Battle of Quiévrain (1792)

The Battle of Quiévrain was a pair of skirmishes between the Habsburg monarchy and the Kingdom of France in late April 1792 during the War of the First Coalition.

Date28 and 30 April 1792

Location

Quiévrain, Belgium

Result French victory – 1st battle
Austrian victory – 2nd battle

Quick facts Date, Location ...

Battle of Quiévrain (1792)
Part of the War of the First Coalition
1834 painting of general Biron.
Date 28 and 30 April 1792 Location Quiévrain, Belgium Result French victory – 1st battle Austrian victory – 2nd battle
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron Auguste Marie Henri Picot de Dampierre	Johann Peter Beaulieu
Strength
15,000[1]

Close

On 28 April, there was a minor skirmish at Quiévrain, just across the Franco-Belgian border, resulting in a victory for the French army under the command of general Armand-Louis de Gontaut Biron. However, although Biron advanced and planned to take the city of Mons and eventually Brussels, he judged his forces were not strong enough and decided to retreat. On 30 April, as his troops were passing by Quiévrain again, a false alarm of an Austrian attack caused the soldiers to panic, and they fled back to Valenciennes in a disorderly fashion. His ally Théobald Dillon, who served with Biron under marshal Rochambeau during this invasion, suffered an even worse fate during the battle of Marquain (29 April), some 35 kilometres to the northeast.^[2]