Following his victory at the Battle of Hondschoote and consequent relief of Dunkirk, Houchard turned from his pursuit of the Duke of York, intending to hold off the British to the north with 20,000 men, and march with the rest of his command to the relief of Le Quesnoy, under siege from a large part of the Imperial army under the Prince of Coburg. His first aim was to capture Tournai, but first had to neutralise the threat of Prince William of Orange’s Dutch contingent, which had pulled back from Ypres to Menin. The Dutch initially planned to withdraw as far as Courtrai, but when news came through that Le Quesnoy had fallen on 11 September and they would be supported by 15,000 men of Beaulieu’s column the Prince stood at Menin. On 12 September Houchard inflicted a serious defeat on the Prince of Orange at Menin, the Dutch abandoning Courtrai and retreating towards Ghent.