The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1804-05-26

created (; and upon the formation of the
national guards in l7so, ne was made colo
mel CT the battalions. This honorable iitu.
alton furniihed MORGAN with the opportu.
nifty of indulsinS hisinclinationfor military
hfe. He accordingly foon abandoned the
DRY and tedious iudy of the law, and ap-
pied hmteH to military affairs and tao
ticks, with fuch iteadineis, that in leiS than
three months he was perfectly matter of the
command which had been entrutted to him
Expert military men have afiured the wri-
ter, that Moreau became 70 great profici-
emf in his new ftudy, that he was better ac-
Guainted with the management of battal-
lion. and knew better how to execute ali the
evolutions and man9uvres than many old
officers.
Such, at that time was the purflafion
or Moreau, of his capacity for military af-
fairs, that he was heard fevera times to
eXclaim, i lhall foon become general
in the army !" He indeed abored 10 fuc-
cefsfully to attain his object, that his fkil-
fulnets and courage were not long unnoti-
ced, Especially when ferving under Pche-
CRU.
MORGAN was not disappointed In his ex-
pectationS for in June, 1894, he was
promoted TO the rank of general in chief.
and conducted the fiege of Ypres, which he
took in twelve days after the opening of
the trenches. The garrifon confifting of
COCO men, were made prifoners; and 100
pieces of cannon and % ttandards were
taken. This event occurred on the goth
Prairal, Cd year. 9th June, l7s4.)
In the following Auguit he took Fort
L'Ecluie, containing 1852 pieces of artille-
ry. If, however, this young general diff
tlnguiihed himfelf i'll itriking manner in
all the different commands with which he
was entrufted, in 1894 and 1895, the cam
paign of 1896 was defined to eclipfe all his
other achievements. In June he COM
manded three columns of the army of the
Rhine and Moielle: with one of theGe he
attacked the fort of Kehl, which foon af-
ter surrendered; with the fecond he croi-
led the Rhine at WaltZenau and with the
third at Self
On the 2Sth of June the great battle of
kenchen was fought; in which general
Moreau, after having joined his cavalry e.
artillery, forced the Auftrians to retreat in
great difCroer, withthe lofs oftwelve hun
dred men prifoners, ten pieces of cannon,
all their artillery, &c. The field of battle
was covered with the naih.
July 5th, another general engagement
took place between general Moreau and
the archduke Charles, when the Auftrians
were again completely defeated. From
this victory he flew to a third, equally glo-
rious, and more profitable to the French
republic. Upon the Upper Rhine he for
ced the Duke of Wirtemberg to folicit
fufpenfion of arms, on conditions which
were at once honorable and ufeful to the
republc-and while the army of the Som
bre and the Mcuie were fetreating under
Jourdan, that of the Rhine and Mofelle,
under Moreau, were purifying its vctori-
Gus career, even to the gates of Ratiibon,
thus flaking the German empire to lis cen-
tire.
1t would occupy too much fpace in this
volume, to give detail of all thofe military
operations in this campaign, which contri-
butte to crown the brow of Moreau with
unfading laurelS. The mott glorious epoch
of his military hiftory was his maiterly re-
treat out of Bavaria, which, in the iudg-
ment of his mott inveterate enemies, and of
all military men, was far more honorable
to his talents, than any victories which he
gained. Like Turenne, Moreau fetved the
interefs OF his country, more by that re-
treat than by the mott dazzling conqueft
and if we account Turenne coniiImmate
general, rather for his having kept in chec,
hyperion bodies of the enemy, by his we'll
concerted marches and conference.-the,
than for any fplendid Victories obtained by
him, we fhould in like manner attribute to
Moreau the character of a great general,
for his memorable retreat OF 1906.
About the middle of September, affairs
began to take IN urfavorablc turn and
Moreau, till now victorious, was forced to
quit his petition on the wet bank of the
Yer. lie was purified by the Auftrian
general Latour, and on the goth, the enc
my having made thetnfelves matters of the
highef part of the mountains Of the Black
Foreft, and of the rivulets, which running
wehward to the Rhine, form the oniy pat
fes whereby an army can defend from
thefe mountains to the Bhfgau Moreau
had no other alternative than either to at
tack the Aufrians, in order 10 obtain the
Val d'Enfer, which defend into the Brit
gau by the town of Fribourg, or 70 make
his retreat by the territory Of Switzerland.
Finding himfelf cloiely phriued by Latour,
Moreau attacked him, but was repulicd
with great lols, while, on The other fide,
the Aufrian general Petrafeh, ported be-
tween the fources of the Necker and Of the
Danube, incefiantly harra7ed the rear OF
the French. AT this critical moment it
was reported and believed that general
Moreau was coiopletely fuirouuded by the
Auftrians--that his army in conie5uencs
could not eicdpe-that they mutt capitu-
ldte--that no potfibie art hor exertioti
could prevent their total deSest--ard that
not one at his folders would ever reach
France to bring ti,s dsws " the Hisf0Su1e,