On June 2, 1793, the Jacobins overthrew the Girondins, issued a general mobilization order, and called on large numbers of young men to enlist. That October, Saint-Just came north on an inspection tour.
By then, the Battle of Valenciennes, the Battle of Menin, and the Battle of Hondschoote had all ended. The allied forces had split in the summer of 1793. Austria wished to continue attacking Cambrai, while the Duke of York believed they needed a landing port at Dunkirk. As for why the fighting at Valenciennes had turned out that way, it was because the British Army had no practical combat experience on European battlefields. Even the soldiers who had fought in the American Revolution had faced fortifications made of wooden protective stockades.
The garrison at Valenciennes included some soldiers who had withdrawn from the Fars battlefield. They set up a horn-shaped position outside the fortress, and the Austrian commander insisted on besieging the trenches.
Trenches were most suited to the terrain of the Low Countries. As they dug pits, the excavated earth could be piled into mounds. But trenches were a true nightmare for soldiers on both sides; if they could avoid them, they would. Yet their allies had chosen to fight this way. What could the British commanders do?
The Austrians were the first to besiege the horn formation, while the British, responsible for support, pushed the heavy artillery forward. But the Austrians in charge of the siege progressed slowly. The Duke of York wrote a letter of protest, but because his wording was too harsh, he was condemned by the Austrians.
At the time, a hot-air-balloon pilot was sent out to seek reinforcements. The letter reached Custine, who had succeeded the traitorous Dumouriez.
Custine had once served in Louis XV's army. He was an aristocrat, and