they encountered one French regular battalion,1000 volunteers, the clash ended disastrously for the 1800 French, who quickly took fright and ran away. Between 100 and 200 Frenchmen were casualties while another 200 drowned trying to swim across the Tech, Ricardos admitted losing only 17 men wounded in the skirmish. The Captain General left a force at Le Perthus to watch the garrison of the Fort de Bellegarde, on 14 May 1793, the French divisional general Louis-Charles de Flers took command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. At about the time, the French brigadier general, Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert. The French army was encamped on a hill 80 metres high near Mas Deu, the position overlooked the Aspres plain and was protected by two deep-cut stream beds. The Chateau of Mansus Déi was built by the Knights Templar in the 12th century, in its heyday, the Templar establishment raised cattle, grapes, olives, and other crops on lands that stretched from Fenouillèdes in the north to Banyuls-sur-Mer in the south. The wealth and secrecy of the Templar Order made powerful enemies, desiring to appropriate the orders riches, Philip IV of France, the Capetian king, demanded the arrest of all Templars in France in 1307. The knights were rounded up, put to the torture, burned at the stake in many cases, Philip soon bent Pope Clement V to his purposes and the Templar Order was suppressed outside France as well. In 1312 all property of the order was given to the Knights Hospitaller, in time, the name of the place changed to Mas Deu. In World War II, the German occupiers used the chateau as an ammunition dump and this was detonated in 1944, destroying the château, though some outbuildings survived to be used in the modern-day winery. On 16 May, Ricardos advanced from Céret with 12,000 infantry,3,000 cavalry,24 cannons, pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna commanded the 4860-strong Spanish right wing. Ricardos accompanied the 2460-man center, which was led by Luis Firmín de Carvajal, the 4680-strong Spanish left wing was led by Juan de Courten, Rafael Adorno, and José Crespo. De Flers staff worked out a plan whereby the French artillery would bombard the Spanish positions, then the French left wing would make a feint attack against the Spanish right. After this distraction, the right wing would deliver the main French assault
8.
Siege of Bellegarde (1793)
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The capture of the fort gave Spain control of an important road through the Pyrenees. The siege took place during the War of the Pyrenees, part of the French Revolutionary Wars, Fort de Bellegarde is on a height overlooking the border town of Le Perthus, which lies on the modern A9 autoroute and Autovía A-7. King Louis XIV of France built Fort de Bellegarde after 1678 according to a plan drawn up by Sébastien de Vauban and this strong masonry fortress defended the Col de Le Perthus which crosses the Pyrenees at an altitude of 305 metres. The pass is the most important route from Spain into France in the eastern Pyrenees, as Vauban noted, Nothing overlooks this place, and the fortress is situated on the highest ground in the area. When Spain went to war with revolutionary France in mid-April 1793, with Bellegarde dominating the main road into France, the Spanish commander had to surround, besiege, and capture the place before he could use the main road as a supply route for his invading army. Accordingly, Ricardos crossed the Pyrenees 20 km to the southwest with 4,500 soldiers, in the first skirmish of the War of the Pyrenees, the Spanish evicted the 400 French defenders. Continuing his left hook, Ricardos 4,400 troops fell upon a French force at the town of Céret on the Tech River, the French,800 regulars and 1,000 National Guards with 4 cannon, panicked and fled. Between 100 and 200 Frenchmen became victims of Spanish musketry and steel, Ricardos reported only 17 men wounded. During the initial operations, the Spanish commander placed a detachment near Bellegarde to keep Boisbrulé, with the seizure of Céret, Ricardos placed his army nearly in the rear of Bellegarde. After receiving some reinforcements, he advanced farther to the northeast to the vicinity of Trouillas, at this location, the 7,000 Spanish troops were confronted by the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees led by General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers. At the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May, Ricardos defeated de Flers with the loss of 150 killed,280 wounded, the Spanish lost 34 killed and an unknown number of wounded. The demoralized French soldiers retreated north to the department capital of Perpignan, rather than press on, Ricardos turned back to besiege Bellegarde, which overlooked his main supply route back to Barcelona. The siege of Bellegarde and its garrison of 1,536 French soldiers began on 23 May, the garrisons firepower included at least 41 cannon and seven mortars. The 6,000 Spanish besiegers and 34 cannon first concentrated their efforts on reducing two outworks on the side of the main fort. The French Émigré Vallespir battalion fought alongside the Spanish, by 30 May, Ricardos had sited 16 guns in batteries at a distance of 1,200 paces from Fort les Bains. On 3 June,350 Frenchmen surrendered the outwork after a bombardment, two days later, the Fort de la Garde fell after its water supply was cut off, and 200 more French soldiers became prisoners of war. While siege operations proceeded,3,350 Frenchmen tried to escort a convoy to the fortress but were driven off on 29 May. For several weeks the Spanish siege guns pounded the fortress until a breach was made in the main wall, by this time,42 of the 50 French artillery pieces were dismounted
9.
