York was left with forces wholly inadequate to the task of de fending the position near that town, if it should be attacked, or of maintaining the possession of any portion of West Flanders against the superior numbers which General Pichegru was at liberty to direct upon various points.

Recent measures had confirmed the suspicion for some time entertained by His Royal Highness, that the Austrian cabinet had determined on the abandonment of the Netherlands, and certainly of West Flanders, for the maintenance of which the British cabinet, on the other hand, was most solicitous.-His Royal Highness had in vain remonstrated against the establishment of a system of warfare so injurious to Great Britain, and had equally in vain urged, upon every occasion, the adoption of more vigorous attempts towards checking the enemy by a concentration of means and efforts. This jarring of interests between the two countries increased the irritation and jealousy which had resulted from the failure on the 18th of May, upon which occasion the British troops accused the Austrians (not without reason) of having sacrificed them. The Duke of York was well aware of these feelings, and had himself ample reason to be hurt and mortified by the inattention shown to his advice, and the turn which affairs had taken; but his endeavours were invariably directed to the preservation of harmony, and while the Austrian generals resisted his urgent representations, they acknowledged the spirit of conciliation which influenced his Royal Highness's language, and the zeal with which he was ever ready to co-operate in any measure tending to the support of the general cause.

On the 20th June General Pichegru advanced towards the Mandel and obliged General Clerfayt to retire upon Deynse. This movement of the enemy, by bringing them nearer to the Scheldt, rendered the Duke of York's position in front of Tournay, which, since the departure of the Prince of Coburg, had been hazardous, no longer tenable, and H. R. H. quitted it on the 24th June, with all the British and a part of the Hessian troops, (leaving only a small garrison, or rather a rear guard, in the town,) and encamped between Rénaix and Oudenarde, with a view to the support of the latter place, which

the enemy threatened, and in order to preserve a connexion with General Clerfayt, which their late movements had interrupted.

The Prince of Coburg had joined the Prince of Orange towards Nivelles on the 22d. He delayed the attack of the enemy until the 26th, although the object was the relief of Charleroi, which he knew to be hard pressed, and which in fact capitulated on the 25th. Upon learning this event he suspended the attacks in which his columns were engaged, at the very moment when they afforded a fair prospect of success which, independently of its general effect, would probably have recovered Charleroi, the more limited object of the battle of Fleurus.

This was the last effort which the Austrians even pretended to make for the preservation of the Netherlands, and their operations during the remainder of the campaign, were a series of retreats which carried them across the Rhine, and which naturally influenced every successive movement of the Duke of York's army. His Royal Highness had continued in his position at Rénaix, whence he supported Oudenarde, against which General Pichegru had sent a detachment, while he obliged General Clerfayt to abandon his position at Deynse and to retire upon Ghent; upon this, General Walmoden with the Hanoverians evacuated Bruges and fell back upon Landemark, where he joined the right flank of General Clerfayt. The enemy again attacked General Clerfayt near Ghent, but were repulsed. The consequence of these movements was the interception of the communication with Ostend, where Lord Moira had arrived from England on the 26th June with a reinforcement of 5000 infantry. His Lordship, however, determined to attempt a junction with H. R. H.'s army, and by an able and a rapid march (which was covered by General Walmoden's demonstrations to the front,) reached Ghent between the 28th and 30th. On the latter day Ostend was evacuated by Colonel Vyse, whom Lord Moira had left there with a brigade of British troops, which were embarked and removed with the artillery and stores. The enemy had made some attempts on Oudenarde which were repulsed, but this place was incapable of protracted defence, or indeed of any defence, against regular

approaches; and it is almost unnecessary to observe here, that Tournay, Oudenarde, Bruges, Ghent, Ostend, and other places in West Flanders had been dismantled by the Emperor Joseph, had, with the exception of Ypres and Nieuport, not been repaired, and could only be considered as field posts or

cantonments.

It appears to have been General Pichegru's intention to penetrate by Oudenarde between the corps of the Duke of York and General Clerfayt, and that his first movements in that direction were conformable to that plan, but that he received orders from the Directory to occupy Ostend, and to detach a part of his army against the island of Walcheren.

He moved in consequence by Deynse on Bruges, which General Moreau had occupied on the 29th June, and on the 1st July a detachment of his army entered Ostend. Another was employed in the siege of Nieuport, in which place General Diepenbrock had been left with a garrison of Hanoverians, and which was gallantly defended for some weeks.

