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The Battle of Menin,〔The French name of the city in West Flanders is usually used in Anglophone historiography about the battle, though it is currently better known by its Dutch name Menen.〕 or of Wervik and Menen was fought on 12 and 13 September 1793 between 30,000 men of the French ''Army of the North'' commanded by Jean Nicolas Houchard, and 13,000 Coalition troops: the ''veldleger'' (mobile army) of the Dutch States Army, commanded by the William, Hereditary Prince of Orange and his brother Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau, and a few squadrons of Austrian cavalry under Pál Kray, seconded by Johann Peter Beaulieu. The great superiority in numbers being on the French side the battle ended in a victory for France, with the Dutch army suffering heavy losses. Among the casualties was Prince Frederick, who was wounded in the shoulder at Wervik, an injury from which he never fully recovered. The combat occurred during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. Menen is a city in Belgium located on the French border about west of Brussels. After his victory in the Battle of Hondschoote, the French commander Jean Nicolas Houchard decided to fall on the Dutch forces defending Menen. About 27,000 French troops advanced on Menen from two directions - northward from Lille toward Menen and eastward along the north bank of the Leie (Lys) River toward Wervik and Menen. The Dutch defenders held their own on the 12th. However, on the 13th the French won a significant victory, forcing the Dutch to withdraw to Deinze. Two days later, the French were beaten by Beaulieu in the Battle of Courtrai and abandoned Menen. Despite his recent successes, Houchard was charged with treason and executed. ==Background== In the Summer of 1793 the Coalition forces had split, with the British army besieging Dunkirk under the Duke of York, and the Austrians under the Prince of Coburg investing Le Quesnoy. The States Army under the Hereditary Prince was left to guard a long line along the Leie (Lys) river, centered on Wervik and Menen (Menin), protecting the lines of communication between two allied armies, for which task it was overextended. The Dutch commander therefore repeatedly asked for reinforcements from his Allies, but these requests were denied. After the Battle of Hondschoote on 6–8 September 1793 the British were forced to raise the Siege of Dunkirk, and to fall back upon Veurne (Furnes), thereby exposing the Dutch right flank, which was in danger of being turned at Ypres. The British retreat did not turn into a rout, because Houchard did not pursue them energetically enough, according to later French military commentators. Instead of following in the direction of Veurne he turned sharply right on 10 September, following a plan that Lazare Carnot, the member of the Committee of Public Safety who had special responsibility for the conduct of the war, had laid down in a letter of 5 September. The plan had as objective the relief of Le Quesnoy which was still holding out at this time. Houchard was therefore to march on Tournai and take that fortress. But to that end he had to take care of the Dutch troops around Menen (as they would otherwise threaten his left flank near Tournai). The Dutch troops had retreated from Ypres, as this was considered indefensible for lack of provisions, and toward Menen and Halluin, where they concentrated. A further retreat toward Kortijk was contemplated and set in motion on 10 September, but on the way the Hereditary Prince was informed that Coburg had succeeded in forcing the capitulation of Le Quesnoy, and therefore was able to detach a force of "14,000 Austrians" under Beaulieu to reinforce the Dutch along the Leie. This convinced the Dutch commander to remain in position.〔 Houchard knew the Dutch dispositions, which were as follows. On the right flank, the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt occupied Wervik and Comines. In the center the Hereditary Prince held Menen itself with 6,000 men with 4 battalions under Wartensleben pushed forward into Roncq and Halluin. On the left flank the Prussians of Von Geusau and Reitzenstein occupied Tourcoing and Lannoy. Houchard ordered Antoine Anne Lecourt de Béru to Bailleul to meet up with Joseph de Hédouville who marched there with his troops from Houthem by way of Poperinge. Pierre Marie Joseph Salomon Dumesny was already there on 11 September.〔Foucart; pp. 206-207〕 The three French generals lost valuable time at Bailleul in preparation, but their presence remained hidden from the Dutch. This was also evidenced by the narrative of De Bas, representing the Dutch perspective, who reported the French attack as a complete surprise. In the morning of 12 September, two columns of French troops under Dumesny and Hédouville finally left Bailleul for Menen, marching along the left bank of the Leie.〔 At Bailleul, Dumesny's division counted 10,000 troops and Hédouville's division numbered 6,500 men, including foot chasseurs led by Claude-Sylvestre Colaud. These troops advanced east along the north bank of the Leie toward Wervik, forming the left prong of the French attack. Meanwhile, Béru's division with 10,000 to 11,000 soldiers moved north from the camps near Lille, forming the right prong. The Lille division was split into a left column under Jacques MacDonald, a center column led by Béru and a right column under Pierre Dupont. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Menin (1793)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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