Battle of Peyrestortes
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The Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September 1793 saw soldiers of the First French Republic fighting troops of the Kingdom of Spain during the War of the Pyrenees. This Spanish setback in an attempt to capture Perpignan marked the point of their invasion of Roussillon. The Spanish army of Antonio Ricardos had occupied part of Rousillon, at the end of August, the Spanish commander sent two divisions on a sweep around the western side of Perpignan in an attempt to isolate the fortress and choke it off from resupply. After an initial Spanish success, the French army commander lost his nerve, dAoust and Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet stepped into the command vacuum and led their troops to attack and rout the two Spanish divisions from their fortified camps. After the battle, the Army of Catalonia found itself back in its original positions, Ricardos successfully defended the Spanish foothold in France during the remainder of 1793. But the following year saw a string of French victories in part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Peyrestortes is located seven km northwest of Perpignan, beginning in April 1793, Captain General Ricardos and his Spanish army brushed aside the badly trained French armies in the department of Pyrénées Orientales. The Siege of Bellegarde concluded with the Spanish capture of the important Fort de Bellegarde on 24 June, Ricardos defeated General of Division Louis-Charles de Flers at the Battle of Mas Deu on 19 May. The two fought again on 17 July in the Battle of Perpignan and the result was a French victory, but after a minor setback, the all-powerful Representatives-on-mission arrested De Flers on 6 August and this led to his eventual execution. Ricardos positioned his right wing facing Argelès-sur-Mer, Collioure, and Port-Vendres on the Mediterranean coast and he posted his center around the towns of Ponteilla, Thuin, Trouillas, and Mas Deu, a group of medieval-era structures 2.4 kilometers east of Trouillas. The Spanish left wing faced Mont-Louis in the west, Ricardos established his headquarters at Trouillas, only 12 km southwest of Perpignan. On 28 August, Dagobert won a victory over General Manuel la Peña at Puigcerdà, Ricardos directed Lieutenant General Jerónimo Girón and his division to cross the Têt River and attack the French camps on the north side between Millas and Perpignan. Girón scored a success, driving the French from Corneilla-la-Rivière on 31 August. The next day, Barbantane suddenly withdrew his headquarters from Perpignan to Salses-le-Château and he turned over command of Perpignan to General of Division dAoust, who was anxious to fight the Spanish. Hearing of Barbantanes unmilitary behavior, Ricardos determined to take advantage of the disarray in the French high command, the Spanish commander ordered Girón to march to Peyrestortes via Baixas. On 8 September, Girón occupied Peyrestortes, northwest of the provincial capital and that day, he attacked dAousts Camp of the Union at Rivesaltes and drove the French away after a tough fight. Around the same time, Lieutenant General Juan de Courtens division, including the Walloon Guards, also crossed the Têt and occupied Le Vernet, De Courten set up his defenses behind an irrigation canal, with his 24 cannon covering the road leading north to Narbonne. Word of Barbantanes shift of headquarters also reached Dagobert, and with the agreement of Representative-on-mission Joseph Cassanyes, while the French regrouped at Salses-le-Château, Girón established a camp on the hill to the south of Peyrestortes with 10,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry
10.
