Battle of Fleurus (1794)

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Battle of Fleurus
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
The battle of Fleurus with the balloon l'Entreprenant in the background
Date June 26, 1794 Location Fleurus, Belgium Result French victory
Belligerents
French Republic	Holy Roman Empire  Dutch Republic
Commanders
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan	Josias von Saxe Coburg
Strength
70,000	52,500
Casualties and losses
ca 5,000 killed or wounded, 1 cannon lost, 1 standard lost[1]	ca 208 killed, 1,017 wounded, 361 captured, 4 cannons lost, 1 standard lost[2]

In the Battle of Fleurus (June 26, 1794) French forces under Jourdan defeated an Austrian army under Saxe-Cobourg in one of the most decisive battles in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars. Both sides had forces numbering in the vicinity of 80,000 men but the French were able to more effectively concentrate their forces in order to achieve victory against the Austrians.

The French use of the reconnaissance balloon l'Entreprenant marked the first military use of an aircraft that had decisive influence on the outcome of the battle.

[edit] Prelude

After the Battle of Tourcoing (May 17-18, 1794), Jourdan was given the command of the Army of the Ardennes and four divisions of the Army of the North, about 96,000 men in total. This new group was then named the Army of the Sambre-Meuse. The new army was then given the task of capturing Charleroi.

On June 12, the French army, accompanied and supervised by a member of the Committee of Public Safety Louis de Saint-Just, had invested the town of Charleroi with about 70,000 men. On June 16, an Austrian-Dutch force of about 43,000 men counterattacked in heavy mist and managed to inflict some 3,000 casualties on the French and drive them back over the Sambre. On June 18, Jourdan attacked again and managed to restore the investment of Charleroi. The city surrendered on June 26, just as a relieving force under Coburg arrived to raise the siege.

[edit] Forces

See Fleurus 1794 Order of Battle.

[edit] Battle of Fleurus

On June 26, Coburg arrived around Charleroi with 52,000 Austrians and Netherlanders to raise the French siege. Too late to save the city, which had surrendered, the Austrian commander split his army into five columns and attacked the French. A French reconnaissance balloon, l'Entreprenant, continuously informed General of Division Jean-Baptiste Jourdan about Austrian movements. The Austrians managed to break through both French wings, pushing back General François Marceau on the right wing and General Montaigu on the left wing. But the French center under General François Lefebvre held and then counterattacked, and the Austrian assault petered out. Coburg neglected to press on and, uncertain of the outcome, the Austrian commander lost his nerve and fell back to Braine-l'Alleud and Waterloo, granting the French an unexpected victory. This was the final straw that caused the allies to retire back over the Rhine, leaving the French free rein in Belgium and the Netherlands. Smith writes that,

"By this stage of the war the court in Vienna was convinced that it was no longer worth the effort to try to keep their Netherlands provinces and it is suspected that Coburg gave up the chance of a victory here so as to be able to pull out eastwards."^[3]

[edit] Consequences

This victory precipitated a full Allied withdrawal from Belgium and allowed French forces to push north into the Netherlands. By the end of 1795, the Dutch Republic was extinguished. The battle largely invalidated the argument that continuation of the French Revolutionary Reign of Terror was necessary because of the military threat to France's very existence. Thus, some would argue, victory at Fleurus was a leading cause of 9 Thermidor a month later. Saint-Just arrived in Paris after such a great victory only to die with Maximilien Robespierre and the other leading Jacobins in the Thermidorian Reaction.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Smith, p 86
2. ^ Smith, p 87
3. ^ Smith, p 87

[edit] External links

• U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: "Military Use of Balloons During the Napoleonic Era". Accessed April 1, 2007.

[edit] References

• Chandler, David, editor. Napoleon's Marshals. New York: Macmillan, 1987. ISBN 0-02-905930-5
• Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9

Coordinates: 50°40′44″N 4°24′22″E / 50.67889°N 4.40611°E / 50.67889; 4.40611