The Battle of Sprimont, or Battle of the Ourthe (18 Sep 1794), was a battle during the
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...
between a corps of the French revolutionary Army of Sambre-and-Meuse under General
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan
Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I in ...
, and the left wing of an Austrian army under the
François Sebastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt
François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis.
People with the given name
* Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters"
* Francis II of France, King o ...
. The battle was fought to outflank and force the Austrian army away from their defensive line on the Meuse river, and was a French victory.
Background
During the
War of the First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition (french: Guerre de la Première Coalition) was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797 initially against the Kingdom of France (1791-92), constitutional Kingdom of France and then t ...
waged against the French Revolution, European monarchies such as Austria and Prussia, financed by Britain, attempted to invade France and restore the abolished French monarchy. Fighting raged on multiple fronts, from the Pyrenees to the Alps, the Rhine and Flanders (approximately modern Belgium).
Flanders, then owned by Austria, was a key theatre of the war due to its relatively open terrain and its proximity to the French northern border, which was the only sector where there was no strong natural defensive boundary to protect from invasion. By 1794, both sides had already fought over it for years. The Allied coalition army of Austrians, British and Dutch troops aimed to use it as an invasion route to Paris, while the French armies defending that sector aimed to push them back and capture a natural defensive boundary that would protect France in the north while forcing the Allies to make peace.
The 1794 Campaign
The
1794 Flanders campaign had not gone well for the Allies. Despite initial successes in capturing the fort of
Landrecies
Landrecies (; nl, Landeschie) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
History
In 1543, Landrecies was besieged by English and Imperial forces, who were repulsed by the French defenders. In 1794, it was besieged by Dutch forces, ...
in their centre, they were in turn pushed back on their right flank by General Charles Pichegru's left wing of the Army of the North, which captured Menin, Courtrai and Ypres and fought the battles of
Mouscron
Mouscron (; Dutch and vls, Moeskroen, ; Picard and Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, along the border with the French city of Tourcoing, which is part of the Lille metropoli ...
,
Willems,
Courtrai
Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders.
It is the capital and larges ...
,
Tourcoing
Tourcoing (; nl, Toerkonje ; vls, Terkoeje; pcd, Tourco) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a Communes of France, commune within the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), ...
and
Tournai
Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...
. On the Allied left flank, they were also pushed back after repeated attacks across the Sambre by the combined forces of the right wing of the Army of the North, the Army of the Ardennes, and later on the left wing of the Army of the Moselle as well, in the battles of
Grand-Reng
Grand-Reng ( wa, Grand-Rin) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Erquelinnes, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
It is located on the border with France, on the main road from Mons to Beaumont. Its French nei ...
,
Erquelinnes
Erquelinnes (; wa, Erkelene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Located on the border with France, where the commune of Maubeuge lies, Erquelinnes had a total resident population of 9,549, in 2006. The tot ...
,
Gosselies
Gosselies ( wa, Gochliye) is a town of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Charleroi, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
Located in the north of Charleroi, it was a city and a municipality of its own before the merger of the ...
,
Lambusart
Lambusart ( wa, Lambussåt) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Fleurus located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium.
References
Former municipalities of Hainaut (provi ...
and
Fleurus
Fleurus (; wa, Fleuru) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, ...
.
On 26 June, the Allied army, then under the command of
Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (german: Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) (26 December 1737 – 26 February 1815) was an Austrian nobleman and military general.
Biography
Born at Schloß Ehrenburg in Coburg, he wa ...
, was defeated in the climactic
Battle of Fleurus by Jourdan, who commanded the French forces on the Sambre. After an intense spring full of fighting, Fleurus was the last straw for the morale of the Austrian high command. Already shaky in their resolve to defend Flanders,
Austrian diplomats decided to abandon the Low Countries after the battle, and began to plan for a retreat to the Meuse to exit the theatre to the east.
This Austrian strategic decision created serious division in the Allied ranks, as the Austrian, Dutch and British forces had very different strategic priorities and lines of retreat from the start.
While the Austrian priority was to ultimately defend the Rhine and Germany in the east, the British and Dutch priority was to defend the Netherlands to the north. This ultimately led to the Austrian and Anglo-Dutch contingents going their separate ways.
Coburg's Retreat to the Meuse
![FlandersRetreat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/FlandersRetreat.png)
After Fleurus, Jourdan's forces at Charleroi, most of which were still nominally under the command of Pichegru, were officially constituted as the
Army of Sambre-and-Meuse on 29 June by the Committee of Public Safety which then governed France, and placed under the full command of Jourdan. The Army was given the objective of defeating the Austrians where possible, and ultimately to secure the Meuse river, as the minister of war, Lazare Carnot, saw it as the ideal defensible natural boundary on which to anchor France's northern frontier after a peace settlement
However, at the same time, Jourdan was ordered to detach between 30,000 to 40,000 of his approximately 140,000 strong field force under General
Barthelemy Schérer to retake the interior fortresses of Landrecies, Le Quesnoy, Valenciennes and Conde, Allied footholds in France which were now isolated by the victory at Fleurus and the Allied withdrawal.
