Editing Battle of Fleurus (1794) (section)

=== Allied miscalculations and reactions ===
Jourdan's recrossing of the Sambre so soon after Lambusart caught the Allies completely by surprise.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

Following the previous battle at Lambusart, the Allied high command under Feldmarschall Prince Coburg had assumed that the French were morally and materially beaten, and would be unable or unwilling to undertake another offensive after four successive failures. As a result, on 17 June, [[William V, Prince of Orange|William V, the Prince of Orange]], in command of the forces of the Allied left wing that defended this front, had spread out his forces again, sending a division under General [[Paul Davidovich|Paul Davidovitch]] to Erquelinnes<ref name=Merbes>{{Cite web|last=KBR: The Royal Library of Belgium|date=1770–1778|title=The Ferraris Map|url=https://www.kbr.be/en/the-ferraris-map/|url-status=live|access-date=2 December 2021|page=66: Merbes le Chateau|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530151728/https://www.kbr.be/en/the-ferraris-map/ |archive-date=2019-05-30 }}</ref> while simultaneously preparing to send 4 battalions of infantry to reinforce Coburg's centre at Tournai. Orange's main force was at Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

Such was the Allied confidence that the French would not dare make another attempt on Charleroi, that even when the French recrossed the Sambre a fifth time, Orange concluded erroneously that they were aiming for Mons, the original objective of the Sambre campaigns.{{sfn|Dupuis|1907|p=305}} 

Orange ordered his outnumbered force at Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont to withdraw to the main base at Rouveroy to defend Mons and avoid being cut off by French advances. The 4 battalions intended for Coburg were withheld while Beaulieu's corps, which had returned to guard Namur after Lambusart, was ordered to assemble near Quatre-Bras to cover the road to Brussels.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

As a result, the French once again effected their crossing unopposed.{{cn|date=March 2023}}