Battle of Wattignies 1793
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 October 1793 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1793 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | French Revolutionary Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 50.2014, 4.0133 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
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 covering force led by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt to withdraw. The War of the First Coalition victory allowed the French to raise the siege of Maubeuge. At a time when failed generals were often executed or imprisoned, Jourdan had to endure interference from Lazare Carnot from the Committee of Public Safety. The village, renamed Wattignies-la-Victoire in honor of the important success, is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of Maubeuge.
Coburg's main army encircled 25,000 French soldiers in Maubeuge while about 22,000 Austrians under Clerfayt were formed in a semi-circle, covering the southern approaches to the fortress. On the first day, 45,000 French soldiers mounted a clumsy attack which was easily repulsed, except near the village of Wattignies. On the second day, Jourdan concentrated half his army at Wattignies and after a tough fight, forced Coburg to concede defeat.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Wattignies (revision 1370276745), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Maubeuge (1793) 1793 · 9 km
- Siege of Maubeuge 1914 · 9 km
- Battle of Erquelinnes 1794 · 13 km
- Battle of Grand-Reng 1794 · 15 km
- Rearguard Affair of Le Grand Fayt 1914 · 18 km
- Battle of Malplaquet 1709 · 18 km
Other battles of the French Revolutionary Wars
- Battle of Verdun (1792) 1792
- Siege of Namur (1792) 1792
- Siege of Thionville (1792) 1792
- Action of 18 June 1793 1793
- Action of 20 October 1793 1793
- Action of 24 October 1793 1793
- Action of 31 July 1793 1793
- Battle of Brécourt 1793
- Battle of Epierre 1793
- Battle of Mas Deu 1793
All 81 battles of the French Revolutionary Wars →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Early modern battles