CAMPAIGN IN HOLLAND. fatal day at Fleurus, and Lord Moira effccted a junction with the Duke of York a day or two after the enemy had entered Ostend. 129 Ch. 35. 1794 the Flemish It now only remained for the French to recap- Recapture of ture the fortresses on their own frontier, which fortresses. had been taken from them in the last campaign. The covering army of the Prince of Coburg having been withdrawn for the action at Fleurus, a separate force was detached under General Scherer, to effect the reduction of these places. Landrecy, on the capture of which, the Allies had founded their base of operations for the campaign, fell without a struggle. Quesnoy, the weakest of the chain of fortresses on the northern frontier, made a gallant resistance; notwithstanding, the garrison had been threatened with the sword, if they failed to surrender within twenty-four hours after summons. Valenciennes and Condé, though each capable of sustaining a long siege, either from treachery or cowardice, opened their gates to the enemy. tion in favour The victorious armies of the Republic were thus Dutch populaprepared for the conquest of Holland. They found of the French. the Netherlands in a fit state for successful invasion. The Prince of Orange made an appeal to the patriotism of his countrymen; but the republicans preferred the ascendancy of their faction to the liberties of their country. The Dutch were no longer that heroic people which had been content to restore their country to the sea, rather than its soil should be trod by the legions of 130 Ch. 35. 1794 Corsica. British expedition to the PROPOSAL TO OPEN THE DUTCH DIKES. France. A proposal to open the dikes was resisted by a popular demonstration at Amsterdam; and it was declared that the city would rise against the Prince of Orange and the English, if they attempted to occupy it for the purpose of preventing the entrance of the French. It is not necessary to pursue the ignominious details of the subjugation of Holland. After a series of unavailing efforts on the part of the Allies, and much valuable blood shed in an ungrateful cause, the English troops finally withdrew from the Low Countries in the early part of the ensuing year. The other military operations of the year, in which England was engaged, do not require prolonged notice. The Corsicans, under the guidance of their veteran chief, Paoli, who had resided for many years in this country, sought the aid of England, to throw off the French yoke, and offered in return their allegiance to the British Crown. The island itself was worthless as a permanent possession, and of little value as a military position to a country which had the command of Gibraltar; but a small force was despatched, and, after a series of petty operations, Corsica was occupied by British troops, and proclaimed a part of the British dominions. An expedition on a greater scale was sent to West Indies. the West Indies. Martinique, St. Lucie, and Guadaloupe were easily taken; but the large island of St. Domingo, relieved by a timely arrival of suc BRITISH ATTACK ON ST. DOMINGO. cours from France offered a formidable resistance. The English, who anticipated an easy conquest, unexpectedly found themselves opposed by a French force far superior in numbers to themselves, by the disaffection of the inhabitants, and by an enemy more formidable than either, the deadly pestilence of the climate. The British, after holding out during the summer and a part of the autumn, were at length compelled to make their final stand in the town of Basseterre, the only part of the island of which they retained possession. There they remained for more than a month, exposed to a destructive fire, awaiting reinforcements from England. But when the reinforcements arrived, they were, as usual, too late, and inadequate even if they had been in time. 131 Ch. 35. 1794 the Rhine. The campaign on the Rhine was undertaken by Campaign on the Allies under auspices ill calculated to inspire confidence, or even hope. The King of Prussia, not content with abandoning the cause, had done everything in his power to thwart and defeat the operations of the Allies. He positively refused his assent to, and by his authority prevented the execution of, the important measure proposed by the Emperor, and sanctioned by the Diet, of arming the Rhenish provinces. He required that the supplies of his army should be furnished at the cost of the Germanic States, and that, from a given date, the whole of their pay and equipment should be provided from the same source. 132 Ch. 35. 1794 Austrians cross the Rhine. MERCENARY CONDUCT OF PRUSSIA. These exorbitant demands not being immediately complied with, Frederic William ordered his troops to quit their advanced position, and fall back upon Cologne. Many of the States, alarmed at the movement, were willing to yield to his rapacity, whereupon the Prussian Monarch rose in his demands, and insisted on being paid the expenses of the Siege of Mentz, in the preceding year. At length he consented to receive, for his temporary services, the British subsidy already mentioned. It was, in fact, necessary to comply with this extortion, unless the Allies were content to abandon the defence of the Rhine. In consequence of these negotiations, the season was far advanced before the German armies were ready to take the field. On the 22nd of May, the Austrians crossed the Rhine, and attacked the French in their entrenchments without success. On the same day, the Prussians defeated a division of the Republican army, and advanced their headquarters to Deux Ponts. Content with this achievement, the German armies remained inactive for several weeks, when the French, having obtained reinforcements, attacked the whole line of the German posts. After a succession of engagements, attended with various forunes, the energy of the Republicans, rather than any superiority of military skill, obtained the advantage. The Prussians were compelled to evacuate Deux Ponts, and fall back on Mentz; the Austrians were forced once more to retreat across the Rhine. EXPULSION OF AUSTRIANS AND PRUSSIANS. The French having by this time virtually achieved the re-conquest of Belgium, the armies of the Rhine and the Moselle, detachments of which had been engaged on the northern frontier, effected a junction, and pushed forward to expel the Austrians and Prussians from the soil of France. In this operation they were completely successful; before the end of the year, the Allies were in full retreat, and the Republicans, in their turn, had become the invaders of Germany. They occupied the Electorate of Treves, and they captured the important fort of Manheim. Mentz also was placed under a close blockade. Such was the result of the campaign on the Rhine. All hope of making that river either the boundary of French ambition, or a base from which the Republic could still be attacked, had for the present vanished. The Emperor was content to think himself secure at Vienna. The King of Prussia, more jealous of the aggrandisement of Austria than careful for the common cause of kings and established governments, was prepared to make a separate peace with France, which should secure his own interests. The petty states of Germany, dismayed at the selfishness and incapacity of the two great potentates of the empire, knew not where to look for help, and already regarded their positions as desperate. 133 Ch. 35. 1794 cessful at sea. At sea, England maintained her ancient reput- England sucation. The French had made great exertions to fit out a fleet, and twenty-six ships of the line were |