Battle of Fleurus (1794)

Battle of Fleurus
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Jourdan at Fleurus with the balloon l'Entreprenant in the background (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles)
Date 26 June 1794 Location Fleurus, Austrian Netherlands Result Decisive French victory
Belligerents
French Republic	Habsburg Monarchy  Dutch Republic Brunswick-Lüneburg  Kingdom of Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Kléber Louis Antoine de Saint Just	Prince Josias of Coburg William of Orange
Strength
70,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, 100 guns	52,500 infantry, 18,000 cavalry, 111 guns
Casualties and losses
5,000, 1 gun	5,000, 1 gun

Coordinates: 50°29′N 4°32′E / 50.483°N 4.533°E / 50.483; 4.533

The Battle of Fleurus, on 26 June 1794, was an engagement 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. The French use of the reconnaissance balloon l'Entreprenant was the first military use of an aircraft that influenced the result of a battle.

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