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Battle of Valmy

Battle of Valmy was a battle fought on 20 September 1792 at Sainte-Menehould, in what is now France. It was part of the War of the First Coalition, which ran from 1792 to 1797. The recorded result: French victory; Republic proclaimed one day later. Recorded strength: 36,000 against 34,000.

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The Battle of Valmy, September 20th, 1792.
The Battle of Valmy, September 20th, 1792.. Horace Vernet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought20 September 1792
WhereSainte-Menehould, France49.080N, 4.767E
OutcomeFrench victory; Republic proclaimed one day later
BelligerentsKingdom of FranceagainstKingdom of Prussia; Holy Roman Empire; Army of Condé
Casualties and losses~300and~200
Part ofWar of the First Coalition1792 to 1797

Where it sits in the War of the First Coalition

Capture of Porrentruy, 1792Battle of Marquain, 1792Battle of Valmy, 1792Siege de Lille, 1792Siege of Mainz, 1792Battle of Jemappes, 1792Battle of Limburg, 1792Siege of Mainz, 1793Childers Incident, 1793Siege of Maastricht, 1793Battle of Aldenhoven (1793), 1793Siege of Condé, 1793Battle of Famars, 1793Siege of Valenciennes, 1793Battle of Arlon, 1793Battle of Caesar's Camp, 1793Siege of Landau, 1793Siege of Le Quesnoy, 1793Siege of Toulon, 1793Battle of Hondschoote, 1793Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec, 1793Battle of Pirmasens, 1793Battles near Rheinweiler and Hüningen, 1793Battle of Méribel, 1793Raid on Genoa, 1793First Battle of Wissembourg, 1793Siege of Fort-Louis, 1793Battle of Gilette, 1793Battle of Friedberg, 1793Battle of Haguenau, 1793Battle of Kaiserslautern, 1793Battle of Froeschwiller, 1793Battle of Wœrth, 1793Second Battle of Wissembourg, 1793Battle of Mainz, 1794Siege of Le Quesnoy, 1794Battle of Tiburon, 1794Rich Boyyz, 1794Battle of La Bombarde, 1794Battle of Le Cateau, 1794Battle of Tiburon, 1794Siege of Landrecies, 1794Second Battle of Saorgio, 1794Battle of Mouscron, 1794Battle at Courtrai, 1794Battle of Grandreng, 1794Battle of Tourcoing, 1794Battle of Erquelinnes, 1794Battle of Kaiserslautern, 1794Battle of Kirrweiler, 1794Battle of Port-Républicain, 1794Battle of Gosselies, 1794Siege of Ypres, 1794Battle of Hooglede, 1794Battle of Lambusart, 1794Battle of Fleurus, 1794Siege of Condé, 1794Siege of Maastricht, 1794Siege of Nijmegen, 1794Siege of Venlo, 1794Battle of Aldenhoven (1794), 1794Battle of Léogane, 1794Battle of Trutier, 1794Battle of Tiburon, 1794Capture of the Dutch fleet at Den Helder, 1795Battle of Mirebalais, 1795Battle of Monte Settepani, 1795Invasion of France, 1795Second Battle of Verrettes, 1795Battle of Petite-Rivière, 1795Battle of Handschuhsheim, 1795Battle of Höchst, 1795Battle of Dondon (1795), 1795Siege of Mannheim, 1795Battle of Pfeddersheim, 1795Battle of Loano, 1795Battle of Millesimo, 1796Second Battle of Dego, 1796Battle of Siegburg, 1796Battle of Altenkirchen, 1796Battle of Wetzlar, 1796Battle of Maudach, 1796Battle of Kircheib, 1796Battle of Kehl, 1796Battle of Ettlingen, 1796Battle of Les Irois, 1796Battle of Neresheim, 1796Battle of Amberg, 1796Battle of Theiningen, 1796Siege of Mantoue, 1796Battle of Würzburg, 1796Battle of Lavis, 1796Battle of Bassano, 1796Battle of Limburg, 1796Battle of Schliengen, 1796Siege of Hüningen, 1796Expédition d'Irlande, 1796Battle of Diersheim, 1797Siege of Kehl, 1797Battle of La Favorite, 1797Siege of Mantua, 1797Battle of Faenza, 1797Battle of Fishguard, 1797Battle of Valvasone, 1797Battle of Jean-Rabel, 1797Battle of Neuwied, 179717921797Battle of Valmy, 1792
106 placed engagements of the War of the First Coalition in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date20 September 1792
PlaceSainte-Menehould, France
49.080N, 4.767E
KindBattle, Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Strength36,00034,000
Casualties and losses~300~200
Commanders
  • Charles François Dumouriez
  • François Christophe de Kellermann
Battle of ValmyBattle of ValmyBattle of the Maureaco FieldsFirst Battle of ChampagneBattle of VauquoisBataille de Rethel-BeaulieuBattle of ChâlonsBataille de Rethel-BeaulieuBattle of ChâlonsLuxembourgSaarbrückenNancyReimsAmiensTroyesMelunArras100 km49.080N, 4.767E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Valmy
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Valmy today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-11. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 194 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 135 to 213 m, 78 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 90% cropland, 5% tree cover, 4% grassland.

cropland: 90%tree cover: 5%grassland: 4%cropland 90%tree cover 5%grassland 4%
west to east, 10.0 km144 to 196 mnorth to south, 10.0 km135 to 209 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1792

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: ALLIED ARMYDefender: ARMIES OF NORTH & CENTER
Strength34,00036,000
Casualties350 (1.0%)400 (1.1%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1034
Outcomedefender won
Duration1 day
Front width7 km8 km
Attacker advanced0 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 96), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Valmy is one of 2,009 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 1,383 in present-day France.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q4411, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Valmy, revision 1383616436, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.