Battle of Fleurus (1794)

Battle of Fleurus
Part of the Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition

Jourdan at Fleurus with the balloon l'Entreprenant in the background. Painted by Mauzaisse in 1837; on display in the Galerie des Batailles, Versailles.
Date26 June 1794
Location50°29′N 4°32′E / 50.483°N 4.533°E / 50.483; 4.533
Result French victory[1][2]
Belligerents
French First Republic French Republic  Habsburg Monarchy
 Dutch Republic
 Hanover
Commanders and leaders
France Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
France Jean-Baptiste Kléber
France Louis Antoine de Saint-Just
Habsburg monarchy Prince Josias of Coburg
Dutch Republic William of Orange
Strength
70,000 infantry
12,000 cavalry
100 guns
1 balloon
45,000 infantry
14,000 cavalry
111 guns
Casualties and losses
5,000, 1 gun[3] 5,000, 1 gun[4][5]
Battle of Fleurus (1794) is located in Europe
Battle of Fleurus (1794)
Location within Europe

The Battle of Fleurus, on 26 June 1794, was an engagement during the War of the First Coalition, between the army of the First French Republic, under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and the Coalition army (Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburg monarchy), commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg, in the most significant battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars. Both sides had forces in the area of around 80,000 men but the French were able to concentrate their troops and defeat the First Coalition. The Allied defeat led to the permanent loss of the Austrian Netherlands and to the destruction of the Dutch Republic. The battle marked a turning point for the French army, which remained ascendant for the rest of the War of the First Coalition.

  1. ^ A Short History of France. Taylor & Francis. p. 147. GGKEY:W8BKL8DP129. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  2. ^ Origins of Political Extremism: Mass Violence in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Cambridge University Press. 2011. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-139-50077-7. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  3. ^ Smith 1998, p. 86.
  4. ^ Smith 1998, p. 87.
  5. ^ Rothenberg 1980, p. 247.