Louis Philippe: Makers of History SeriesAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
Louis Philippe: Makers of History Series
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Louis Philippe, King of the French, 1773-1850
On the 5th of November, 1792, the French army, under General
Dumouriez, found itself intrenched upon the heights of Jemappes.
Directly before it was the camp of the Austrians, containing a
veteran force of twenty-two thousand men, commanded by General
Clarfait.
The renowned battle of Jemappes ensued, which commenced, after a
cannonade of three hours, by an attack upon the whole of the Austrian
lines by the entire French army. Again the young Duke of Chartres,
who commanded the centre, greatly distinguished himself by his
coolness, bravery, and skill. The carnage was serious on both sides,
and for some hours the result was doubtful. At length victory
declared in favor of the French. The Austrians, driven from all their
positions, fled, leaving the battle-field covered with their dead,
and abandoning nearly all their cannon to the victors.
The French vigorously pursued the routed Austrians until they again
overtook them, and drove them out of the kingdom. On the 8th day
after the victory of Jemappes, Dumouriez advanced the French standard
to Brussels. As we have mentioned, the sister of the Duke of
Chartres, the Princess Eugene Louise Adelaide, with her governess,
Madame de Genlis, had been included in the proscriptive laws against
emigration. The Duke of Chartres visited them in Switzerland, where
they had taken refuge, and conducted them to Tornay.
While there, a new decree was issued by the Assembly, declaring that
every member of the Bourbon family then in France, with the exception
of the royal household itself, which was held in imprisonment in the
Temple awaiting trial under the charge of treason, should leave
France, and all the territory occupied by the newly-established
Republic, within eight days. The position of the Orleans branch of
the Bourbon family now became every hour increasingly perilous. The
nation was demanding the life of the king, and the banishment of all
who bore his name. St. Just, in urging in the Assembly this decree of
banishment, said: "As to the king, we shall keep him; _and you know
for what?_"
The Duke of Chartres, who very fully comprehended the peril in which
his father's family was involved, urged him to avail himself of the
decree of banishment, which opened an honorable avenue of escape for
him, and all his family, from France.
"You will assuredly," said he to his father, "find yourself in an
appalling situation. Louis XVI. is about to be accused before an
assembly of which you are a member. You must sit before the king as
his judge. Reject the ungracious duty; withdraw, with your family,
to America, and seek a calm retreat, far from the enemies of France,
and there await the return of happier days."
But the Duke of Orleans did not deem it consistent with his honor to
desert his post in the hour of danger. Yet the arguments urged by his
son were so strong that he desired him to consult an influential
member of the Assembly upon the subject. The deputy replied:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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