Siege of Maastricht (1676)

Siege of Maastricht

Part of: Dutch War

date	July 6 to August 27, 1676
place	Maastricht , the Netherlands
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	United Netherlands Spain
Commander
François de Calvo	William III. (Orange) , Karl Florentin zu Salm
Troop strength
7,000	25,000
losses
Unknown	Unknown

The siege of Maastricht was carried out by the troops of William III. carried out by Orange to retake the city from the French who had occupied it since 1673. It lasted from July 6, 1676 to August 27, 1676 and ended with the defeat of the attackers.

backgrounds

Maastricht was an important barrier on the Meuse and had been taken by the French during the siege of 1673 . The city's governor, the Maréchal d'Estrades , was often absent, leaving command to his deputy, François de Calvo . This transferred reinforcement work on the fortifications to the military engineer Thomas de Choisy, who worked according to plans by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban and significantly improved the defensive situation of the city.

In 1674 the Peace of Westminster was signed between the United Netherlands and the Kingdom of Great Britain , as a result of which France suddenly found itself again in an isolated position. It was forced to evacuate the Netherlands, with the exception of Maastricht.

The Allied forces now concentrated on the march to Paris , but were then stopped in the Battle of Seneffe by Louis II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé . The victory was expensive for both sides, which is why King Louis XIV felt compelled to visit the fortifications of Maastricht, which should serve to raise the morale of the occupation.

At the beginning of 1676, Wilhelm III decided. of Orange to end the French presence in Maastricht. This was supported by Carlos de Gurrea, Duke de Villahermosa and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands , who hoped to avert a French siege of Aire , one of the last two Spanish fortresses in Artois .

François de Calvo recognized the immense importance of Maastricht for William III. of Orange and immediately ordered that all food and rations to be found in the vicinity of the fortress be requisitioned.

The siege

The army of Wilhelm III. von Orange consisted of a total of 25,000 men, mainly Dutch and Spanish, plus an English regiment under the command of John Fenwick and a division from the Mark Brandenburg . On July 6, 1676, the Allies arrived in front of the fortress. De Calvo remarked to his officers:

«Messieurs, je n'entends rien à la défense d'une place; tout ce que je sais, c'est que je ne veux pas me rendre. »

"Gentlemen, I don't understand anything about defending a square, I just know that I don't want to surrender."

In view of de Calvo's not hopeless situation, Louis XIV decided not to immediately shock Maastricht , knowing that the city could survive the siege while the army of the Maréchal d'Humières captured the city of Aire.

The city of Maastricht was enclosed by the Allies from July 7, 1676. As soon as the besiegers had installed themselves, the Prince of Orange ordered the “opening of the trenches” on July 18, 1676 (ie the construction of the approach trenches ). The French army of Marshal Frederick-Armand de Schomberg prevented Villahermosa from forcing the Maréchal d'Humières to break off the siege of Aire.

Initially, the trenches were concentrated on one of the city's gates, but the attack eventually took place in the northwestern part of the fortress near Boschpoort, where it looked more likely to be successful. In the south, the "Dauphin" bastion changed hands several times during the first days of August. The fighting was bloody, a thousand men died as underground mines were also used to repel the attackers. The Allies now also attacked the La Reine horn works closer to the river bank, but could be turned away everywhere. Lieutenant General Karl Florentin zu Salm was fatally wounded in an attack.

The relief attacks in the suburbs of Wyck , carried out by the military engineer Jean-Charles de Landas, Comte de Louvigny, who was in Spanish service, failed. The Allies kept their main target southwest of the city in the Sint-Pieter district between the Jeker and the Meuse . The French defenders of this zone suffered from the prevailing floods, but were able to maintain their positions.

Meanwhile, on July 31, 1676, Aire fell into the hands of the French, whereby the Maréchal d'Humières was now able to keep Villahermosa in check. When Wilhelm III. learned of this from Orange, he intensified his efforts because he knew that the freed army of Schomberg Calvo would come to the aid. On August 6, 1676, Schomberg left the Aire region and marched off to Maastricht. On August 12, 1676, the Allies took part of the covered path of the wall.

Schomberg had meanwhile arrived in Tongeren, not far from Maastricht, and on August 26th he had Calvo informed of his arrival. Now under pressure, the Prince of Orange launched one final attack, but was repulsed by Calvo. The Allies then had to give up the siege.

Maastricht remained French until the Peace of Nijmegen in 1678, and as a reward for the fearless defense of the city, Francis de Calvo was appointed lieutenant général des armées by the king .

Footnotes

1. ^ Charles-Jean-François Hénault, Joseph-François Michaud: Abrégé chronologique de l'histoire de France. Depuis Clovis jusqu'à la mort de Louis XIV. 3rd edition. Édouard Proux, Paris 1842, pp. 282-283.
2. ↑ today part of Maastricht

literature

• John A. Lynn: Les Guerres de Louis XIV (= Collection Tempus ). Editions Perrin, 2014, ISBN 978-2-262-04755-9 .