The Battle of Tourcoing (17–18 May 1794) saw a Republican French army directed by General of Division Joseph Souham defend against an attack by a Coalition army led by Emperor Francis II and Austrian Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The French army was temporarily led by Souham in the absence of its normal commander Jean-Charles Pichegru. Threatened with encirclement, Souham and division commanders Jean Victor Marie Moreau and Jacques Philippe Bonnaud improvised a counterattack which defeated the Coalition's widely separated and poorly coordinated columns. The War of the First Coalition action was fought near the town of Tourcoing, north of Lille in northeastern France.
The Coalition battle plan drawn up by Karl Mack von Leiberich launched six columns that attempted to envelop part of the French army holding an awkward bulge at Menen (Menin) and Kortrijk (Courtrai). On 17 May, the French defeated Georg Wilhelm von dem Bussche's small column while the columns of Count François of Clerfayt, Count Franz Joseph of Kinsky, and Archduke Charles made slow progress. On 18 May, Souham concentrated his main strength on the two center columns under the command of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany and Rudolf Ritter von Otto, inflicting a costly setback on the Coalition's Austrian, British, Hanoverian, and Hessian troops.
The action is sometimes referred to as the Battle of Tourcoin, a gesture towards the English pronunciation of the town.
Background
Armies
For the campaign of 1794, Lazare Carnot of the Committee of Public Safety devised a strategy whereby the French armies would envelop both flanks of the Coalition army defending the Austrian Netherlands. The French left wing was ordered to seize Ypres, then Ghent, then Brussels. Meanwhile, the right wing was to thrust at Namur and Liège, cutting the Austrian line of communications to Luxembourg City. The French center would defend the line between Bouchain and Maubeuge. On 8 February 1794, new commander Jean-Charles Pichegru arrived at Guise to assume leadership of the Army of the North. In March 1794, the Army of the North numbered 194,930 men, including 126,035 soldiers available for the field. Pichegru also had authority over the subordinate Army of the Ardennes which counted 32,773 men, for a combined total of 227,703 troops.
At the beginning of April, the Coalition army occupied the following positions. Not counting garrisons, the right wing numbered 24,000 Austrians, Hessians, and Hanoverians under Clerfayt with headquarters at Tournai. Ludwig von Wurmb commanded 5,000 soldiers at Denain. The 22,000 men of the right center were led by the Duke of York at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. Headquartered at Valenciennes, Prince Coburg commanded the 43,000 troops of the center. William V, Prince of Orange commanded 19,000 Dutch of the left-center at Bavay. Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg led 27,000 Austrian and Dutch troops on the left wing at Bettignies. Another 15,000 Austrians under Johann Peter Beaulieu guarded the far left from Namur to Trier. Emperor Francis arrived at Valenciennes on 14 April and Coburg recommended that the fortress of Landrecies be reduced. On 21 April the Siege of Landrecies began; it ended on 30 April with a French capitulation.
Operations
In the Battle of Beaumont on 26 April, Coalition cavalry routed a 20,000-man French column that tried to relieve Landrecies. The Allies inflicted 7,000 casualties on the French and captured their commander René-Bernard Chapuy with Pichegru's plans for attacking coastal Flanders. With his enemy's plans before him, Coburg immediately sent William Erskine with a considerable reinforcement for the right wing. Clerfayt, who had been drawn to the east, was ordered back to cover the western flank. It was too late; Pichegru had already attacked. Pierre Antoine Michaud's 12,000-man division advanced from Dunkirk toward Nieuport and Ypres. Jean Victor Marie Moreau's 21,000-strong division from Cassel swept past Ypres and laid siege to Menen (Menin). Accompanied by Pichegru, Souham's 30,000-man division started from Lille and seized Kortrijk (Courtrai). On 29 April, Souham defeated Clerfayt's outnumbered force in the Battle of Mouscron. That night, the Allied garrison abandoned Menin and successfully broke through the French investment. By taking Menin and Courtrai, the French had pierced the Coalition front.
