Editing Battle of Fleurus (1794) (section)

== Opposing forces ==
{{Further|Fleurus 1794 order of battle}}

=== Coburg marches to Charleroi ===
{{See also|Fleurus 1794 order of battle#Austrian-Dutch army}}
[[File:FleurusCoburgMarch.png|thumb|Map showing the positions of the main forces in the Low Countries theatre, and Coburg's movements to concentrate for the battle of Fleurus. Numbers indicate the dates in June 1794 that the marches designated by arrows were made. The dotted line indicates Coburg's original planned movement to relieve Ypres.]]
After getting York's agreement and arranging for the army's stores to be moved rearward from Tournai to Brussels and Antwerp in case of defeat, Coburg commenced a forced march with his 12,000 men in 13 battalions and 26 squadrons.{{sfn|Dupuis|1907|p=319}} Setting out from Tournai on 21 June, he reached Ath by the end of the day, Soignies at the end of the 22nd, and Nivelles at the end of the 23rd. These marches were conducted in blazing heat, which left the troops exhausted and in need of rest.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

Coburg's arrival brought the total Allied forces available to relieve the siege of Charleroi to 52,000:{{cn|date=March 2023}}

* Coburg's 12,000 from Tournai, at Nivelles
* Orange's 28,000 between Rouveroy and Bray, with detachments under Nesslinger towards Seneffe and Spiegel towards Quatre-Bras
* 4,000 men under Prince Frederick of Orange near Croix
* 8,000 men under Beaulieu near Gembloux

Coburg decided to give battle on 26 June after resting his men and reconnoitering the situation.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

=== French preparations ===
[[File:FleurusFrenchPositions.png|thumb|The French positions on the day before the battle, after the surrender of Charleroi. The left wing is now conspicuously weakened, although a second line of reserves is now made available by withdrawing Duhesme's division from the left, and adding Hatry's division, now freed from siege duties.]]
Jourdan quickly detected Coburg's arrival, but overestimated that the Allied forces numbered 70,000, on par with his strength. As a result, Jourdan opted to act defensively, receiving the imminent Allied attack from within his fortifications. To prevent Allied penetrations from destabilising his entire line like at the battle of Lambusart, he pulled Duhesme's division of Kleber's corps back from the Pieton river to Jumet to act as a reserve on the left, while positioning Hatry to the east of Ransart as a reserve for the right.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

During this period, Jourdan also sought to call in Muller's and Scherer's divisions, guarding the right bank of the Sambre further west, to reinforce his army, but he was not given authority over them by the Committee of Public Safety. Jourdan then contacted General Ferrand, the garrison commander of Maubeuge further to the west, and requested any troops he could spare from the division-sized garrison. Ferrand sent the 6,000 men of Daurier's brigade to Jourdan, who took position at Leernes, beyond the heights of l’Espinette, with a vanguard at Fontaine l’Eveque.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

While reserves were now available, Jourdan's left wing was now considerably weakened, consisting solely of Montaigu's now-overstretched division, pushed far forward to Trazegnies-Miaucourt (within modern Courcelles), and Daurier's brigade.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

Despite this weakness, Jourdan opted to keep Montaigu far forward in this vulnerable position as he wanted maximum time and space to protect both the pontoon bridges on the Sambre near Marchienne-au-Pont which the army depended on for retreat, as well as the reserve artillery at Montigny-sur-Tilleul, which he had not yet had time to bring into Charleroi.{{sfn|Dupuis|1907|p=324}}  

To minimise Montaigu's losses, he instructed the division commander to slowly give ground if enemy pressure grew too great, withdrawing on Marchienne-au-Pont. Daurier's brigade meanwhile would conduct a fighting withdrawal if needed to defend heights of l’Espinette, within artillery range of the crossings at Marchienne-au-Pont, to prevent the enemy from occupying it and interdicting the army's route of retreat.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

=== French strength ===
{{Main|Fleurus 1794 order of battle#French army}}
The French army's paper strength on the eve of battle consisted of:{{cn|date=March 2023}}

* The divisions of Hatry, Morlot, Lefebvre and Championnet of the Army of the Moselle (42,000 men)
* The divisions of Duhesme and Montaigu under Kleber, of the Army of the North (18,000 men)
* The Army of the Ardennes, made up of the divisions of Marceau and Mayer, minus detachments to Dinant, under overall command of Marceau (11,500 men)
* Daurier’s brigade (6,000 men)
* Dubois’ cavalry division (2,300 men)

