The siege of Dunkirk took place in the Autumn of 1793 when

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, Hanoverian,

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

, and

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

troops under the command of

Prince Frederick, Duke of York Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (Frederick Augustus; 16 August 1763 – 5 January 1827) was the second son of George III, King of the United Kingdom and Hanover, and his consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. A soldier by profess ...

besieged the fortified French border port of

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Flanders campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coalition. A coalition of states representing the Ancien Régime in Western Europe – Aus ...

of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

. Following a Coalition defeat at the

Battle of Hondshoote The Battle of Hondschoote took place during the Flanders Campaign of the Campaigns of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars, Campaign of 1793 in the French Revolutionary Wars. It was fought during operations surrounding the Siege of Dunkirk (17 ...

they were forced to raise the siege and withdraw northeast.

Siege

The decision to besiege

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.William Pitt's closest advisor, War Minister

Henry Dundas Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (28 April 1742 – 28 May 1811), styled as Lord Melville from 1802, was the trusted lieutenant of British Pri ...

. Right from the beginning of the campaign Dundas had considered the possession of Dunkirk as desirable, both as a bargaining counter in peace negotiations and as a potential British base in Europe. As a military objective towards winning the war, however, its value was far less significant, as it arguably prevented

from supporting the main Allied thrust further inland. Nevertheless, York obediently followed instructions and through the latter days of August 1793 moved rapidly north-west, the French remaining mystified as to his objective. On 22 August he marched from Veurne (Furnes) to invest Dunkirk at the head of 20,000 British, Austrians and Hessians, driving the French advance posts in confusion from the left bank of the

Yser The Yser ( , ; nl, IJzer ) is a river that rises in French Flanders (the north of France), enters the Belgian province of West Flanders and flows through the '' Ganzepoot'' and into the North Sea at the town of Nieuwpoort. The source of the Ys ...

River to an entrenched camp at Ghyvelde and capturing 11 guns in the process. The Advance Guard consisting of the Austrian ''Sztáray'' Infantry Regiment Nr. 33 and O'Donnell's

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, regar ...

lost 50 men in killed and wounded. The commander of the ''

Army of the North The Army of the North ( es, link=no, Ejército del Norte), contemporaneously called Army of Peru, was one of the armies deployed by the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata in the Spanish American wars of independence. Its objective was fre ...

'',

Jean Nicolas Houchard Jean Nicolas Houchard (24 January 1739 – 17 November 1793) was a French General of the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars. Biography Born at Forbach in Lorraine, Houchard began his military career at the age of sixteen in th ...

was disgusted when he heard of the flight, writing to the Minister "The soldiers are good, but the cowardice and crass ignorance of the officers make them learn cowardice, and to fly before the enemy is nothing to them". To protect York's left flank

Heinrich Wilhelm von Freytag Heinrich Wilhelm von Freytag (17 March 1720, Estorf – 2 January 1798, Hannover ) was an officer in the service of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover). Career B.1720 in Estorf, Freytag rose to prominence during the Seven Years' W ...

commanded a corps of 14,500 Hessian and Hanoverian troops which he spread across surrounding villages in a broad

military cordon A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

along the Yser to the south of Dunkirk. On the right

Feldmarschall-Leutnant Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (german: Feldmarschall-Leutnant, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was ...

József Alvinczi Freiherr Joseph Alvinczi von Borberek a.k.a. Baron József Alvinczi de Borberek (german: Joseph Alvinczy, Freiherr von Berberek; 1 February 1735 – 25 September 1810) was a soldier in the Habsburg Army and a field marshal of the Austrian Empi ...

commanded the Austrian contingent,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Ralph Abercromby Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Abercromby (7 October 173428 March 1801) was a British people, British soldier and politician. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-general in the British Army, was appointed Gov ...

and

Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet Lieutenant-General Sir William Erskine, 1st Baronet (1728 – 19 March 1795) was a British Army commander and the 1st Baronet of the Erskine baronets, Erskine of Torrie creation. Background Erskine was the son of Colonel the Honourable Willia ...

