"Neither Up Nor Down: The British Army and the Campaign" Topic

… in Flanders 1793-1795

"Apart from the nursery rhyme ‘The Grand Old Duke of York', Britain's war against Revolutionary France is today a largely forgotten prelude to the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign in Flanders was Britain's attempt to stem the power of the new republic as it threatened to engulf its neighbours, but it was to end in disaster. This is the first account of this intensive campaign written in modern times; chronicling the many battles as the varying fortunes of the combatants saw their armies march to and fro across the fields of Flanders. A weak and ill-equipped army led by the Duke of York struggled daily with the terrain and climate of the Low Countries as well as the competing aims of its allies and the unrealistic expectations of its government. This book details the numerous major battles of the campaign and the unravelling of the First Coalition using British, French and German sources."

Main page
link

Amicalement
Armand

Another one for the unending list… :-)

This campaign had a profound effect on the operations of the British Army throughout the wars. Bouts of "Walcheren Fever" are repeated in many memoires, and when one remembers that on campaign sickness invariably caused more losses and absence than enemy action.

The British failures in Flanders in 1793-1795 as well as in Holland in 1799 were indicative that the British army was not well led and was not trained or structured to fight a modern war.

Those failures definitely led to the reforms of Sir John Moore and others.

As I recall, the future Duke of Wellington served in this campaign as a colonel. When asked years later if he had learned anything from it, he replied "I learned what not to do, which is something I suppose"

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

An amazing book – you should all rush out and buy it!

Thanks!

Amicalement
Armand

not available on Amazon at the moment, like to buy a kindle version.

von Winterfeldt- You can buy direct from Helion but I don't think they do Kindle versions.

great book , I bought it and enjoy it immensely reading it.

Yes rush and buy it and raise armies in miniature to cover all those wonderful campaigns and battles.

Many errors. Caveat emptor.

42flanker, I'd be grateful for an idea of the errors, as I haven't ordered it yet.

At least give a sample of the perceived errors…

It would be a tedious catalogue of misreadings, contradictory statements, and failure to grasp basic geography. I'd pm you, arthur, if I could.

I should point out that I have only seen the last two chapters which I was sent. These cover a period I have been studying in some detail but even in that small portion of the book the number of errors was striking. It was almost as if the author had lost interest. However, my correspondent laid out errors he had identified in earlier chapters.

It represents a missed opportunity because there have been a number of books in recent years that have failed to do justice to this phase of the Great French War, some indeed producing the most extraordinary nonsense then hurrying on to the main event, while others focussed on the Low Country campaigns. I shall refrain from naming names. There have of course also been highly honourable exceptions whose merits need no burnishing.

Once again, I am feeling an increasingly familiar grumpiness. You'd think he might have managed not to repeat the 'cavalry capturing the fleet in the ice' trope. Mais, non.

I just finished the failed siege of Dünkirchen – and Hondschoote, my failure to spot mistakes must be that I have not the slightest idea what did go on then, so far I am enjoying the book, the provided foot notes sources were sound.

42flanker, there you seemingly have profound knowledge of this much neglected period, maybe you can point out other sources to deepen my knowledge.

For a later British view on things, Fortescue is as good a place to start as any.

link

Yes, Fortescue is a good starting point for an overview which, while sympathetic to the British position, is nonetheless clear-eyed about the political and institutional failures that dogged the campaign.

For a broader, view- 'De oorlog van 1794-95 op het grondgebied van de republiek der Vereenigde Nederlanden [The war of 1794-95 on the territory of the Republic of the United Netherlands. Edited under the supervision of the chief of the general staff] by F.H.A. Sabron, 2 vols. 1892, is a very full account, using sources from all nations involved. Bit of a slog if you don't read Dutch but mostly reliable in its narrative. It is certainly not sympathetic to the British while understandably giving the government of the United Provinces an easier ride. Only the fine illuminating loose maps of the printed set are lacking.
Volume One: link
Volume Two: link

There are various French portmanteau histories of varying reliability.

My primary interest was at battalion level. For such a short campaign ending in abject failure there is also a surprising wealth of military journals and memoirs either published at the time or later. For some reason the Coldstream Guard (see below) and the 28th North Gloucestershire Regt (Paget, Vivian, Harness, & Stewart) feature prominently in surviving accounts from the field.

