| abstract | - At the beginning of the 1794 campaign in Flanders, Allied forces led by the Prince of Saxe-Coburg advanced against the French Army of the North (Armée du Nord) under Charles Pichegru, and by mid April had begun investing the fortified town of Landrecies, while the army took position in a broad semi-circle to cover the operation. On 23 April a French force was mustered in an attempt to cut off the column of General Ludwig von Wurmb from the rest of the observation army (the corps of Clerfayt and the Duke of York). Wurmb's command lay in a cordon of detachments between Denain and Hellesmes. All the available French troops from Cambrai and Bouchain were assembled under the command of René Chapuis, the commandant of Cambrai, and were reinforced by troops that had been dispatched from Caesar's Camp on 21 April by General de Division André Drut, comprising 5,000 infantry, commanded by General de Brigade Jean Proteau, and 1,500 cavalry with 4 light cannon under General de Brigade Jacques Bonnaud. The combined command was 15,000 Foot and 4,500 Horse (Austrian reports estimate them as 30,000). This command crossed the river Escaut on 23 April and advanced in four columns, the first from Bouchain towards Douchy, the second from Hordain on Noyelles; the third from Iwuy on Avesnes-le-Sec, and the last from Cambrai against Iwuy. The French debouched onto the heights of Douchy and drove back Wurmb's Austrian outposts before crossing the river Écaillon, then sent detachments towards le Quesnoy and Valenciennes. This movement had the effect of cutting direct communication between Le Cateau and Denain, causing Clerfayt to dispatch reinforcements to Wurmb. However the French dared not push further ahead, fearing attacks on their flanks, so halted their advance and limited themselves to cannonades and skirmishing. On hearing reports of the combat the Duke of York at Le Cateau sent his deputy, the Austrian Lieutenant General (Feldmarschall-Leutnant) Rudolf Ritter von Otto in the direction of Villers-en-Cauchies to reconnoitre the enemy. Otto took two squadrons of the Austrian 17th Archduke Leopold Hussars and two squadrons of the British 15th Light Dragoons to scout the movement. Realising there was a substantial force before him Otto withdrew and called for reinforcements. During the evening 10 more squadrons were sent forward, consisting of a division of the Austrian Zeschwitz Cuirassiers, two squadrons of British light dragoons and a British heavy dragoon brigade of 6 squadrons commanded by John Mansel. As these were not able to join Otto before nightfall the attack was postponed until the next morning.
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