led the British forces, and on the left Lieutenant General Buttlar led the Hessians. Not only were the French surprised by York's advance, Dunkirk's defences were in a dilapidated condition. The town would most likely have fallen quickly had the promised Royal Navy fleet arrived on time, an English civilian witness wrote to the ''Public Advertiser'' that the town would have surrendered outright had it not been for Commissioners arriving from Paris to prevent it. Meanwhile, in Paris the election of

Lazare Carnot Lazare Nicolas Marguerite, Count Carnot (; 13 May 1753 – 2 August 1823) was a French mathematician, physicist and politician. He was known as the "Organizer of Victory" in the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Education and early ...

and

Pierre Louis Prieur Pierre Louis Prieur (Prieur de la Marne) (1 August 1756 – 31 May 1827) was a French lawyer elected to the Estates-General of 1789. During the French Revolution he served as a deputy to the National Convention and held membership in the Com ...

to the

Committee of Public Safety The Committee of Public Safety (french: link=no, Comité de salut public) was a committee of the National Convention which formed the provisional government and war cabinet during the Reign of Terror, a violent phase of the French Revolution. S ...

was to have immediately beneficial consequences for the Republican field armies. Carnot realised that a defeat for Britain before Dunkirk would be a humiliating blow, and consequently, 40,000 men from other sectors were ordered to concentrate to the south of Dunkirk in support of the 5,000 defenders of the town under

Joseph Souham Joseph, comte Souham (30 April 1760 – 28 April 1837) was a French general who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was born at Lubersac and died at Versailles. After long service in the French Royal Army, he was e ...

. Most of these forces were concentrated near the entrenched camp at

Cassel Cassel may refer to: People * Cassel (surname) Places ;France * Cassel, Nord, a town and commune in northern France ** Battle of Cassel (1071) ** Battle of Cassel (1328) ** Battle of Cassel (1677) ;Germany * Cassel, Germany, a city in Hesse renam ...

to take part in Carnot's intended flank attack, however on 24 August a column under the command of

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...

reached Loon, having been diverted from

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

over the head of Houchard by the

Représentant en mission During the French Revolution, a ''représentant en mission'' (; English: representative on mission) was an extraordinary envoy of the Legislative Assembly (1791–92) and its successor the National Convention (1792–95). The term is most ofte ...

, and he was able to reinforce the Dunkirk garrison by 2,500 reinforcements to nearly 8,000, while the remainder occupied

Bergues Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues ...

. Burne indicates these reinforcements were the repatriated former garrison of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

, who by the terms of surrender were supposed to be non-combatant. Jourdan was then transferred to command troops at the Cassel entrenched camp and replaced at Bergues by Leclaire. With the able assistance of his chief of staff, the young

Lazare Hoche Louis Lazare Hoche (; 24 June 1768 – 19 September 1797) was a French military leader of the French Revolutionary Wars. He won a victory over Royalist forces in Brittany. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on ...

, Souham, and later Jacques Ferrand were able to act vigorously to bolster the demoralised defenders. On the 24th York's reserve column (Austrian troops plus the flank companies of the British and Hessian regiments) under the Austrian Feldmarschall-Leutnant Graf Eduard d'Alton took the suburb of Rosenthal and bundled the French back inside the walls of the town. "We suffered very little from their musketry, because they never attempted to dispute the ground with us, but kept firing and retreating; but they no sooner got under cover of their own guns, than they began to open upon us with both grape and round shot, and in our retreat to a convenient cover, we suffered considerably". York reported, "Unfortunately the ardour and gallantry of the troops carried them too far in spite of a peremptory order from me, three times repeated, they pursued the enemy upon the glacis of the place when we had the misfortune to lose many very brave and reliable men by the grapeshot from the town." Fortescue says York lost almost 400 casualties, though the Officer of the Guards gives returns as Austrians 170, British 74 and Hessians 55 killed and wounded. The casualties included d'Alton, who was shot and killed towards the end of the day. Thereafter York's command began entrenching in a line from Tetteghem to the sea. Confidence was high, however York was about to face a number of disappointments. Dundas had omitted to provide York with adequate equipment for a siege, and most importantly no heavy siege artillery. Siege guns had been due to arrive at Nieuport on the 26th, but the only vessels in sight were French gunboats that began bombarding York's right seaward flank with impunity. On 27 August, transports arrived to disembark the gun crews but no guns. On 30 August Admiral John MacBride arrived to coordinate naval operations, but without any fleet. Equally worrying for York was the news of a further check on the Dutch forces of the

