Battle of Epierre
Battle of Epierre | |||||||
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Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||
View of Épierre in the Maurienne valley | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Republican France | Kingdom of Sardinia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
François Kellermann Jean Denis Ledoyen |
Duke of Montferrat Marquis of Cordon | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
Campaign: 12,000 Battle: 8,000 |
Campaign: 18,000 Battle: 6,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Campaign: unknown Battle: 500 |
Campaign: 2,000 Battle: 1,000 |
The Battle of Epierre (15 September 1793) was part of a larger
Background
Peace
King
In July 1791, Victor Amadeus asked the
War
On 21 September 1792, the Army of the Midi under Montesquiou invaded Savoy. Montesquiou had approximately 25,000 soldiers in 33 infantry battalions, 11 cavalry squadrons, and some
On 1 October 1792, the French government split the Army of the Midi into the
In December 1792, Lieutenant General François Christophe de Kellermann took command of the Army of the Alps. Since many units had been sent to the Army of the Pyrenees, the army had only five regular regiments, 30 volunteer battalions, two regular cavalry regiments, and some independent companies. There were 30,000 men on the muster rolls but only 16,000–20,000 were fit for service. In May 1793 the Army of the Alps numbered 45,000 but it was hard to procure weapons for every soldier. The army's left (north) flank was south of Geneva in the Arve river valley, also called the Faucigny.[8] Going south, the army defended the Isère river valley and its upper reaches, called the Tarentaise Valley; the Arc river valley, also called the Maurienne; the Durance river; and the Ubaye river. The right (south) flank was anchored by the fortified Camp de Tournoux.[9] Kellermann proved to be an excellent organizer. During his command tenure, he set up depots with enough supplies to clothe 50,000 men and arm 32,000.[10]
These events occurred during the
A revolt began brewing in
Battle
With Kellermann's attention focused on Lyon, the Piedmontese launched the attack that he had predicted.
On 14 August 1793, the Duke of Montferrat's column passed over the
Despite the crisis, the all-powerful political agents were obsessed with the internal revolt and would not allow Kellermann to leave the Siege of Lyon for more than four days at a time. Kellermann left Lyon on 19 August 1793 and did what he could to improve the defenses of Albertville and Aiguebelle on 21 August. He was back at Lyon on 24 August. However, the political agents in Savoy demanded the commander-in-chief's presence at the front and got their way. Kellermann hastened back to Savoy, leaving the Siege of Lyon to be carried out by Dubois-Crancé[15] and General Jean-Baptiste Louis Philippe Demuy. The representative on mission Pierre Jacques Dherbez-Latour tried to dictate military instructions, but Kellermann and General of Brigade Louis Joseph Marie Rogon de Carcaradec stopped his interference by threatening to resign. Starting on 31 August, Kellermann traveled to Grenoble, Chambéry, and Montmélian in order to inspire the authorities. He called up some battalions from the Camp of Tournoux on the right flank, pressed ambulatory hospital patients into service, and got the political agents to call out the local National Guard.[17]
Because Montferrat failed to see the importance of pressing forward, his two columns remained separated and bottled up in the valleys. Kellermann exploited the Strategy of the central position by planning to operate first against Montferrat while holding back Cordon's force. Kellermann sent a column into the Doron valley toward Beaufort. This force threatened to outflank the Tarentaise by hooking south to Aime. Meanwhile, Kellermann's main force moved up the Isère River. Over in the Maurienne, Cordon was distracted by a French force on his left rear. During the Piedmontese invasion, a detachment of French soldiers withdrew up a side valley leading south from the Maurienne and was holding Valloire. Nevertheless, Cordon's wing marched down the Arc River on 10 September, hoping to be reinforced by Montferrat.[17]
Cordon's advancing column found Le Doyen's troops setting up an artillery battery. One badly-trained French gun crew rammed the round shot home before the powder charge and ruined the cannon.[17] In the Battle of Epierre on 15 September, 8,000 French soldiers faced 6,000 Sardinians. The French lost 500 killed and wounded while inflicting 1,000 casualties on their adversaries.[18] According to another source, the fighting occurred at Argentine, the next village below Épierre. By a strenuous effort the French hauled some mountain guns up to Saint-Alban-d'Hurtières from which they opened a surprise cannonade on the Piedmontese below, causing them to panic.[16] No help from Montferrat appeared and Cordon fell back to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on 16 September.[19]
