116] 
his object. To the left d’Harville 
was ordered to carry his batteries 
nearer to the enemy; by which 
means he could produce a more 
considerable impression, and, sup- 
ported by General Bournonville, 
who was ordered at noon to attack 
the left, keep them in check towards 
that quarter, This was the time 
appointed for the general assault; 
when the centre of the French army 
moved on in columns, in regular 
order, to carry the lower tier of the 
Austrian batteries, This service 
was readily effected, but not with- 
out considerable confusion and dis- 
order in the French line. Of this 
disorder the Austrian General wish- 
ed to take advantage, and for that 
purpose detached the cavalry to 
charge the French troops. This 
maovement was soon discovered by 
Dumouriez, who instantly gave 
orders for the hussars and chasseurs 
to cover the infantry, and to charge 
and repel the enemy; and he was 
himself of considerable use in form- 
ing and directing the manceuvre. 
While the French cavalry were 
successfully employed in this busi- 
ness, the infantry, under the com- 
amand of Egalité, pushed on to gain 
possession of the second tier of re- 
doubts. After this was performed 
with’ great bravery, there was still 
another effort to be made, in order 
to gain the summit of the heights, 
where the Austrians were posted to 
make their last and greatest stand. 
The intrepidity of Dumouriez’s ar- 
my, and their coolness in surmount- 
ing the complicated difficulties as 
they occurred, in the course of a 
long contested engagement, had 
very considerably slackened the 
order of the Austrians. At two 
o'clock in the afternoon, they com- 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1792. 
pletely gave way on all sides; nei- 
ther did they attempt to occupy or 
dispute any of the posts which re- 
mained to be defended between the. 
heights of Jemmappe and Mons. 
They entered the garrison of this 
place in the most irregular manner, 
and which partook more of flight 
and panie than the defeat of a re- 
gular army, whose discipline and 
courage had hitherto been regarded 
as equal, if not superior to those of 
the first troops in Europe. 
After the action, the General 
posted his army on the heights of 
Cuvenis, where he collected his 
wounded; and at the same “time 
General d’Harville took possession 
of Mount Palisel, as M. Stetenboffe 
did of Mount Bertellmont. The 
Austvians lost in this action, accord- 
ing to the account of Dumouriez, 
“the most terrible in the memory 
of man, 4000 in killed and wound- 
ed, and nearly the same number in 
missing and disbanded.” The loss 
of the French was about 300 killed 
and 600 wounded. 
We cannot avoid remarking, that 
the French studiously, in all their 
engagements, diminish their own 
loss, whilst they exaggerate that of 
their opponents. 
In this action, the superiority of 
numbers was very much on the side 
of the republicans, as they perhaps: 
exceeded the Austrians in the pro- 
portion of three to one: and it is 
remarkable, that, notwithstanding 
the irregular retreat of the Aus- 
trians, they only lost eight pieces 
of cannon, 
Dumouriez lost no time in sum- 
moning Mons to surrender. This 
place, after three different demands, 
was totally evacuated by the Aus- 
trians; and on the morning of the 
7th, 