Battle of Truillas
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This attempt by the French to exploit their success in the Battle of Peyrestortes ended in a Spanish victory. Part of the War of the Pyrenees, the battle was fought near the village of Trouillas in the French department of Pyrénées Orientales,12 km southwest of Perpignan. Since invading French Rousillon in April 1793, Captain General Ricardos, the Siege of Bellegarde ended with a French capitulation on 24 June 1793. Since June, the Spanish army maintained itself a few south of Perpignan. In early September, Ricardos made a bid to isolate and capture the fortress of Perpignan by sending two divisions around its side to cut the road to Narbonne. Meanwhile, he bombarded the city from the south, the resulting Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September was an important French victory. The badly shaken Spanish army regrouped near Trouillas, the day after Peyrestortes, General of Division Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert was appointed commander of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. Desiring to take advantage of the recent victory and urged on by Representative-on-mission Claude Fabre, Trouillas nestles in a plain on the Canterrane stream at an altitude of about 100 meters. Mas Deu, an establishment founded by the Knights Templar in medieval times, is located 2.4 km to the east, Thuir lies five km to the northwest. Ricardos defended these positions with a force of 17,000 soldiers and 38 cannons, the second battalion of the Barcelona Infantry Regiment arrived, but this reinforcement did not make up for the heavy Spanish losses suffered at Peyrestortes. Dagobert attacked the Spanish defenses with 22,000 soldiers, the French order of battle included the 7th, 61st, 70th, and 79th Infantry Demi-Brigades, as well as the National Guards of Gers and Gard. Dagobert preferred to envelop the Spanish position from the west, but Fabre, so he sent General of Brigade Louis Antoine Goguets division to assault the Spanish left flank at Thuir while sending a flanking column to attack that town from the west. DAousts division was ordered to attack the Spanish right flank at Mas Deu, believing that Thuir was the focus of the main French effort, Ricardos posted General Crespo and only 3,000 men to defend the Spanish right. He shifted the troops of LG Pedro Téllez-Girón, 9th Duke of Osuna and LG Luis Firmin de Carvajal, Dagoberts attack pushed back the Spanish center and forced its way into the main camp at Trouillas. Meanwhile, Goguet ran into a concentration of Spanish infantry and artillery on the west flank at Thuir and was beaten, Ricardos personally led a cavalry charge to break up the flanking column, then he returned to the crisis of the battle in the center. DAoust merely skirmished with Crespo near Mas Deu and never mounted a serious threat to the Spanish right and this allowed Ricardos to mass his cavalry against Dagoberts division. After disposing of Goguet, de la Union marched to Trouillas to take the French center in reverse, three French demi-brigades were surrounded and many prisoners taken. After an all-day battle Dagobert retreated northeast to Canohès, the Spanish victory was also helped by disorganization and poor logistical arrangements on the part of the French
11.
Battle of Collioure
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The Battle of Collioure saw troops from the Kingdom of Spain attack a Republican French division during the War of the Pyrenees. The Spanish troops led by Gregorio García de la Cuesta were completely successful in ousting the French under Louis Pierre François Delattre from Collioure, Fort Saint-Elme and Port-Vendres. The contending sides were the Spanish Army of Catalonia commanded by Antonio Ricardos, in September 1793, the French successfully defended Perpignan from Spanish attack but December saw a series of French defeats. One of the French representatives on mission, Claude Dominique Côme Fabre was killed during the fighting at Collioure, Aoust and Delattre were arrested, condemned and executed by guillotine for the disaster. In the year 1793 the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees suffered from the attentions of overbearing representatives on mission, while these political agents exercised enormous powers over the military leaders, they probably abused their authority in this army more than in any other. Claude Dominique Côme Fabre called commanders-in-chief useless and wanted the rank done away with and his colleague Raymond Gaston declared, I know neither generals nor special powers. I alone should command here and I shall be obeyed, louis-Charles de Flers was appointed commander on 14 May 1793 and was dismissed on 6 August. Flers was arrested and executed by guillotine on 22 July 1794, hilarion Paul Puget de Barbantane was commander from 7 August to 11 September. Terrified by the maneuvers of Spanish commander Antonio Ricardos, he abandoned his army, though thrown in prison, Barbantane managed to escape the Reign of Terror. In the Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September, the leaderless army scored a victory thanks to Generals Eustache Charles dAoust and Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet, on 18 September Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert was appointed commander. Ricardos defeated Dagobert at the Battle of Truillas on 21 September, after clashing with the representatives, Dagobert resigned and returned to his division in the Cerdagne. On 29 September the representatives chose Aoust as temporary commander, the new commander Louis Marie Turreau finally arrived on 11 October and was aghast at the way the representatives ordered around the generals. The representatives did not like Turreau and asked to the Minister of War to recall him, several unsuccessful attacks were made on the Spanish positions in October. Turreaus application for transfer finally came through and the representatives named Aoust temporary commander from 22 November, François Amédée Doppet assumed command of the army on 28 November. Doppet found the army in a state, the men badly equipped. The representatives practically ignored Doppet, issuing orders without informing him of the actions of his own units, on 6 December, Doppet received information that the Spanish planned to attack Villelongue-dels-Monts the next day and tried to warn the garrison. Paying no heed to their commander, the set out to attack the Spanish. The result was a fiasco, the French were routed and the Spanish captured Villelongue, in order to break contact with the enemy and draw his army back into winter quarters, Doppet planned an attack on Villelongue
12.