On 1 July, Jourdan commenced his offensive by capturing Mons with his left wing, driving away the Dutch defending the city. This had been the main objective of the attacks on the Sambre throughout the spring of 1794, and its capture cut the direct line of communication between the interior fortresses held by the Austrians, and their main base in Brussels.
On 2 July, he advanced it further and captured
Soignies
Soignies (; nl, Zinnik, ; pcd, Sougniye; wa, Sougniye) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
It consists of the following districts: Casteau, Chaussée-Notre-Dame-Louvignies, Horrues, Naast, Neufvilles, ...
, forcing Prince Coburg's right wing back to
Braine-le-Comte
Braine-le-Comte (; nl, ’s-Gravenbrakel, ; wa, Brinne-e-Hinnot) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium.
On January 1, 2018, Braine-le-Comte had a total population of 21,649. The total area is whic ...
.
On 6–7 July, Jourdan's centre launched attacks along Coburg's entire line from Braine-le-Comte to
Gembloux
Gembloux (; wa, Djiblou; nl, Gembloers, ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants. The total area is 95.86 km², yielding a population dens ...
, which caused Coburg to abandon his plan to defend Brussels, and retreat further eastwards to Malines (modern
Mechelen
Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
) and Louvain (modern
Leuven
Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...
). From 7–8 July, the right wing of the Army of Sambre-and-Meuse attacked Coburg's left wing, which was still anchored on the city of
Namur
Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration.
Namu ...
on the Meuse. Forcing it back to Ramillies and isolating Namur, Jourdan then besieged Namur while entering Brussels in triumph alongside Pichegru on the 10th. Fearing Jourdan would advance along the Meuse via Namur and Liege and cut off his retreat, Coburg pulled his centre and left wing back further, to Tirlemont (modern
Tienen
Tienen (; french: Tirlemont ) is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete ...
).
Together with 18,000 men from Pichegru, the rest of whose Army of the North was away besieging
Sluys, Jourdan attacked Coburg's line, capturing Louvain on 15 July and Jodoigne either on the 16th or 17th.
Meanwhile, Namur, which had been under siege, surrendered on the 19th.
This attack split the Allied army into two operationally separate units for good. Pichegru's capture of Malines on the 15th caused the Dutch army defending that sector to retreat north to defend their home together with the British troops under the Duke of York, while Coburg decided to pull his army east towards the Meuse to defend the Rhine and Germany.
Coburg crossed the Meuse at
Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...
on 24 July, and occupied a defensive line along the east bank.
Prelude to Battle
Scherer's Return
After reaching the Rhine, the Army of Sambre-and-Meuse remained on the defensive for most of August, awaiting the return of Scherer's siege corps to reinforce the army and give it enough strength to attack across the Meuse and drive the Austrians away from it.
On the Austrian side, Coburg had resigned as field marshal on 9 August, due to his disagreement with how the war was being run by the leaders in Vienna. He was replaced by Count Clerfayt.
Scherer had spent July and August besieging and recapturing the interior fortresses held by the Austrians.
In a decree on 4 July, Scherer had been ordered to execute the garrisons of these fortresses if they did not surrender within 24 hours when summoned to do so. Uncomfortable with these orders, Scherer refused to carry them out, instead permitting the garrison to surrender with full honours if they did so quickly, aware that the garrisons were aware no relief was coming and resistance was futile. The quick surrender of Landrecies on 16 July after 3 days of siege seemed to vindicate his approach.
The siege of Le Quesnoy did not go as quickly. Beginning on 17 July, the fortress only surrendered on 15 August, giving rise to criticism of Scherer's slowness. Valenciennes and Conde then fell in quick succession on the 20 and 30 August, completing Scherer's mission.
With the interior of France purged of enemy presence, Scherer returned to Jourdan, where a celebratory festival was held in the army on 4 September to welcome them.
The Corps Structure of the Army of Sambre-and-Meuse
After the battle of Fleurus, the army of Sambre-and-Meuse had been divided into three wings, which were termed corps d’armee, under the command of General
Francois Severin Marceau on the right, Jourdan in person in the centre, and General
Jean-Baptiste Kléber
Jean-Baptiste Kléber () (9 March 1753 – 14 June 1800) was a French general during the French Revolutionary Wars. After serving for one year in the French Royal Army, he entered Habsburg service seven years later. However, his plebeian ances ...
on the left. Following Scherer's return, he took over command of the Left Wing from Marceau, who returned to command of his own division.
