Reign of George III. (Continued.)

Whilst the frightful massacres in Paris had been perpetrating, Dumouriez had been contending with the advancing armies of the allies on the frontiers. These armies, after the capture of Verdun, on the 2nd of September, had spread themselves over the plains of the Meuse, and occupied, as their main centre, Stenay. Dumouriez and his army lay at Sedan, and in its neighbourhood. To reach him, and advance on Chalons in their way to Paris, the allies must pass, or march round the great forest of Argonne, which extends from thirteen to fifteen leagues, and was so intersected with hills, woods, and waters, that it was, at that time, impenetrable to an army, except through certain passes. These were Chêne-Populeux, Croix-aux-Bois, Grand-Prey, La Chalade, and Islettes. The most important were those of Grand-Prey and Islettes, which, however, were the two most distant from Sedan.

Dumouriez, pointing to the map, showed to Thouvenel, one of his staff, this forest, and observed, "That is the Thermopylae of France! " Dumouriez remarked to him that the government in Paris was imperative for him to fall back on the Marne, but that if he did so he should allow the allies to winter, if they pleased, in the Trois Evêchés, a fertile country, instead of keeping them penned up in the desolate, muddy, and sterile fields of Champagne. If he kept them on the other side of the Argonne, should they direct their course towards Sedan, they would meet with the fortresses of the Netherlands; should they turn to the other extremity, they would come upon Metz and the army of the centre. The plan, therefore, was to fortify these passes; and, in order to do this, Dumouriez immediately ordered Dillon to march forward and occupy Islettes and La Chalade. This was effected; a division of Dillon's forces driving the Austrian general, Clairfayt, from the Islettes. Dumouriez followed, and occupied Grand-Prey, and general Dubouquet occupied Chêne-Populeux, and sent a detachment to secure Croix-aux-Bois, betwixt Grand-Prey and Chêne-Populeux. Having made these arrangements, Dumouriez wrote to the ministers, saying, " Grand-Prey and the Islettes are our Thermopylae; but I shall be more fortunate than Leonidas." He requested that some regiments should be detached from the army of the Rhine, and added to the army of the centre, under Kellermann. He desired that Kellermaun might skirt the left of the allies by Ligny and Bar-le-duc, taking them in the flank; and, if they should attempt to force the Argonne, he proposed to join the ten thousand men under Beurnonville, and wait for Kellermann with a united body of sixty thousand. Though he was by no means in favour with the Girondists since he ejected them from the ministry, the common danger, and the ability he had shown in his arrangements, induced Servan and Roland energetically to support his plans, and the enthusiasm amongst the population caused continual marches of volunteers to his aid, who made their rendezvous at Chalons.

On the 10th of September the Prussians began to examine the passes of the forest; and, finding them defended, they attacked the French entrenchments, but were every where repulsed. On the 11th, they concentrated their efforts on the pass of Grand-Prey, defended by Dumouriez himself, and were again repulsed by general Miranda, at Mortaume, and by general Stengel, at St. Jouvion. The allies, thus unexpectedly brought to a check, for they had been led by the emigrants to expect a disorganised, or as yet undisciplined army, determined to skirt the forest, and endeavour to turn it near Sedan. Whilst engaged in this plan, the Austrians discovered the weakness of the force in the defile of Croix- aux-Bois, where only two battalions and two squadrons of volunteers were posted, for Dumouriez had not examined the pass himself, and was assured that this force was amply sufficient. Once aware of this mistake, the Austrians, under the duke de Ligne, made a brisk attack on the position, and drove the French before them. Dumouriez, informed of this disorder, ordered forward general Chasot with a strong force, who defeated the Austrians, killed De Ligne, and recovered the pass. But the advantage was but momentary; the Austrians returned to the charge with a far superior force, and again cleared the pass, and remained in possession of it. Thus Dumouriez saw his grand plan of defence broken up; and finding that Chasot, who had fallen back on Vouziers, was cut off from him on his left, along with Dubouquet, he saw the necessity of falling back himself into the rear of Dillon, on his right, who was yet master of the Islettes and the road to St. Menehould. He then sent messages to Chasot, Dubouquet, and to Kellermann, to direct their march so as to meet him at St. Menehould.

