from the enemy, as the leaft fufpicion of his project would have fruftrated its execution; but this unexpected obftacle obliged him to fupply by courage what he had hoped to have effected by addrefs. Having made preparations for the paffage during the night, and finding it impoffible to effect a landing immedi ately on the oppofite fide of the river, of which he gained poffeffion without much refiftance, and feizing on the bridge communicating with the main land, which fuch of the Austrians as had efcaped had not had time to deftroy in their flight. Although the French troops had made good their landing, they found themfelves without cavalry or artillery. fince it was impoffible to tranfport either to the oppofite fide. The rapidity of the current prevented the establishment of any bridge; and the only refource left, was that of fending back the boats by which the firft party had effected their landing, to transport the remainder of the

army.

The reinforcements which now arrived, not only ref cued the French from their perilous fituation, but enabled them, though unprovided with artillery, except the few pieces they had juft taken in the islands, to attempt the fortrefs., The firft redoubts were attacked with defperate fury, the Auftrians being buried under heaps of flones by the affailants. The artillery taken in the first redoubts were employed to force the fucceffive ones; and, the Auftrian general finding further refiftance fruitless, faved the remainder of his own troops by abandoning the fortrefs to the French. achievement of this bold and hazardous enterprife, not only opened the Brifgaw to the French, but, as the divifion under General Wurmfer had been greatly weakened by detaching a confiderable force to the affiftance of the Auftrian army in Italy, this irruption, independent of other advantages that might be expected to refult from it, was calculated to make a powerful diverGion in Prince Charles's army, and allow the army of

The

the

the Sambre and the Meufe, under Jourdan, to commence its offenfive operations.

The difperfion of the Austrian army in. Italy, of which a part took refuge in Mantua, and the reft, purfued by the French, had gained the mountains of the: Tyrol, the chain of Alps which feparate Italy from Germany, gave the French general leifure to carry on his various enterprizes against the refpective ftates of Italy. The garrifon of the fortrefs of Milan, finding further refillance ineffectual, and having no profpect of relief, furrendered themselves prifoners of war. A detachment took poffeffion of Leghorn on the 28th of June, though belonging to a neutral power, on the pretext of diflodging the English, whofe property was confifcated to the ufe of the republic; while the main army entered the territory of the Pope, and without refiftance took poffeffion of the cities of Bologna, Fer-rara, and Urbino. This expedition, which gave the French the command of the poffeffions of the Holy See, alarmed the King of Naples in fo great a degree, that he requested an armistice, which was granted to him, as alfo to his holiness the Pope.

The conditions impofed on the Neapolitans were chiefly those of withdrawing their troops from the fupport of the coalition, and their veffels from the English fquadron in the Mediterranean; thofe impofed on the Pope were more circumftantial and more rigorous. Among other contributions levied in Italy, on the conquered ftates, that of furnishing pictures was not the leaft confiderable. The ftates of Parma and Modena had been highly taxed in this article; and it was not to be expected that the capital of the arts, (Rome) the great repofitory of what is the richest and inoft curious in the labours of the chifel and of the pencil, would escape the attention of thefe dilettanti, these admirers of the fine arts, and particularly of their illuftrious commander, Bonaparte. On that account, the principal conditions imposed on the Pope were heavy contribu tions on the monuments of the fine arts. His holiness, VOL. II.

by

by thefe articles, was alfo compelled to fet at libertythofe perfons who were at that time confined for their political conduct or opinions; to renounce the friendfhip of his former allies, and to fhut his ports against them to furrender to the French the cities of which they already had poffeffion, as well as the citadel of Ancona, which gave them the command of the Adriatic; to pay twenty-one millions of French money, independent of the contributions to be levied on the cities of which the French had already taken poffeffion; and to deliver one hundred pictures, bufts, vafes, or flatues, at the option of commiflioners who fhould be sent to: Rome for that purpofe; among which ftatues were exprefsly named thofe of Junius and Marcus Brutus, both of which were in the capitol; and alfo five hundred manufcripts to be felected by the faid commiffion. The laft articles of this treaty, and fimilar ones which had been concluded with the flates of Parma and Modena, excited much difcontent among the profeffors and amateurs of the fine arts at Paris, who remonftrated against their removal from Rome. Their reprefentations did not alter the determination of the directory; and, however they might have admired the liberal and difinterested spirit of thefe Parifian artists, yet they adhered to their first determination of placing these cele. brated monuments of exquifite genius and confummate art. in the galleries of the national Mufeum at Paris.

