Jean-Charles Pichegru - Northern Front

Northern Front

In December 1793 Hoche was arrested, probably owing to his colleague's denounciations, and Pichegru became commander-in-chief of the army of the Rhine-and-Moselle, then he was summoned to succeed Jourdan in the army of the North in February 1794, subsequently fighting three major campaigns of one year (see: French Revolutionary Wars: Campaigns of 1794). The forces of the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and Habsburg Austria held a strong position along the Sambre to the North Sea.

After attempting to break the Austrian centre, Pichegru suddenly turned their right, and defeated the Count of Clerfayt at Cassel, Menin and Courtrai, while his subordinate Joseph Souham, defeated Prince Josias of Coburg in the battle of Tourcoing in May 1794. After a lull, during which Pichegru feigned a siege of Ypres, he again attacked Clerfayt, and defeated him at Roeselare and Hooglede, while Jourdan, commanding the newly-named army of the Sambre-and-Meuse, withstood Austrian attacks in the battle of Fleurus (27 June 1794), which eventually led to Allied evacuation of the Low Countries.

Pichegru began his second campaign by crossing the Meuse on 18 October, and, after taking Nijmegen, drove the Austrians beyond the Rhine. Then, instead of going into winter quarters, he prepared his army for a winter campaign. On 27 December three brigades crossed the Meuse on the ice, and stormed the Bommelerwaard. On 10 January the army crossed the Waal near Zaltbommel, entered Utrecht on 13 January, which surrendered on the 16th. The Prussian and the British army withdraw behind the IJssel and fled to Hanover and Bremen. Pichegru, who succeeded in avoiding the frozen Dutch Water Line arrived in Amsterdam on 20 January, after a velvet revolution had taken place. The French occupied the rest of the Dutch Republic in the next month.

This major victory was marked by unique episodes, such as the capture of the Dutch fleet, which was frozen in Den Helder, by French hussars, and exceptional discipline of the French battalions in Amsterdam, who, although faced with the opportunity of plundering the richest city in Europe, showed self-restraint.