Battle of Raismes ( 1793 ) The Battle of Raismes ( also known as the Battle of Condé or St . Amand ) took place on 8 May 1793 , during the Flanders Campaign of the Wars of the French Revolution , between the French Republican army of the Marquis de Dampierre and the Allied Coalition army of the Prince of Saxe - Coburg , and resulted in an Allied Victory . Background . Following the defeat of Neerwinden and the defection of Dumouriez , French forces in the Low Countries were in a disorganised and severely weakened condition . Pulling back towards the fortified camp of Famars , closer to French frontier , the new commander Dampierre was acutely aware of his dangerous situation . He was outnumbered by a well organised enemy , his troops were discouraged and needed rest , he himself was under suspicion by the ardent revolutionary Representatives en Mission . The Allies meanwhile were equally reluctant to undertake any wide strokes , believing the line of border fortresses had first to be dealt with before any major advance . Coburg was being augmented by reinforcements from Prussia under Alexander von Knobelsdorff , soon followed by the Anglo - Hanoverians under the Duke of York . Thus , unaware of how compromised Dampierre ' s command was , Coburg turned instead to besiege the fortress of Condé - sur - l ' Escaut . On his right flank 6 , 000 Dutch and 3 , 000 Imperials under the Prince of Orange lay at Furnes , Ypres and Menin ( Menen ) . 2 , 500 British and the same number of Austro - Prussians were under the Duke of York at Tournai . Knobelsdorff commanded 8 , 000 Prussians holding the line of Maulde , Lecelles and St . Amand on the Scarpe . Clerfayt with 12 , 000 men was at Vicoigne and Raismes and covered the blockade of Condé to the south . The Prince of Württemberg with 5 , 000 besieged the town on the north . Coburg ' s principal army of 15 , 000 lay to the south of Condé at Onnaing . Finally Baillet de Latour lay to the east with 6 , 000 men at Bettignies , observing Maubeuge . Dampierre , in addition to garrisons , could field 10 , 000 men between Maubeuge and Philippeville on his right under Harville . La Marliere commanded 10 , 000 more on his left at Cassel entrenched camp and other points , with 5 , 000 more at Nomain , Orchies and Hasnon . Dampierre ' s main force of 30 , 000 lay at Famars entrenched camp , with an attachment at Anzin . For Dampierre , rest would mean the abandonment of Condé to its fate , which would cost him his head . On 1 May the French launched an assault on the left bank of the Escaut along the length of the Allied front , from Saint - Saulye to St . Amand . Leading the central attack himself , on his right advanced the Armée des Ardennes under Lamarche , on his left attacked a column under La Marlière . However the attacks were piecemeal and uncoordinated , though French infantry fought well , Dampierre ' s cavalry failed to support the right , eventually all attacks were beaten back for the loss of 2 , 000 men and several guns . Battle . Despite this setback , the Convention in Paris urged Dampierre to save Condé . Survival of the Republic depended on victory , so , pressured by the representatives , another attack was ordered . This time Dampierre limited attacks on the flanks to minor demonstrations , while concentrating his main assault against Clerfayt ' s command in the Allied centre . Dampierre himself led a frontal attack from Anzin against Raismes and Vicoigne , and after being repulsed four times eventually captured the position , with the exception of the village of Raismes . La Marlière advanced to St . Amand without problems , while unseen by the allies one of his divisions crossed the Scarpe and pushed on to the Forest of Vicoigne , where they began to throw up a redoubt and defences near the road from St . Amand to Valenciennes . This was in order to bombard Clerfayt ' s position at Vicoigne and sever his communications with Knobelsdorff ' s Prussian command . The French had victory within their grasp , had they cut the road and captured Vicoigne the centre of the allied position would be lost , forcing Coburg to retreat . However Frederick , Duke of York , riding ahead of his command to observe the action , had moved three battalions of Foot Guards to Nivelle , north of St . Amand , in support of Knobelsdorff . At 5 . 00pm the Guards came up to the position just as the French were overcoming the Prussians . The first unit on the scene , the Coldstream Guards , were immediately conducted along the high road by Knobelsdorff himself , who then ordered the regiment into the woods to drive the French back , though they were not told about the earthworks that lay beyond . This would be the debut action of the Guards against Republican France . Lieutenant - Colonel Lowther Pennington commanding the Guards launched his men into the woods and expelled the French back to their entrenchments , however , pressing on with his men beyond the trees , Pennington then ran into a fierce crossfire of musketry and artillery from the trenches . “ Colonel Pennington without any order whatever chose to attack the Battery , and when he came close to it , He received the discharge of three nine Pounders loaded with grape , which mowed down my poor brave fellows most shockingly ” . “ Major Wright , who sent up four guns and was not far off himself , said that he was not surprised at the casualties the Coldstream suffered ; they marched through the wood in line and in step ! ” . Aware they were unsupported by the Prussians , the Guards fell back , La Marlière however realised that Knobelsdorf had been reinforced and made no further effort to advance . Meanwhile Dampierre , leading a last desperate attack on Vicogne with his command , was hit in the thigh by a cannon ball and carried mortally wounded from the field . This ended the attack , the French halted the offensive and withdrew under cover of the evening . Aftermath . The next morning Clerfayt and Knobelsdorf stormed the new French entrenchments and captured 600 men , although the artillery had been evacuated during the night . Dampierre died of his wounds the same day . The anonymous " Officer of the Guards " reports French losses as nearly 4 , 000 killed and wounded , the Austrians 500 and Prussians 300 , while the regiment of Coldstream Guards lost 53 . Brown reports the total loss of the regiment as 73 killed , wounded and missing . Fortescue reports Allied losses as 800 officers and men in total , the Coldstream Guards losing over 70 killed and wounded during their attack in the woods . These British casualties caused great friction between the commanders , blame for the heavy losses being alternatively placed with Knobelsdorff for failing to tell the British of the entrenchments beyond the woods , Pennington for advancing unsupported , and ( by some uninformed Guards officers ) the Duke of York , although he had never contemplated such a foolhardy attack . York was careful not to specifically blame anyone in his report , although it ' s plain he felt Pennington was culpable , the guards officer had a reputation as a hothead and was later described by the Duke for his conduct at Valenciennes as " perfectly mad " . The loss of Dampierre was a tremendous blow to French morale , although had he lived it ' s probable the scaffold would have awaited him in Paris . Though praised by his men , after his death he was denounced in Paris as a traitor . La Marlière was to die on the scaffold but a few months later . The Republicans fell back to positions around Lille and their entrenched camp at Famars . Condé eventually surrendered on 10 July . Meanwhile the Allies , now reinforced by the Anglo - Hanoverian corps , began planning the investment of Valenciennes , and the attack on Famars .