page_title: Four Days of Ghent
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: Four Days of Ghent / Course
caption_attribution_description: English: Engraving picturing the victory of the patriots in the Four Days of Ghent (1789)
context_page_description: The Four Days of Ghent refers to a battle in Ghent, the capital of Flanders, from 13 until 16 November 1789, in which the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire was driven out of the city. It was a crucial event during the Brabant Revolution: the Patriots received a major boost by taking this first large city, and the authority of the Austrian Netherlands was beginning to disintegrate. Within two weeks, the Treaty of Union was drafted, that would establish the independent republic of the United Belgian States on 11 January 1790. On 4 January 1790, Flanders declared its independence from the Habsburg Monarchy by the Manifesto of the Province of Flanders.
context_section_description: On the morning of 13 November, just before 7 a.m., Devaux ordered a charge on the Bruges Gate (Brugse Poort) and the Sas Gate (Saspoort). A simultaneous attack on the Antwerp Gate (Antwerpse Poort) was carried out to distract the enemy. Noting that a handful of gate guards spread great confusion amongst his inexperienced troops, Devaux simply gave up. He departed back to the Netherlands, together with Louis de Ligne, his staff and all eight dragoons of the army. However, the Patriots would not yield so easily, and continued under the command of captain Jean-Baptiste Davaine. They took the Bruges Gate, and the Sas Gate with some difficulty as well, and advanced towards the Kouter square in the centre. There they clashed with the barricades put up by Lunden at strategic locations in the city (Madou Bridge, Ketel Bridge, Muink Bridge, Heuver Gate and Kortrijk Gate). His main force was garrisoned inside Saint Peter's Abbey, and the Spanjaardenkasteel ('Spaniards' Castle') also had a small occupation force. The Patriots pushed the Imperials back far beyond the Madou and Ketel bridges.
  When the night fell, plundering started. Primarily the Imperial troops, most notably the "Clerfayt" Regiment, badly misbehaved by robbing, raping and killing about. Both Imperial and Patriot sources report an astonishing lack of discipline amongst the Imperial soldiers, and that their crimes committed against civilians at the early stages of combat was a crucial factor in motivating the civilian population of Ghent to side with the rebels. The Patriots aimed for the houses of royalist dignitaries, many of which were razed to the ground. By now, they received almost full support from the Ghent locals, who broke up entire streets in order to throw paving stones at the Imperials. The Austrian reinforcements arriving during the night (Gontroeul's c. 2,400 men) and morning were informed of this, and decided to take up positions inside the Spanjaardenkasteel after passing through the Antwerp Gate. Turnhout had taught them to be careful with urban combat.
  On Saturday 14 November, Arberg ordered a bombardment on the city from the Spanjaardenkasteel, which was now defended by several thousands of soldiers. This caused fires at several places. From inside the Kattenberg barracks, Lunden tried to alert his allies to his precarious position by firing several cannon shots, but they were lost in the clamour of battle. A detachment of a hundred soldiers which he ordered to sally forth, was caught and neutralised. At dusk, new attempts at plundering were made from the Spanjaardenkasteel, but the defenders were prepared and drove them back, inflicting heavy losses.
  The following day, 15 November, commenced with a fresh bombardment, followed by an Imperial sortie from the castle the around noon. The Patriot soldiers fired with many rifles, while civilians threw stones and other debris from rooftops at the Austrians. Schröder, bothered by his defeat in Turnhout, fought in the front line. After just 15 minutes of fighting, a 14-year-old rebel firing a large nail from a kind of self-made blunderbuss struck his leg, after which Schröder ordered a retreat. Emboldened by this success, many Patriots wanted to storm the Kattenberg barracks in a rush, but Devaine managed to retain their discipline and ordered an end to the fighting for the day. Around nightfall, the city administration granted the Patriots permission to take weapons and ammunition from the city storages. Moreover, captain Alison with 250 fighters from Kortrijk and four cannons came to reinforce the rebels.
  On 16 November, with renewed courage, the Patriots assaulted the barracks garrisoned by Lunden, whose troops were suffering from food shortages. The rebels set a storage on fire and shelled the barracks with the Kortrijk guns. Soon after, the colonel appeared in front of a window with a white flag to surrender the barracks. His men were spared from the people's rage, and imprisoned in monasteries. Next, the liberation committee sent a message to the Spanjaardenkasteel that the bombardments had to cease 
caption: Print portraying the Patriot victory, with the Belfry and Dulle Griet as symbols of Ghent.
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