Flanders, then owned by Austria, was a key theatre of the war due to its relatively open terrain and its proximity to the French northern border, which was the only sector where there was no strong natural defensive boundary to protect from invasion.

Already shaky in their resolve to defend Flanders,[2]: 347–9  Austrian diplomats decided to abandon the Low Countries after the battle, and began to plan for a retreat to the Meuse to exit the theatre to the east.

The Army was given the objective of defeating the Austrians where possible, and ultimately to secure the Meuse river, as the minister of war, Lazare Carnot, saw it as the ideal defensible natural boundary on which to anchor France's northern frontier after a peace settlement[1]: 220–221 However, at the same time, Jourdan was ordered to detach between 30,000 to 40,000 of his approximately 140,000 strong field force under General Barthelemy Schérer to retake the interior fortresses of Landrecies, Le Quesnoy, Valenciennes and Conde, Allied footholds in France which were now isolated by the victory at Fleurus and the Allied withdrawal.

Fearing Jourdan would advance along the Meuse via Namur and Liege and cut off his retreat, Coburg pulled his centre and left wing back further, to Tirlemont (modern Tienen).

[2]: 361 Together with 18,000 men from Pichegru, the rest of whose Army of the North was away besieging Sluys, Jourdan attacked Coburg's line, capturing Louvain on 15 July and Jodoigne either on the 16th or 17th.

On the Austrian side, Coburg had resigned as field marshal on 9 August, due to his disagreement with how the war was being run by the leaders in Vienna.

With the interior of France purged of enemy presence, Scherer returned to Jourdan, where a celebratory festival was held in the army on 4 September to welcome them.

[1]: 238 Jourdan had been ordered by the Committee of Public Safety on 22 August to cross at Liège and secure the eastern bank of the river Meuse.

[4]: 133 Clerfayt was tricked by this attack into thinking the main threat lay in that direction, and pulled thousands of troops from his left wing to reinforce his right.

[4]: 133 However, Jourdan had actually amassed some 40,000 men, most of which comprised his entire Right Wing corps, against Latour, and he planned to launch four division-sized attacks across both the Ourthe and its subsidiary, the Ambleve river.

Unlike past battles where river crossings were made by massed waves of men rushing across, Scherer's corps adopted a more methodical approach.

Mayer's division had an easy crossing at Aywaille and used the broken terrain in his sector, which gave the attacker cover against a defender's fire, to advance towards Sprimont in open order.

With the limited forces of men available to him, Latour was only able to launch one concentrated counterattack, and he had chosen Hacquin's crossing furthest east at Sougnee (modern Sougné)[5] as its target.

Threatened from multiple directions, in danger of encirclement and with no reserves left to counterattack, Latour ordered a withdrawal towards Clerfayt's main body.