On the eve of the Battle of Sprimont, Kleber's left corps had some 35,000 men, Jourdan had 50,000 men in the centre corps, and Scherer had some 30,000 men in the right corps.
Jourdan's Ruse
![SprimontContext](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/SprimontContext.png)
Jourdan had been ordered by the Committee of Public Safety on 22 August to cross at
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
and secure the eastern bank of the river Meuse.
However, with Clerfayt disposed along that bank from Maastricht to Sprimont on the Ourthe river, it would be very difficult to cross such a wide river with an army, especially in the face of strong resistance, since Liège was in the centre of Clerfayt's line.
Jourdan saw the opportunity to accomplish his mission by turning the Allied left flank with his right wing, which was already across the Meuse. To maximise his chances of success, he ordered Kleber to launch a diversionary attack on Clerfayt's right and centre around Maastricht on 17 September.
Clerfayt was tricked by this attack into thinking the main threat lay in that direction, and pulled thousands of troops from his left wing to reinforce his right. The very next day, Jourdan attacked the now-weakened left wing.
Battle
![Sprimont](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Sprimont.png)
Clerfayt's left wing was commanded by
Theodor Franz, Count Baillet von Latour. Now left with only about 25,000 men, Latour occupied positions between
Sprimont
Sprimont (; wa, Sprumont) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
The municipality consists of the following districts: Dolembreux, Gomzé-Andoumont, Louveigné, Rouvreux, and Sprimont.
Other villages: Ba ...
and
Esneux
Esneux (; wa, Esneu) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium.
On 1 January 2006 Esneux had a total population of 13,072. The total area is which gives a population density of 384 inhabitants per km².
The muni ...
. Misestimating that the French forces in his front numbered less than 30,000 men, Latour wrote to Clerfayt that he remained "full of confidence in the excellence of my position" despite the evidence of French activity.
However, Jourdan had actually amassed some 40,000 men, most of which comprised his entire Right Wing corps, against Latour, and he planned to launch four division-sized attacks across both the Ourthe and its subsidiary, the Ambleve river. The main attack was to be made by Generals Marceau's, Jean Mayer's and Honore Hacquin's divisions on the Ambleve, which curved around Latour's flank, while the division of
Jean Pierre Francois Bonnet (also spelled Bonet) would launch a subsidiary frontal attack on Latour's front at Esneux, and the four divisions were to encircle Latour from two directions.
At 6 am on 18 September, Scherer launched his attack with an opening bombardment, followed by river crossings. Unlike past battles where river crossings were made by massed waves of men rushing across, Scherer's corps adopted a more methodical approach. Skirmishers crossed first to screen and secure the crossing points, before being followed by the main force deployed in disciplined marching columns.
Marceau crossed at Halleux, and eventually overcame the resistance in his front after 2 hours of fighting. Mayer's division had an easy crossing at Aywaille and used the broken terrain in his sector, which gave the attacker cover against a defender's fire, to advance towards Sprimont in open order.
Hacquin's crossing was more strongly contested. With the limited forces of men available to him, Latour was only able to launch one concentrated counterattack, and he had chosen Hacquin's crossing furthest east at Sougnee (modern Sougné)
as its target. This quickly pushed Hacquin back across the Ambleve. Hacquin however quickly marched even further east for a crossing at Nonceveux, from which he was able to get around Latour's extreme left, capture the heights on the opposite bank of the Ambleve and march towards Louveigne to threaten Latour's rear. While this was happening, Bonnet had crossed at Esneux, and with Latour fully occupied on the Ambleve, this was the final straw. Threatened from multiple directions, in danger of encirclement and with no reserves left to counterattack, Latour ordered a withdrawal towards Clerfayt's main body.
Aftermath
Latour's retreat compromised Clerfayt's entire position on the Meuse as his left flank was now exposed and unprotected. As Jourdan had expected, this led Clerfayt to order a general retreat from the Meuse, permitting Jourdan to cross unopposed at Liege as planned. Leaving 15,000 men under General Duhesme to besiege Maastricht, now isolated by Clerfayt's retreat, Jourdan crossed the Meuse with the rest of the army in pursuit of Clerfayt, who had retreated completely out of Flanders and withdrawn to the Roer river in Germany.
Jourdan would storm Clerfayt's Roer defences at the
Battle of Aldenhoven on 2 October.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprimont, Battle Of
Battles of the War of the First Coalition
Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
Battles involving France
Battles involving Austria
Battles in Wallonia
1794 in the Austrian Netherlands
Conflicts in 1794
Battle of Sprimont
The Battle of Sprimont, or Battle of the Ourthe (18 Sep 1794), was a battle during the War of the First Coalition between a corps of the French revolutionary Army of Sambre-and-Meuse under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and the left wing of an ...
Battles inscribed on the Arc de Triomphe
Battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...