Wattignies-la-Victoire

The Battle of Wattignies (15–16 October 1793) saw a French army commanded by Jean-Baptiste Jourdan attack a Coalition army directed by Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After two days of combat Jourdan's troops compelled the Habsburg covering force led by François Sébastien Charles Joseph de Croix, Count of Clerfayt to withdraw. The War of the First Coalition victory allowed the French to raise the siege of Maubeuge. At a time when failed generals were often executed or imprisoned, Jourdan had to endure interference from Lazare Carnot from the Committee of Public Safety. The village, renamed Wattignies-la-Victoire in honor of the important success, is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) southeast of Maubeuge. Coburg's main army encircled 25,000 French soldiers in Maubeuge while about 22,000 Austrians under Clerfayt were formed in a semi-circle, covering the southern approaches to the fortress. On the first day, 45,000 French soldiers mounted a clumsy attack which was easily repulsed, except near the village of Wattignies. On the second day, Jourdan concentrated half his army at Wattignies and after a tough fight, forced Coburg to concede defeat. Though the Coalition army was better trained than the French, its units were spread out too thinly and the different nationalities failed to cooperate. Soon the Coalition army went into winter quarters, finishing a campaign that started with great promise and ended in disappointment. Carnot rewrote history so that he and the political representatives got most of the credit for the triumph; Jourdan was dismissed in January 1794.

Damousies (French pronunciation: [damuzi]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.

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Ferrière-la-Grande (French pronunciation: [fɛʁjɛʁ la ɡʁɑ̃d]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The river Solre flows through the commune. In 1828 Pierre François Dumont applied for a concession to operate iron mines in the canton of Maubeuge, and for authorization to establish two iron furnaces at Ferrière-la-Grande powered by steam. Dumont founded the factories at Ferrière-la-grande in 1830, the first coke-fired blast furnaces in the north of France to produce and mould pig-iron from the local minerals. By decree of 23 April 1859 Dumont was granted a concession to build a railway line to link the factories Ferrière-la-Grande to the Saint-Quentin line at Erquelinnes. The line was built on land acquired by Dumont or expropriated on the grounds of public utility.

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Rousies (French pronunciation: [ʁuzi]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located south of Maubeuge, on the river Solre.

The Communauté d'agglomération Maubeuge Val de Sambre is an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Maubeuge. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. It was created in December 2013. Its seat is in Maubeuge. Its area is 343.6 km2. Its population was 125,651 in 2017, of which 29,944 in Maubeuge proper.

Éclaibes (French pronunciation: [eklɛb]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.