The Battle of Fleurus

26 June 1794

by Todd Fisher
Illustrations by Keith Rocco

The Battle of Fleurus is one of the most significant of the French Revolution and for that matter the entire era of Napoleon. Yet few but the most scholarly of historians know much about it. Hopefully this article will begin to redress this situation.

Desperate to turn back Allied armies threatening to crush the Revolution, the French took a tremendous gamble by stripping other fronts of forces to send to Charleroi and Fleurus. Jourdan (at right), commander of the Army of the Moselle, was also supposed to command the entire French army group, but he could only request, not order, units from the other two armies.

The Wars of the French Revolution had been going on for nearly two years by the beginning of June 1794. The fate of the Revolution hung in the balance. Things had not been going well for the French forces. Defeat after defeat had resulted in the fall of the moderate Girondin government, and had seen the Radical Jacobins take control and institute the "Reign of Terror." This government was in turn controlled by the Committee of Public Safety which had the notorious Robespierre, Carnot, and St. Just among its twelve members. They had sent three of France's army commanders to the guillotine for lack of success as well as provoking several more to defect rather than suffer the same fate.

It is with this background that Jean-Baptiste Jourdan found himself in command of the army group that set out to take the city of Charleroi from Austrian/Allied control in mid June of 1794. He was first repulsed on the 16th and retreated south of the Sambre River. Here he regrouped for a renewed attack which was launched two days later.

Retreat for Jourdan was out of the question. First because his group of armies: Army of the Ardennes, Army of the Moselle, and the large portions of the Army of the North, had been brought together for the purpose of achieving a victory and as such had left other areas vulnerable. Secondly and more importantly from Jourdan's viewpoint, St. Just was in his camp as a "Representative of the People" and would literally have his head if he failed.

If Jourdan's opponent, Coburg (above), won this battle, Paris and the end of the French Revolution would be within the Allies' reach. If Jourdan lost, the government would literally have his head.

Frederick Josias Prince of Saxe-Coburg commanded the army of Austrians and Dutch which had repulsed Jourdan on the 16th. His attention was directed to the west and the French army under Pichegru who was threatening Tournai and Scheldt. Coburg assumed that his garrison in Charleroi could hold out long enough for relief to arrive if it was reinvested. He certainly must have thought that it would take longer for the French to recover from their last repulse. He had begun to shift to the west when Jourdan once more crossed the Sambre and reinvested Charleroi.

The Prince of Orange, second in command of the Allied army, now argued vigorously that to fall upon Jourdan would maintain the critical base of Charleroi, as well perhaps breaking the back of the French offensive. Coburg pulled 12,000 men from the forces under the Duke of York and retraced his steps in order to attack Jourdan's army.

These reinforcements gave the Allies 52,000 men to fight the 70,000+ French. Coburg assumed that a portion of the larger French force would be tied down watching the Charleroi garrison. Besides, the Austrians were confident they would continue to enjoy a qualitative advantage over the less disciplined French.

Jourdan arrayed his army in a huge semi-circle running almost 15 miles long anchored on both ends on the Sambre River. Double lines of redoubts were built and key towns fortified. Jourdan knew of the Allied approach and ascended in a balloon to scout their positions himself. This was the first use of observation balloons in battle.

Coburg now tried to signal the besieged garrison that he had arrived. Jourdan spotted the attempt and sent out Championnet's Division to push back the artillerists who were preparing to set off rockets. When the attempt was made later and two miles further away from Charleroi it could no longer be spotted.

This was critical, for the garrison, unaware of Coburg's arrival, had begun surrender negotiations. The fortifications had been reduced several years earlier for political reasons. Therefore this was not the citadel that it had been during the wars of Louis XIV and the Seven Years War.

A nineteenth century perspective of the Battle of Fleurus.

When a missive was sent out from the garrison, St. Just curtly replied, "I don't want letters, I want the place!" Perhaps his blood thirsty reputation served him well here, for the garrison capitulated minutes later. It was allowed to march out with full honors, and the critical City of Charleroi was now French. The garrison undoubtedly could have held out for several more days, the third parallel required by the French had not even been started; but without knowing of the relief force, the garrison commander perhaps felt that if he waited until the bitter end he would have no negotiating position left. All of the above took place completely unbeknownst to Coburg as he prepared to attack the following day.

Coburg's plan for the 26th was a complicated one requiring the convergence of five separate columns upon the French position. Effectively the Allied attack the following day became several smaller battles making up a whole. The Allied columns would not be within supporting distance of each other, and there was no reserve.

