Battle of Fleurus (1794)

Battle Of Fleurus (1794)

In the Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794, the army of the First French Republic under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan faced the Coalition Army (Great Britain, Hanover, Dutch Republic, and Habsburg Monarchy) commanded by Prince Josias of Coburg in the most decisive battle of the Flanders Campaign in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary Wars. Both sides had forces in the area numbering in the vicinity of 80,000 men, but the French were able to more effectively concentrate their troops in order to achieve victory against the First Coalition. The Allied defeat led to the permanent loss of the Austrian Netherlands and to the destruction of the Dutch Republic. The battle marked a turning point for the French army which afterwards remained ascendant throughout the rest of the War of the First Coalition.

The French use of the reconnaissance balloon l'Entreprenant marked the first military use of an aircraft that had decisive influence on the outcome of the battle.