Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Bavay (Gallic War).

Fought B.C. 57 between the Romans, 50,000 strong, under Cæsar, and a large force of Gauls, drawn from the Nervii, Viromandui, Atrebates and other tribes. The Gauls attacked as the Romans were pitching their camp on the banks of the Sambre, but, although surprised, the legionaries stood their ground, and utterly routed their assailants. The Nervii, in particular, were practically annihilated.