Battle of Grand-Reng

Battle of Grand-reng
Part of the War of the First Coalition
Flax field in countryside near Grand-Reng in 2007
Date 13 May 1794 Location Grand-Reng, Belgium Result Austro-Dutch victory
Belligerents
Habsburg Austria Dutch Republic	Republican France
Commanders and leaders
Graf von Kaunitz	Louis Charbonnier Jacques Desjardin
Strength
27,000	53,000
Casualties and losses
1,400–2,800	3,000–4,000, 12 guns

The Battle of Grand-Reng or Battle of Rouvroi^[1] (13 May 1794) saw a Republican French army jointly commanded by Louis Charbonnier and Jacques Desjardin attempt to advance across the Sambre River against a combined Habsburg Austrian and Dutch army under Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg. After winning crossings over the Sambre at Thuin and Lobbes on the 10th and Merbes-le-Château on the 12th, the French were defeated on 13 May at Grand-Reng and forced to retreat. The War of the First Coalition engagement marked the first of five attempts by the French armies to establish themselves on the north bank of the Sambre. Grand-Reng is now part of the village of Erquelinnes, Belgium, lying close to the border with France. Rouveroy (Rouvroi) is situated 3.8 kilometres (2.4 mi) north. Grand-Reng is located about 33 kilometres (21 mi) southwest of Charleroi.

The spring of 1794 saw intense and continual fighting in the Austrian Netherlands between the French and First Coalition armies. While the Coalition army concentrated their main effort in the center against Landrecies, the French directed their efforts against the flanks. On the eastern flank, the small Army of the Ardennes under Charbonnier joined with three Army of the North divisions led by Desjardin to threaten Mons.

The two French forces failed to cooperate effectively; Desjardin's troops did all the fighting while Charbonnier's soldiers sat idle nearby. After the defeat at Grand-Reng, the French unsuccessfully tried to breach the Coalition defenses at Erquelinnes between 20 and 24 May. The French would make three additional attempts to cross the Sambre at Gosselies on 3 June and Lambusart on 16 June before emerging victorious in the pivotal Battle of Fleurus on 26 June 1794.