The siege of Le Quesnoy (28 August – 13 September 1793) saw a force made up of Habsburg Austrians and French Royalists led by

François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt (14 October 1733 – 21 July 1798),His title is also spelled Count of Clairfayt and Count of Clairfait a Walloon, joined the army of the Habsburg monarchy and soon fought in the Seven ...

lay siege to a Republican French garrison commanded by François Goullus. After two and a half week siege, the French capitulated after suffering heavy losses. 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 constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French Republic that suc ...

operation was fought at

Le Quesnoy Le Quesnoy (; pcd, L' Kénoé) is a commune and small town in the east of the Nord department of northern France. It was part of the historical province of French Hainaut. It had a keynote industry in shoemaking before the late 1940s, followed ...

, located near the border with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

about west of Maubeuge. After the successful sieges of Condé and

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

, the Coalition divided their forces. While an Austrian army laid siege to Le Quesnoy, a British-led army marched west to the coast to operate against Dunkirk. On 11 September, two French columns marched to the relief of Le Quesnoy. The force from Cambrai on the west came to grief in the

Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec The Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec was a military action during the Flanders Campaign The Flanders Campaign (or Campaign in the Low Countries) was conducted from 20 April 1792 to 7 June 1795 during the first years of the War of the First Coa ...

while the force from Maubeuge was also repelled. The Le Quesnoy garrison laid down their arms on 13 September, but the siege of Dunkirk was a total failure. Undeterred, the Austrian host next laid siege to Maubeuge, leading to the

Battle of Wattignies The Battle of Wattignies (15–16 October 1793) saw a French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan attack a Coalition army directed by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After two days of combat Jourdan's troops compelled the Habsburg co ...

in mid-October.

Siege

The Coalition besieging force under the Count of Clerfayt numbered about 18,000 troops in 24 battalions and 10 squadrons. There were five Austrian grenadier battalions, those of ''Attems'', ''Sinoth'', ''Ulm'', ''Ulrich'' and ''Watsch''. The Austrian line infantry included two battalions each of Infantry Regiments ''Archduke Charles'' Nr. 3, ''Deutschmeister'' Nr. 4, ''Klebek'' Nr. 14, ''Hohenlohe'' Nr. 17, ''Grand Duke of Tuscany'' Nr. 23, ''Wartensleben'' Nr. 28, ''Michael Wallis'' Nr. 29, ''Erbach'' Nr. 42 and ''Stain'' Nr. 50, and one battalion of Infantry Regiment ''Beaulieu'' Nr. 59. The Austrian cavalry comprised four squadrons of the ''Latour''

Chevau-léger The Chevau-légers (from French ''cheval''—horse—and ''léger''—light) was a generic French name for several units of light and medium cavalry. Their history began in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the heavy cavalry forces ...

Regiment Nr. 31 and two squadrons of the ''Barco'' Hussar Regiment Nr. 35. The French Royalist cavalry included two squadrons each of the ''Bérchény'' and ''Saxe'' Hussars.

Results

The Coalition admitted losses of 208 killed and wounded during the siege. The French lost about 1,000 killed out of a garrison of 5,000 troops. The 4,000 survivors became prisoners of war.

Notes

References

* * * Sieges of the French Revolutionary Wars Sieges involving Austria Sieges involving France Conflicts in 1793 Battles of the French Revolutionary Wars Battles in Hauts-de-France Sieges of the War of the First Coalition Battles of the War of the First Coalition 1793 in France {{france-battle-stub