However, among the best known and most easily available accounts, worth reading for flavour, if not for reliability, are:

An Accurate And Impartial Narrative Of The War,
By An Officer Of The Guards. In Two Volumes.
Comprising The Campaigns Of 1793, 1794,
And The Retreat Through Holland
To Westphalia, In 1795- (1796)
link

A Journal Kept in the British Army from the Landing of the Troops under the Command of Earl Moira, at Ostend, in June 1794, to their Return to England the Following Year," Anon, London, 1796.
link

An Impartial Journal of a Detachment from the Brigade of Foot Guards,Commencing 25th February 1793 and Ending 9th May 1795 By Robert Brown, Corporal in the Coldstream Guards
link

An historical journal of the British Campaign on the Continent in the year 1794,
with the retreat through Holland in 1795.
Lewis Tobias JONES Captain.
Birmingham, 1797.
link

In addition, Colonel David Stewart of Garth, compiling histories of the Highland regiments in his 'Sketches of the Highlanders [etc]'(1822) included accounts of the role played by the 42nd RH and 78th Ross-shire Buffs in the latter phases of the campaign.

Senior officers such as Calvert and Cathcart provide correspondence and journals:
Cathcart as Colonel of 29th:
link
and as GOC 6th Brigade: Gleanings from the Cathcart MSS Atkinson, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. XXIX Winter 1951 No. 120
pp.144-157 Part IV The Netherlands 1794-95 [currently available free via JSTOR.]

Calvert as ADC to HRH Duke of York:
Journals and Correspondence of Harry Calvert (Ed. Harry Venner 1853)
link

The campaign famously saw the Lt Col Hon Arthur Wesley/Wellesley's first active service with 33rd Regt analysed in 'Wellington in the Low Countries'by R.N.W. Thomas, in 'The International History Review,' vol. 11, no.1 February 1989. And in passing by Rory Muir in the first volume of his Wellington biography 'Path to Glory'.

From a gaming perspective, Gary Wills, another TMP contributor, published 'Wellington's First Battle,' a wargamer's handbook for the battle of Boxtel in September 1794. It has a very extensive reading list.

Paul Demet, who contributes to these forums, recently published with Helion a handsome and concise account of the German regiments in British service: 'We are accustomed to do our duty: German Auxiliaries With The British Army 1793-95' offering a useful perspective to the familiar British one.

JF: Thanks for your kind words re my book

I would add to your list of sources:

M. von Ditfurth, Die Hessen in den Feldzügen von 1793, 1794 und 1795 in Flandern, Brabant, Holland und Westphalen, 2 Vols, Kassel, Verlag von J. Bohné, 1839-40.

L. Jouan, ‘La Campagne de 1794 das les Pays Bas, Deuxième Partie', Revue d'Histoire, Vol. 51, 1913, and

H.P.R. von Porbeck, Kritische Geschichte der Operationen welche die Englisch-combinirte Armee zur Vertheidigung von Holland in den Jahren 1794 und 1795 ausgeführt hat, 2 vols, Braunschweig, Friedrich Bernhard Culemann, , 1802-4

Thanks for all those books and suggested reading list – I have already quite a few of them – so no shortcuts in reading them all.

Thanks, Paul. My apologies to von Ditfurth and von Porbeck.
Jouan remains a gap in my reading, as only Vol I is available online at Gallica- why do they do that?

JF

Have you looked for Jouan in the Revue d'Histoire – or just the published books? Not so convenient, but it is included as follows:

La campagne de 1794 dans les Pays-Bas
No. 132, December 1911, pp. 353-379; No. 133, January 1912, pp. 1-28; No. 134, February 1912, pp. 177-205; No. 135, March 1912, pp. 378-404; No. 136, April 1912, pp. 29-52; No. 137, May 1912, pp. 202-227; No. 138, June 1912, pp. 407-433; No. 139, July 1912, pp. 52-75; No. 140, August 1912, pp. 226-260; No. 141, September 1912, pp. 401-424; No. 142, October 1912, pp. 56-79; No. 143, November 1912, pp. 210-233; No. 144, December 1912, pp. 414-438; No. 145, January 1913, pp. 70-95; No. 147, March 1913, pp. 406-430; No. 149, May 1913, pp. 251-271; No. 150, June 1913, pp. 454-475; No. 151, July 1913, pp. 72-91; No. 152, August 1913, pp. 264-291, No. 153, September 1913, pp. 429-456; No. 154, October 1913, pp. 72-108; No. 155, November 1913, pp. 203-229; No. 156, December 1913, pp. 376-405

They are on Gallica at link

42F – thanks for the mention of my book Wellington's First Battle. link

I will also be giving a presentation on Linselles at the SAHR Centenary Conference Pt2 in September, COVID willing.

Regards
Garry

@Paul- excellent. many thanks.
@Garry- en avant!