By marching through a stormy night, and through execrable woods, he found himself, on the 16th, on the heights of Autry, four leagues from Grand-Prey. This was early in the morning: the enemy had not improved the advantage they had gained; they had slowly defiled through the pass, and he was beginning to regard himself as saved, when there was a shout in the rear of wild alarm; Dumouriez galloped to the spot, and found his young and inexperienced rear-guard flying before a body of Prussian hussars, crying that they were betrayed. By the exertions of himself and the other generals, order was restored. He bivouacked at Dammartin-sur-Hans. He had now been fifteen hours on horseback, and had just dismounted in the evening, when again the cry of "Sauve qui peut!" was heard, and he found a general panic prevailing. All order was lost, and there was the prospect of a general flight. The soldiers renewed their clamours that they were sold to the enemy, and they heaped execrations on the commander-in-chief. Dumouriez, however, did not lose his presence of mind; he commanded large fires to be lit; and they there passed ten hours in mud and discomfort. Yet he employed' himself in writing to the ministers, that ten thousand of his men had run away from fifteen hundred Prussians, but that all was right again. But above a thousand of his young soldiers had continued their flight to Paris, and created the greatest alarm there, declaring that all was lost.

Dumouriez continued his retreat to near St. Menehould and encamped on some heights before the town. These heights descended into low, marshy grounds, at the junction of the Auve and the Aisne, and commanded the three roads to Paris from the Islettes, St. Menehould, and Chalons. He posted himself on one of these heights, called Valmi, disposed his different generals on the others, with Dillon in the rear. But as the Prussians, if they chose to pass him at St. Menehould, might go forward to Chalons, and thus place themselves betwixt him and Paris, he therefore ordered Dubouquet, who had arrived at Chalons, to put himself in the camp of L'Epine, and there, collecting all the volunteers recently arrived at Chalons, to protect that city. Chasot also came up with the ten thousand men whom Dumouriez had brought into such excellent condition in the camp at Maulde, and soon after reinforced by Beurnonville, he found himself thirty-five thousand strong.

At the same time, the duke of Brunswick was approaching from the rear, and Kellermann from Metz, but both with equal tardiness. Dumouriez dispatched a courier to order Kellermann, on arriving, to take his position on the heights of Gisancourt, commanding the road to Chalons and the stream of the Auve; but Kellermann, arriving in the night of the 19th, instead of reaching the heights of Gisancourt, advanced to the centre of the basin at Valmi, where, on the morning of the 20th, he found himself commanded by the Prussians, who had come up and formed on the heights of La Lune, when, had Kellermann taken the position assigned him on Gisancourt, he would have commanded La Lune. The Prussians had been in full march for Chalons when they took post here, and discovered Kellermann below them, by the mill of Valmi, and Dumouriez above, on the heights of Valmi. Kellermann, perceiving the error of his position, and that the Prussians would soon seize on the heights of Gisancourt, which he ought to occupy, sent to Dumouriez for assistance to extricate himself. If he were beaten, he would be driven into the marshes of the Auve, and in danger of utter destruction. The king of Prussia, perceiving that forces were thrown forward towards Kellermann's position, imagined that the French meant to cut oft his march towards Chalons, and immediately commenced firing. From the heights of La Lune and of Gisancourt, which he now occupied, he poured a deadly fire of artillery on Kellermann; and the Austrians, about to attempt to drive the French from the heights of Hyron, if they succeeded, would leave him exposed on all sides. Dumouriez sent strong bodies of troops to his relief under Stengel, and Beurnonville, and Chasot. The battle now was warmly contested, but only through the artillery. A shell falling into one of Kellermann's powder wagons exploded it, and occasioned great confusion. The king of Prussia thought this the moment to charge with the bayonet, and now, for the first time, the revolutionary soldiers saw the celebrated troops, bearing the prestige of the great Frederick, marching down upon them in three columns, with the steady appearance of victory. Kellermann, to inspirit his inexperienced soldiers, shouted, "Vive la nation!" The troops caught the enthusiasm of the cry, and replied with a loud "Vive la nation!" and dashed forward. At this sight the duke of Brunswick was astonished; he was led to expect nothing but disorder and cowardice; he halted, and fell back into his camp.

This movement raised the audacity of the French; they continued to cannonade the Prussians, and, after one or two more attempts to reach them with the bayonet, Brunswick found himself, as night fell, in anything but a victorious position. About twenty thousand cannon shots had been exchanged, whence the battle was called the cannonade of Valmi. Yet there stood the French, who, according to the reports of the emigrants, were to have run off at the first smell of powder, or to have come over to them in a body. The next morning it was worse. Kellermann, in the night, had recovered himself from his false position; had gained the heights of Gisancourt, which he should have occupied at first; had driven the Prussians thence, and now commanded them in La Lune.