Capture of Fort-Dauphin (1794)
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The French colonial garrisons, consisting of over a thousand men, surrendered without firing a single shot. The French, blockaded by land and sea were forced to capitulate, when the Spanish seized the fort, Candy, the French commander, was arrested and sent to Mexico to do hard labour, whereas the rest of prisoners were sent to France as prisoners of war. Wars of the Americas, a chronology of armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere,1492 to the present, ISBN 1-142-83207-4 *David Baillie Warden, Jean Baptiste Pierre Jullien Courcelles, Nicolas Vigton de Saint-Allais. LArt de vérifier les dates Vol.26
13.
Second Battle of Boulou
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The decisive French victory resulted in the French regaining nearly all the land they lost to the Kingdom of Spain in 1793. Le Boulou is on the modern A9 highway,20 km south of the department capital at Perpignan, the year 1793 was a difficult time for the poorly trained French forces defending Rousillon against the Spanish army of Captain General Antonio Ricardos. The Siege of Bellegarde concluded in June with the French surrender of the Fort de Bellegarde, however, Ricardos was repelled in the Battle of Perpignan on 17 July. The French army revived again under General of Division Eustache Charles dAoust to deal their enemies a sharp reverse at the Battle of Peyrestortes on 17 September, five days later, Ricardos defeated the French at the Battle of Truillas. Subsequently, the Spanish general fell back to the valley of the Tech River where he repulsed a series of French attempts to him back into Spain. DAoust tried and failed to oust the Spanish from Le Boulou on 3 October, in the Battle of the Tech from 13 to 15 October, Ricardos bloodily repulsed the attacks of General of Division Louis Marie Turreau. DAoust was defeated again in his 7 December attack on Villelongue-dels-Monts, the Spanish seized the port of Collioure on 20 December. Fresh from his victory at the Siege of Toulon, General of Division Jacques François Dugommier arrived to lead the army on 16 January 1794 and he began a complete reorganization of the army, setting up supply depots, hospitals, and arsenals, and also improving roads. After getting reinforcements from the Toulon army, Dugommiers field army numbered 28,000 and these troops were supported by 20,000 garrison troops and 9,000 green volunteers. He formed his army into three infantry divisions under Generals of Division Dominique Catherine de Pérignon, Pierre Augereau, and Pierre François Sauret. There was a 2, 500-strong cavalry division led by General of Division André de la Barre, a report from 30 April 1794 listed Saurets Left Division as having a strength of 7,362 infantry and 100 cavalry and Victors brigade having 2,669 infantry. Martin led 3,091 infantry, Chabert 2,648, Point 2,774, Lemoine 3,257, Despinoy 1,074, La Barre commanded 1,357 infantry and 1,907 cavalry while the Detachment of the Left numbered 1,994 foot soldiers. During the winter, Ricardos travelled to Madrid to plead for reinforcements and he died there of pneumonia on 13 March 1794. Ricardos designated successor, Captain General Alejandro OReilly died on 23 March before he could reach the front, in the interim, Lieutenant General Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarilas assumed leadership over the Army of Catalonia. But in late April, Lieutenant General Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión finally accepted command of the army, de la Union deployed his 20, 000-strong army to hold the Tech valley, with defences both north and south of the river. Lieutenant General Eugenio Navarro commanded the right division, whose positions included Collioure. The 8, 300-man centre division of Lieutenant General de las Amarilas held strongpoints at Le Boulou, Montesquieu-des-Albères, Lieutenant General Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu with 5,500 soldiers of the left division defended Céret, where de la Union installed his headquarters. Lieutenant General John Forbes Portuguese contingent deployed on the left at Arles-sur-Tech
14.
