Defense of the
Dutch Republic 1793
Dutch During the
Revolutionary Wars Part 11
French Activities
by Geert van Uythoven, Netherlands
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The French stayed not idle in the meanwhile. Most of the inhabitants of the occupied Dutch territory prepared the French a warm welcome, and Dumouriez had no trouble in provisioning his forces. Therefore he could pay all his attention on military matters. Except for the fortresscity Willemstad, the French occupied the southern bank of the riverfront. On many places they erected batteries, armed with guns that had been captured in the cities that were taken by them. One battery was erected near the mouth of the river Dintel, to cover the French assembly of boats and ships there. A battery at Noordschans, which village and nearby riverbank had been occupied by the Batavian LieutenantColonel Daendels, hampered all Dutch shipping on the Hollandsch Diep. Two Dutch ships were captured, forcing the Dutch freight ships to take a detour. At Moerdijk, occupied by about one hundred Batavian Jagers and fifty dragoons, the French erected a battery armed with 24-pdr guns, some sources state eleven guns! At this position, and with this calibre, the French could reach the Dutch ships positioned on the Kille, their first bombardment damaging the armed lighter "De Hoop", and two gunboats. To diminish the effect of this threat, ViceAdmiral van Kinsbergen ordered some carpenters to be placed on the gunboats, in order to make the necessary repairs immediately when necessary. In the meanwhile Dumouriez, in his headquarters in the village Moerdijk, ordered LouisCharles de La Motte-Ango, marquis de Flers, who had gathered reinforcements as described in part 6 of the series, [10] to advance into the Dutch Republic as well. De Flers took over the blockade of the fortress-cities Bergen op, Zoom and Steenbergen from the Division de Gauche (Colonel Theodore-FranqoisJoseph Leclaire). Leclaire on his turn shifted his troops also north, occupying Oudenbosch and Zevenbergen, freeing Berneron's troops there, and enabling him to concentrate his troops to besiege Willemstad, and to prepare for a crossing of the Hollandsch Diep.
For this purpose, the French had gathered finally 27 boats and ships in the Roode Vaart, with plans to cross to the Hoeksche Waard or to the Island of Dordrecht. The French army waited for the order to cross, encamped near the Roode Vaart in straw huts, called by them Camp des Castors ('beaver camp'). On other locations more boats were gathered; Moerdijk and Zwaluwe. In Oudenbosch and Zevenbergen, the French collected 23 boats. Dumouriez ordered commissaire des guerres Boursier to strip the Armee de Hollande of its carpenters and men with some naval experience, in this way, about 1,300 men could be put to work on preparing the boats for the crossing, and to arm some of them with guns.
In addition, the volunteer battalions were stripped of all men from Gascogne, Bretagne, Normandy and Dunkirk, which had been previously a sailor, providing him with a force of about 400 to 500 sailors able to navigate the boats and ships across the Hollandsch Diep.
These sailors were commanded by the former British officer White, and an Aide de Camp of Dumouriez, Lieutenant-Colonel La Rue. These were aided by a former Dutch naval lieutenant, the patriot Ignatius Jansen. Dumouriez planned to embark his AvantGarde at Moerdijk, the Roode Vaart and Zwaluwe, while the Division de Droite would embark at Geertruidenberg. In the first wave, 3,000 or 4,000 French would cross, followed by more. These troops would attack the Island of Dordrecht, brush away all opposition, and march straight to Amsterdam aided by the patriots, knocking the Dutch Republic out of the war. The crossing was planned for the night of 9 to 10 March.
Although Vice-Admiral van Kinsbergen received many reports about the concentration of ships on especially the Roode Vaart, he was in no position to undertake offensive actions against it. Beside defending the river front, priority was to hold Willemstad. As it turned out,
the French did not try a crossing, for reasons explained further on.
Some French sources mention an effort by eight hundred French, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Daendels, to land on the Island of Dordrecht. The attack was beaten off with loss by the Dutch and British troops defending the island. This attack is however not mentioned in any Dutch source! It is possible that this failed attack was 'invented' by the French, to have an excuse for their subsequent retreat. It is also possible that the attack by Daendels on Willemstad is mend, which was executed on 3 March, and beaten off with heavy loss.
Defense of the Dutch Republic 1793 Dutch in Revolutionary Wars Part 11
The Dutch During the Revolutionary Wars
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