With the start of the War of the First Coalition, promotions became rapid and he was elevated to the rank of general of brigade in September 1793.

[2] After King Louis XVI's Flight to Varennes in June 1791, a large-scale exodus of noble officers from the Royal Army commenced.

[4] During the Battle of Wattignies on 15–16 October 1793, a 3,500-man column under Jacob Job Elie advanced from Philippeville, well to the east of the major fighting.

Two-thirds of the troops were poorly trained and when the column encountered Allied opposition, the men panicked and fled.

[6] Pierquin was suspended by the Représentant en mission on 10 November 1793, but he was soon reinstated and reassigned to the Army of the North.

[4] The French levée en masse of 23 August 1793 created a very large, but unwieldy army at the beginning of the following year.

[8] The 71,000-man French left wing consisted of the divisions of Pierre Antoine Michaud, Jean Victor Marie Moreau, Joseph Souham, and Pierre-Jacques Osten.

The 47,000-strong center was made up of the divisions of Pierquin, Jacques Gilles Henri Goguet, and Antoine Balland.

[10] Within the next two weeks, Pichegru ordered the division, now under the command of Bonnaud, to move from Cambrai to the area near Lille.

Advancing from Sainghin, were Bonnaud's infantry brigades under Pierquin, Jean-Baptiste Salme, and Pierre Nöel, and cavalry under Antoine Baillot-Faral.

An eleventh charge finally broke three squares and the French fled after sustaining 2,000 casualties and losing 13 guns.