XVI. 1794. CHAP. discontent of the troops was loudly proclaimed, when it transpired that they were to be transferred to the pay of Great Britain; and they openly murmured at the disgrace of having the soldiers of the Great Frederic sold like mercenaries to a foreign power. The troops came to the field in terms of the convention, but their gallant officers were fettered by secret instructions, which rendered them of little real service; and the Prussian army had neither earned credit to itself, nor accomplished benefit for the common cause, by its conduct in the field, before the cabinet of Berlin formally withdrew from the alliance. General Mack, whose subsequent and unexampled misfortunes should not exclude the recollection of the abilities, in a particular department, which he really possessed, was intrusted by the Austrian and British governments with the preparation of the plan of the campaign ; and he proposed one which bore the marks of decided talent, and which, if vigorously carried into effect by a sufficient force, promised the most brilliant results. This was to complete the opening through the French barrier by the capture of Landrecies; and, having done so, march with the whole Allied army in Flanders, 160,000 strong, straight by Laon on Paris; while the Prussian forces, by a forward movement on the side of Namur, supported the operation. "With 150,000 men," said he, "I would push forward a strong advanced guard to Paris; with 200,000 I would engage to remain there." He proposed that West Flanders should be inundated by troops at the same time, so that the main army, in the course of its perilous advance, should have no disquietude for its flank Marquis of Lansdowne, "Could the King of Prussia, ought the King of Prussia, to divest himself of his natural duties? Could it be expected that he would fulfil engagements so trivial in comparison? Was not Poland likely to furnish him employment for his troops, and that, too, at his own door? There never were two powers hated one another more cordially than Prussia and Austria, and were English guineas likely to allay the discord? Was it not probable that Frederick William would take our subsidies, but find pretexts for evading the performance of any thing in return worthy of the name?"—Parl. Hist. xxxi. 456, 458. and rear. XVI. 1794. This plan was ably conceived, and was evi- CHAP. dently the one which should have been adopted in the preceding campaign; but it was not adopted, in consequence of the strong remonstrances of the inhabitants of West Flanders against a measure which promised to render their province the theatre of war, and the jealousy of the Prussian government, which precluded any effectual co-operation from being obtained on that side of the line. This left the whole weight of the contest to fall on the Austrians and British, whose forces were not of sufficient numerical strength for the struggle.* Unaware of the immense military resources and ascending spirit of their adversaries, the Allies resolved to capture Landrecies, and from that base march directly to Paris. Preparatory to this movement, their whole army was, on the 16th April, 1 Hard. ii. reviewed by the Emperor of Austria on the plains of 478, 522,, Cateau; they amounted to nearly a hundred and fifty Reg. p. 328, thousand men, and were particularly distinguished by the v. 34, 58. superb appearance of the cavalry, constituting a force apparently capable of conquering the world.1 528. Ann. 330. Jom. Th. vi. 270, 285. taken. 33. the Repub licans to raise the siege. Instead of profiting by this immense assemblage of strength to fall upon the still scattered, and, in part, Landrecies undisciplined forces of their enemies, the troops were on Efforts of the following day divided into eight columns, to oppose the French forces, which were still divided in that manner. The siege of Landrecies was shortly after formed, while a large portion of the Allied army was stationed as a cover- at Troising force. After ten days of open trenches, and a most severe bombardment, which almost totally destroyed the town, this important fortress capitulated, and the garrison, * The armies were disposed as follows: Defeat of the French ville. XVI. 1794. April 26. CHAP. consisting of five thousand men, was made prisoners of war. During the progress of this attack, the French. generals, stimulated by the orders of the Committee of Public Salvation, made reiterated efforts to raise the siege. Their endeavours were much aided by the absurd adherence of the Allies to the old plan of dividing their forces; they trembled at the thoughts of leaving a single road open, as if the fate of the war depended upon closing every avenue into Flanders, when they were contemplating a march to Paris. The plan of the Republicans consisted in a series of attacks on the posts and corps forming the long cordon of the Allies, followed by a serious advance of the two wings, the one towards Philipville, the other towards Dunkirk. On the 26th April, the movement in advance took place along the whole line. The centre, which advanced against the Duke of York near Cambray, experienced