The War of the First Coalition was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that succeeded it. They were only loosely allied and fought without much apparent coordination or agreement; each power had its eye on a different part of France it wanted to appropriate after a French defeat, which never occurred.
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez was a French military officer, minister of Foreign Affairs, minister of War in a Girondin cabinet and army general during the French Revolutionary War. Dumouriez is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.
The French Revolutionary Wars began on 20 April 1792 when the French Legislative Assembly declared war on Austria. This launched the War of the First Coalition.
The Army of the North or Armée du Nord is a name given to several historical units of the French Army. The first was one of the French Revolutionary Armies that fought with distinction against the First Coalition from 1792 to 1795. Others existed during the Peninsular War, the Hundred Days and the Franco-Prussian War.
Théobald Chartran was a French academic painter and portrait artist.
The Army of Sambre and Meuse was a field army of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 29 June 1794 by combining the Army of the Ardennes, the left wing of the Army of the Moselle and the right wing of the Army of the North. Its maximum paper strength was approximately 120,000.
The Column of the Goddess is the popular name given by the citizens of Lille (France) to the Memorial of the Siege of 1792. The memorial is still in the center of the Grand′ Place of Lille, and has been surrounded by a fountain since around 1990.
Arthur Dillon was a French Army officer, colonial administrator and politician who served during the American Revolutionary War and the War of the First Coalition. After serving in several political offices during the early years of the French Revolution, he was executed in Paris as a royalist during the Reign of Terror in 1794.
Arthur Dillon, Count Dillon (1670–1733) was a Jacobite soldier from Ireland who served as colonel of Dillon's Regiment in the Irish Brigade in French service. He fought in the Nine Years' War and in the War of the Spanish Succession where he excelled at the Battle of Cremona against Prince Eugene of Savoy.
James or Jacques O'Moran was an Irish général de division in French service.
Dillon's Regiment was first raised in Ireland in 1688 by Theobald, 7th Viscount Dillon, for the Jacobite side in the Williamite War. He was then killed at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691.
Annappes is a village and former commune of the Nord Department of France, on the river Marque. In 1970, it was merged with the communes of Ascq and Flers-lez-Lille to form the new commune of Villeneuve d'Ascq. It is still a district of the commune today.
The Army of the Rhine and Moselle was one of the field units of the French Revolutionary Army. It was formed on 20 April 1795 by the merger of elements of the Army of the Rhine and the Army of the Moselle.
The siege of Lille saw a Republican French garrison under Jean-Baptiste André Ruault de La Bonnerie hold Lille against an assault by a Habsburg army commanded by Duke 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.
Franz Joseph, Count Kinsky of Wchinitz and Tettau was a Habsburg Austrian general in the War of the Bavarian Succession and the French Revolutionary Wars. A nobleman from the House of Kinsky, he began his military service in 1759 and within ten years he commanded an infantry regiment. Ahead of his time, he began a school in his regiment to train officer cadets. As a general officer he led troops in a successful action against Prussia in 1778. A year later he was appointed Inhaber of an infantry regiment and Director of the Theresian Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt; he held both posts during the remainder of his life. In the Flanders Campaign in 1794, he commanded an infantry division against the French. He led an attack column at Tourcoing where he failed to support Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. He was promoted to Feldzeugmeister in September 1794. He held no more active commands and died at Vienna in 1805.
Events from the year 1792 in France.
The Battle of Marquain was a conflict between Austria and the Kingdom of France during the War of the First Coalition. It took place on 29 April 1792 and ended in a French defeat.
Jean-Baptiste André Isidore Ruault de La Bonnerie became a French general officer early in the War of the First Coalition and later emigrated to Habsburg Austria under which he also was a general. He joined the French Royal Army in 1760 and became a general of brigade in 1792. He commanded the French defenders during the 1792 Siege of Lille. After fighting at Maastricht and Neerwinden he followed Charles François Dumouriez and other generals in defecting to Austria. He entered Habsburg service as a colonel and became a General-major in 1804. He died in 1817 at Graz.
The Battle of Quiévrain was a pair of skirmishes between the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of France in late April 1792 during the War of the First Coalition.
Joseph Miaczinski or Józef Miączyński (1743/1751-1793) was a Polish-Lithuanian general who joined the French Army of the North on 25 July 1792, the day Brunswick Manifesto was published. He supported General Dumouriez, defending France against the Prussian and Austrian armies, occupying the Austrian Netherlands and the duchy of Limburg. Dumouriez, unsatisfied with the chaos in the Defence department caused by the Jacobins, preferred a constitutional monarchy. After Dumouriez's dismissal from the High Command, Miaczinski agreed to participate in the preparation of a military coup against the National Convention. In early April 1793, Miaczinsky was arrested, accused of criminal and counter-revolutionary activities, trialled, and executed.
