 This war also proceeded disastrously for the Stadtholder 's forces , and in the severe winter of 1794 / 95 a French army under general Charles Pichegru , with a Dutch contingent under general Herman Willem Daendels , crossed the great frozen rivers that traditionally protected the Netherlands from invasion . Aided by the fact that a substantial proportion of the Dutch population looked favorably upon the French incursion , and often considered it a liberation , the French were quickly able to break the resistance of the forces of the Stadtholder , and his Austrian and British allies . However , in many cities revolution broke out even before the French arrived and Revolutionary Committees took over the city governments , and ( provisionally ) the national government also . William was forced to flee to England on a fishing boat on January 18 , 1795 . 
