Siege of Landrecies (1794)

In the amended that the military leaders of the Coalition agreed upon in The Hague in early April the capture of the fortress of Landrecies was a key objective. The mobile army of the States Army (which had not been active since the Battle of Menin (1793)) was charged with obtaining this objective. Landrecies had long been a contested city between France and the Habsburg Netherlands of which it originally a part. In 1543 the French conquered it and repulsed an attempt by Charles V to retake it, though it was returned to him at the ensuing peace. In 1655 the city was taken by the French after a brief siege and not returned to the Spanish Netherlands at the Treaty of the Pyrenees of 1659. Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban then gave it a fortress built according to the latest military practice. This made it impregnable in the Franco-Dutch War, and the War of the Spanish Succession when it withstood an attempt by Prince Eugene in 1712 to capture it. The Coalition armies, under supreme command of the Austrian emperor Francis II were facing the French armies under general Jean-Charles Pichegru. The French started the Spring campaign of 1794 in March but in early April the Coalition forces in Flanders were ready to start their offensive. Emperor Francis reviewed the troops of the combined British–Austrian–Dutch army on 16 April 1794 near Cateau-Cambrésis. The next day, 17 April, the Allies attacked on a very broad front. The Dutch mobile army reached the glacis of the fortress of Cambrai that evening. The columns of the Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt and Major-General Van der Duyn captured Catillon-sur-Sambre, near Landrecies that evening. ==The siege==

The Dutch mobile army (about 16,000 strong) was reinforced with Austrian infantry and auxiliaries under command of Major-General Count Baillet de Latour and Austrian artillery under Major-General Johann Kollowrat (about 4,000). On 18 April 1794 this corps left its camp near Cambrai and marched on Landrecies. On 19 April the force made preparations and on 20 April the corps opened a three-pronged attack on the fortress. Two columns marched via Fontaine-au-Bois and the Forêt de Mormal toward the Sambre river, where they took the villages of Hapegarde, Etoguis and the reinforced camp of Preux-au-Bois, within range of the artillery of the fortress. The Swiss Guards of the brigade of De Gumoëns and the brigade of Hesse-Darmstadt distinguished themselves in this fight. The middle column overran the redoubts and demi-lunes of the outer fortress. The garrison of the fortress was forced to withdraw within its walls. The Dutch losses were 23 officers and 358 other ranks. The city would later collectively receive the Légion d'Honneur for its bravery. Despite the severe losses the garrison commander, general Roulland, at first refused repeated demands to surrender, possibly because the French launched a desperate last attempt to relieve the fortress on 27 April, but this again came to nothing. This was immediately granted, and followed by protracted negotiations about a capitulation on terms. The negotiations were conducted by the Dutch quarter-master-general Bentinck and the Austrian major-general Mack on the Coalition side, and general Roulland on the French side. They led to the capitulation with honor of the French garrison on 30 April. The garrison had been reduced to 5,000 men. They became prisoners-of-war in the Dutch Republic. The fortress was taken over by Swiss and Dutch Guard regiments. ==Aftermath==

The next day Emperor Francis and the stadtholder reviewed the defeated French troops filing by. The Hereditary Prince handed the keys of the city to the Emperor at this occasion. After the fall of Landrecies the Austrians did nothing for eleven days, as if they had forgotten why the fortress had been taken in the first place. Only on 12 May did operations of the combined Austro-Dutch forces resume near Le Cateau-Cambrésis. A chance to cut off Pichegru was missed, however, because of hesitation by the Emperor. This did not bode well for the remainder of the campaign. Indeed the tide eventually turned in favor of the French after the Battle of Fleurus (26 June 1794), and they retook Landrecies on 17 July 1794 after a brief siege. The Hereditary Prince apparently had made a good impression on the Emperor. When general Kaunitz disappointed him by his hesitant conduct, the Emperor replaced him by the Hereditary Prince in May 1794, giving the Prince command of all Dutch and Austrian forces near the Sambre. ==Notes and references==