succeed, when Jourdan's relieving force of 60,000
men, handled by Carnot, drove the Austrians back at Wattignies with much
loss, and thus saved the garrison at Maubeuge, now in dire straits. On
that day, 16th October, the head of Marie Antoinette fell at Paris.

As for the Duke of York's army, after remaining in a sorry plight near
Ostend, it moved forward to Quesnoy to prolong Coburg's right; but the
retreat of the main body involved his retirement towards Ostend, near
which town he routed some detachments of French. For a time the Allies
gained a few advantages and recovered lost ground. But the Republicans
more than made up for occasional losses by pouring troops into Flanders;
and, moving under cover of their fortresses, they often dealt heavy
blows. In quality the Austrians and British far surpassed the raw levies
of France; but these, having the advantage in number and position, could
take the offensive along a wide ill-defended front. Wherever Coburg and
the Duke of York attacked, they gained an advantage, soon to be lost in
face of the gathering masses of the enemy. As Coburg pointed out, France
sent forth another horde to take the place of one which perished or
melted away; and the Allies rarely had the chance of taking the
offensive. By this last statement he passed sentence against himself. An
able commander, even with inferior forces, will mass them so as to
strike with effect. Pitt and Grenville continually pressed him to form
some plan of action in conjunction with the Duke of York; but to this he
as persistently demurred.[236] Is it surprising that Pitt demanded the
removal of Coburg?

The Rhenish campaign, in which Austria took more interest, also
languished owing to the sluggishness of the Duke of Brunswick. This, in
its turn, resulted from political reasons. Frederick William, in spite
of his treaty obligations to England, refused to move forward until she
guaranteed his late gains in Poland and made further advances of money.
Then, too, he felt no interest in Austria's proposed acquisition of
parts of Alsace and Lorraine. Pitt and Grenville despatched Lord
Yarmouth to the King's headquarters to make a formal protest against the
proposed withdrawal of the Prussian army. Finally, Frederick William
gave the order to advance, but too late to gain the results which prompt
and vigorous co-operation with the Austrians should have achieved.[237]
In short, the course of events in 1793 affords the classic exam