Ten Days ' Campaign The Ten Days ' Campaign ( , ) was a failed attempt to suppress the Belgian revolution by the Dutch king William I between August 2 and August 12 , 1831 . Background . When the Belgian Revolution began in August 1830 , the Dutch army suffered from extensive desertion by South - Netherlanders ( Belgians ) , who were reluctant to serve any longer as they would have to fight their fellow countrymen . Before the war , the northern provinces ( which were mainly Protestant ) feared for the Catholic majority that was now present in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands . The Dutch government purposely held the Catholic Belgians back . In the army , most officers were Dutch and the bulk of the conscripted recruits came from the south . About two - thirds of the troops stationed in the Southern Netherlands deserted , and the morale of the remaining troops was severely damaged . This , together with the fact that the bulk ( and often the best - trained part ) of the Dutch military was stationed in its colonies , allowed the Belgian revolutionaries to quickly gain control over what is now Belgium . However , the leaders of the Belgian revolution had grown overconfident because of their early success and had not taken steps to build up a military force of their own . King William I viewed the failure to suppress the Belgian revolt as a humiliation , and sought an opportunity to retaliate against the rebels . Even if reunification should prove impossible , he wanted to negotiate peace from a position of strength . Therefore , when William learned that the rebels had asked Leopold of Saxe - Coburg to be their king , he invaded Belgium . The military campaign . On the morning of August 2 , 1831 , the Dutch crossed the border near Poppel . Belgian scouts noticed the advance , and a number of roads were blocked with felled trees . The first skirmishes took place around Nieuwenkerk . The Dutch supreme commander , the Prince of Orange , arrived in the afternoon to support his troops and , at the same time , Zondereigen was taken by the Dutch , with some 400 Belgians repulsed . Near Ravels , the Belgian army was rapidly driven into the surrounding forests by the Dutch and subsequently into a swamp . The Belgians later retreated to Turnhout , allowing the Dutch to set up camp . The sound of the Dutch artillery alarmed the population of Turnhout , who fled " en masse " towards Antwerp . The next day a Dutch force of about 11 , 000 prepared to take Turnhout , while another Dutch corps made a diversion towards Antwerp ( in reality they would attack Turnhout from another direction ) . In the following battle , the Dutch smashed the Belgian forces , whose morale broke down early in the battle when the Belgian banner was torn apart by Dutch artillery and a soldier lost a leg to a cannonball . The Belgians were unable to hold their ground and fled . On August 4 , the Dutch took Antwerp . The flag of Brabant was taken down and the Dutch flag was hoisted . The Prince of Orange demanded that the flag be taken down again , because it symbolised occupation rather than a restoration of Dutch power . At the same time the Dutch armies split up and moved further into Belgium , defeating numerous militias and two regular Belgian armies with ease . The division led by Prince Bernhard moved upon Geel and Diest , and the Third division moved into Limburg . On August 8 , the Dutch defeated the Belgian " Army of the Meuse " near Hasselt . On August 11 , the advance guard of the Belgian " Army of the Scheldt " was defeated near Boutersem . The next day the Dutch army attacked and defeated the Belgians near Leuven . For the Belgians all seemed lost . However , on August 8 , they asked for French support , despite the request not being formally authorised by the government . A French army under Marshal Gérard crossed the border the next day . The Dutch had taken a risk by invading Belgium without the support of other allies ( Russia wanted to assist but was having trouble suppressing the Polish revolution , and Prussia would not risk sending troops without Russia being able to secure its western borders ) ; now they faced a possible war with the French . After an intervention by the British , the Dutch halted their advance and a ceasefire was signed on August 12 . The last Dutch troops returned to the Netherlands around August 20 , whilst Antwerp remained occupied until 1832 , when it was taken by siege . Aftermath . Although the Dutch population , especially the Protestants , rejoiced over the victorious campaign against the " Belgian rebels " , King William reluctantly accepted that his dream of a United Netherlands was lost . The European powers came to see how fragile Belgium was , and at the final peace negotiations , the final division was favourable to the Dutch . The King of the Netherlands , refusing to abandon the citadel at Antwerp , ordered the Dutch general Chassé to hold it at all costs . From the citadel , Chassé bombarded the city of Antwerp , setting fire to hundreds of homes and causing many casualties among the civilian population . The result was a second operation of the Northern Army of Marshal Gerard , who returned to Belgium on November 15 , 1832 , to besiege the citadel of Antwerp . This resulted in the participation of Belgian volunteers , who until then had been kept out of combat . The French commander had wanted to conduct the siege alone , fearing the volunteers would spread the idea of revolution beyond the borders of Belgium . At the time , several revolutions had broken out : in France , the last Bourbon monarch had been overthrown ; in Germany , revolution was brewing ; and in Poland , an insurrection was crushed by the Russians . Meanwhile , the young Belgian army had become better organised , trained , and equipped . They fought mainly along the Scheldt . By preventing the Dutch from blowing up the levees and attacking the Dutch fleet , which was providing assistance to Antwerp , Belgium thwarted attempts to rescue the city . It fell after 24 days under the direction of the French general of Engineers , General Haxo . General Chassé surrendered on December 23 , saying he and his army had done enough . Leopold I gave several guns of various calibers to France , and Marshal Gérard received a sword of honour offered by the King and the Belgian government in gratitude . The French Monument , carved in 1897 to celebrate the memory of French soldiers who fell for the capture of Antwerp in 1832 , is located in Tournai , since the city of Antwerp refused to accept it .