Battle of Valmy
Battle of Valmy | |||||||
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Part of the War of the First Coalition | |||||||
Painting of the Battle of Valmy by Horace Vernet from 1826. The white-uniformed infantry to the right are regulars while the blue-coated ranks to the left represent the citizen volunteers of 1791. The Moulin de Valmy was burnt on the orders of Kellermann on the day of the battle. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of France |
Kingdom of Prussia Holy Roman Empire Army of Condé | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
François Christophe Kellermann |
Count of Clerfayt | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
36,000 | 34,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
~300 | ~200 | ||||||
The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of
In this early part of the Revolutionary Wars—known as the
Background
As the
Just over half of the French infantry were
Battle
The invading army handily captured
The troops trudged laboriously through a heavy downpour—"rain as of the days of Noah", in the words of Thomas Carlyle.[10] Brunswick headed through the northern woods believing he could cut off Dumouriez. At the moment when the Prussian manœuvre was nearly completed, Kellermann advanced his left wing and took up a position on the slopes between Sainte-Menehould and Valmy.[6] He centered his command around an old windmill, which he quickly razed to prevent enemy artillery spotters from using it as a sighting location.[11] His veteran artillerists were well-placed upon its accommodating ridge to begin the so-called "Cannonade of Valmy".[12] Brunswick moved toward them with about 34,000 of his troops.[9] As they emerged from the woods, a long-range gunnery duel ensued and the French batteries proved superior. The Prussian infantry made a cautious, and fruitless, effort to advance under fire across the open ground.[3]
As the Prussians wavered, a pivotal moment was reached when Kellermann raised his hat and made his famous cry of "Vive la Nation". The cry was repeated again and again by all the French army, and had a crushing effect upon Prussian morale. The French troops sang "La Marseillaise" and "Ça Ira", and a cheer went up from the French line.[13] To the surprise of nearly everyone, Brunswick broke off the action and retired from the field. The Prussians rounded the French positions at a great distance and commenced a rapid retreat eastward. The two engaged forces had been essentially equal in size, Kellermann with approximately 36,000 troops and 40 cannon, and Brunswick with 34,000 and 54 cannon. Yet by the time Brunswick retreated, casualties had risen no higher than three hundred French and two hundred Prussians.[14]
Prussian retreat
The precipitous end to the action provoked elation among the French.[3] The question of exactly why the Prussians withdrew has never been definitively answered. Most historians ascribe the retreat to some combination of the following factors: the highly defensible French position[3] together with the rapidly growing numbers of reinforcements and citizen volunteers[15] with their discouraging and thoroughly unexpected élan[16] which persuaded the cautious Brunswick to spare himself a dangerous loss of manpower,[17] particularly when the Russian invasion of Poland had already raised concerns for Prussia's defensibility in the east.[15] Others have put forward more shadowy motives for the decision, including a secret plea by Louis XVI to avoid an action which might cost him his life, and even bribery of the Prussians, allegedly paid for with the Bourbon crown jewels.[18]
An analysis by Dr Munro Price, reader in history at the University of Bradford and a modern specialist in this period, concludes that there is no convincing proof of bribery turning back the Prussians.[19] The more likely explanation remains that, having initially adopted an aggressive strategy, Brunswick lacked the will to carry it through when confronted by an unexpectedly determined and disciplined opposition.[20] Brunswick had actually been offered command of the French armies prior to the outbreak of war and émigré factions subsequently used this as a basis to allege treachery on his part. In any case, the battle ended decisively, the French pursuit was not seriously pressed,[21] and Brunswick's troops managed a safe if inglorious eastward retreat.[22]
Aftermath
This engagement was the turning point of the Prussians' campaign. Beset with food shortages and
Dumouriez would bear a harsh change of fortune: after one more influential success in November 1792 at Jemappes, he was by the following year a broken man. His army had suffered such catastrophic losses that he defected to the royalist side for the rest of his life.[23] Kellermann, however, continued in a long and distinguished military career. In 1808 he was ennobled by Napoleon and became Duke of Valmy.[24]
Legacy
In terms of military history the battle introduced features that reshaped modern warfare. It exemplified key components of "total war" in terms of political propaganda, psychological warfare, and eager participation of large numbers of politicized civilians.[25]
After a while the battle came to be celebrated as the first great victory of the armies of the French Revolution.
