Editing Koblenz (section)

====Near destruction by Royalist forces====

On July 26, 1792, the [[Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick|Duke of Brunswick]], who commanded one of the invading armies, composed of 70,000 Prussians and 68,000 Austrians, Hessians and émigrés, began to march upon Koblenz.  He published a manifesto in which he threatened to set fire to the towns that dared to defend themselves, and to exterminate their inhabitants as rebels, including Koblenz.  The city's fate was at hand.  But, just as in World War 1, the torrential rains and difficult conditions of the [[Forest of Argonne|Argonne]] forest halted the invaders, the roads "were liquid mud," and supplies began to run out due to weather impacting supply lines.  The radical revolutionary [[Georges Danton]] negotiated with the Duke of Brunswick, under unknown conditions, for his retreat, which was carried out through [[Grandpré, Ardennes|Grand-Pré]] and [[Verdun]], then across the [[Rhine]], and the city of Koblenz was saved.<ref>{{cite book
 | title=The Great French Revolution, 1789–1793
 | chapter=Chapter 37
 | author=Peter Kropotkin
 | year=1909
 | translator=N. F. Dryhurst
 | publisher=New York: Vanguard Printings
 | url=http://www.revoltlib.com/?id=249
}}</ref>