Prince of Orange Prince of Orange (or Princess of Orange if the holder is female) is a title originally associated with the sovereign Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France and subsequently held by sovereigns in the Netherlands. The title ...

near Menin on the 28th, which widened the gap between his command and that of the main Austrian Army further south. Though he could ill afford it, York dispatched six squadrons of Hessian cavalry to bolster the Dutch line. York was in a difficult position. Souham had opened the town sluices, which slowly inundated the fields connecting York to Freytag and filled British trenches on the dunes with two feet of water. "The inundations increasing daily, rendered the ground, on which the British encamped, a perfect swamp", and soon "An epidemical disorder called the ''Dunkirk Fever'', soon broke out amongst the troops, increased daily, and carried off the soldiers rapidly". York hadn't the man-power to invest Dunkirk on more than one side, so the French were able to reinforce the town at any time; his right flank was constantly bombarded by French gunboats, and he had no siege equipment. In the end the British were only able to find ordnance by disarming a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

at Furnes; these cannons arrived by canal at Dunkirk on the 27th.

York's retreat

On 6 September Houchard led the French forces at the Cassel entrenched camp against Freytag's covering Hanoverian corps at the

. On the same day the defenders of Dunkirk made a strong sally in order to pin down York's command, the focus of the attack being Alvinczi's Austrians on York's right flank. This assault was beaten back after intense close-quarter fighting and very considerable loss on both sides, Powell records the 14th Foot had 9 out of 11 officers injured and 253 men killed and wounded. One of the killed this day was York's chief of Engineers Colonel

James Moncrief James Moncrief (1741 in Scotland – 1793 in Ostend, Belgium, Ostend, Flanders) was a trained engineer and military officer of Scottish people, Scottish Scottish Highlands, Highlander descent in the British Royal Engineers. Education Moncri ...

. On York's left flank Freytag's Hanoverians were eventually driven back to the town of Hondschoote. Since Freytag was wounded and briefly captured by the French before being rescued,

Johann Ludwig, Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn Johann Ludwig Reichsgraf von Wallmoden-Gimborn (22 April 1736 in Hanover – 10 October 1811 in Hanover) was a German lieutenant-general and art collector. Life Wallmoden was an illegitimate son of George II of Great Britain by his mistress ...

took command of the covering force. On the 8th Houchard attacked and forced Wallmoden to withdraw after a very hard defence. With news of his left flank exposed the Duke of York gave orders for his heavy baggage to be withdrawn to Veurne (Furnes), then at a Council of War on the 8th it was decided to lift the siege of Dunkirk. Souham had rendered the canal unusable for transport, so the 24-pounder naval guns had to be spiked and abandoned. At 11.00 on the evening of the 8th York's corps began withdrawing to the coastal city of Veurne in Belgium, with Erskine commanding the rearguard. Progress was hindered by the weather and baggage, much of which was abandoned, Furnes was reached by 7.00 the next morning where contact was made with the remnants of Wallmoden's troops. York then moved off towards

Diksmuide (; french: Dixmude, ; vls, Diksmude) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of proper and the former communes of Beerst, Esen, Kaaskerke, Keiem, Lampernisse, Leke, N ...

, leaving Abercromby behind at Veurne with 3,000 men, which remained until the 14th before marching through pouring rain to Thurout.