The battle would feature many names that would become well known personalities of the Napoleonic Wars. The five Allied columns were commanded by the Prince of Orange, Quasdanovich, Kaunitz, Archduke Charles, and Beaulieu. The Chief of Staff was Alvintzy. The last five were the men Napoleon would face in Italy, and Charles was to become the most famous of Austrian Generals.

The French forces included six future Marshals: Jourdan, commander of the Army , the Moselle, Lefevbre, a divisional commander Soult and Bernadotte, brigade commander Mortier, Chief of Staff of the Army of the North and Ney, a regimental colonel. In addition these, there were the notable officers Klebe Marceau, and D'Hautpoul.

The field was basically divided into two fronts: the West where the Prince of Orange's column would attack the units of the Army of the North under Kleber; and the North and East where the remaining four Allied columns would attack the Army of the Moselle and the Army of the Ardennes.

Coburg had his five columns underway early and the initial attacks began at about 3 A.M. After driving back the French skirmishers, Beaulieu's column plowed into the main force of the Army of the Ardennes under Marceau. These troops had been routed four times in the recent past and this was not to prove an exception to that performance. French soldiers fled in all directions and Marceau stood flailing his arms and screaming that it were best if he were to die after the humiliation of his troops' performance.

Lefevbre, his division's flank now compromised, hurried a brigade under Soult to his right, and shifted his line likewise. He evacuated Fleurus and fell back to a second line of defense. Soult would hold this position on the right for the rest of the day and have five horses shot from under him.

This order to shift Soult's troops from reserve perhaps came from Jourdan who had scouted the Allied positions from a windmill on the outskirts of Fleurus. This same windmill was used by Napoleon twenty one years later when he viewed the Prussians around Ligny during the Waterloo campaign.

Soult came upon Marceau and commented to him that he would serve the French cause better by rallying his men rather than getting himself killed. Properly chastened, Marceau proceeded to the work (he would have to wait three more years to be killed). The prompt action by the French stabilized their line and Beaulieu's attack stalled.

Keith Rocco's vision of the Battle of Fleurus.

On the other flank, the Prince of Orange's attack also had some good initial success. Kleber's plan was to draw his divisions up behind the Pieton River and to defend from there. But Montaigu's Division was out of position across the Pieton and deployed on a ridge running nearly perpendicular to Orange's attack. This may have been a result of a night march error.

Beset by twice their number and flanked, Montaigu's men were routed and driven south, not stopping until they were across the Sambre River. In the rout all their artillery was temporarily lost. To stabilize the line Kleber requested Dander's -massive brigade of the Army of the Ardennes to counter-attack to relieve the pressure on Montaigu. As this brigade was not in his army it was not under his control and Kleber could not order it. In fact, Jourdan had to technically request all movements by any units which were a part of the Armies of the North and of the Ardennes.

The Allied forces which came up against the troops behind the Pieton came to an abrupt stop. First the Austrian and Dutch troops had to negotiate a large woods. Coming out of the woods they were confronted by the French 100 meters to their front on the other side of the Pieton The banks of the river were so steep that cavalry was useless, and infantry attacks became disordered as they attempted to cross. (During my recent visit of the battlefield it was obvious why the river created such a problem. Many of the river banks would have to be scaled on all fours.)

Several attacks were made throughout the morning and into the early afternoon across the Pieton. As the day wore on the Prince continued to shuttle more troops south to concentrate his efforts against Daurier and the remnants of Montaigu. Waiting until he saw the last of the Prince's reserves committed, Kleber launched a counter-attack. It was an oblique attack coming from north to south.

The turning point on the French left had arrived. The Allied position was anchored in their center by a battery of 12 lb. guns. The French veterans halted their advance in a swale in front of the guns. Bernadotte, commanding this brigade, raised his hat onto his sword, moved to the front of his men, and charged. The attack was carried out with Bernadotte's "habitual valor," according to Kleber. The French swept up the slope and despite receiving point blank canister, overran the position.

The Prince now had no choice but to pull back and consolidate his lines. The French kept up their attack and eventually Orange withdrew from the field, though in good order.

Back on the French right, Archduke Charles' column had come up and was attacking through Fleurus toward the French trenches and the fortified town of Lambusart. Lefevbre's men held the trenches but were driven out of the town. The road was open to Charleroi.

Lefevbre immediately counter-attacked and retook the town. The Allies had the advantage of numbers here as Lefevbre had only his division and Soult's brigade. Marceau had not yet rallied his men, so Lefevbre requested that Jourdan send some of the reserves that were to his rear in the town of Ransart. Lefevbre would have to hold on until the reserves arrived. "No retreat today!" he cried.

