Siege of Luxembourg (1794–1795)
| Siege of Luxembourg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Flanders campaign in the War of the First Coalition | |||||||
Siège de Luxembourg 1794-1795 by Charles-Caïus Renoux | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| French First Republic | Habsburg monarchy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Jean René Moreaux Jean-Jacques Ambert Jacques Maurice Hatry | Blasius Columban Freiherr von Bender | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 25,500 to 39,000 | 15,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| unknown | 1,200 dead and wounded, 12,396 captured, 819 guns captured | ||||||
The siege of Luxembourg was a siege by France of the Habsburg-held Fortress of Luxembourg that lasted from 1794 until 7 June 1795, during the French Revolutionary Wars. Although the French army failed to breach the walls of the city, which were renowned as amongst the best in the world, the fortress was forced to surrender after more than seven months.
Luxembourg's long defence led Lazare Carnot to call Luxembourg "the best [fortress] in the world, except Gibraltar", giving rise to the city's nickname 'the Gibraltar of the North'.
The result of the capture of Luxembourg was the annexation of the Southern Netherlands into France on 1 October 1795. Most of Luxembourg (including all of the modern Grand Duchy), became a part of the département of Forêts, which was created on 24 October 1795.