6 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794, 



beginning had been advantageous. 

 The fact was, that notwitlistandiug 

 the disasters which liad bctalien tlje 

 allies in the laticr part of thejoie- 

 going campaign, their armies still 

 consisted of veteran troops, v horn 

 it was not easy to put to the rout. 

 Fhished with the uinny victorirs 

 they had gained over the Tuvjcs in 

 the late Hungarian wars, they could 

 Dot bring thenistlves to look on the 

 raw levies that composed the IVi luh 

 armies, as men equal to theuisehcs 

 in raartial prowessjand encountered 

 them with a consciousness of supe- 

 riority that was at lirst ju.'tified by 

 repeated successes. Nor was it till 

 the French had acquired a consider- 

 able degree of experience, at the 

 expence of some bloody defeats, 

 that they gradually became able to 

 face their antagonists. Still, how- 

 ever, the German soldieiy were 

 iindt r so excellent a discipline, that 

 the urccmraon fury with which the 

 French attacked them, was far 

 from always proving successful. 

 The steadiness of the imperial 

 troops was commoniy an equal 

 match for the impetuous valour of 

 the republican soldiers. Till the 

 immenseslaughtercoutinuallymade 

 of both parties had compelled them 

 to renew the numbers they had 

 lost by fresh recruits, the advan- 

 tages of soldiership continued to be 

 nearly divided. This accounts for 

 the alternate successes that attended 

 the contending armies, until the 

 latter periods of the present cam- 

 paign. As soon, however, as the 

 greater part of the veteran troops 

 in the Austrian army had fallen in 

 the reiterated scenes of destrLtctir)n 

 that marked the progress of tiiis 

 dreadful campaign, the levies of 

 men that became necessary to sup- 

 ply the places of those who had 



been slain, .filled the combineiij 

 forces with men very inadequats 

 to the task of encountering an 

 enemy no ways unequal to thein 

 in luilitary qualifications, and 

 greatly above them in that spirit 

 \\bichis pr(^duccd by national at- 

 tachment, enlivened by hostile 

 invasion, to the ardour of enthu- 

 siasm. 



Ill the mean time, the prepara- 

 tions against them were carried on 

 with a vigour and solicitude that 

 strongly denoted how formidable 

 they weje esteemed, and what ef- 

 forts were thought necessary to re- 

 pel the attacks they were medita- 

 ting. To this end the celebrated 

 Colonel ^^ack, a soldier of fortune, 

 who had raised himself to notice 

 and preferment merely by his cou- 

 rage and merit, was selected by the 

 Austrian ministry to concert with 

 the British government a plan for 

 the .sub.sequent operations in the 

 Netlieilands ; where, it was well 

 known, the French had it in con- 

 templation to achieve a project of 

 liie iirst magnitude, and which, in 

 case of success, would wholly dis-« 

 concert the measiues now taken 

 by the confederacy. I'his project 

 v\ asjto collect an immense body out 

 of their numerous armies, to con- 

 •sist of the best and most expert 

 troops in their service. This body 

 M as to be divided into five separate 

 corps. The two first, each ot great 

 strength, were appointed to force 

 their way, one into the territory ot" 

 Namur,the other into thatof Liege; 

 in both of which, the latter espe- 

 cially, a great majority of the inha- 

 bitants w'eie friendly to their 

 cause. Sanguine expectations were 

 fprmcd of both these expeditions ; 

 the success of which would have 

 thrown th.e contederate armies into 



th<s 



