'The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo' is a book with which I must confess I am not especially familiar, written by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy and published in 1851. The book tells the story of fifteen military engagements from Marathon to Waterloo which, according to the author, had a significant impact on world history. At number 14, sandwiched between Saratoga and Waterloo, the Battle of Valmy takes its place. Sir Edward relates how at Valmy: ' ..the kings of Europe, after the lapse of eighteen centuries, trembled once more before a conquering military republic.' Surely, then, a must-see battlefield if ever there was one! Unaware of its worldly significance, I had passed through Valmy a number of times while going back and forward along the N3 between Reims and Verdun. One of my favourite roads, the N3 winds its way through the rolling Champagne countryside, crossing and re-crossing the railway line several times and ambling through villages like Valmy where rustic farm cottages, decaying roadside barns and modern bungalows seem to find a happy co-existence. [Alternatively, and less romantically, Valmy can be reached via the A4; (exit St Menehould). The battlefield can be seen on the hillside overlooking the motorway, and there is even a service station  named after it!] Finding the battlefield is easy thanks to the addition of new signposts The battle took place on the crest of the hill above the present-day village on 20th September 1792 as part of the Revolutionary Wars following the overthrow of the French Monarchy. The allied invasion of France in 1792, by the Duke of Brunswick’s 80,000 strong Austro-Prussian force accompanied by a large contingent of French royalists, planned to restore Louis XVI - who had been under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace - to power and strangle the new Republic at birth. In his 'Proclomation of Koblenz' a few weeks earlier, Brunswick had personally avowed to: 'put an end to the anarchy in the interior of France, to re-establish the legal power, to restore to the king the security and the liberty of which he is now deprived and to place him in a position to exercise once more the legitimate authority which belongs to him.' The centre of Valmy, with the 'Marie Ecole' in the foreground; the battlefield lies on the hillside beyond the church on the left The fortresses of Longwy and Verdun had already fallen to Brunswick . In an attempt to halt the Prussian surge towards Paris, the French Foreign Minister and General, Charles Dumouriez placed his 'Armee du Nord' at the Les Islettes pass on the road between Reims and Verdun (now the N3) and called on General Kellerman's 'Armee de Centre' to join him there, in the shadow of the mighty Argonne forest. Arriving on the 18th September, Kellerman's forces - many of whom were volunteers with no combat experience - took up position on the height above Valmy, a position offering sweeping views across the plains of Champagne but surrounded by bog and river that would make retreat all but impossible. Seeing Kellerman's precariou s position, Brunswick decided to attack without delay in the early hours of 20th September, however, a thick fog hung around the hilltop for several hours, hampering Prussian attempts to advance across the battlefield. View of the battlefield looking towards the Kellerman Monument It was around 10am before the battle began in earnest, with artillery exchanges wreaking havoc across the crest of the hill. Taking up position atop the crest, Kellerman inspired his outnumbered troops with cries of 'Vive la Nation' and at one point even led an abortive charge which ended when his horse was shot from under him. Throughout the day, a combination of bad weather, dogged determination and the accuracy of the French artillery kept the tightly-packed Prussian forces at bay. Brunswick, his troops already exhausted from the campaign and many suffering from dysentry, decided against a full-scale attack across the wet, slippery ground. He retired his forces at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and the battle petered out with neither side having committed its full force to the field; casualties numbered in  the hundreds rather than thousands, giving rise to the belief among some historians that Valmy was little more than a minor 'cannonade'. Looking this time towards the Moulin de Valmy But while the day ended in stalemate, Brunswick's decision not to fully engage the enemy proved costly, handing the initiative - both military and political - to the French. A mood of despondency hung over the Prussian camp that night; unable to rally his troops for further efforts, Brunswick's campaign that had begun so promisingly now ended in ignominy. By contrast, when news of the battle reached Paris the following day, it was heralded as a great victory and led directly to the proclamation of the new Republic on 21st September. The German writer Goethe, who had accompanied the Prussians on their campaign and observed the battle first-hand, noted: 'From this place and from this day forth commences a new era in the world's history, and you can all say that you were present at its birth.' Perhaps, then, Sir Edward was not exaggerating by placing Valmy in his 'top fifteen' most important battles of all time. What happened here shaped the next thirty years of European history and signalled the beginning of the Napoleonic Era, just as Waterloo signalled its end. To be fair, it is unlikely that Valmy will ever take its place alongside Waterloo as one of the most visited battlefields in Europe. It is not so much that it is off the beaten track, just that Valmy remains a relatively unknown battle that has never really captured the public attention. (Perhaps this is not surprising given that one prominent French historian who wrote a 1122 dictionary of the Revolution failed to even give Valmy a mention). The reconstructed windmill is the battlefield's focal point In some ways, this is a good thing as unlike its more famous Belgian counterpart the Valmy battlefield is usually deserted and you can get a really good sense of history here. It is a charming site, if battlefields can be charming, beautifully maintained in something close to its original form. The site has been tastefully revamped in recent years with an upgraded car park, information kiosk, multi-lingual boards detailing the battle as it unfolded and, pride of place, the Moulin de Valmy. The 14-metre tall windmill around which Kellerman concentrated his artillery during the battle, was restored only to be destroyed by a gale on Boxing Day 1999. Thanks to the efforts of the local communities around St Menehould, a project to rebuild the windmill - its design being unique to northern France -  and restore the battlefield's other landmarks was completed in 2005 and inaugurated on the anniversary of the battle by Michele Alliot-Marie, the French Minister of Defence. The cost of the project was 530 000 euros, money well spent if it is to attract an increased number of visitors to the site and help bring trade to the local community. Kellerman Monument and 'pyramid' Visitors can follow the paths that lead across the crest of the hill from the windmill to the elegant Kellerman Monument a few hundred yards away. The monument dates from 1892 and represents the General - later to be given the title Duke of Valmy by Napoleon - brandishing hat and saber and issuing the famous rallying cry "Vive la Nation." In front of the monument is a pyramid, beneath which a lead casket contains Kellerman's heart. The inscription states that Kellerman wished his heart to be placed in the middle of his brave soldiers. In the centre of the battlefield, a little memorial chapel contains the ashes of Kellermann's great grand-daughter whose donations helped to fund the site's preservation. On the slopes leading down to the village are memorials to other prominent soldiers of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, notably a bust of General Simon Bolivar and a large statue to Field Marshall Don Francisco de Miranda who served with distinction at Valmy and later played a prominent role in winning the independence of Latin America from Spanish rule. An American World War 2 tank is also on dis play, a reminder of Valmy's liberation from German occupation in 1944. The church of Valmy, with bust of General Bolivar in the foreground All in all, Valmy is a hidden gem of a battlefield, where a half hour or so can be well spent finding out more about this important if little-known battle. If you are on the revolutionary trail, a visit to Valmy could be combined with a trip to nearby Varennes-en-Argonne where Louis XVI was famously apprehended while attempting to flee the mob. Other historic places to visit locally include the Medieval Abbey at Lachalade and of course, the Great War battlefields of the Argonne. |