Battle of Falmagne | |||||||
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Part of the Brabant Revolution | |||||||
Depiction of the battle by Heinrich van der Beeck, published at Aachen in 1790 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Holy Roman Empire | United Belgian States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Baron von Bender Major-General Von Bleckhem† |
Baron von Schönfeld George Koehler | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
15,000[1] |
The Battle of Falmagne (French: Bataille de Falmagne, Dutch: Slag bij Falmagne) was a battle which occurred between the Holy Roman Empire and the United Belgian States on 22 September 1790.[1][2]
A volunteer force of 5,000 Belgian revolutionaries with four cannons, led by General Koehler, crossed the river Maas at Moniat on 22 September 1790 to attack the heights of Anseremme and Falmagne.[lower-alpha 1] A second force of 2,000 troops crossed the Maas further south at Hastière in order to prevent the Austrian troops stationed at Blaimont reinforcing the attacked troops at Falmagne. The Belgian troops briefly captured the Anseremme heights and took possession of several enemy cannons.[2] When Austrian cavalry troops reinforced the outpost and two of the Belgian powder carts exploded they were soon forced back over the Maas river. On the southern front the Belgian troops captured three cannons and took 30 enemy troops captive but soon fell into disarray and also retreated across the river. General Schönfeldt attacked the right-flank of the Austrians with a substantial numerical advantage but his attack was repelled.[2]