Jemappes

JEMAPPES, town, province of Hainaut, Belgium, near Mons, the scene of the battle at which Dumouriez, with the French Revolutionary army, defeated the Austrian army under the duke of Saxe-Teschen and Clerfayt on Nov. 6, 1792 (see FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS).

The Battle of Jemappes (1792).

The wars of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. had shown the advantage of an offensive in Belgium, since Belgium was the weak point in the Hapsburg front. The Austrians had failed in their efforts against Lille, and Du mouriez in command of the Army of the North at Valenciennes at once issued a stirring appeal to the Belgians. Then, in order to mask his intentions, he threatened the Austrians at several points, compelling them to extend their front while with speed he advanced to crush their main forces at Mons.

The Austrians under Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen had been strongly reinforced by Clerfait, though Dumouriez was not aware of this. Their combined forces numbered about 25,00o men and 5o guns, whilst the French army was probably 55,000 strong and was accompanied by ioo guns. The Austrian position was a strong one. Clerfait's right was entrenched at Jemappes (province of Hainaut, Belgium), his centre on a ridge south of the village, the eastern slopes of which extended to Cuesmes where his left was posted. As Dumouriez points out the only fault in the posi tion was its difficult line of retreat.

Dumouriez' plan was to engage Clerfait's right and centre, and turn his left ; for this turning movement he ordered General Har ville and some I o,000 troops to move up from Maubeuge, out flank the Austrian left and cut Clerfait off from Mons. Harville's forward movement was, however, too slow to effect this, and the plan had to be modified.

Early on Nov. 6 Dumouriez dislodged Clerfait's advanced troops at Quaregnon, and then checked his advance to enable Harville to come up. As he did not appear, and as his youn; troops

were eager to attack, he opened the battle by a bombardment on the Jemappes entrenchments and batteries that crowned the slopes towards Cuesmes. Then, forming his columns of attack, he as saulted the Austrian right and centre. On the right General Beur nonville moved against Cuesmes. This attack failed all along the line except on the south of Jemappes, where a lodgment compelled Clerfait to retreat across the Trouville stream. As the centre recoiled before the enemy's cannon, Dumouriez and his staff rode forward, amongst whom was the young Duke de Chartres (Phi lippe Egalite), and forming a solid column he called it le bataillon de Mons. Leading it forward he drove in the Austrian centre which was already feeling the pressure of the French at Jemappes, as these troops were beginning to threaten their rear. The batteries at Cuesmes were then taken in a hand to hand struggle, and the Austrians seeing Harville's corps advancing in the distance with drew to Mons, and on the 7th retired to Brussels.

Each side lost some 7,000 men killed and wounded. The moral gain to the French was immense; without manoeuvre they had succeeded in imposing their will, and as one historian writes : "At Valmy they had merely stood their ground; at Jemappes they learnt to conquer." BIBLIOGRAPHY.-jomini, Guerres de la Revolution, vol. ii.; A. Alison, History of Europe, 1789-1815, vol. iii.; The Cambridge Modern His tory, vol. viii. (1904) ; J. Holland Rose and A. M. Broadley, Du mouriez and the Defence of England against Napoleon (1909) ; A. von Boguslawski, Das Leben des Generals Dumouriez (1879) ; A. Chuquet, La Premiere Invasion, Valmy, La Retraite de Brunswick, Jemappes, La Trahison de Dumouriez (1891). (J. F. C. F.)