On 28 January 1794 Bonnaud was promoted to general of brigade. In the foggy early morning hours of 19 April, he led three mounted regiments against the village of Abscon, wiping out a 70-man Coalition cavalry outpost. As Bonnaud withdrew his 2,400 troopers from their successful raid, they were counterattacked by 630 cavalry under Ludwig von Wurmb. In the inconclusive melee that followed, both sides suffered numerous casualties. On 23 April, 15,000 infantry and 4,500 cavalry from Cambrai and Bouchain moved in four columns to attack Wurmb's force which covered the Siege of Landrecies. The force included 5,000 foot soldiers under Jean Proteau and 1,500 cavalry under Bonnaud. The Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies on 24 April was a Coalition victory by two squadrons each of the Austrian "Archduke Leopold" Hussars Nr. 17 and the British 15th Light Dragoons. The Austrians lost 20 casualties including 10 missing while the British lost 58 men killed and 17 wounded. After some cavalry maneuvers, the four Coalition squadrons under Rudolf Ritter von Otto and Daniel Mécsery charged Bonneau's horsemen, routing them. They then attacked Proteau's infantry which was drawn up in a large square. After the horsemen broke into the formation, the infantry scattered, leaving behind four pieces of artillery. The Allies claimed to have killed 900 Frenchmen and wounded 400 more. After seeing the fate of Proteau's infantry, the supporting columns retreated to Caesar's Camp.