Siege of Lille (1792)

Coordinates: 50°37′40″N 3°3′30″E / 50.62778°N 3.05833°E / 50.62778; 3.05833
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Siege of Lille (1792)
Part of the War of the First Coalition

Siege of Lille by Louis Joseph Watteau
Date25 September – 8 October 1792
Location
Lille, Nord, France
Result French victory
Belligerents
French First Republic Republican France
Belgian exiles		 Habsburg monarchy Habsburg monarchy
Commanders and leaders
French First Republic Jean-Baptiste Ruault Habsburg monarchy Albert of Teschen
Strength
10,000–25,000 13,800, 52 siege guns
Casualties and losses
100–200

43 dead, 161 wounded

20 siege guns
Siege of Lille (1792) is located in Europe
Siege of Lille (1792)
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Location within Europe

The siege of Lille (25 September – 8 October 1792) saw a

Albert of Saxe-Teschen. Though the city was fiercely bombarded, the French successfully withstood the Austrian attack in the action. Because the Austrians were unable to completely encircle the city, the French were able to continuously send in reinforcements. After news of the French victory over the Prussians at Valmy, Albert withdrew his troops and siege cannons. The next battle was at Jemappes in November. The Column of the Goddess
monument was completed in 1845 to commemorate the siege.

Historic defenses

After the

Louis François, duc de Boufflers ran out of gunpowder.[1]

Background

On 19 August,

Jacques MacDonald.[4]

Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel at the head of 42,000 Prussians was supported on his right by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt with 15,000 Austrians and on his left by Friedrich Wilhelm, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Kirchberg with 14,000 Austrians. The Coalition forces bombarded Longwy into submission then gained a quick triumph in the Battle of Verdun on 2 September. At last Dumouriez realized that Brunswick might be headed to Paris and marched his available troops to Grandpré in the Prussian's path. He also ordered Pierre de Ruel, marquis de Beurnonville to join him with 10,000 soldiers from the Army of the North and Blaise Duval to bring 3,050 more.[5] The Battle of Valmy occurred on 20 September, after which Brunswick withdrew from France.[6]

With Dumouriez absent, the French only had 6,000 troops under René Joseph Lanoue to defend

Albert of Saxe-Teschen decided to divert French strength away from Brunswick's invasion by launching attacks on the enemies before him. Saxe-Teschen counted 51 infantry battalions and 40 cavalry squadrons of which 14 battalions were in garrisons. On 3 September[7] Anton Sztáray threatened Philippeville while Johann Peter Beaulieu menaced Quiévrain. When Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour advanced from Tournai toward Lille on 5 September, Moreton abandoned the Camp of Maulde and fell back behind the Scarpe River. Latour pursued and pounced on the French at Mortagne-du-Nord, routing them. The defeated soldiers tried to lynch Moreton but he managed to talk them out of it.[8] Moreton later complained that many of his troops were uncontrollable and became drunk or looted houses in Saint-Amand. Radical journalist Louis-Marie Prudhomme accused Moreton of either incompetence or treason.[9]

Siege

Seeing the panic that his attacks had caused, Saxe-Teschen decided to besiege Lille. On 16 September, he added troops from Beaulieu's division at Mons to Latour's division from Tournai, bringing up the total to approximately 15,000 men and 50 guns. Saxe-Teschen set out from Tournai to join the besiegers on 25 September. Lille was one of the most powerful of the barrier fortresses, with a well-supplied garrison of 3,000 regular infantry under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie. The defenders were quickly reinforced to a strength of 10,000 men. The Austrian effort was handicapped by the fact that their siege train was too small and their army was too weak to entirely surround Lille. Consequently, the French were able to bring in reinforcements without hindrance.[8]

The citizen bucket brigades during the bombardment.

On 24 September, the Austrians pushed back the French outposts and commenced digging trenches that night. The first parallel was laid out across the main highway to Tournai and five batteries with a total of 30 artillery pieces were spaced 200 paces apart. After rejecting Saxe-Teschen's summons to surrender, the energetic Ruault mounted sorties every night but was unable to halt progress on the siege works. On 29 September, the Austrian batteries opened a devastating bombardment upon the buildings of Lille with shot, shell and hot-shot. Fires were set in the city but citizen bucket brigades kept the damage in check. The cannons of the defenders returned a heavy volume of fire.[8]

Ruault was soon reinforced to 25,000 men, a force considerably outnumbering the besiegers. By 3 October the Austrian bombardment began to noticeably taper off. On 3 October, the citizen captain Charlemagne Ovigneur continued to serve his gun even though he knew his house was burning and his wife was going to give birth. On 4 October, Saxe-Teschen's wife, Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen[8] appeared in the Austrian camp and the bombardment was redoubled. By this time, Saxe-Teschen became aware of Brunswick's retreat as well as the increasing numbers of French troops opposing him. On 6 October the Habsburg commander directed that the heavy siege guns be removed from the batteries. By this time 60,000 shot and shell had been fired into Lille. The Austrians evacuated the trenches on 8 October and withdrew almost unmolested in the face of a weak pursuit led by Félix Marie Pierre Chesnon de Champmorin. The inhabitants of Lille emerged from their town and, in their rage at the destruction, leveled the Austrian siege works. The victory was celebrated throughout France and caused many men to enlist in the armies.[10]

