George Washington

The United States presidential election of 1792 was the second presidential election in the United States, and the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors . It is also the only presidential election that was not held four years after the previous election, although part of... the previous election was technically held four years prior. As in 1789, George Washington, now president, ran unopposed. Under the system in place then and through the election of 1800, each voting elector cast two votes — the recipient of the greatest number of votes was elected president, the second greatest number, vice-president. As in his first term, Washington is considered to have been elected unanimously. The recipient of 77 electoral votes, Vice-President John Adams finished second in voting and was therefore re-elected.
more

The Action of 13 January 1797 was a small naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the coast of Brittany... during the French Revolutionary Wars. During the action the frigates successfully outmanoeuvred the much larger French vessel and drove it on shore in heavy seas, resulting in the death of over 900 of the 1,300 persons aboard. One of the British frigates was also lost in the engagement, running onto a sandbank after failing to escape a lee shore. The French 74-gun ship Droits de l'Homme had been part of the Expédition d'Irlande, a disastrous attempt by a French expeditionary force to invade Ireland. During the operation, the French fleet was beset by poor coordination and violent weather, eventually being compelled to return to France without landing a single soldier. Two British frigates, the 44-gun HMS Indefatigable and the 36-gun HMS Amazon, had been ordered to patrol the seas off Ushant in an attempt to intercept the returning French force and sighted Droits de l'Homme on the afternoon of 13 January. The engagement lasted for more than 15 hours, in an increasing gale and the constant presence of the rocky Breton coast.
more

The Expédition d'Irlande was an unsuccessful attempt by the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars to assist the outlawed... Society of United Irishmen, a popular rebel Irish republican group, in their planned rebellion against British rule. The French intended to land a large expeditionary force in Ireland during the winter of 1796–1797 which would join with the United Irishmen and drive the British out of Ireland. The French anticipated that this would be a major blow to British morale, prestige and military effectiveness, and was also intended to possibly be the first stage of an eventual invasion of Britain itself. To this end, the French Directory gathered a force of approximately 15,000 soldiers at Brest under General Lazare Hoche during late 1796, in readiness for a major landing at Bantry Bay in December. The operation was launched during one of the stormiest winters of the 18th century, with the French fleet unprepared for such severe conditions. Patrolling British frigates observed the departure of the fleet and notified the British Channel Fleet, most of which was sheltering at Spithead for the winter.
more

The 1796-1797 Siege of Kehl lasted from October 1796 to 9 January 1797, during the War of the First Coalition . Forces numbering 40,000 of the Holy... Roman Empire under the command of Karl Aloys zu Fürstenberg besieged and captured the French-controlled fortress of Kehl, across the Rhine River from Strasbourg. The French defense under Louis Desaix and Jean Victor Marie Moreau almost upset the siege when they executed a sortie that nearly succeeded in capturing the Austrian artillery park. After the defenses were thoroughly riddled by heavy bombardment from the besiegers, the French defenders capitulated and withdrew in 9 January 1797. Initially, the rulers of Europe viewed the revolution in France as an event between the French king and his subjects, and not something in which they should interfere. In 1790, Leopold succeeded his brother Joseph as emperor and by 1791, the situation surrounding his sister, Marie Antoinette, and her children, alarmed him.
more

The Battle of Bassano was fought on 8 September 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, in the territory of the Republic of Venice, between a... French army under Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces led by Count Dagobert von Wurmser. The battle ended in a French victory. The Austrians abandoned their artillery and baggage, losing supplies, cannons, and battle standards to the French. This engagement occurred during the second Austrian relief attempt of the Siege of Mantua. The first relief of Mantua failed at the battles of Lonato and Castiglione in early August. The defeat caused Wurmser to retreat north up the Adige River valley. Meanwhile, the French reinvested the Austrian garrison of Mantua. Ordered by Emperor Francis II to relieve Mantua at once, Feldmarschall Wurmser and his new chief-of-staff Feldmarschal-Leutnant Franz von Lauer drew up a strategy. Leaving FML Paul Davidovich and 13,700 soldiers to defend Trento and the approaches to the County of Tyrol, Wurmser directed two divisions east then south down the Brenta valley. When he joined the large division of Johann Mészáros at Bassano, he would have 20,000 men.
more