On the day of the battle, the Legislative Assembly had duly transferred its power to the National Convention.[21] Over the next two days, flush with the news from Valmy, the new Convention deputies
The Prussians themselves recognized the importance of the battle, not merely as a setback in the war but as a crucial advancement for the Revolution as a whole.[30] The German writer and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was present at the battle with the Prussian army, later wrote that he was approached by some of his comrades in a state of dejection. He had previously cheered them up with memorable and clever quotes but his only consolation this time was, "Here and today, a new epoch in the history of the world has begun, and you can boast you were present at its birth."[27]
References
- ^ Creasy, p. 334.
- ^ Creasy, p. 330.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Schama, p. 640.
- ^ Fuller, p. 352.
- ^ Price, p. 311.
- ^ a b c d Britannica 1910, p. 171.
- ^ a b Fuller, p. 350.
- ^ Crowdy, pp. 8, 24.
- ^ a b c Tucker, p. 260.
- ^ Carlyle, p. 39.
- ^ Azema pp. 84–85.
- ^ E. H. Wainwright, "The cannonade of Valmy." Kleio 5.2 (1973): 62–76.
- ^ Soboul, p. 589.
- ^ a b Lanning, p. 145.
- ^ a b Doyle, p. 198.
- ^ a b Soboul, p. 269.
- ^ Esdaile, p. 161.
- ^ Webster, pp. 348–52.
- ^ Price, p. 312.
- ^ Price, pp. 311–12.
- ^ a b Soboul, p. 270.
- ^ a b c d Schama, p. 641.
- ^ Thiers, pp. 298ff.
- ^ Dunn-Pattinson, p. 321.
- ^ E. H. Wainwright, "The cannonade of Valmy." Kleio 5.2 (1973): 62–76.
- ^ Élise Meyer, "Valmy: The victory and its reputation." Annales historiques de la Revolution francaise. No. 4. 2020.
- ^ a b Doyle, p. 193.
- ^ Horne, p. 197.
- ^ Creasy, pp. 328ff.
- ^ Blanning, pp. 78–79.
Sources
- Atkinson, Charles Francis; Hannay, David McDowall (1910). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 171–205, see page 171. . In
Valmy
- Azema, Jean-Pierre Henri (1995). Les Moulins de France (in French). Rennes: Fédération Française des Amis des Moulins. ISBN 2-7373-1673-1.
- ISBN 0-340-64533-4.
- OCLC 461166553.
- OCLC 5026550. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
fifteen decisive battles.
- Crowdy, Terry (15 January 2003). French Revolutionary Infantryman, 1791–1802. Warrior series. Vol. 63. Oxford: Osprey. pp. 8, 24. ISBN 1-84176-552-X.
- ISBN 978-0-19-925298-5.
- ISBN 978-3-86741-429-6. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- Esdaile, Charles (2009). Napoleon's Wars: An International History, 1803–1815. New York: Penguin. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-14-311628-8.
- ISBN 0-306-80305-4.
- ISBN 978-1-4000-3487-1.
- ISBN 1-4022-0263-6.
- Meyer, Élise. "Valmy: The victory and its reputation." Annales historiques de la Revolution francaise. No. 4. 2020. abstract
- ISBN 0-330-48827-9.
- ISBN 0-679-72610-1.
- ISBN 0-394-71220-X.
- OCLC 2949605.
- ISBN 978-1-59884-429-0.
- Wainwright, E. H. "The cannonade of Valmy." Kleio 5.2 (1973): 62–76.
- ISBN 0-7661-7996-6.
Further reading
- Forrest, Alan. The Legacy of the French Revolutionary Wars: The Nation-in-Arms in French Republican Memory (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
- Lynn, John A. "Valmy" MHQ: Quarterly Journal of Military History (Fall 1992), 5#1 pp 88–97.
- Scott, Samuel F. From Yorktown to Valmy: the transformation of the French Army in an age of revolution (University Press of Colorado, 1998)
- Thoral, Marie-Cécile. From Valmy to Waterloo: France at War, 1792–1815 (Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2011)
External links
- Cannon Thunder at Valmy, David A. Norris, Warfare History Network, 21 March 2019
- HTML version of The Battle of Valmy from Edward Shepherd Creasy's The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World
- Media related to Battle of Valmy at Wikimedia Commons
Preceded by Siege of Thionville (1792) |
French Revolution: Revolutionary campaigns Battle of Valmy |
Succeeded by Column of the Goddess |