Dutch During The Revolutionary Wars
French Invasion of
Dutch Republic: 1793
Austrian Troops and Dutch Defense
By Geert van Uythoven, The Netherlands
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Part V
The Austrian TroopsThe Austrian troops were spread along a wide front, from Basel to the north to Mannheim, and further from the area around Trier along the river Mosel to the north, finally to link up with the Prussian troops in Prussian Geldern. In the area east of the fortress-city Luxembourg stood an Austrian corps commanded by FZM Fürst Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenlohe-Kirchberg. This corps consisted of 12 battalions and 20 squadrons, about 12,000 men strong, and covered Trier, the river Mosel and Luxembourg. West of the fortress-city Luxembourg, on the road to Arlon, stood an Austrian corps commanded by FML Johann Peter Freiherr von Beaulieu. His corps consisted of 16 battalions and 13 squadrons, about 13,000 men strong. The garrison of Luxembourg was commanded by FM Bender. In case the Austrians might be pushed back to the river Rhine, both FZM Hohenlohe as well as FML von Beaulieu had orders to strengthen the garrison to 15,000 men before they retreated. The fortress had enough provisions for six months. The Austrian main army, consisting initially of only 14,200 infantry and 5,100 cavalry and commanded by FZM Karl Josef Graf Clerfayt, was positioned behind the rivers Ruhr and Erft between Düren and Jülich. Clerfayt had to maintain his positions to the last, because if he had to retreat across the Rhine feeding his troops would become a huge problem. Representatives of the Allies forming the coalition met each other at Frankfurt, headquarters of the King of Prussia. After a series of conferences held on 6, 7, 12 and 14 February, a very intricate plan was decided on. Without going into too much detail, the plan boils down to the following. The purpose of the 1793-campaign would be re-conquering the Austrian Netherlands. Therefore the Austrian main army was strengthened with another 12 battalions and 18 squadrons, raising its strength to about 45,000 men. Command was taken over during the first days of February, as we already have seen, by FM Friedrich Josias Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld, who would also command the contingents of the Allies: the Prussians of the Duke of Brunswick-Oels and the contingents from Hanover and Köln. Clerfayt was dispatched to Neuss with part of the army. The campaign was to start with clearing the French from the east bank of the river Meuse. The Prussians then would besiege and take the fortress-city Mainz, with a force consisting of 15,000 Austrians and 33,000 Prussians, covered by an army of another 50,000 Prussians. Another Austrian Corps of 18,000 men, commanded by FM Dagobert Sigmund Graf Wurmser would be held ready to assist the Prussian covering army if it would be attacked by the French. Also present was a force consisting of about 6,000 French immigrants, commanded by Condé. Their combat capability was however limited. After Mainz had been taken the Allied main army would cross the river Meuse and besiege Mayence. Then the advance into the Austrian Netherlands would be executed. However, the French advanced into the Dutch Republic before the Allies were ready to execute their plans. So without Mainz being taken, the Allies would have to act before the Dutch Republic was knocked out of the war. [10]
On 15 February, the decision was made that the main Austrian army would go over to the offensive in the Netherlands. The 11,400 Prussians of the Duke of Brunswick-Oels would have to cover the right flank, so its task of defending the Westphalian territories was changed into an offensive role. The Austrian army as well as the Prussians would be reinforced by German contingents, instigated by FM Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld in his role as Reichsfeldmarshall of the Holy Roman Empire. The Prussians would be reinforced by the contingents of Hanover (3,000 men) and Münster (1,200 men), but the Duke of Brunswick-Oels found out after inquiring about these contingents that the Münster contingent would not be ready in the near future, while Count Wallmoden, commander in chief of the Hanoverian army, told him that the greater part of his troops had gone into British pay and would reinforce the British army commanded by York! As a secondary task, the Prussian army would have to retake Roermond, while a Dutch army would relief Maastricht as soon as it would be ready to take the field. [11]
Finally one thing has to be pointed out. In spite of the already intricate plans for the campaign, it was neglected to lay down clearly who commanded which units in any particular case. This would have severe consequences during the upcoming campaign, especially regarding the combined Austrian and Prussian operations.
As already been discussed in the previous article, the Dutch main defence would be behind the rivers Meuse and Waal where the French would have to use boats or bridges to cross. In the centre this meant defending the Hollandsch Diep and the Biesbosch. Vice-Admiral van Kinsbergen, who as we saw was leading the defence, stipulated a series of locations in this sector that would have to be observed, to give early warning of any French attempt to cross. These were the following locations (see the accompanying map):
In addition, a cutter was expected, which would be stationed on the Hollandsch Diep near Strijen Sas.
Along the Hollandsch Diep and the rivers already a whole series of batteries were being erected. However, when the French advance took place, none of them were finished or even armed with guns. So when the French advanced, Vice-Admiral van Kinsbergen ordered a few guns to be placed in the unfinished batteries, to give them at least the appearance of proper batteries. The cities and fortresses on the north bank were reinforced. The garrison of Nijmegen was strengthened. Next, Rear-Admiral Pieter Melvill was appointed commander of the ‘fleet in being’ present on the Hollandsch Diep. From the ships present at Den Helder and the roads of Texel, the major marine harbour of the Dutch Republic and situated on the peninsular in the North of Holland, none could be spared. Even more so now because the batteries defending this harbour were not ready yet, including the lack of necessary gunners.
Therefore, all boats and ships that were usable were bought or hired and equipped as gunboats for service on the Hollandsch Diep, while the gunboats already ordered were fitted out as soon as possible. The ships present at Den Helder had to deliver a hundred sailors for service on these boats, to be augmented with fishermen from Maassluis. During February, the cutter “Brak” and a gaffelschip arrived, which were located in front of Ooltjens Plaat. Next, the cutter “De Panther” came up from Hellevoetsluis, taking up position at Buitensluis, followed by the cutter “Mercuur” coming from Amsterdam, three nearly finished gaffelschepen and a bomb. The last ships would take up position in front of Strijen but had to sail through the Kille, because by now the French had thrown up a battery with heavy guns near Noordschans. Another two gaffelschepen took up position between Buitensluis and Strijen Sas.
Lastly, the Dutch States accepted an offer from the British, that they would pay for hiring or buying a few boats, to be manned with British sailors and commanded by the British Captain Berkeley. Living on the left bank of the Hollandsch Diep myself, I can assure you that in all it was a very feeble force to prevent a crossing of the Hollandsch Diep, especially during a fog or bad weather, in the age of sailing ships.
The fortress-city Grave, situated on the left bank of the river Meuse, some fifty kilometres north of Venlo, was part of the Dutch defence line and as such strengthened as much as possible. Governor of the city was Major General Andreas de Bons. Armed with 60 guns, the garrison was 800 infantry, 100 cavalry and 40 gunners strong, consisting of the following units:
detachment / Regiment Van Hessen-Philipstall (cavalry)
detachment artillery
detachment pontonniers (5 men) On 13th February, intelligence arrived that a force of about 700 French had advanced into the region just south of Grave. As a result, Major-General de Bons send out strong patrols. One of these patrols, consisting of soldiers of the 1st bat / Regiment No. 19 Douglas, managed to capture from the French some wagons loaded with oats, rye and hay, and take them back to Grave safely.
More Part VI: French Invasion of Dutch Republic: 1793
The Dutch During the Revolutionary Wars
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