Battle of Tourcoing (1794)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Tourcoing
partof=the French Revolutionary Wars


caption=
date=May 18, 1794
place=Tourcoing, northeastern France
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France France
combatant2=flagicon|UK|1606 Great Britain
flagicon|Holy Roman Empire Austria
commander1=Joseph Souham
Jean Moreau
commander2=flagicon|Holy Roman Empire Prince of Saxe-Coburg
flagicon|UK|1606 Duke of York
strength1=70,000
strength2=74,000
casualties1=3,000 killed and wounded
7 guns captured
casualties2=4,000 killed and wounded
1,500 and 6 guns captured

The Battle of Tourcoing was fought near the town of Tourcoing, just north of Lille in northeastern France on May 18, 1794 and resulted the victory of the French under Major-Generals Joseph Souham and Jean Moreau over the British under the Duke of York and the Austrians under General the Prince of Saxe-Coburg.

Battle in a nutshell

Under the temporary leadership of Souham, Maj-Gen Charles Pichegru's Army of the North ("Armée du Nord") encountered an Austro-British-German force at Tourcoing. Despite a slight advantage in numbers, the 74,000 Allied troops under Saxe-Coburg were out-led and out-fought by Souham's 70,000 French troops. (However, one authority gives the French total as 82,000.) [Smith, p 79]

Souham devised a strategic pincer movement consisting of his division attacking southwards from Courtrai and Maj-Gen Bonneau's division northeastwards from Lille, thus catching the separated allied columns of Von dem Bussche, Peter Ott and the Duke of York between them. Meanwhile part of Moreau's command held off the assault of the Count of Clerfayt from the north. It was a sprawling engagement fought out over many square miles of countryside just west of the River Scheldt in Flanders. Together with Maj-Gen Jean-Baptiste Jourdan's victory at the Battle of Fleurus on June 16, Tourcoing marked the start of the allied evacuation of its forces from Flanders and French supremacy in Western Europe.

Forces

The Army of the North included the divisions of Souham (28,000), Moreau (22,000), Bonneau (20,000) and Osten (10,000). Saxe-Coburg's army consisted of three Austrian columns commanded by Archduke Charles (18-1/2 battalions, 6 squadrons), the Count of Clerfayt and Kinsky. Von dem Bussche commanded the Hanoverians (5 bns, 8 sqdns). The Duke of York led the English (8 bns, 6 sqdns), Hessen-Darmstadt (3 bns, 4 sqdns) and Hessen-Kassel (4 bns, 8 sqdns) contingents. [Smith, p 79]

Background

The Army of the North had thrust eastward so that the divisions of Souham and Moreau, which formed the left (north) flank, stood on the south bank of the River Lys between Courtrai and Aalbeke. Bonneau held the center with units at Lannoy, Pont-á-Tressin and Sainghin. In addition, Compère's brigade held Tourcoing and Thierry's brigade held Mouscron. Osten's division defended Pont-á-Marque on the right (south) flank. These dispositions straddle the current French-Belgian border.

Saxe-Coburg's chief-of-staff, General Karl Mack von Leiberich proposed enveloping and annihilating the 50,000-strong mass formed by Souham and Moreau. Clerfayt's detached corps was to march along the north bank of the Lys from Thielt through Menin. At Werwick, Clerfayt would force a crossing to the south bank, placing him well behind the French left flank. The Duke of York's three columns would advance to the northwest from Tournai toward Tourcoing. This force would pin the divisions of Souham and Moreau against the Lys. To the south, Archduke Charles and Kinsky would brush Osten and Bonneau aside and wheel northwest, linking with Clerfayt and trapping the French left flank. The movement began on May 16.

Battle

On May 17, Clerfayt found his crossing resisted by Brig-Gen Dominique Vandamme, who formed part of Moreau's division. The Duke of York's right column under Bussche captured Mouscron, but it was driven out again and mauled by a French brigade. The center column led by Ott seized Tourcoing. With the British Guards brigade leading the attack, the Duke of York's left column under Ralph Abercromby, stormed into Lannoy, Willems and Mouvaux. Kinsky's column crossed the River Marque at Bouvines but made little progress beyond there. Archduke Charles' column got a late start and barely made it to Pont-á-Marque. Only the columns of Abercromby and Ott had reached their assigned positions by evening.

On May 18, Souham determined to hurl 40,000 men at the Duke of York's three columns, while holding Kinsky, Charles and Clerfayt off with secondary forces. During the night, Clerfayt managed to cross to the south bank of the Lys. His 21,000 men drove back Vandamme's 12,000, but he was unable to advance south beyond Lincelles. Shaken by his defeat the day before, Bussche retreated to the Scheldt. In the south, Charles and Kinsky remained almost completely inert, despite Mack's frantic orders for them to march to Lannoy. Instead, Charles became obsessed with protecting his left flank and rear from French incursions.

At dawn, Brig-Gen Étienne MacDonald's brigade of Souham's division rushed and recaptured Tourcoing from Ott. Malbrancq's brigade attacked Mouvaux from the north while Bonneau applied pressure from the west. At first, Ott held firm on a line south of Tourcoing, but he was slowly driven back. At 11:30 am, the Duke of York and Abercromby, now isolated and under heavy attack, retreated from Mouvaux toward the southeast. This ended the battle. Souham immediately faced his tired troops about and prepared to attack Clerfayt. That general, realizing he was now alone, recrossed to the north bank of the Lys and retreated to the northeast.

Results

The French suffered 3,000 casualties and lost 7 cannon. There was no pursuit of the defeated Allied main body. The Allies lost 4,000 killed and wounded, with 1,500 men and 6 guns captured. The 1st Hanoverian Infantry Regiment was nearly destroyed. The reasons for the Allied defeat were simple. There was poor staff work, very little cooperation and inability to bring all their troops into battle. Of his 74,000 Allied soldiers, Saxe-Coburg only brought 48,000 into action. [Smith, p 80] Though Archduke Charles would later prove one of the best Austrian generals of the era, he turned in a lackluster performance at Tourcoing. The next engagement would be the Allied victory at the Battle of Tournay on May 22.

References

* Black, Jeremy. "Britain as a Military Power, 1688-1851." Routledge (UK). ISBN 185728772X
* Smith, Digby. "The Napoleonic Wars Data Book." London: Greenhill, 1998. ISBN 1-85367-276-9
* Encyclopedia Britannica.

Footnotes