When Landrecies surrendered on 30 April, Coburg sent York west to reinforce Clerfayt. The two Coalition forces joined at Tournai: York led 18,000 soldiers, Clerfayt commanded 19,000 troops (though one British brigade was still en route), and Johann von Wallmoden had 4,000–6,000 men. The two Coalition commanders worked out a plan where Clerfayt would attack Courtrai from the north while York would strike from the direction of Tournai and cut off the French from Lille. At about the same time, Pichegru ordered Jacques Philippe Bonnaud's large division (formerly Chapuy's) from Cambrai to Lille. In the Battle of Courtrai on 10 May, Bonnaud's 23,000 troops advanced to attack the Coalition troops holding Tournai. York turned the French right flank with a mass of cavalry. The French infantry repelled a series of cavalry charges, but the Allied horsemen finally prevailed after receiving artillery support; the French were forced to retreat. Also on 10 May, Clerfayt attacked Dominique Vandamme's brigade (of Moreau's division) at Courtrai but failed to capture the place. The next day, Souham reinforced Vandamme with part of his division. On 11 May, the French drove back Clerfayt who retreated north to Tielt. Realizing that the French forces in the area badly outnumbered him, York halted and called for reinforcements.
After the fall of Landrecies, the Coalition high command was torn between moving the army west to save coastal Flanders or east to assist Kaunitz on the Sambre River. They considered a feint attack toward Cambrai or investing Avesnes-sur-Helpe. When York's appeal for help arrived, Kinsky was sent to Denain with 6,000 troops so that Wurmb's force could march to Tournai. Then Kaunitz announced that he was hard-pressed. Coburg told Francis II that he must decide whether the main army should move to Flanders or to the Sambre. On 13 May, Kaunitz won the Battle of Grandreng so the next day the emperor decided the main army must move west toward Flanders. Even so, Orange and 8,000 troops were left behind to protect Landrecies. Despite the odds, York was determined to attack on 15 May, in cooperation with Clerfayt. In the night of 14 May, a message arrived from Francis telling York that he would soon arrive and the Allies would launch a major attack. Francis joined York in Tournai on 15 May while Archduke Charles and the main Coalition army arrived at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.
As an added distraction, the Kościuszko Uprising broke out in Poland on 25 March and quickly spread. This event took Francis, Catherine I of Russia and Frederick William II of Prussia completely by surprise. Catherine asked Francis for help and Prussia withdrew 20,000 soldiers from the war against France. At imperial headquarters, one faction led by Coburg wanted to continue the war with France, while another faction wanted Austria's energies directed toward Poland in order to thwart its rival Prussia.
Plans
On 16 May, staffs of the Coalition army drew up a battle plan. Coburg's chief-of-staff Mack called it the Vernichtungsplan (Annihilation Plan). Mack is usually credited with its development, but the strategic concept may have been York's. The plan's stated goal was, "to act upon the enemy's communications between Lille and Menin and Courtrai, to defeat his armies that he has advanced upon the Lys and to drive him out of Flanders". The battlefield was bounded on the north by the Lys River and on the east by the Scheldt River. The Marque River flows north from Pont-à-Marcq until it empties into the Deûle which is a tributary of the Lys. The Marque could only be crossed by bridges because of its soft bottom and swampy banks. The Spiere brook rises near Roubaix and flows eastward into the Scheldt at Spiere. The land is mostly level, but there were many villages and farmhouses enclosed by hedges. It was difficult to move off-road, but roads were plentiful in the region and the main roads were wide. The terrain was not favorable for cavalry operations, giving the French an advantage.
