text: battle of neerwinden ( 1793 ) the battle of neerwinden ( 18 march 1793 ) saw a republican french army led by charles françois dumouriez attack a coalition army commanded by prince josias of saxe - coburg - saalfeld . the coalition army 's habsburg austrians together with a small contingent of allied dutch republic troops repulsed all french assaults after bitter fighting and dumouriez conceded defeat , withdrawing from the field . the french position in the austrian netherlands swiftly collapsed , ending the threat to the dutch republic and allowing austria to regain control of her lost province . the war of the first coalition engagement was fought at neerwinden , located 57 kilometres ( 35 mi ) east of brussels in present - day belgium . after dumouriez 's victory at jemappes in november 1792 , the french armies rapidly overran most of the austrian netherlands . rather than driving the austrians to the west bank of the rhine river , dumouriez and the french government became preoccupied with a war with the dutch republic . during the breathing space offered by her enemy , austria assembled an army under the prince of coburg and struck back . after a french covering force was routed by coburg at , dumouriez began gathering his army for a counterstroke . coburg took up a defensive position at neerwinden and awaited the confident dumouriez 's attack . the coalition army was outnumbered in infantry but possessed a two - to - one superiority in cavalry . after intense fighting , coburg 's troops repulsed the attacks of the french center and right wing . when dumouriez found that his left wing was driven off the battlefield , he began retreating . the defeat led to mass desertions from the discouraged french volunteers . in the face of the military collapse , dumouriez negotiated a free withdrawal of french troops in return for the surrender of belgium and dutch territory . soon , dumouriez was plotting against his own government and when his plans failed , he defected to the austrians , leaving the french army in chaos . background french conquer belgium on 6 november 1792 , a french army under charles françois dumouriez defeated the austrian army of duke albert of saxe - teschen at the battle of jemappes . the french enjoyed an enormous numerical superiority with 40 , 000 infantry , 3 , 000 cavalry and 100 guns against an austrian army counting 11 , 628 foot soldiers , 2 , 168 horsemen and 56 guns . within one month the french armies overran most of the austrian netherlands , a territory known today as the nation of belgium . on the right flank , the army of the ardennes led by jean - baptiste cyrus de valence advanced down the meuse river toward huy . on the way , valence dropped off a force under louis - auguste juvénal des ursins d to besiege namur . dumouriez himself with the army of belgium captured liège . the army of the north commanded by francisco de miranda laid siege to antwerp . it was joined by a column under guérin de berneron that marched first from ath northeast to leuven ( louvain ) . mechelen ( malines ) capitulated to henri christian michel de stengel and 6 , 000 frenchmen on 16 november 1792 and its garrison of one battalion of the austrian württemberg infantry regiment nr. 38 was allowed to go free . on the 27th stengel with 8 , 000 soldiers from the army of belgium won a minor action at - lez - near liège over anton sztáray and four battalions of austrians . antwerp fell on 29 november to miranda 's 17 , 600 infantry and 1 , 245 cavalry . the austrian garrison of the 1st battalion of the hohenlohe nr. 17 , two companies of the vierset nr. 59 and four companies of the würzburg infantry regiments , plus 140 gunners surrendered after losing two dead and four wounded . the french captured 57 cannons , 50 additional 3 - pound regimental cannons , 3 , 150 muskets and 1 , 523 hundredweight of gunpowder . the 2 , 599 - man garrison of namur under johann dominik von surrendered on 2 december to valence and harville after a four - week siege . the austrian defenders included two battalions of the kinsky infantry regiment nr. 36 , one battalion of the vierset , two companies of the le loup jäger battalion , a half - squadron of the esterhazy hussar regiment nr. 32 and 90 gunners . harville 's division counted 13 , 256 infantry , 1 , 425 cavalry and 266 artillerists . invasion of dutch republic and austrian counterattack dumouriez had an opportunity to drive the austrians from the west bank of the rhine in conjunction with the army of the center . instead he pursued a pet project of his , the invasion of the dutch republic . he hoped to go to war with the dutch while keeping the kingdom of great britain neutral . but the french government forced his hand , declaring war on great britain on 1 february 1793 and ordering him to overrun the dutch republic . dumouriez undertook the invasion with 15 , 000 infantry and 1 , 000 cavalry , soon reinforced . leaving miranda to besiege maastricht , covered by valence 's