Lambusart was now in flames and the French ammunition wagons were exploding with regularity. Jourdan sent Hatry's Division and it came puffing up just in time to launch another counter-attack to retake part of the town which had again fallen to the Archduke and Beaulieu. This fight would go on with the Allies driving the French out of Lambusart and into their trenches where the Allies would be stopped by a combination of the artillery, infantry and entangling hedges.

To the north of this fight Quasdanovich's and Kaunitz's columns were initially repulsed by Morlot's and Championnet's Divisions. The primary reason for this was that the attacks initially came in piecemeal. Jourdan was able to shift reserves to meet later attacks. Coburg was in this sector and was having great difficulty getting Quasdanovich into position.

The attack by Kaunitz, many of whose troop were the best in the Allied army, were completely stymied by the defenses of the French in the two fortified towns of Heppignies and Wagnee. Three attacks were made and three were cut down by withering musket fire. Despite their successful defense on all fronts, the French came close to losing the battle due to faulty intelligence.

Jourdan received news of Montaigu's rout on the left at the same time he heard of the fall of Lambusart. Fearing that he would be cut off, he ordered a retreat toward Charleroi, abandoning the towns of Heppignies and Wagnee. This would hopelessly compromise Lefevbre by exposing his left flank. As the withdrawal was underway, a courier came thundering up to Jourdan and said that Lefevbre was holding and that Jourdan's flank was secure.

Jourdan had to act quickly. The Austrians were once again advancing on the now empty towns of Heppignies and Wagnee. They would reach them before he could get his infantry back into position. Faced with this crisis, Jourdan had no choice but to commit his last reserve, the two cavalry brigades under Dubois.

Soland's Brigade charged the Austrian cavalry. They were not much of a match for the superior Hapsburgs, but it allowed D'Hautpoul's Brigade to crash into the Allied infantry. This stopped Kaunitz's advance as the Austrian infantry remain fixed in square until they were able to drive off the French cavalry. By this point, however, the French artillery was back in position and raining death upon the the disordered Allied infantry.

The towns remained in French hands and the confused Allies called off their attacks on this front. What only moments before had appeared to be a potential Allied victory, had, with a quick reversal of fortune, sounded the beginning of the end for the First Coalition against Revolutionary France.

By the time that Quasdanovich's column finally came up it was too late. Here the French under Morlot were well deployed and drove off the Austrians after a sharp encounter.

Coburg had had enough. He ordered a general withdrawal and began to disengage. Archduke Charles had once again taken Lambusart, and had once again been thrown out, this time with the help of some of Marceau's men. Charles had no reserves and his men had been fighting since before sunrise. So when he received the order to break off, his grateful troops readily complied and the battle ended around 7 P.M.

The results of the Battle of Fleurus were tremendous. With the Austrian withdrawal a huge gap had been created in the Allied line. A dispirited Austrian army fell back east across the Meuse River. The Dutch and the Duke of York fell back to defend the borders of Holland, where outnumbered they were doomed.

The British were forced off the continent, Holland became a French puppet state, and Austria was left to fight on alone. Prussia, seeing no hope of reward, soon pulled out of the First Coalition which in turn led to its collapse.

The threat to conquer France and reverse the Revolution was over. No more was la Patrie en Danger. Once the pressure was off, the French were only too quick to remove the radical government which had sent so many to their death to "preserve the nation." Robespierre and St. Just would go to the guillotine within two months.

Fleurus was a watershed for the French Army as well. The infantry now believed they could win a straight up fight with the best of their opponents. The artillery, while always the best of the Revolutionary Army, showed a flexibility which heretofore had been lacking. And the cavalry began to exhibit some of the qualities that would make it so formidable in the future. Before Fleurus the French cavalry's performance had been pathetic. After Fleurus it would steadily improve. This was due in large part to the fact that Revolutionary leaders were learning their craft on the job. The cavalry had lost almost all of their officers to Royalist defections and Revolutionary purges.

The battle of Fleurus was in some sense the beginning of the Grande Armee. It would take Napoleon to refine it and to show what the French were capable of.

The modern field of Fleurus is well worth a visit. Much of the ground which was fought over in 1794 remains unchanged. The main impression one gets on viewing the field is its shear size. The French line is about six times the frontage of the Battle of Waterloo, which was fought only 15 miles to the north. The field where Kleber repulsed the Prince of Orange has been destroyed by coal mining. Otherwise, most of the fields have remained intact, save for a road or railroad running through them.

Sources

Dupuis, Operations Militaire sur la Sambre en 1794
Jomini, Histoire critique et militaire des Guerres de la Revolution
Lynn, The Bayonets of the Republic
Phipps, The Armies of the French Republic
Sabron, Den Oorlog van 1794-1795
Soult, Memoires

More Fleurus

Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 2 No. 7
Back to EEL List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1994 by Emperor's Headquarters
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com