Battle of Puiflijk

{{short description|Battle of the War of the First Coalition}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict=Battle of Puiflijk

| image=

| caption =

| partof=the War of the First Coalition
Flanders campaign

| date=19 October 1794

| place=Puiflijk, Guelders, Dutch Republic

| territory=

| result= French victory

| combatant1={{flag|French First Republic|name=French Republic}}

| combatant2={{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} Great Britain
File:Pavillon royal de France.svg Armée des émigrés

| commander1=Jean-Charles Pichegru

| commander2=Duke of York
Prince of Rohan

| strength1=

| strength2=

| casualties1=

| casualties2=

| campaignbox =

{{Campaignbox First Coalition}}

{{Campaignbox Flanders Campaign 1793-94}}

}}

The Battle of Puiflijk occurred on 19 October 1794 in the Land van Maas en Waal region of the Netherlands during the Flanders campaign of the War of the First Coalition against Revolutionary France.

The battle took place in three different locations between French troops under the command of general Jean-Charles Pichegru and Coalition forces. The latter, the Allies, consisted of troops from Great Britain and a French Armée des émigrés force under the Prince of Rohan. They were led by the British commander-in-chief, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.

The Allies had fortified themselves in outposts behind the Oude Wetering canal and the dykes of the Maas and Waal rivers. On 18 October 1794, the French crossed the Maas from Teeffelen (near Lithoijen) to Alphen.{{Cite web |url=http://www.noviomagus.nl/Gastredactie/Kam/Hulst/Hulst.htm |title=Dagboek van Nijmegen 1794-1795 |author=Jan van Hulst, Evert K. Kam |publisher=Mark van Loon/Stichting Noviomagus |date=1996 |accessdate=27 January 2020}} On 19 October, they attacked the Coalition outposts in three locations: near Appeltern (Blauwe Sluis), Altforst and the Waal dyke near Druten (Puiflijk).

At Blauwe Sluis, Rohan's forces were pushed back after heavy fighting. In this action, 19 'émigrés' were captured. They were brought before a French military court in Ravenstein on 21 October 1794, where they were condemned to death and executed for treason. The British forces were driven back in great disorder; in the action on the Waal dyke, the standard of the British 37th Regiment of Foot was captured by the sans-culottes.