Siege of Collioure (1794)
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The Siege of Collioure saw a Republican French army led by Jacques François Dugommier invest a French port held by a Spanish garrison commanded by Eugenio Navarro. The actual siege work was carried out by Pierre François Saurets reinforced division, after the three and a half week War of the Pyrenees siege the Spanish fleet sent to evacuate the garrison was blown off station by a storm. Navarro surrendered the town on the promise to exchange the paroled garrison with an number of French prisoners. After the defenders were released, the Spanish army commander Luis Firmín de Carvajal, the infuriated French government afterward passed a decree ordering death to all Spanish prisoners and some units carried out the brutal order. On 16 January 1794 Jacques François Dugommier replaced Eustache Charles dAoust as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees, aoust was condemned and executed by guillotine on 2 July 1794. Dugommier had an advantage over previous commanders of the army because he came as the victor of the Siege of Toulon which ended on 19 December 1793 and he was also a member of the National Convention and therefore part of the political establishment. Until Dugommiers accession, the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees was under the control of arrogant representatives on mission who abused their authority to remarkable degree, Dugommier enjoyed good relations with the new representatives Édouard Jean Baptiste Milhaud and Pierre Soubrany. At first the two removed a number of army officers in an indiscriminate manner. Unlike the earlier representatives, they interfered less in military matters, for example, they managed to get forage for horses and mules delivered that was previously held up by the Army of the Alps officials at Lyon. Dugommier organized the best soldiers into battalions of infantry, which were a success, and grenadiers. He also separated the better troops into combat units and the worst men into garrison units, some soldiers had been using fowling pieces. Except for 5,000 or 6,000 muskets, the inefficient infantry weapons were all replaced with good firearms, under Dugommier, the artillery, cavalry and hospitals all saw some improvement. The Army of the Eastern Pyrenees received 10,500 troops from Toulon, Dugommier welded these into a field army of 28,000 trained soldiers and 5,000 recruits, placing 25,000 men in training camps or garrisons. Pierre Augereaus 6, 300-man right wing division soon emerged as the best unit in the due to frequent drilling. An independent division operated in the Cerdagne farther inland, but its commander Luc Siméon Auguste Dagobert died on 21 May 1794 and was replaced by François Amédée Doppet. Antonio Ricardos, the commander of the Spanish Army of Catalonia died on 13 March 1794, supposedly after drinking a poisoned drink intended for Manuel Godoy, the close adviser of King Charles IV. His successor Alejandro OReilly died ten days later and the king appointed Luis Firmín de Carvajal, the interim commander Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma, Marquis de las Amarillas fortified Le Boulou in the Tech River valley. When La Unión arrived to command at the end of April
15.
Battle of the Baztan Valley
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The French army drove the Spanish from their defenses, then followed the valley northward to the Atlantic coast. The Spanish forces holding the coastal defenses were compelled to surrender or flee, jacques Léonard Muller was appointed commander of the French Army of the western Pyrenees on 5 October 1793. The year 1793 saw no battles in the western Pyrenees. On 5 February 1794, José Urrutia y de las Casas attacked a hilltop near Hendaye and was defeated in the Battle of Sans Culottes Camp. Out of 13,000 Spanish infantry, and their 700 supporting cavalry and artillery, on 3 June, a 2, 300-man French brigade led by Lavictoire stormed Casa Fuorte, a position at the Izpegi Pass,13.5 kilometres west of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Other Spanish defenses on Izpegi Ridge and the Maya Pass were also overrun that day, on 23 June, Captain General Don Ventura Caro with 8,000 infantry and 500 cavalry and artillery unsuccessfully assailed Mont Calvaire near Bera. The Spanish lost 500 killed and wounded, plus 34 captured, the French defenders lost 30 killed and 200 wounded. The June fighting gave the French army a foothold in the Baztan Valley, Muller ordered the Spanish positions in the Baztan to be assaulted and assigned Moncey to carry out the operation. On 10 July, Antoine Digonet and 4,000 French troops attacked the Zamora Infantry, the peak is located at 43°3′23″N 1°29′40″W,10 kilometres south of Elizondo in the Baztan. The outnumbered defenders lost 314 casualties including Marquis of Saint-Simon badly wounded, after the battle, the Republican French massacred 49 French Royalist prisoners. Moncey had his own and two divisions under his supervision. The valley includes the towns of Elizondo, where the Baztan river turns from southwest to west and Doneztebe where the river turns north, by between 27 and 30 July, the Spanish defenses were overcome and Moncey turned his divisions northward to follow the Bidasoa to the Atlantic coast. The number of French and Spanish killed and wounded is unknown, emerging from the mountains on 1 August, Moncey fell upon the Spanish coastal defenses from the flank and rear with 12,000 men, capturing the San Marcial heights southeast of Irun and Hondarribia. Trapped by the French maneuver, Don Vicente de los Reyes surrendered with 2,000 Spanish soldiers,300 cannon, monceys offensive completely unhinged the Spanish defensive position behind the Bidasoa River. The French went on to seize the port of Pasaia on 2 August, a bigger prize fell on 3 August when San Sebastián surrendered to the French with 1,700 Spanish prisoners and 90 cannon. The town of Tolosa fell to Moncey soon afterward, beckett, Ian F. W. Moncey, An Honest Man
16.