According to historian John Fortescue, the Allies divided their 62,000-man army (including 12,000 cavalry) into six columns. Bussche led 4,000 Hanoverians in 5 battalions and 8 squadrons. These included 2 battalions of the 1st Infantry Regiment, the 1st and 4th Grenadier Battalions, and 2 squadrons each of the 1st and 7th Cavalry and the 9th and 10th Light Dragoon Regiments. Otto commanded 10,000 men in 12 battalions and 10 squadrons. York directed 10,000 soldiers in 12 battalions and ten squadrons. York's column included the following British troops: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Foot Guards, Guards Flank Battalion, 14th Foot, 37th Foot, 53rd Foot, Flank Battalion, 7th, 15th, and 16th Light Dragoons. Kinsky led 9,000 men in 10 battalions and 16 squadrons and Charles commanded 14,000 men in 17 battalions and 32 squadrons. Clerfayt had 16,000 troops in 25 battalions and 28 squadrons. In addition, a cavalry reserve of 16 British squadrons under Erskine was assembled near Hertain.
Ramsay Weston Phipps stated that the Allies employed 73,350 soldiers. Five columns would attack from the Tournai area and were numbered from north to south. Bussche's first column consisted of 4,000 Hanoverians and was ordered to move north from Warcoing to Dottignies, then west to Mouscron. However, one-third of Bussche's column was sent on a subsidiary mission toward Courtrai. Otto's second column counted 10,000 soldiers and was sent northwest through Leers, Wattrelos, and Tourcoing. York's third column numbered 10,750 troops and was directed to advance abreast of Otto's column from Templeuve through Lannoy, Roubaix, and Mouvaux. Kinsky's fourth column had 11,000 men and would start from Marquain and force its way across the Marque River at Bouvines. Charles' fifth column was 18,000-strong. Starting from Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, it would march to Pont-à-Marcq while sending a detachment to preserve contact with Kinsky. It was ordered to force a passage across the Marque and turn north, join Kinsky's column, and finally join hands with York near Mouvaux. The sixth column under Clerfayt counted 19,600 men and was instructed to move south from Tielt to Wervik, cross the Lys, and press southeast toward Tourcoing.
On 13 May, Pichegru left the scene to pay a visit to his right wing, leaving Souham in temporary command. The Army of the North included the divisions of Souham (28,000), Moreau (22,000), Bonnaud (20,000) and Pierre-Jacques Osten (10,000), altogether 82,000 soldiers. Osten's soldiers were posted at Pont-à-Marcq. Bonnaud's men bivouacked at Sainghin-en-Mélantois with detachments at Lannoy and Pont-à-Tressin. Souham's and Moreau's troops were on the south bank of the Lys between Courtrai and Aalbeke. Jean François Thierry's brigade was located at Mouscron. Louis Fursy Henri Compère's brigade occupied Tourcoing to preserve the connection with Bonnaud. As recently as 10 May, Souham's division consisted of the following brigades: Étienne Macdonald, Herman Willem Daendels, Jan Willem de Winter, Henri-Antoine Jardon, and Philippe Joseph Malbrancq. Compère and Thierry each led independent brigades. Bonnaud's division was made up of the brigades of Jean-Baptiste Salme, Nicolas Pierquin, and Pierre Nöel, while the cavalry was grouped under Antoine-Raymond Baillot-Faral. Moreau had only the brigades of Dominique Vandamme and Nicolas Joseph Desenfans, and the latter unit was observing Ypres and not in close contact. Fortescue credited Vandamme with 8,000 troops, while Steve Brown stated that he commanded 12,000 troops.
Battle
17 May: Clerfayt, Kinsky, and Charles
Problems with the Allied plan began to appear at once. Clerfayt did not receive his orders until late in the morning on 16 May and his column did not start until the evening. The sandy roads slowed the march so that his troops did not reach Wervik until the afternoon of 17 May. Clerfayt found the bridge over the Lys was well-fortified by the French. When he called for his pontoon train, it was found that it had been left in the rear by some blunder and the column was delayed several hours. It was 1:00 am on 18 May before the pontoon bridge was ready to use. Only a few battalions crossed, but most of Clerfayt's men camped on the north bank that night.