During the first of the coalition wars against the French Republic, the territory of present day Belgium was lost in the Flanders campaign of 1794. The French armies then moved north against the Dutch Republic. On 22 September 1794 the French army took the unoccupied Fort Orthen, about 1 kilometre from the citadel. On the 23rd the French howitzers started to bombard the citadel and town from Orthen. The besieging French artillery did quite some damage in the town, but generally the town's artillery had the upper hand. On 27 September 1794 Fort Crèvecoeur on the Meuse was taken by the French. It allowed them to somewhat lower the inundations around the town, and gave them many guns to press the siege. The French attack towards the citadel and the adjoining harbor would get closest of all the approaches. Later it was claimed that a breach had already started in the wall of the citadel when the town surrendered.