Amberg and Wurzburg.
The decisive events of the campaign can be described very briefly, the
ideas that directed them having been made clear. The long thin line of
the archduke wrapped itself round Jourdan's right flank near Amberg,
while Wartensleben fought him in front. The battle (August 24) was a
series of engagements between the various columns that met; it was a
repetition in fact of Fleurus, without the intensity of fighting spirit
that redeems that battle from dulness. Success followed, not upon
bravery or even tactics, but upon the pre-existing strategical
conditions. At the end of the day the French retired, and next morning
the archduke began another wide extension to his left, hoping to head
them off. This consumed several days. In the course of it Jourdan
attempted to take advantage of his opponent's dissemination to regain
the direct road to Wurzburg, but the attempt was defeated by an almost
fortuitous combination of forces at the threatened point. More
effective, indeed, than this indirect pursuit was the very active
hostility of the peasantry, who had suffered in Jourdan's advance and
retaliated so effectually during his retreat that the army became
thoroughly demoralized, both by want of food and by the strain of
incessant sniping. Defeated again at Wurzburg on the 3rd of September,
Jourdan continued his retreat to the Lahn, and finally withdrew the
shattered army over the Rhine, partly by Dusseldorf, partly by Neuwied.
In the last engagement on the Lahn the young and brilliant Marceau was
mortally wounded. Far away in Bavaria, Moreau had meantime been driving
Latour from one line of resistance to another. On receiving the news of
Jourdan's reverses, however, he made a rapid and successful retreat to
Strassburg, evading the prince's army, which had ascended the Rhine
valley to head him off, in the nick of time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account