ound him on all
sides. Such was his situation at the close of this year.

ARMIES ON THE RHINE.

During this campaign Moreau commanded the army of the north, encamped in
Holland; Jourdan that of the Sambre and Meuse, stationed near Cologne;
and Pichegru that of the Rhine, cantoned from Mayence to Strasburg. The
contending armies were separated by the Rhine, from the Alps to the sea,
at the commencement of the year; and nothing was done on either side
till the end of June. At that time the old Austrian general, Bender,
who, on the retreat and dissolution of the grand army of the coalition,
threw himself into Luxembourg, was reduced by the republicans to
capitulate; himself and numerous garrison being allowed to retire
to Germany, upon condition or not serving against the French till
exchanged. With the exception of Mayence, the republicans were now
masters of the whole left bank of the Rhine, and of the estuaries
through which the Rhine flows into the North Sea, from Holland to
Strasburg. After the conquest of Holland, as before related, Pichegru
undertook the reduction of Mayence, which was occupied by imperial
and Austrian troops; and, as preparatory steps, he crossed the Rhine,
captured Dusseldorf, and occupied Manheim. At this time Wurmser, one of
the most active and skilful Austrian generals, was advancing with a good
army to effect a junction with Clairfait, succour Mayence, and drive the
French from the left bank of the Rhine. Pichegru endeavoured to prevent
this junction by detaching a division against him; but Wurmser drove
this division back with great loss to Manheim. Soon after this Pichegru
was joined by Jourdan; crossing the Rhine he established himself on the
right bank, opposite the town, to cover the siege and assist in it. But
at this period the balance of fortune suddenly turned in favour of the
Austrians. Being reinforced by 15,000 Hungarians, General Clairfait made
a rapid and skilful advance, took Jourdan by surprise, obliged him
to decamp hastily, and leave part of his artillery behind him, and
harrassed him during the whole of his route to Dusseldorf, and there
compelled him to re-cross the Rhine. Clairfait now threw a considerable
part of his army across the Rhine into Mayence, in spite of the French
lines drawn around it; and on the 29th of October he took those lines,
which had cost the French a year's labour to construct, by storm;
the republicans were driven from them with a terrible lo