About this period (the beginning of July) it was agreed, in consequence of a proposal from the Prince of Coburg, that the Duke of York should exchange positions with General Clerfayt, by which measure all the troops in the pay of Great Britain should be united, and General Clerfayt be in close connexion with the main Austrian army. Before however the movements in execution of this change could be undertaken, the Prince of Coburg retired from the positions near Soignies and Nivelles, which he had occupied since the battle of Fleurus, and ordered General Clerfayt to fall back from Ghent upon Alost. His Royal Highness in consequence, on the 3d July, marched to Grammont, and on the 4th to Sombeck. On the 5th General Clerfayt moved from Alost to Asche and Lord Moira from Termonde, to which place he and General Walmoden had retired, continued his march to Alost. On the 6th R. R. H. moved to Asche and thus established the junction of the several corps now forming his army. On that day the enemy attacked Lord Moira's out-posts at Alost, drove in the picquets, and penetrated into the town, but were soon repulsed on the arrival of support.

On the 8th H. R. H., in consequence of the Prince of Coburg's further retreat, was under the necessity of directing his across the Dyle upon Contich, near which his army occupied a position, having its right to the Scheldt, the left to Lier. The out-posts were attacked on the 14th and 15th, and the enemy on the latter day obtained possession of Malines, from which Lieut.-Gen. Dalwig retired with the Hessians by Waelheim across the Nethe. Lord Moira's corps was then ordered to occupy Duffel.

In this position H. R. H. continued until the 22d, having in vain, during this interval, made two proposals to the Prince of Coburg to concentrate the allied forces and to resume the offensive. But the Prince of Coburg, having retired first from Tirlemont to Landeu, and on the 19th and 20th to Maestricht, H. R. H. fell back on the 22d to a position near Campthout, between Breda and Bergen op Zoom.

Between the 23d and 24th the Prince of Coburg quitted the position near Maestricht and retired across the Maese, and the Duke of York marched on the 25th for Rosendal, near which place he encamped, and continued until the 4th of August, when he fell back to some ground in front of Oosterhout, the army, being encamped with its right to Breda and its left to the little river Dougen.

During these movements the enemy offered no molestation. They had occupied Antwerp and advanced towards the Nethe, between Turnhout and Herenthals.

The Duke of York continued near Oosterhout until the 29th August, but the enemy having attacked and carried some of his out-posts, and appearing to threaten his left flank in great force, H. R. H. fell back behind the River Aa, having his right to Bois le Duc, his left to the Peel Morass.

Towards the end of August the Prince of Coburg resigned the command of the imperial army to General Clerfayt, who immediately sent General Beaulieu to confer with the Duke of York and the Prince of Orange, on the possibility of attempting a forward movement to relieve the fortresses on the French frontier, and to re-occupy Flanders.

H. R. H. eagerly entered into this project, and engaged to

co-operate to the utmost of his means; but the surrender of Condé and Valenciennes caused General Clerfayt to give it up, although the Duke of York persisted in urging a concentration of force in order to attack the enemy, and if successful, to resume the offensive generally.

The enemy had continued in his position between Turnhout and Meerle until the 14th Sept. when General Pichegru, who had been much reinforced, moved towards the Dommel and attacked the advanced posts of H. R. H.'s right, upon that river. The enemy carried that of Boxtel with considerable loss to the Hesse Darmstadt troops which occupied it, and Lieut.Gen. Abercromby, who was detached with a strong body to regain the post, found the enemy in such force that he retired to the position of the main body behind the Aa.

The Duke of York did not think it advisable to risk an action, against very superior numbers, in a position of which the left flank was very vulnerable, and therefore fell back on the 15th towards Graves, where he crossed the Maese on the 16th and encamped near Wichem. The enemy advanced to the Aa, but did not press H. R. H.'s army in its retreat.

On the 18th the enemy attacked the Austrians and forced the passage of the Ourte, obliged them to abandon the position of the Chartreuse near Liege, to retire upon Juliers and behind the river. Here again General Jourdan attacked them, on the 2d October, and forced the passage of the river and their several positions, obliging them to retire upon Kerpen, whence General Clerfayt continued his retreat to the Rhine, which he crossed at Mulheim on the 5th of October, abandoning Maestricht to its own force, and all the country on the left bank, and leaving the left flank of the Duke of York wholly uncovered, while H. R. H. was opposed in front by a very considerable army under Pichegru.

Under these circumstances, and as there no longer existed any hope of effecting that combination of force and operations for which the Duke of York had not ceased to press General Clerfayt, H. R. H. determined towards the 6th October to retire to a position in front of Nimeguen, still preserving his communication with Graves, which he was using every exertion