The Battle of Turkuen is a battle between the troops of revolutionary France under the command of General Jean Victor Moreau on the one hand and the Austro-English troops under the command of the Duke of Coburg on the other. The battle took place on May 18, 1794 near Turkuen . The Battle of Turkuen was part of the campaign of the revolutionary forces of France in 1794, which is part of the war of the First Coalition. The battle ended with the victory of the French troops under the command of General Jean Victor Moreau.
| Battle of Tourquen | |||
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| Main Conflict: French Revolutionary Wars | |||
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| date | May 18, 1794 | ||
| A place | Tourcoing , France | ||
| Total | French victory | ||
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The alignment of forces
In 1794, the location of troops in the Netherlands was as follows: 6 thousand Austrians under the command of General Melas opposite the city of Trier, 15 thousand British under the command of General Beaulieu between Luxembourg and Namur, 14 thousand Austrians under the command of General Kaunitz at Mons to observe the cities of Philipville and Maubeuge and 25 thousand British under the command of General Clerfe from Valenciennes to Newport, where the Duke of York was located. Duke of Coburg commanded the troops with a total of 70 thousand people.
The French gathered two hundred thousand people and divided them into two armies: the Northern Army, under the command of General Pishegru of 100-120 thousand people, and the Ardennes army, under the command of General Charbonne of 80-100 thousand people
At the end of April, General Joseph Suam with the 30 thousandth corps took the city of Kortrijk , and General Moro with 20 thousand people took the city of Menen . On May 16, Prince Koburgsky with most of the army retreated to the city of Tournai , and another part of the army stood on the Sambra River.
Battle
Before the battle, General Pishegru gave General Moreau at the disposal of 70 thousand people, with whom he went to the Duke of Coburg. Enemy forces met on May 18 at Turkuen. As a result of the battle, Jean Moreau at the head of the northern army of 70-80 thousand people defeated the 70,000th corps of the Anglo-Austrian troops of the Duke of Coburg. The losses of the French are insignificant: 3 thousand people and seven guns, while the Austrians and British have 6 thousand people, 60 guns and 2-3 thousand prisoners. The British had to retreat back to the town of Tournai. However, after this, five days later, on May 23, 1794, the Austrian part of the army took revenge on the French near the town of Tournai, having 45 thousand troops against 50 thousand French. This time the French lost about 6 thousand people, and the Austrians only 3 thousand people. But on June 17, the Austrians were defeated at Hoogland and retreated north.