Battle of Neerwinden
On 18 March 1793, Charles François Dumouriez's French army attacked Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld's Austrian army in the Battle of Neerwinden. The French army numbered 40,000 infantry and 4,500 cavalries while the Austrians employed 30,000 foot and 9,000 horse. The fighting on the French right and center was bitterly contested, but the French left collapsed and abandoned the field. After a second defeat near Leuven on 21 March, the French abandoned Brussels on the 24th, their soldiers deserting in large numbers. Dumouriez negotiated with the Austrians and evacuated the Austrian Netherlands in return for free passage for French troops. The French armies took positions behind the frontier. The "Army of Holland" deployed near Lille, the "Army of the Ardennes" at Maulde, the "Army of the North" at Bruille-Saint-Amand, and the "Army of Belgium" at Condé-sur-l'Escaut and Valenciennes.