Battle of Turnhout (1789)

Battle of Turnhout
Part of the Brabant Revolution
The battle depicted in Fastes militaires des Belges, ou Histoire des guerres, sièges, conquêtes, expéditions et faits d'armes, qui ont illustré la Belgique (1836)
Date 27 October 1789 Location Turnhout, Austrian Netherlands Result Belgian victory Austrian withdrawal from Belgium[1] Creation of the United States of Belgium[2]
Belligerents
Habsburg Austria Austrian Netherlands	Belgian rebels
Commanders and leaders
Count Richard D'Alton Gottfried von Schröder	Jean-André van der Mersch
Strength
2,500	2,000
Casualties and losses
108 killed 60 wounded 23 missing 3 cannons lost	87 killed or wounded

The Battle of Turnhout (27 October 1789) was a decisive military engagement between Belgian revolutionary and Austrian forces at Turnhout in the Austrian Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). It was the first engagement of the Brabant Revolution and took place shortly after the revolutionary (patriot) army of Jean-André van der Mersch crossed the border from the Dutch Republic where it had previously been in exile. Their unlikely victory in the engagement led to the rapid collapse of Austrian rule across the Southern Netherlands and the temporary withdrawal of Austrian forces in the region to Luxembourg.