General Moreau, by his daring paffage over the Rhine, reaped all the advantages he had proposed to himself from that expedition. After having driven the imperialifts from the fortress of Kehl, and transported thither his cavalry and artillery across the Rhine, by means of a bridge which he had constructed, he dif patched his troops in different divifions to scour the country, and fucceeded in driving the Auftrians from the various posts and camps which they occupied in this quarter; and by these means prevented the junction of the detachments fent by General Wurmfer from Man

heim, with the army of emigrants under the Prince of Conde', who were ftationed along the upper Rhine.

General Wurmfer's army being very confiderably weakened by the detachments fent to reinforce that of Italy, found itself incapable of withstanding the impetuofity of this rapid and unexpected irruption, and for which no preparations had been made; as an attack in. this quarter had by no means been foreseen. The Archduke Charles was therefore forced to difcontinue his pursuit of the French on the Lower Rhine, and leaving General Wartenfleben behind him with fuch forces as he deemed fufficient to prevent the army under Jourdan, which he had hitherto been pursuing, from paffing haftily on his rear, marched with confiderable reinforcements to the aid of Wurmfer, in order to check the progrefs of the French in the Brifgaw. But this movement of the Archduke did not escape the vigilance of Moreau, and he therefore determined to attack the imperialists before their reinforcements should arrive. A general engagement accordingly took place on the 28th of June, at Renchen, a village near Philipfburg, on the road to Manheim, in which the French gained a complete victory. General Laroche also fucceeded in diflodging the troops of the Prince of Wurtemburgh from Mount Kniebis, and the various fortreffes on the immenfe and lofty ridge of mountains which divide the circle of Suabia, under the name of Swartzen Wald, or Black Foreft. The battle of Renchen was followed, on the 6th of July, by that of Rad- · ftadt, a town ftill further on the road towards Manheim. As the imperial army had been confiderably reinforced by detachments from that of the Lower Rhine under Prince Charles, it was enabled to make a more obstinate refistance. The combat which began foon after the break of day, and which had been difputed on both fides with various and alternate advantage and lofs, ended at last in favour of the republicans, and the imperialists were obliged to quit the field of battle.

After

After the imperial troops had been driven from Radfladt, they chofe advantageous pofitions near the village of Ettingen, where, having received reinforcements, they once more awaited the attack of their victorious opponents. Moreau, who was apprifed that he had to contend with the whole of the imperial troops, except those which Prince Charles had left on the Lower Rhine to check the progrefs of Jourdan's army, ftrengthened his forces by calling in various divifions from the different pofts they occupied in the country of which they had already taken poffeffion. It appeared, from the difpofitions made by the Auftrians. that this battle was defined to decide the 'con-teft for the fuperiority on the Rhine. Already had General Jourdan repaffed the Lahn, after ineffectual refifiance on the part of General Wartenfleben, and was now before the gates of Frankfort. The garrisons of Mentz and other fortreffes on the Rhine were inca. pable of ftopping the march of the French, who were now about to pafs in their rear acrofs the Mein; and the space occupied by the imperial armies became every day more narrowed by the approximation of the republican armies, both on the northern and fouthern, fide.

On the 9th of July a battle was fought at Ettingen, with defperate valour on both fides. The Auftrian general, justly confidering, that on its event, the fate of the Rhine depended, encouraged his troops to repel the fury of the affailants four feveral times with fuccefs, from the heights of Rolenfolhe, which was the principal point of attack; nor was it until the French (exafperated by indignation at thefe fucceffive defeats and feeing the field strewed with their dead) had recourfe to the bayonet. This decided in their favour the fortune of the day.

This decifive battle determined the troops of the empire to retreat into Germany, and abandon the fortreffes of Mentz, Manheim, Philipfbourg, and Echrenbreititein, to their natural defence. A body of troops