Battle of Courtrai (1794)
The 2nd Battle of Courtrai occurred during the War of the First Coalition near Kortrijk, Belgium, located about west of Brussels.
The Republican French army under Jean-Charles Pichegru attacked the Coalition forces commanded by The Austrian Fieldmarshall François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt and Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.
On May 10, 1794, the French infantry formed square to repel Coalition cavalry charges for the first time during the war. Later in the day, after being bombarded by British artillery, three squares were finally broken with heavy losses. This attack by the 7th Light Dragoons is often referred to as the Battle of Willems in Willems, Nord.
But the attack on the Count of Clerfayt on the 11th, who had chased the French out of Courtrai with the help of Dutch Allies, proved successful for the French troops, and forced Clerfayt to retreat to the north Thielt. Both sides lost between 700-800 men.
A clash to the north of Kortrijk at Ingelmunster on the 12th ended the fighting.
As a result of the battle, the French Army of the North maintained the grip on Kortrijk and Menen which it had won in the Battle of Mouscron in April.
The next Coalition attempt to eliminate the French hold on the area resulted in the Battle of Tourcoing a week later.