Battle of San Lorenzo de la Muga
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The Battle of San Lorenzo de la Muga was fought on 13 August 1794 between an attacking Spanish–Portuguese army led by the Conde de la Unión and a French army commanded by Jacques François Dugommier. The local French defenders headed by Pierre Augereau and Dominique Pérignon repulsed the allies, the Spanish garrison of Fort de Bellegarde surrendered a month later. In 1793 the Spanish army defeated the ill-trained French armies where the Franco-Spanish border touches the Mediterranean Sea, the Siege of Bellegarde resulted in the surrender of the fort to the Spanish army on 24 June. The Spanish army won the Battle of Truillas and several other actions, in January 1794, the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees received a new commander in General of Division Jacques François Dugommier. Fresh from his triumph at the Siege of Toulon, the new leader reorganized the army, Dugommier set up supply depots, established hospitals, and improved local roads. By the time the French assumed the offensive in April 1794, their army numbered 28,000 regular soldiers,20,000 garrison troops, and 9,000 hastily trained volunteers. Dugommier organized the infantry divisions of Generals of Division Pérignon, Augereau, the French defeated their adversaries at the Battle of Boulou on 1 May. Immediately after their victory, they pushed the Allied army south of the Pyrenees, Collioure fell on 29 May, but Bellegarde proved to be much more difficult to capture. In a combat at La Junquera on 7 June, Pérignon repulsed a Spanish attempt to relieve Bellegarde, anxious about the beleaguered garrison of Bellegarde, de la Union assembled an army of 45,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. He emerged from his fortified lines covering the Alto Ampurdán to attack Augereaus division on the western flank, the fighting took place near Sant Llorenç de la Muga, the site of a cannon ammunition foundry. The Spanish assault, carried out by 14,000 regular infantry and 6,000 provincial militia, failed to break the French defenders, saurets defenses, on the eastern flank, were not threatened. General John Forbes covered the retreat with a Portuguese division consisting of one each of the 1st, 2nd, Olivença, Cascais, Peniche. The French counted 800 casualties, including General of Brigade Guillaume Mirabel killed, the Spanish suffered losses of 1,400 soldiers killed, wounded, and missing. The Marquis of Val-Santaro surrendered Bellegarde to Pérignon on 17 September, the 1,000 starving survivors of the garrison became prisoners, while 68 cannon and 40,000 rounds of cannon shot fell into French hands. French losses during the blockade were light, the next action was the Battle of the Black Mountain in November 1794. Fortified-places. com Bellegarde by Dominic Goode Ostermann, Georges
17.
