Battle of Tourcoing The Battle of Tourcoing was fought near the town of Tourcoing , just north of Lille in northeastern France on 18 May 1794 and resulted in the victory of the French under Major - Generals Joseph Souham and Jean Moreau over the British under the Duke of York and the Austrians under General the Prince of Saxe - Coburg . It is sometimes referred to the Battle of Turcoine , as a gesture towards the British pronunciation of the town . Battle in a nutshell . Under the temporary leadership of Souham , Maj - Gen Charles Pichegru ' s Army of the North ( " Armée du Nord " ) encountered an Austro - British - German force at Tourcoing . Despite a slight advantage in numbers , the 74 , 000 Allied troops under Saxe - Coburg were out - led and out - fought by Souham ' s 70 , 000 French troops . ( However , one authority gives the French total as 82 , 000 . ) Souham devised a strategic pincer movement consisting of his division attacking southwards from Kortrijk ( Courtrai ) and Maj - Gen Bonnaud ' s division northeastwards from Lille , thus catching the separated allied columns of Von dem Bussche , Rudolf Ritter von Otto and the Duke of York between them . Meanwhile part of Moreau ' s command held off the assault of the Count of Clerfayt from the north . It was a sprawling engagement fought out over many square miles of countryside just west of the Scheldt River in Flanders . Together with Maj - Gen Jean - Baptiste Jourdan ' s victory at the Battle of Fleurus on 16 June , Tourcoing marked the start of the evacuation of the allied forces from Flanders and French supremacy in Western Europe . Forces . The Army of the North included the divisions of Souham ( 28 , 000 ) , Moreau ( 22 , 000 ) , Bonnaud ( 20 , 000 ) and Osten ( 10 , 000 ) . Saxe - Coburg ' s army consisted of three Austrian columns commanded by Archduke Charles ( 18½ battalions , 6 squadrons ) , the Count of Clerfayt and Franz Josef von Kinsky . Von dem Bussche commanded the Hanoverians ( 5 bns , 8 sqdns ) . The Duke of York led the English ( 8 bns , 6 sqdns ) , Hessen - Darmstadt ( 3 bns , 4 sqdns ) and Hessen - Kassel ( 4 bns , 8 sqdns ) contingents . Background . The Army of the North had thrust eastward so that the divisions of Souham and Moreau , which formed the left ( north ) flank , stood on the south bank of the Lys River between Courtrai and Aalbeke . Bonnaud held the center with units at Lannoy , Tressin and Sainghin . In addition , Compère ' s brigade held Tourcoing and Thierry ' s brigade held Mouscron . Osten ' s division defended Pont - à - Marcq on the right ( south ) flank . These dispositions straddle the current French - Belgian border . Saxe - Coburg ' s chief - of - staff , General Karl Mack von Leiberich proposed enveloping and annihilating the 50 , 000 - strong mass formed by Souham and Moreau . Clerfayt ' s detached corps was to march along the north bank of the Lys from Tielt through Menin . At Werwick , Clerfayt would force a crossing to the south bank , placing him well behind the French left flank . The Duke of York ' s three columns would advance to the northwest from Tournai toward Tourcoing . This force would pin the divisions of Souham and Moreau against the Lys . To the south , Archduke Charles and Kinsky would brush Osten and Bonnaud aside and wheel northwest , linking with Clerfayt and trapping the French left flank . The movement began on 16 May . Battle . On 17 May , Clerfayt found his crossing resisted by Brig - Gen Dominique Vandamme , who had a brigade of Moreau ' s division . The Duke of York ' s right column under Bussche captured Mouscron , but it was driven out again and mauled by a French brigade . The center column led by Otto seized Tourcoing . With the British Guards brigade under Henry Fox leading the attack , the Duke of York ' s left column under Ralph Abercromby , stormed into Lannoy , Willems and Mouvaux . Kinsky ' s column crossed the Marque River at Bouvines but made little progress beyond there . Archduke Charles ' column got a late start and barely made it to Pont - à - Marcq . Only the columns of Abercromby and Otto had reached their assigned positions by evening . On 18 May , Souham determined to hurl 40 , 000 men at the Duke of York ' s three columns , while holding Kinsky , Charles and Clerfayt off with secondary forces . During the night , Clerfayt managed to cross to the south bank of the Lys . His 21 , 000 men drove back Vandamme ' s 12 , 000 , but he was unable to advance south beyond Linselles . Shaken by his defeat the day before , Bussche retreated to the Scheldt . In the south , Charles and Kinsky remained almost completely inert , despite Mack ' s frantic orders for them to march to Lannoy . Instead , Charles became obsessed with protecting his left flank and rear from French incursions . At dawn , Brig - Gen Étienne MacDonald ' s brigade of Souham ' s division rushed and recaptured Tourcoing from Otto . Malbrancq ' s brigade attacked Mouvaux from the north while Bonnaud applied pressure from the west . At first , Otto held firm on a line south of Tourcoing , but he was slowly driven back . At 11 : 30 am , the command of Abercromby , now isolated and under very heavy attack , nevertheless extricated itself and retreated from Mouvaux toward the southeast , Fox ' s Guards brigade distinguishing itself during the withdrawal . The Duke of York , separated from his command , narrowly avoided capture and was obliged to wade a deep brook to escape . This ended the battle . Souham immediately faced his tired troops about and prepared to attack Clerfayt . That general , realizing he was now alone , recrossed to the north bank of the Lys and retreated to the northeast . Results . The French suffered 3 , 000 casualties and lost 7 cannon . There was no pursuit of the defeated Allied main body . The Allies lost 4 , 000 killed and wounded , with 1 , 500 men and 60 guns captured . The 1st Hanoverian Infantry Regiment was nearly destroyed . The reasons for the Allied defeat were simple . There was poor staff work , very little cooperation and a failure to bring all their troops into action . Of his 74 , 000 Allied soldiers , Saxe - Coburg only committed 48 , 000 to battle .