Battle of Boxtel The Battle of Boxtel was fought in the Dutch province of North Brabant on 15 September 1794 , during the War of the First Coalition . It was part of the Flanders Campaign of 1793 - 94 in which British , Dutch and Austrian troops had attempted to launch an invasion of France through Flanders . It is often considered most notable for the presence of Arthur Wesley , who later became Arthur Wellesley , the 1st Duke of Wellington . Background . A major allied expedition had planned to overthrow the French Revolution aries by invading France from the north through Flanders in co - ordination with other similar attacks from different directions . These forces had initially been successful but had suffered a serious reverse outside Dunkirk and by 1794 were retreating back northwards , pursued by an increasingly resurgent French army . In mid - September the French caught up with the Allied rearguard near the small town of Boxtel . Battle . By the end of July the Duke of York was at Roosendaal , near Breda . His force , numbering some 32 , 000 , excluding Hanoverian s and Hessian s , was of indifferent quality , partly due to peacetime neglect , but mostly to the purchase of commissions by young men who were placed in command of untrained , ill equipped and hastily raised recruits . The next day , York sent a division commanded by Ralph Abercromby to recover the town . The British ran into the French near the village of Schijndel and were forced to retire in confusion , pursued by French cavalry . The battle was a baptism of fire for Lieutenant - Colonel Wesley , who was in command of the second Brigade , whilst his own regiment the 33rd Regiment was serving under the newly appointed Lieutenant Colonel John Sherbrooke . By September the army had retreated to a position along the River Dommel between Eindhoven and Hertogenbosch . On 14 September a strong French force captured the town and with it some 1 , 500 of the Hessian garrison . The following day the Duke ordered Lieutenant General Abercromby to recover the town . The task was given to the Guards Brigade and the 3rd Brigade , 12th ( Suffolk ) , 33rd Regiment of Foot , 42nd ( Black Watch ) and the 44th ( Essex ) , under the command of Arthur Wesley . Abercromby advanced boldly enough but , encountering unexpectedly superior opposition , he judged it prudent to withdraw . Then followed some disorder as the retreating infantry became mixed up with the cavalry squadrons . Seeing this , the French cavalry deployed for a charge and the situation became critical . It was resolved by the musket s of the 33rd , commanded by Sherbrooke . The action saved the day , enabling the rest of the force to withdraw . The following account was dictated to Sherbrooke ' s daughter - in - law in 1830 , the year of his death . Most accounts are based on that given in W . H . Maxwell ' s " Life of Wellington " ( 1849 ) . This stated that Wesley commanded the 33rd at Boxtel , which is incorrect . Aftermath . The British were able to continue their retreat northwards and eventually reached the North Sea coast successfully , where they were withdrawn to Britain in 1795 . The French pressed on to Amsterdam and overthrew the Dutch Republic , replacing it with a satellite state . In popular culture . The battle of Boxtel was the first battle of Richard Sharpe , protagonist of the Sharpe novels . The battle is cited in " Sharpe ' s Tiger " when Sharpe is a private in Wellington ' s Regiment .