The relative positions of the French and Prussians were curious: the French stood with their faces towards Franco, along the heights, as if about to invade it; and the Prussians with their backs towards it, as if about to defend it; but Dumouriez saw at a glance all the advantages of his situation. He had now a compact body of nearly seventy thousand men, elated with their first encounter, and with a strong camp, well supplied with provisions; whilst the Prussians were beginning to feel all the horrors of famine, and were cruelly suffering from disease; for the people had not, as the emigrants has assured the allies that they would do, brought supplies, but had driven off their cattle, and laid the country waste. The season was inclement; they were on a clayey soil, which aggravated their disorders; and they were deeply chagrined and disappointed in their reception. True, they might still march on Chalons, and forward towards Paris; but Dumouriez was ready to throw himself on their rear; and there was no prospect of a better commissariat.

Thus, whilst the people of Paris were in terrible alarm at having the allies betwixt their army and themselves, the Prussians were so far from feeling any triumph, that they were in the deepest despondency. On the other hand, Dumouriez was not completely at ease. General Kellermann was far from satisfied at being placed under the command of a general whom he considered but of yesterday: the people of Paris were as little satisfied with having the Prussians betwixt their army and their capital. Both the assembly and the council wrote the most positive commands to Dumouriez to abandon his position at Valmi, and recross the Marne. He set both at defiance, and when they informed him that the Prussian Hulans were within fifteen leagues of the city, he wrote back: - "The Hulans annoy you; well, kill them. I shall not change the plan of my campaign on account of any foragers."

In this great cannonade, it is said by some authorities that not more than eight hundred men were killed on each side; by others, not more than that number on both sides. It is clear, therefore, that there had been scarcely any close fighting or crossing of bayonets. Amongst those who chiefly distinguished themselves in this affair, on the French side, were the young duke of Chartres, afterwards Louis Philippe, and his brother, the duke of Montpensier, then only seventeen, who served as his aide-de-camp. The whole of the French army was rendered confident by the decided check they had given to the Prussians. The allies were, indeed, still between the French and Paris, but this afforded them but little advantage, for Dumouriez had a strong position, had plenty of supplies, and twelve thousand ready at a moment to pursue and harass the enemy. At the same time, large bodies of troops were assembling at Chalons and Rheims in their way, and others were marching from Paris to support them; others again were converging from Soissons, Troyes, Vitry, and numerous other towns, to take Brunswick in the rear.

The condition of the Prussian camp was daily growing worse; the troops were compelled to kill their horses for food; they were drenched with heavy rains, and decimated by dysentery. The king of Prussia and the duke of Brunswick were full of resentment at the false representations of the emigrants, who had assured them that they would have little to do but to march to Paris, loaded with the welcomes and supplies of the people. Europe was surprised at the easy repulse of the Prussians; with their reputation, it was expected that they would march rapidly on Paris, and disperse the republican troops with scarcely an effort. But they: were no longer commanded by old Frederick; and even he would have found it difficult to make his way through a country which refused him the barest food for his army, and which almost to a man was in arms to resist him.

On the 24th overtures were made by the Prussians for an exchange of prisoners, to which Dumouriez agreed, refusing, however, to give up a single emigrant that had been taken. This soon led to discussions on the general question. Dumouriez drew up statements, endeavouring to show to the king of Prussia how greatly to his disadvantage he had been drawn into this quarrel by his old enemy, the emperor of Austria, and how much more to his interest would be an alliance with France. The king replied, through Brunswick, that he had no desire to interfere with the French constitution, but merely that the king should be restored to his liberty and authority, as before the 10th of August. To this Dumoliriez replied, that this could not be, since the convention had decreed the republic. In consequence of this, Dumouriez received a memorial from the duke of Brunswick, nearly as haughty as the one he had published before. Dumouriez informed Brunswick that it was clear that there could be no treating so long as the allies were on the soil of France, and that, if they valued the lives of the king of France and his family, they would make haste to evacuate the country, for that such was the state of mind in Paris, that any attempt on the part' of the allies to advance, would be the certain destruction of that family; his officers also assured the German officers that French armies were preparing on the Upper Rhine for the invasion of Germany. It is said that Louis XYI. was induced by Petion, Manuel, and others to write to the king of Prussia, entreating him to retire, if he valued his life, which must be sacrificed, with those of his family, if he advanced.