Battle of Wattignies

The battles of Wattignies puts at the catches during two days (15 and October 16th 1793) the French revolutionary armies ordered by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan and Lazare Carnot and the Austrian troops directed by the prince Frederic of Saxony-Cobourg close to the village of Wattignies , nowadays Wattignies-the-Victoire.

Origins of the battle

The September 28th 1793, the prince of Saxony-Cobourg puts the seat in front of Maubeuge (current chief town of canton of North). The Jourdan general, named commander-in-chief of the Armed with North by the Convention the September 25th, the general Houchard suspecté of treason by the representatives on mission and finally stopped, leaves then the camp of Gravelle to the head of 43 000 men to go to the help of the besieged city. The prince, informed of this troop movement consequently decides to give an opinion between Avesnes and Maubeuge on the plate of Wattignies. He has only 23 000 men whom it divides as follows: the center pressed on the village of Wattignies (now named Wattignies-the-Victoire, and her right wing on the Sambre.

Course of the battle

The October 14th take place the first skirmishes between the two armies but without consequences. Lazare Carnot, also known under the name of " the organizer of the victoire" , representing of the Almighty Committee of Public Hello, recognizes the enemy positions in company of Jourdan. Two opposite strategies take shape then: Jourdan suggests fixing the center of the Austrian army and attacking with the wings, which it could allow within sight of its numerical superiority; Carnot, as for him, recommends a frontal attack, altogether rather traditional. Finally, the policy preceding the soldier in France at that time, it is the strategy of Carnot, rougher, which is retained.

The battle which will last two days, will extend on a face from 20 kilometers and will take the form of a parallel battle, the two armies facing, like previously with the battles of Jemappes and of Neerwinden or later with the battles of Fleurus. October 15th, the French launch the attack against the Austrian positions but without convincing success. The following day, under the orders of the general young person Florent Duquesnoy, an effort of the French right wing carried against the Austrian left wing finally makes it possible the revolutionary troops to gain the victory and to force the prince of Saxony-Cobourg to fold up itself. Its clean guns were taken at the village wattignies and are turned over against him by French of Duquesnoy.Il is taken out of clipper between the South held by Jourdan, is held by Duquesnoy and the North held by the fortified town of Maubeuge. The inertia of the garrison of Maubeuge was severely reproached its commander because an exit would have made it possible to crush the troops of Cobourg. It has to notice that the exit of this battle was perceived like very dubious in Paris at the point precipitating the execution of the queen Marie Antoinette this same October 16th, 1793.

Consequences and continuations of the battle

French success for some not very glorious since it is taken all the same two days for 45 000 French to demolish 23 000 anglo-Autrichiens.Cependant, the men of Cobourg were professional soldiers, while the French troops consisted of young recruits framed by the soldiers of trades of the royal army ex. Moreover French had little equipment except for remarkable the new guns Gribeauval. In fine, this victory made it possible to restore the military situation on the North-eastern border of France after the defeats of the first part of the year 1793, especially that of Neerwinden, and the treason of the general Dumouriez on April 3rd of the same year. After this victory, the Convention orders to the Jourdan general to take again the Belgium with united but this one fails, the exploitation of success obtained with Wattignies which has not been able to be carried out fault in particular weapons and ammunition which were then cruelly lacking. Napoleon regarded the battle of wattignies as the principal one of all the revolution of years 1792/1793.

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