Forces

Painting shows a man in an 18th-century white wig, gesturing at a distant battle with his right hand while his left hand rests on a map table. He wears a white military coat with dark blue cuffs and a sash across his right shoulder.
Duke of Saxe-Teschen

Ruault's 10,000-man garrison consisted of two battalions of the 85th Line Infantry Regiment, one battalion each of the 15th, 86th and 100th Line, the depots of battalions of the 24th, 44th, 56th and 90th Line, one National Guard battalion and the depots of three National Guard battalions and depot squadrons of the 3rd and 6th Cavalry Regiments. Other reinforcements came into the city during the siege.[11] Since the summer of 1792, Charles François Duhoux was the commander of Lille but he was ordered to take charge of the Camp of Soissons, just before the start of the siege. Even so, he returned to Lille on 23 September to assume command but a few days later he was suspended and ordered to report to Paris. Instead, he remained in Lille during the siege, not arriving in Paris until 10 October. He was attacked in newspaper articles but defended himself by arguing that leaving Lille during the siege would have been cowardly.[9]

The Austrians besieged Lille with 13,800 troops in 10+1⁄2 battalions, six companies and 18 squadrons. The siege train included 52 cannons, howitzers and mortars. Saxe-Teschen organized his army into three divisions under Latour,

Hussars Nr. 16 and seven squadrons of the Latour Chevau-légers Nr. 31. Charles Eugene, Prince of Lambesc led a second cavalry brigade which included two squadrons of the Wurmser Hussars Nr. 30 and six squadrons of Degelmann Freikorps Uhlans. Karl Friedrich von Lindenau commanded one company each of sappers and pontonniers. One squadron and one-half battalion are not accounted for in the list.[11]

Alexandre Dumas (1762-1806)

In April and June 1791, the Parliament recruited (400,000)

Légion St-Georges".[13] Banat described it as "probably the first all non-white military unit" (in Europe).[14] The legion stationed in Lille comprised seven companies, of which only one was made up of coloured men, while the remainder comprised European-whites.[15][16][17] St. Georges was appointed colonel in September 1972; Alexandre Dumas
was one of the officers.

Results

Photo of a statue of a crowned woman wearing a classic Grecian gown. She holds a scepter in her right hand and points down with her left.
Column of the Goddess

One source estimated French military losses as 100–200 dead and wounded. The Austrians reported 43 dead and 161 wounded and 20 siege cannons either burst or became unusable from continuous firing. The Austrians really had no chance of capturing such a strong fortress.[11] Ruault reported to the government that one-fourth of the houses in Lille were burnt. The political commissioners asserted that 500 houses were destroyed and another 2,000 damaged; the Church of Saint-Étienne was wrecked. One writer suggested that the damage was exaggerated for political purposes. Prudhomme attacked Duhoux in print for disobeying orders and Bourdonnaye for not relieving Lille sooner.[9]

With Brunswick in full retreat, Dumouriez noticed that the large forces assembled to defend Lille could now be used for his pet project to invade Belgium. He secured permission from the French government to undertake his offensive and soon massed 80,000–100,000 troops for the purpose. Saxe-Teschen faced a very dangerous situation.[10] The next major action was the Battle of Jemappes on 6 November 1792.[18]

Notes

  1. ^ Goode 2004.
  2. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 106–107.
  3. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 109.
  4. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 111.
  5. ^ Phipps 2011, p. 117–119.
  6. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 26–27.
  7. ^ Cust 1859, p. 103.
  8. ^ a b c d Cust 1859, p. 104.
  9. ^ a b c Germani 1994.
  10. ^ a b Cust 1859, p. 105.
  11. ^ a b c Smith 1998, pp. 27–28.
  12. ^ Banat 2006, p. 364-365, 368, 370, 374, 500-501.
  13. ^ "La légion de Saint-George, une histoire très noire". 16 April 2018.
  14. ^ Banat 2006, p. 372-373, 379-380, 382-383.
  15. ^ "1789-1815 Hussards de Saint-Georges". www.1789-1815.com. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  16. ^ Descaves, P. "Extrait de l'historique du 13e Chasseurs et des Chasseurs à cheval de la Garde" (PDF). Ancestramil. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  17. ^ Detaille, p. 93
  18. ^ Smith 1998, pp. 30–31.

References

50°37′40″N 3°3′30″E / 50.62778°N 3.05833°E / 50.62778; 3.05833

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