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The Siege of Ypres (1–18 June 1794) saw a Republican French army commanded by Jean-Charles Pichegru invest the fortress of Ypres and its 7,000-man garrison composed of Habsburg Austrians under Paul von Salis and Hessians led by Heinrich von Borcke and Georg von Lengerke. French troops under Joseph Souham fended off three relief attempts by the corps of François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt. Meanwhile, the French besiegers led by Jean Victor Marie Moreau compelled the Coalition defenders to surrender the city. The fighting occurred during the War of the First Coalition, part of the Wars of the French Revolution. In 1794 Ypres was part of the Austrian Netherlands, but today it is a municipality in Belgium, located about west of Brussels. In the Flanders Campaign of 1794, the Coalition army made its main drive against the French center while the French attacked on the two flanks. The Coalition was successful at first but the French soon seized the initiative with persistent attacks. When the Coalition forces shifted east to defend the line of the Sambre River at the end of May, the left wing of Pichegru's ''Army of the North'' laid siege to Ypres. Clerfayt's outnumbered corps found itself unable to defend the western flank. A week after Ypres fell, the French won a critical victory on the eastern flank at the Battle of Fleurus. ==Background== On France's northeast frontier in March 1794 the ''Army of the North'' fielded 126,035 troops or 194,930 if all the garrisons were added. The subordinate ''Army of the Ardennes'' numbered only 6,757 soldiers ready for action but 32,773 men when all its garrisons were counted. The combined total was 227,703 men, far too large a number for any one general to manage at that time. Against these, the Coalition fielded 150,000 troops to defend the Austrian Netherlands and the Dutch Republic and 20,000 more to hold Luxembourg. The Coalition plan was to press hard against the French defenses and perhaps open the way to Paris. General of Division Jean-Charles Pichegru commanded the ''Army of the North'' which held the frontier from Dunkirk on the west, through Lille, Douai and Cambrai to Maubeuge on the east. The ''Army of Ardennes'' was posted on its right. The French armies were more numerous but lacked the discipline of the Coalition armies. Lazare Carnot drew up the French strategic plan which was to attack on the two flanks, a "pet theory" of his. Meanwhile, the Coalition armies under Austrian Feldmarschall Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld struck in the center with 85,000 soldiers. After repelling two fumbling attempts at relief, Coburg successfully concluded the Siege of Landrecies on 30 April 1794. Meanwhile, Pichegru's forces drove back Feldzeugmeister François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt's corps on the west flank, in the area of Kortrijk (Courtrai) and Menen (Menin) at the end of April and early May.〔Dodge (2011), p. 120〕 On the east flank, Pichegru simplified his command problems in mid-April by placing three divisions between Cambrai and Maubeuge under General of Division Jacques Ferrand.〔Phipps (2011), p. 287〕 A few weeks later, the French started attacking the line of the Sambre River, but were beaten on 13 and 24 May.〔 These were the battles of Grandreng and Erquelinnes.〔Smith (1998), p. 81〕 Coburg's main army attacked the ''Army of the North'' on 17 and 18 May. Because the attacking columns were poorly coordinated, the French repelled the Coalition army with heavy losses at the Battle of Tourcoing.〔Dodge (2011), p. 121〕 General of Division Joseph Souham led the French army in Pichegru's absence.〔 Pichegru was bloodily repulsed by Coburg at the Battle of Tournay on 22 May. Relations between Coburg and the British Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany became strained and the two could not decide on a common strategy. On the east flank, the French attacked across the Sambre for the third time at the end of May but were forced to pull back〔 in the Battle of Gosselies.〔Smith (1998), p. 83〕 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「Siege of Ypres (1794)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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