Room of 1792 - The Battle of Jemappes

If the Battle of Valmy was the defensive battle that announced the republic's birth, the Battle of Jemappes, shown on the opposite wall, was the offensive campaign that marked the start of the French revolutionary army's expansion across Europe. Two months after Valmy, in November 1792, French forces rode their momentum into Jemappes, then part of Belgian territory. Their opponents held a well-fortified position, but the French army fought with the fierce conviction of "liberty or death." The song French troops sang as they charged, "La Marseillaise," is France's national anthem today. Charging forward with a thunderous battle cry, the French ultimately won — a victory that impressed upon every royal court in Europe that revolutionary ideals could spread across borders.

The portraits filling this room depict the young officers and generals who distinguished themselves in the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars. One figure worth noting in particular is Louis Philippe. Though a member of the royal family, he fought in both Valmy and Jemappes — meaning a royal had joined the very citizens rebelling against absolute monarchy. This unusual background later became a political asset that helped him rise to the throne as the "Citizen King." Louis Philippe went on to convert the Palace of Versailles into a museum of French history, and it was he who also created the far larger Gallery of Battles next door.