the most bloody reverses. When the Republicans arrived at the redoubts of Troisville, defended by the Duke of York, they were vigorously received by the British guards in front, supported by PRINCE SCHWARTZENBERG, afterwards so well known as generalissimo of the Allied forces, commanding a regiment of Austrian cuirassiers; while General Otto assailed them in flank at the head of the British cavalry, led by the 15th hussars, which drove headlong through their whole line by a most brilliant charge, and completed their rout. Not in the whole Peninsular war was a more splendid display of the power of cavalry made than on this occasion; if it had been followed up with vigour, the French army would have been totally defeated. As it was, the whole centre was driven back in confusion to Cambray, with the loss of thirty-five pieces of cannon, and above four thousand men. While this disaster was experienced 1 Jom. v. 55, on the left-centre of the French army, their right-centre Reg. p. 329. was not more successful.1 That portion of them at first 287. gained some advantage over the corps of the Austrians, who there composed the covering force; but the latter 57. Ann. Th. vi. 286, having been reinforced, and supported by a numerous artillery, resumed the offensive, and repulsed the assilants with great loss. CHAP. 1794. 34. Clairfait. But these advantages, how considerable soever, were counterbalanced by a severe check experienced by General Defeat of Clairfait, whose corps formed the extreme right of the April 25. Allied line. On that side the Republicans had assembled fifty thousand men under Souham and Moreau, which, on the 25th April, advanced against the Austrian forces. Assailed by superior numbers, Clairfait was driven back to Tournay, with the loss of thirty pieces of cannon, and twelve hundred prisoners. His retreat seemed to render wholly desperate the situation of a brigade of three thousand Hanoverians, now shut up in Menin, and soon furiously bombarded. But their brave commander, supported by the resolution of a large body of French emigrants who were attached to his corps, resolved to cut his way through the besiegers, and, through the heroic valour of his followers, successfully accomplished his object. Prince Cobourg, upon the intelligence of this misfortune, detached the Duke of York to Tournay to support Clairfait, and remained with the rest of his forces in the neighbourhood of Landrecies, to put that place in a state of defence.1 Jom. v. 61, 62. Th. vi. 288, 289. 35. ordered up Convinced by the failure of their attacks on the centre of the Allies, that their forces were insufficient in that Jourdan quarter, the Committee of Public Salvation, relying on from the the inactivity and lukewarmness of the Prussians on the Rhine to the extreme right of their vast line of operations, took the energetic resolution of ordering Jourdan to reinforce the army Sambre. CHAP. XVI. 1794. men on its extreme left on the Sambre, had a most important effect on the future fate of the campaign; and formed a striking contrast to the measures of the Allies, who deemed themselves insecure, even when meditating offensive operations, unless the whole avenues of the country they occupied were equally guarded by detached corps. The defection of Prussia, which daily became more evident, prevented them from obtaining any co-operation on their own left flank to counteract this change in the enemy's line of attack; while, even in their own part of the line, the movements were vacillating, and totally unworthy of the splendid force at their disposal. On the 10th May, Clairfait, without any co-operation from the other parts of the line, crossed the Lys, and attacked the Republican troops around the town of Cambray. An obstinate engagement ensued, with various success, which was continued on the succeeding day, without any decisive advantage having been gained by either party. Four thousand men were lost on each side, and the opposing forces remained much where they had been at their commencement a striking proof Jom. v. 62, of the murderous and indecisive nature of this warfare of posts, which, without any adequate success, occasioned an incessant consumption of human life.1 1 Th. vi. 290. 63. Hard. ii. 532. But the period was now approaching when the genius Indecisive of Carnot was to infuse a new element into this indecisive 36. actions on which at length ter minate to the disad the French. the Sambre, Warfare. On the 10th May, the French army on the Sambre crossed that river, with the design of executing his plan of operations; but the Allies having collected vantage of their forces to cover the important city of Mons, and taken post at a fortified position at Grandrengs, a furious battle ensued, which terminated in the Republicans being defeated and driven across the same river with the loss of ten pieces of cannon, and four thousand men. But the French having remained masters of the bridges over the river, and being urged by St Just and Lebas, who threatened their generals with the guillotine if they were not victorious, again crossed on the 20th, and returned to |