army and harville 's corps , dumouriez pushed north . at this time the army of the north counted 18 , 322 men , the army of belgium numbered 30 , 197 , the army of the ardennes consisted of 23 , 479 soldiers , harville 's corps was 12 , 051 strong , the army of holland had 23 , 244 troops and there were 15 , 000 men in belgian garrisons . all told , the strength of the french army in the low countries was 122 , 293 men . the french army became overconfident , believing itself invincible . meanwhile , the national convention was riven by bitter political struggles between the moderate and the extreme jacobins . during this period the army supply system fell apart through neglect . dumouriez crossed the dutch frontier on 16 february 1793 . the fortress of breda fell after a quick siege from 21 to 24 february 1793 . the 3 , 000 dutch defenders , which included 2 , 500 infantry and a dragoon regiment , surrendered the city with its 250 cannon and were allowed to go free . also on the 21st , maastricht was invested by 10 , 000 troops of miranda 's army . there were 8 , 000 austrian and dutch defenders under prince karl wilhelm georg of hesse - darmstadt , an austrian general - major . the siege work at maastricht in winter weather was too much for the french volunteers and many deserted their units and went home . the fortress of geertruidenberg with 150 guns capitulated after a siege from 1 to 4 march . the dutch garrison of two battalions and two squadrons were allowed to go free . both breda and geertruidenberg had been bluffed into giving up by the military engineer jean claude le michaud d , who had designed the floating batteries at the great siege of gibraltar . a small fort at was captured on 4 march by 4 , 000 men under berneron . the tiny garrison put up a stiff fight and lost 60 killed before the 73 survivors gave up . poised at the edge of hollands diep , dumouriez planned to cross and march through rotterdam , delft , the hague and leiden to seize amsterdam . after capturing maastricht , miranda would join him by advancing through nijmegen and utrecht . preoccupied with the dutch republic , the french commander had given the austrians too much time to recover . prince josias of saxe - coburg - saalfeld massed an austrian army on the west bank of the rhine . he was assisted by a promising staff officer named karl mack von . on 1 march , coburg swept aside rené joseph de 's covering army at the battle of . the french abandoned the siege of maastricht on 3 march . coburg pursued slowly and the french forces regrouped at leuven on the 9th . dumouriez was slow to give up his dutch project but the french government insisted that he take charge in belgium . leaving louis - charles de flers in command of the army of holland , dumouriez arrived at leuven on 11 march . dumouriez thought his soldiers ' morale was too shaky for a retreat so he advanced on coburg 's army , seeking battle . in his haste , the french commander failed to call up harville 's corps or the army of holland as reinforcements . earlier , françois joseph drouot de lamarche had been driven out of tienen ( tirlemont ) , but on 16 march the french recaptured it after a vigorous combat . the french attacked tienen with 10 , 000 troops while archduke charles , duke of teschen defended the town with 6 , 000 soldiers , six guns and two mortars . french casualties numbered 500 while their opponents sustained losses of 800 killed , wounded and missing . coburg pulled his army back behind the little gete river . believing that he outnumbered his enemies , dumouriez was very confident of success . a century before , the french had won the battle of landen on the same ground . battle forces the strengths given for the two armies vary somewhat . historian digby smith credited the french with between 40 , 000 and 45 , 000 men while stating austro - dutch numbers as 43 , 000 . ramsay weston phipps asserted that the french had 40 , 000 foot and 4 , 500 horse while the coalition counted 30 , 000 infantry and 9 , 000 cavalry . theodore ayrault dodge wrote that dumouriez put 42 , 000 infantry and 5 , 000 cavalry into battle against coburg 's 30 , 000 foot and 10 , 000 horse . according to gunther e. rothenberg dumouriez was outnumbered 43 , 000 to 41 , 000 . lamarche 's advance guard counted 4 , 000 infantry and 1 , 000 cavalry . auguste marie henri picot de dampierre led the flankers of the right , 2 , 000 infantry and 1 , 000 cavalry . valence 's right wing numbered 7 , 000 in 18 battalions and was divided into the divisions of joachim joseph neuilly , alexis paul michel le and valence . duke louis of chartres led the center which included 7 , 000 foot soldiers in 18 battalions and 1 , 000 horsemen . the subordinate generals of the center were jacques and dominique . miranda 's left wing was made up of jean alexandre 's 7 , 000 men and felix marie pierre de 's 5 , 000 infantry and 1 , 000 cavalry . joseph miaczinski led the flankers of the left , 2 , 000 foot and 1 , 000 