Battle of Caesar's Camp

The Battle of Caesar's Camp (7 August 1793) saw the Coalition army led by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld try to surround a Republican French army under Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine. Numerically superior Habsburg Austrian, British and Hanoverian columns converged on the fortified French camp but Kilmaine wisely decided to slip away toward Arras. The War of the First Coalition skirmish was fought near the village of Marquion located 12 km northwest of Cambrai, France.

On 16 July 1793, Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine commander of the Army of the North was ordered to Paris where he was soon arrested and guillotined. Kilmaine was requested to lead the army until a permanent replacement arrived. On 6 August two Austrian columns set out to turn the French right flank while a British and Hanoverian column under Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany marched completely behind the French army. Though one representative on mission urged Kilmaine to attack, the general determined to escape to the west. On the 7th, the Coalition trap snapped shut on only two battalions and even these got away when Kilmaine intervened with his massed cavalry. Kilmaine was dismissed and later arrested, though he avoided the guillotine and served in Italy under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1796.