cavalry under Ludwig von Wurmb. In the inconclusive melee that followed, both sides suffered numerous casualties. On 23 April, 15,000 infantry and 4,500 cavalry from Cambrai and Bouchain moved in four columns to attack Wurmb's force which covered the Siege of Landrecies. The force included 5,000 foot soldiers under Jean Proteau and 1,500 cavalry under Bonnaud. The Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies on 24 April was a Coalition victory by two squadrons each of the Austrian Archduke Leopold Hussars Nr. 17 and the British 15th Light Dragoons. The Austrians lost 20 casualties including 10 missing while the British lost 58 men killed and 17 wounded. After some cavalry maneuvers, the four Coalition squadrons under Rudolf Ritter von Otto and Daniel Mécsery charged Bonneau's horsemen, routing them. They then attacked Proteau's infantry which was drawn up in a large square. After the horsemen broke into the formation, the infantry scattered, leaving behind four pieces of artillery. The Allies claimed to have killed 900 Frenchmen and wounded 400 more. After seeing the fate of Proteau's infantry, the supporting columns retreated to Caesar's Camp. Following the instructions of Army of the North commander Jean-Charles Pichegru, 30,000 French troops and 80 guns under René-Bernard Chapuy set out from Cambrai late in the night of 25 April to break the Siege of Landrecies. Covered by fog, Chapuy's 18,000-strong center column marched directly on Le Cateau-Cambrésis, the 7,000–8,000-man right column led by Bonnaud advanced through Wambaix and Ligny-en-Cambrésis and the 4,000-strong left column moved toward Solesmes to harass its garrison. After driving the Coalition outposts back to a line of manned redoubts, Chapuy deployed his troops facing southeast toward Troisvilles with his left flank at Audencourt. Chapuy blundered in not posting a flank guard north of Beaumont-en-Cambrésis to guard the Erclin valley. Meanwhile, Bonnaud's right column veered to its left and joined the center column near Bertry. When the fog lifted, Otto and Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany noticed that the French left flank was in air and planned to attack it. The Duke of York sent Otto with six squadrons of Austrian cuirassiers and two small brigades of British heavy cavalry around the unprotected French flank. Spotting the move too late, Chapuy frantically tried to shift cavalry to the left. The right column was able to retreat in haste after Bonnaud intervened with a regiment of carabiniers, keeping two regiments of British light cavalry at