History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814Mignet, M. (François-Auguste-Marie-Alexis)
History
History of the French Revolution from 1789 to 1814
Mignet, M. (François-Auguste-Marie-Alexis)
France -- History -- 1789-1815; France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799
The Prussian army had followed the movements of Dumouriez. On the 20th, it
attacked Kellermann at Valmy, in order to cut off from the French army the
retreat on Châlons. There was a brisk cannonade on both sides. The
Prussians advanced in columns towards the heights of Valmy, to carry them.
Kellermann also formed his infantry in columns, enjoined them not to fire,
but to await the approach of the enemy, and charge them with the bayonet.
He gave this command, with the cry of _Vive la nation!_ and this cry,
repeated from one end of the line to the other, startled the Prussians
still more than the firm attitude of our troops. The duke of Brunswick
made his somewhat shaken battalions fall back; the firing continued till
the evening; the enemy attempted a fresh attack, but were repulsed. The
day was ours; and the success of Valmy, almost insignificant in itself,
produced on our troops, and upon opinion in France, the effect of the most
complete victory.
From the same epoch may be dated the discouragement and retreat of the
enemy. The Prussians had entered upon this campaign on the assurance of
the emigrants that it would be a mere military promenade. They were
without magazines or provisions; in the midst of a perfectly open country,
they encountered a resistance each day more energetic; the incessant rains
had broken up the roads; the soldiers marched knee-deep in mud, and, for
four days past, boiled corn had been their only food. Diseases, produced
by the chalky water, want of clothing, and damp, had made great ravages in
the army. The duke of Brunswick advised a retreat, contrary to the opinion
of the king of Prussia and the emigrants, who wished to risk a battle, and
get possession of Châlons. But as the fate of the Prussian monarchy
depended on its army, and the entire ruin of that army would be the
inevitable consequence of a defeat, the duke of Brunswick's opinion
prevailed. Negotiations were opened, and the Prussians, abating their
first demands, now only required the restoration of the king upon the
constitutional throne. But the convention had just assembled; the republic
had been proclaimed, and the executive council replied, "that the French
republic could listen to no proposition until the Prussian troops had
entirely evacuated the French territory." The Prussians, upon this,
commenced their retreat on the evening of the 30th of September. It was
slightly disturbed by Kellermann, whom Dumouriez sent in pursuit, while he
himself proceeded to Paris to enjoy his triumph, and concert measures for
the invasion of Belgium. The French troops re-entered Verdun and Longwy;
and the enemy, after having crossed the Ardennes and Luxembourg, repassed
the Rhine at Coblentz, towards the end of October. This campaign had been
marked by general success. In Flanders, the duke of Saxe-Teschen had been
compelled to raise the siege of Lille, after seven days of a bombardment,
contrary, both in its duration and in its useless barbarity, to all the
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