Snowfall stopped all operations until 27 September, when Le Doyen advanced up the Maurienne. On 29 September, Le Doyen's troops captured the southern exit of the Col de la Madeleine, cutting communications between Montferrat and Cordon. Kellermann's left column captured Beaufort on 28 September. The following day, Chef de brigade Jacques-Antoine de Chambarlhac de Laubespin seized the Cormet de Roselend, putting the French in a position to move south into the Tarentaise. Kellermann planned to attack Montferrat on 2 October, with the main column marching up the Tartenaise toward Moûtiers, Le Doyen coming across the Col de la Madeleine from the southeast, and Chambarlhac moving from Beaufort in the north. Seeing the trap prepared for his soldiers, Montferrat retreated up the valley. On 3 October, Kellermann pushed the last elements of Montferrat's column up the Little St Bernard Pass and the Tarentaise was clear.[19]
Rapidly, Kellermann shifted troops across the Col de la Madeleine against Cordon's right flank. The reinforced French force at Valloire pressed north against Cordon's left flank. These threats compelled Cordon to withdraw to Modane. On 4 October, Kellermann came into the Maurienne via the Col des Encombrés and massed his available troops. By 8 October, the French drove Cordon's wing up the Mont-Cenis Pass, clearing the Maurienne. At the same time the Piedmontese in the north abandoned the Arve valley. Even the fanatic Chépy admitted that, "Kellermann has put himself at the head of the columns and has shown great activity". Though the poorly-trained French soldiers were outnumbered, they managed to oust their enemies from Savoy.[19][note 1] From beginning to end, Kellermann with no more than 12,000 troops drove away 18,000 Piedmontese, inflicting 2,000 casualties.[16]
Aftermath
The National Convention decided that Kellermann had moved too slowly against the Lyon revolt. On 12 September 1793, the
Considering that General Kellermann has been for long convicted of having betrayed the Republic, that his dismissal, pronounced by the National Convention, was founded on the gravest motives, and cannot be contravened by any authority without a great danger to the Republic, Kellermann be at once placed in arrest, and sent to Paris.[20]
Normally it was the representatives on mission who denounced the generals. In this case, the representatives with the Army of the Alps were pleased with Kellermann's performance, but the politicians in Paris demanded his arrest.[20] On 12 October, the French government also ordered the arrest of Dubois-Crancé for not subduing Lyon quickly enough, but that politician managed to talk his way out of it.[20] Fresh from his success against the Piedmontese, Kellermann received the order for his arrest on 16 October. He was supposed to be guarded by a detachment of gendarmes, but Doppet allowed him to proceed with a single officer of gendarmes. Kellermann left for Paris on 18 October and arrived at the Prison de l'Abbaye on 6 November 1793.[21] Kellermann survived the Reign of Terror, possibly because he was the hero of the Battle of Valmy. He went on trial and was acquitted on 8 November 1794. Kellermann's rank was restored on 15 January 1795 and he assumed command of the Army of the Alps in March that year.[22] Emperor Napoleon appointed Kellermann a Marshal of the Empire on 19 May 1804. Napoleon utilized Kellermann's talent as an organizer during the First French Empire, though he never again held a combat command.[23]
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 73.
- ^ a b Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 74.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 67.
- ^ a b Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 75.
- ^ a b Phipps 2011, pp. 68–69.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 70.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 76.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 72.
- ^ a b Phipps 2011, p. 73.
- ^ a b Phipps 2011, p. 94.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 82.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 91.
- ^ a b Phipps 2011, p. 98.
- ^ Boycott-Brown 2001, p. 78.
- ^ a b c Phipps 2011, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Cust 1859, p. 172.
- ^ a b c Phipps 2011, p. 100.
- ^ Smith 1998, p. 56.
- ^ a b c Phipps 2011, p. 101.
- ^ a b c d Phipps 2011, p. 105.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 106.
- ^ Phipps 2011, p. 107.
- ^ Chandler & Hofschröer 1987, pp. 183–184.
References
- Boycott-Brown, Martin (2001). The Road to Rivoli: Napoleon's First Campaign. London, UK: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35305-1.
- ISBN 0-02-905930-5.
- Cust, Edward (1859). Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth Century, Compiled from the most Authentic Histories of the Period: 1783–1795. Vol. 4 (online ed.). London: Mitchell's Military Library. OCLC 238863346. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-908692-26-9.
- ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
45°27′17″N 6°17′43″E / 45.45472°N 6.29528°E