Siege of Le Quesnoy
1793 CE.
Shown on the map at 50.249°, 3.638°.
The siege of Le Quesnoy (28 August – 13 September 1793) saw a force made up of Habsburg Austrians and French Royalists led by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt lay siege to a Republican French garrison commanded by François Goullus. After two and a half week siege, the French capitulated after suffering heavy losses. The War of the First Coalition operation was fought at Le Quesnoy, located near the border with Belgium about 27 kilometres (17 mi) west of Maubeuge. After the successful sieges of Condé and Valenciennes, the Coalition divided their forces. While an Austrian army laid siege to Le Quesnoy, a British-led army marched west to the coast to operate against Dunkirk. On 11 September, two French columns marched to the relief of Le Quesnoy. The force from Cambrai on the west came to grief in the Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec while the force from Maubeuge was also repelled. The Le Quesnoy garrison laid down their arms on 13 September, but the siege of Dunkirk was a total failure. Undeterred, the Austrian host next laid siege to Maubeuge, leading to the Battle of Wattignies in mid-October.
Text from the Wikipedia article Siege of Le Quesnoy (1793), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.