On what date did the Battle of Fleurus take place?

The Battle of Fleurus took place on 26 June 1794, during the War of the First Coalition.

French Revolutionary forces commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan confronted an Austro-Dutch army led by Prince Josias of Coburg in the Austrian Netherlands, near Fleurus. The French army had recently besieged and captured Charleroi, while Coburg’s force marched to relieve the fortress.

The fighting was severe and tactically close. French forces held their positions and counterattacked, while the Allies withdrew after learning that Charleroi had fallen. The victory secured the French position in the Austrian Netherlands and helped force the eventual collapse of the Coalition’s control there.

Fleurus is also remembered for the use of the French observation balloon L’Entreprenant, which was deployed to monitor enemy movements. A common mix-up is with Waterloo, fought nearby two decades later in 1815; Fleurus belongs to the Revolutionary Wars, not Napoleon’s later empire.