Aftermath

On 11 September MacBride's fleet finally appeared off Nieuport, three weeks too late. Out of a total of 29,700 infantry and 5,400 cavalry in the whole operation, the Coalition forces lost 2,000 killed and wounded, plus a great many more to sickness due to the swampy environment. The ''Officer of the Guards'' estimated a total loss of 10,000 men (which probably includes the casualties from Hondschoote). In addition, they abandoned the 32 requisitioned naval guns to the French. The 8,000-man French garrison suffered 1,000 casualties, plus 14 guns, two mortars, six ammunition wagons, 17 colors, and three standards captured.

Assessment

Alfred Burne Alfred Higgins Burne DSO (1886–1959) was a soldier and military historian.A.H. Burne''The Battlefields of England''. He invented the concept of Inherent Military Probability; in battles and campaigns where there is some doubt over what action ...

devotes several pages assessing the siege of Dunkirk and Hondschoote, including much of the Duke of York's subsequent correspondence to the King. York ends his report: ''"I think therefore that I am justified in saying that there were three grand causes which made this expedition miscarry: the first owing to the promises and assurances I received from your Majesty's Ministers not being in any way fulfilled; the second owing to the alteration made in the plan of campaign by the Armies of the King of Prussia and of General Wurmser, by which means the enemy was able to bring the whole of the Army of the Moselle against the Field Marshal and Me; and the third owing to the Field Marshal's'' (i.e. Freytag's) ''own conduct."'' An officer wrote to the ''Morning Chronicle'' just two days after the battle of Hondschoote: ''"There is but one sentiment throughout the whole camp. If the gun-boats and floating batteries had been ready, according to the express promise to co-operate with the Duke of York, and if his alacrity had been at all seconded on the part of the officers in England there is no doubt that Dunkirk would have fallen at the first attack. Every man that has since perished... is to be set down to the score of the ministers, who have sacrificed their duty to the holiday mummery of camps or to the amusements of partridge shooting".'' Burne also points out the oft-overlooked fact that the French broke the terms of capitulation at Valenciennes, which dictated that released prisoners were not to fight again, and sent repatriated prisoners-of-war straight to reinforce the garrison of Dunkirk. "Had the French not broken the terms of capitulation of Valenciennes and used its garrison for the relief of Dunkirk, that town would probably have fallen." Historian

Digby Smith Digby Smith (born 1 January 1935) is a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and Pakistan as a child and youth. As a "boy soldier", he entered train ...

argues that Dunkirk represented a missed opportunity. He blames the British government for its insistence on mounting this operation instead of properly supporting their Austrian allies against the French field armies. Burne, however, believes that although it transgresses the principle of concentration, in this case, it is extremely doubtful whether the Austrians would have marched on Paris without first taking Maubeuge and Quesnoy; therefore the British army was better employed capturing Dunkirk than helping the Austrians take Quesnoy.Burne p.82

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

*. *. *. *. * Harvey, R. ''War of Wars: The Epic Struggle Between Britain and France 1789-1815.'' London, 2007 * Rodger, NAM. ''Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain 1649-1815'', London, 2007 * Smith, Digby. ''The Napoleonic Wars Data Book.'' London: Greenhill, 1998. * Urban, Mark. ''Generals: Ten British Commanders Who Shaped the World.'' Faber and Faber, 2005.

External links

Eduard D'Alton by Digby Smith, compiled by Leopold Kudrna
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunkirk (1793) Siege Conflicts in 1793 Sieges involving France Sieges involving Great Britain Sieges involving Austria Battles involving Hesse-Kassel

Siege of Dunkirk (1793) The siege of Dunkirk took place in the Autumn of 1793 when Kingdom of Great Britain, British, Electorate of Hanover, Hanoverian, Habsburg monarchy, Austrian, and Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel troops under the command of Prince ...

Battles in Hauts-de-France Sieges of the War of the First Coalition Battles of the War of the First Coalition