Subtracting 3,000 men as casualties from the battle of Lambusart, and 2,000 men assigned to garrison Charleroi, this left Jourdan some 75,000 men available for battle.{{sfn|Dupuis|1907|p=323}}

=== Allied attack plans ===
[[File:FleurusAlliedPlan.png|thumb|Coburg's plan of attack on 26 June for the battle of Fleurus. He planned to mainly attack both French flanks, to get into their rear and cut off their retreat. ]]
Coburg, with his headquarters at Nivelles, planned two major attacks. Like at Lambusart, his main blow was to be at the French right flank, which he hoped to break to get behind the French centre and envelop them. This would be accompanied by an attack on the French left, divided from the rest of the army by the river Pieton, intended to capture the river crossings the French needed to retreat, making doubly sure they would be trapped on the left bank of the Sambre. They would be supported with attacks in the centre delivered by smaller columns.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

Coburg divided his attack force into five columns, positioned from east to west as follows:{{sfn|Dupuis|1907|pp=327–332}}

==== Archduke Charles' and Beaulieu's columns ====
{{Main|Fleurus 1794 order of battle#Austrian-Dutch army}}
Consisting of 20 battalions of infantry, 36 squadrons of cavalry, and 36 guns, these were to be the main attack force, and were placed under the overall command of [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Archduke Charles]], the brother of the Austrian emperor. Their mission was to crumple the French right. The combined force was to march at 2&nbsp;am on the 26th from the tavern of Point-du-Jour (at the modern intersection of the N29 and N93) to near Gros-Buisson (the plain north of Fleurus),<ref name=Gembloux/> where they would split into two columns:{{cn|date=March 2023}}

* General [[Johann Peter Beaulieu]]’s column, with 13 battalions, 20 squadrons and 18 guns, would turn south just before reaching Fleurus, and attack Lambusart, Baulet and Wanfersee, before turning parallel to the Sambre, outflanking the entire line, and getting into the rear of Jourdan's army
* Charles’ own column, with 7 battalions, 16 squadrons and 18 guns, would march through Fleurus and attack the tavern of Campinaire.

==== Prince Kaunitz's column ====
Consisting of 8 battalions of infantry, 18 squadrons of cavalry and 17 guns, the column under [[Franz Wenzel, Graf von Kaunitz-Rietberg]], was to march from the tree of Bruyere (which still stands today at the southern tip of the La Bruyere golf course), where he was encamped, to the village of Chassart<ref name="Gembloux"></ref> to spend the night of the 25th, then march towards Fleurus and attack Heppignies and Wagnee once Charles’ column had engaged at Campinaire.

==== Quosdanovich's column ====
Consisting of 7 battalions, 16 squadrons and 16 guns, [[Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich]]’s column was to move from Nivelles, where it was located, to Grand-Champ, the plain north of the village of Mellet, on the night of the 25th. It was then to wait for Kaunitz's column to reach the forest of Lombue (modern Domaine du Bois-Lombut)<ref name="Charleroi"/> at daybreak on the 26th before moving on Gosselies, via Pont-a-Migneloup (modern Pont-a-Mignetoux), Mellet and the forest of Lombue, attacking together with Kaunitz.

==== The Prince of Orange's column ====
Based at Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont at 2&nbsp;am on 26 June with 24 battalions, 32 squadrons and 22 guns, Orange's column was generally to capture Courcelles and Forchies-la-Marche, then capture the forest of Moncaux (the modern Charleroi suburb of Monceau-sur-Sambre),<ref name="Charleroi"/> the heights of l’Espinette, and the Sambre crossing at Landelies. 

Orange intended to split his column into three:

* One sub-column under Christian August, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, would attack from Trazegnies and Forchies towards Marchienne-au-Pont
* Another sub-column, under his son Prince Frederic of Orange, was to capture Anderlues and Fontaine l’Eveque, the heights of l’Espinette, then cross the Sambre at Rus and converge on Marchienne-au-Pont
* The third sub-column under General Riese was to march between Waldeck and Frederic to keep them in communication and reinforce either column as needed