Battle of Orbaizeta
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Part of the wider French Revolutionary Wars, this engagement was fought over a wide area to the northwest and northeast of Pamplona in Navarre and ended in a French victory. The Spanish defenders gave up territory to the north of Pamplona, while 1793 saw no important battles in the western Pyrenees, the following year saw significant action. With General of Division Jacques Léonard Muller leading the Army of the western Pyrenees, minor engagements occurred at Hendaye on 5 February, Izpegi Pass on 3 June, and at Bera on 23 June. In late July, Muller put MG Moncey in charge of three divisions, including his own and those of MG Henri Delaborde and MG Jean Henri Guy Nicolas de Frégeville. With this force, Moncey won the Battle of the Baztan Valley and followed up his success by capturing Pasaia, San Sebastián, promoted to command the army for his great success, Moncey planned to lay siege to the Spanish fortress of Pamplona. On 15 October 1794, Moncey launched an offensive on a front with 46,000 troops. Commanding the French divisions were Generals of Division Delaborde, Frégeville, Jean Mauco, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, Generals of Brigade Antoine Digonet, Pierre Rouché, Louis Hyacinthe Le Feron, Pierre Bories de Castelpers, and Jean Daniel Pinet led brigades during the operation. Lieutenant General Duke of Osuna commanded the 13,000 Spanish defenders of Navarre and his commanders were Generals Manuel Cagigal, Antonio Filangieri, Frias, and Marquis de la Canada Ibagniez. Moncey launched his offensive from the Baztan valley, and from the area of Roncevaux Pass to the south toward Pamplona, on the west, the attack was from Leitza toward Lekunberri. In the center, the direction of advance was from Doneztebe across the Donamaria Pass, in the east, the French moved from Roncesvalles southeast to the Rio Urroti valley and southwest to the Rio Irati. Moncey, who had a penchant for encircling movements hoped to cut off substantial enemy forces. On 15 October, Delabordes division attacked Filangieri at Mezkiritz,8 kilometres southwest of Roncesvalles, the French deployed 11 infantry and two grenadier battalions, plus 640 dragoons and hussars. The Spanish suffered 200 killed and 724 captured out of a total of 4,000 troops engaged, the French captured Lekunberri on 16 October and Villanueva,9 kilometres farther south, on 17 October. Both villages were at the end of the line. At the eastern extremity, Orbaizeta fell together with its arms foundry, the French also captured the Spanish navys mast store on the Irati and a second foundry at Egui. The offensive stopped short of Pamplona because the Representatives-on-mission did not authorize a further advance, the bulk of the defenders escaped encirclement. One authority faults Delaborde for failing to cut off the Spanish, the Spanish losses numbered about 4,000 soldiers killed, wounded, and missing. In addition, the French seized 50 artillery pieces, the French inflicted damage on the Spanish army and gained ground closer to the Pamplona fortress
18.
Battle of the Black Mountain
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The Battle of the Black Mountain was fought from 17 to 20 November 1794 between the army of the First French Republic and the allied armies of the Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of Portugal. The French, led by Jacques François Dugommier defeated the Allies, though the Spanish right wing held, its left flank was driven back on the first days fighting. On the last day of the battle, the French overran a key position, the battle was remarkable in that both army commanders were slain. A Spanish artillery shell killed Dugommier early in the battle and Dominique Catherine de Pérignon assumed command of the French army. De la Union was shot dead while leading a charge on the last day of the fighting and was temporarily replaced by Jerónimo Girón-Moctezuma. The French victory led to the capture of Figueres and the Siege of Roses, during 1793, the Spanish army won victories at the Siege of Bellegarde and the Battle of Truillas. These battles and other actions resulted in Spanish forces overrunning part of Rousillon, on 16 January 1794, General of Division Jacques François Dugommier took command of the Army of the Eastern Pyrenees. The victor in the Siege of Toulon immediately reorganized the army, the new general began stockpiling supplies, establishing arms factories, setting up hospitals, and improving roads. By April, the army counted 28,000 soldiers. These were backed up by 20,000 garrison troops and 9,000 raw volunteers, the French victory in the Battle of Boulou on 1 May caused the Spanish army to withdraw south of the Pyrenees. The recapture of Collioure occurred on 29 May, Pérignon won a combat at La Junquera on 7 June, in which La Barre was killed. Augereau repulsed a Spanish attack on 13 August at the Battle of San-Lorenzo de la Muga, a long siege of Fort de Bellegarde ended on 17 September with a Spanish capitulation. To shield Figueres, Roses, and the Alt Emporda, Lieutenant General Luis Firmin de Carvajal, the defenders included crack troops such as the three battalions each of the Spanish Guard and Walloon Guard Regiments. Lower quality troops such as provincial militia also manned the lines, Dugommier deployed a total 36,000 troops for his assault, including 22,000 in the first line. Augereaus division on the flank had 9,000 men. Pérignons 8,700 soldiers held the center and Saurets 4,300 troops were on the east flank, the second line had 7,500 men and the third line contained 4,500 troops. A further 8,000 soldiers lay in reserve, de la Union deployed 45,000 to defend his fortified lines, including 10,000 second line reserves. Lieutenant General Juan de Courten had 10,000 troops to hold Sant Llorenç de la Muga, Magdalena Mountain, Lieutenant General Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu defended the eastern flank from Pont de Molins to the sea with 12,000 men
19.
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
20.
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
21.
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
22.
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
23.
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
24.
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
25.
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
26.
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
27.
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
