René-Bernard Chapuy
René-Bernard Chapuy (known as Chapuis) was a French soldier and general who served in the
Career
Born in
Wars of the French Revolution
Elected captain of a free company on 1 August 1792, Chapuis marched at its head to join the
Under the command of
Chapuis was exchanged on 23 September 1795 and re-entered France in time to take part in the defence of the Convention of
Assessment
"A startling example of both the old-style double-line formation and its weakness was supplied by… Chapuis’s defeat at Troisvilles, 26th April 1794… Arnaudin, an émigré serving with the Austrians, wrote of this debacle: ‘He put the centre column in line, in two lines, the left resting on the village of Aridencourt. Chapuis believed his flanks secure; however, a large body of Austrian and English cavalry took his division in flank and rear and scattered it".[2]
At Troisvilles (Beaumont) he advanced without adequate reconnaissance and left his left flank wide open. He then tried to turn and face Otto’s flank attack. "As well might he have tried to turn back the oncoming sea. The avalanche of mounted men descended on him and his doomed army. It was swept through and through from left to right and the whole force as one man took to flight".[3]
References
- Six, Georges (1934). "Chapuy (René-Bernard Chapuis dit)". Dictionnaire biographique des généraux et amiraux français de la Révolution et de l'Empire: 1792–1814 (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Librairie Historique et Nobilaire. pp. 221–222.
- Lynn, John A (1996), The Bayonets of the Republic. Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France 1791-94 (2nd Edition), Oxford: Westfield Press, ISBN 978-0-8133-2945-1.
- Burne, Alfred (1949), The Noble Duke of York: The Military Life of Frederick Duke of York and Albany, London: Staples Press.