horse . jean nestor de chancel commanded the eight battalion reserve in the strength of 4 , 000 men . these figures total 38 , 000 infantry and 5 , 000 cavalry . the advance guard of archduke charles with 11 battalions and 11 squadrons was divided into a number of brigades under the command of colonels . joseph von gruber commanded two battalions of the sztáray infantry regiment nr. 33 . stephan von led three battalions of the mahony jägers , one battalion of the o 'donnell freikorps , 1 / 3 battalion of the freikorps and one squadron of the esterhazy hussar regiment nr. 32 . anton ulrich joseph von mylius directed one battalion of the grün - laudon freikorps , 1 / 3 battalion of tyrolean sharpshooters and one squadron of the esterhazy hussars . karl philipp , prince of schwarzenberg directed one and 1 / 3 battalion of tyrolean sharpshooters , one battalion of the o 'donnell freikorps , 1 / 3 battalion of the freikorps and three squadrons of the uhlan regiment . paul devay ( de vaya ) led the , briey and grenadier battalions and six squadrons of the esterhazy hussars . joseph de ferraris led the eight battalions and 16 squadrons of the 1st rank with duke ferdinand frederick augustus of württemberg as his division commander . there were two battalions each of infantry regiments nr. 10 , wartensleben nr. 28 and brentano nr. 35 , one battalion each of the archduke charles nr. 3 and nr. 59 , six squadrons each of the kavanagh nr. 12 and nassau nr. 14 cuirassier regiments and two squadrons each of the kaiser nr. 1 and duke albert nr. 5 carabinier regiments . wenzel graf colloredo - waldsee directed the six battalions and 10 squadrons of the 2nd rank , seconded by division commander johann andreas and brigadier franz vincenz ferrer von und . the units included two battalions each of infantry regiments nr. 25 and nr. 54 , one battalion each of the alton nr. 15 and joseph colloredo nr. 57 , six squadrons of the nr. 10 cuirassiers and two squadrons each of the nr. 18 chevau - léger and coburg nr. 37 dragoon regiments . françois sébastien charles joseph de croix , count of clerfayt led 11 battalions and 14 squadrons of the reserve , with józsef alvinczi as his division commander and johann nepomuk gottfried von lützow as his brigadier . the units were two battalions each of infantry regiments ligne nr. 30 , esterhazy nr. 34 and württemberg nr. 38 , one battalion each of the murray nr. 55 and vierset nr. 58 , the leuven , and rousseau grenadier battalions , eight squadrons of the latour chevau - légers nr. 31 and six squadrons of the blankenstein hussars nr. 16 . the dutch republic contributed six battalions , consisting of two battalions each of the and waldeck and one battalion each of the may and infantry regiments . combat coburg 's advance guard under archduke charles was drawn up on the right flank , graf colloredo and the duke of württemberg stood in the center and the count of clerfayt with the reserve defended the left flank . the village of halle was at the far right of the line while neerwinden village was in the left - center . a screen of coalition light troops was posted in all the hamlets along the little gete . dumouriez organized eight columns of attack . valence on the right led three attack columns against racour and oberwinden , the duke of chartres directed two columns in the center via and miranda commanded three columns on the left along the main road to halle . the french reserve formed a final column on the far left where it was to first capture zoutleeuw ( ) and then swing south against halle . lamarche 's advance guard operated with the right wing . dumouriez believed that coburg would put his main strength on the right wing to protect the austrian line of communications . therefore , he planned to throw his heaviest blow against coburg 's left wing . clerfayt 's line stretched from neerwinden , across mittelwinden hill to oberwinden village on the left . dumouriez directed valence to outflank oberwinden with one column , attack oberwinden frontally with the second and seize the mittelwinden hill with the third . on valence 's left , chartres was ordered to attack neerwinden with his columns . at 7 : 00 am , the french swarmed across the little gete but valence was unable to capture the mittelwinden hill until noon . the french seized racour , oberwinden and finally neerwinden . the coalition forces launched attack after attack on the villages which were stubbornly defended by the french . meanwhile , austrian cavalry charges were highly effective in the open ground between the settlements . after bitter fighting in which oberwinden and racour changed hands repeatedly , the two villages and neerwinden were recaptured by clerfayt 's troops . an austrian cavalry charge pressed back the french even farther . dumouriez attempted one more all - out attack with his right but it failed . the french cavalry covered the retreat of the infantry , with chartres and valence maintaining a position along the little gete . when miranda attacked that morning , coburg 's first reaction was to draw substantial troops from his center to reinforce his right flank . initially , archduke charles ' men were driven back to but then they held on to the village . the french reserve captured and threatened halle but was soon thrown back . the main fighting occurred between 3 : 00 and 6 : 00 pm when miaczinski 's column seized but counterattacks drove his soldiers out . other attacks withered in the face of the strong coalition defenses . charles saw an opportunity and hurled his cavalry on the tired french soldiers . the left wing became so demoralized that its troops were driven back to tienen before miranda could rally them . when dumouriez heard of the defeat of miranda 's wing on the morning of the 19th he was forced to order a retreat . results on the coalition side , mack was given much of the credit for coburg 's triumph . for the defeat , miranda traveled to paris to intrigue against dumouriez . the austro - dutch reported losses of 97 officers , 2 , 762 rank and file and 779 horses . the french lost 4 , 000 killed and wounded , plus 1 , 000 men and 30 artillery pieces captured . general of brigade georges guiscard de bar was killed and four generals were wounded . another source estimated austrian losses as 2 , 600 killed and wounded and 400 missing while french casualties were 3 , 000 killed and wounded plus 1 , 000 missing or prisoners . immediately after the battle , about 6 , 000 french volunteers deserted the colors and went home . three days later , dumouriez 's army only numbered about 20 , 000 troops as the men deserted in hundreds . on 23 march there was a clash at where coburg with 38 , 000 soldiers defeated dumouriez with 22 , 000 . the austrians sustained 900 casualties while inflicting 2 , 000 on the french . on 24 march the french army retreated through brussels . dumouriez began calling in his detachments such as harville 's corps . at this point dumouriez opened negotiations with the austrians . he offered to evacuate belgium if his armies were allowed an unmolested retreat . the terms were accepted and the french armies withdrew to camps behind the border . the army of holland was allowed to march through enemy lines and took position near lille . the army of the ardennes was posted at , the army of the north at - saint - amand , and the army of belgium at condé - sur - l 'escaut and valenciennes . geertruidenberg was evacuated on 2 april and breda on 3 april . dumouriez was a monarchist at heart and he despaired when king louis xvi went to the guillotine on 21 january 1793 . he found the political situation in paris to be chaotic . he was appalled at the tendency of radicals to interfere with army commanders . having already negotiated with the enemy , dumouriez offered to treat and the austrians sent mack on 25 march . the french commander proposed to take the army and march on paris . he would overthrow the national convention , crush the jacobins and restore the constitution of 1791 . for their part , the austrians pledged to halt their advance while he carried out his coup . but dumouriez moved too slowly . on 1 april , four commissioners and the war minister pierre de ruel , marquis de beurnonville arrived at his headquarters to demand that the commander explain himself in paris . they were seized and handed over to the austrians . dumouriez tried to put the frontier fortresses in the hands of his adherents but failed . miaczinski botched the attempted seizure of lille and was later executed . dumouriez believed that he could control the regular infantry and cavalry regiments . on the other hand , the volunteers and the artillery remained devoted to the national convention . in one incident , dumouriez was fired on and nearly arrested by louis - nicolas davout 's volunteer battalion . he then made the mistake of being seen with an austrian escort and the gunners took the lead in refusing to obey him . seeing that his plot had fallen apart , dumouriez defected to the austrians on 5 april 1793 . he was accompanied by the duke of chartres , valence , several more generals and some cavalry . no longer bound by the previous agreement , coburg prepared to invade france . hitherto the armies had been ruled and directed by officers . now begins the revolutionary nightmare . ironically , the treason and defection of dumouriez gave the jacobins full scope to take control of the armies . before neerwinden , the army obeyed its commanders . afterward , the representatives on mission were given extraordinary powers over army commanders . the generals might pay with their lives for defeat , but the real authority lay with the political operatives . meanwhile , the new war minister sent his agents to spy on the generals . these men were quick to report any complaint against officers , which could result in disgrace or execution . elements of this system stayed in force even after maximilien robespierre was overthrown and guillotined .