Editing Battle of Wattignies (section)

===16 October===
[[File:Wattignies-la-Victoire (Nord, Fr) église, coté sud.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|alt=Photo of a small stone church under a blue sky with white clouds.|Wattignies church]]

During the night, French deserters wrongly reported to the Austrians that Jourdan was reinforced to 100,000 men. Believing he was going to be attacked again, Coburg reinforced his covering force by five battalions of about 3,750 men and rearranged his defenses. On the left, Terzi had 5,250 foot soldiers in seven regular battalions and 2,100 cavalry in 14 squadrons. The center under Clerfayt counted 6,650 foot and 1,800 horse. This force was made up of five grenadier battalions, two regular battalions, {{frac|1|3}} of a battalion of Croats, four companies and six squadrons of French Royalists and six squadrons of [[cuirassier]]s. Bellegarde's right wing was composed of 4,500 infantry in seven regular battalions and 2,100 light cavalry in 14 squadrons. Altogether, the covering force numbered about 16,400 infantry and 6,000 cavalry.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|pp=176–177}}

According to Carnot, he argued that Wattignies on the Austrian left was the key to the position but that Jourdan wanted to attack the Austrian right.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|p=172}} Phipps believed that Carnot's account was nonsense and that the course of the battle was typical of Jourdan's tactics.{{sfn|Phipps|2011|p=259}} Jourdan's account only stated that he gave the order to attack Wattignies. Fromentin on the left was instructed not to mount a serious attack. Cordellier was ordered to act under Fromentin's orders and also reinforce Balland with three battalions and a cavalry regiment. Balland was directed to place nine battalions plus two cavalry regiments at Jourdan's disposal. The rest of Balland's division was to form line of battle and use its light troops to probe the enemy positions. The divisions of Beauregard and Duquesnoy numbered 16,000 soldiers, to these, Jourdan's special force added about 6,000 men.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|p=173–175}}

On 16 October, Fromentin's two divisions on the left flank and Balland's division in the center skirmished all day. Bellegarde and Clerfayt held the bulk of their strength in their main positions. Jourdan mounted the main French assault against the height of Wattignies in three columns from Dimont, Dimechaux and [[Choisies]].{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|pp=177–178}} The main attack was also supported by additional artillery.{{sfn|Cust|1859|p=154}} When an early morning fog lifted in mid-morning, the French artillery opened a barrage on Wattignies. Duquesnoy's division formed the two right columns while Jourdan's detachment made up the left column.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|p=181}} After being driven back twice by heavy fire, the French columns forced their way into Wattignies in the early afternoon. A counterattack from the northwest briefly pushed back the French, who were rallied by Jourdan. More French troops came up and defeated the Austrian attack. Duquesnoy sent Gratien's brigade forward but it was caught by Austrian cavalry in the open and thrown back. By this time, the French had dragged a battery up to the Wattignies heights to support the infantry. Under pressure from infantry and artillery, Terzi's division recoiled to the north.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|pp=184–187}} On the right of Duquesnoy, Beauregard's division attacked Obrechies, which was defended by Hadik with two battalions of regulars and eight squadrons of cavalry. As the French began breaking into the village, Hadik launched attacks from three directions at once, routing Beauregard's men. The French abandoned five cannon and fled back to Solrinnes.{{sfn|Dupuis|1909|pp=187–188}} According to one observer, they did not stop until they reached Solre-le-Château.{{sfn|Phipps|2011|p=256}}