Siege of Namur (1692)
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Siege of Namur by Jean-Baptiste Martin
| date | May to June 1692 |
|---|---|
| place | Namur |
| output | French victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Louis XIV. |
duc de Barbançon |
| Troop strength | |
| 60,000 men of observation troops, 46,000 men of siege troops | 6000-8000 |
| losses | |
|
over 6000 men |
3000 |
Palatinate War of Succession (1688–1697)
Philippsburg - Koblenz - Walcourt - Bantry Bay - Mainz - Bonn - Fleurus - Beachy Head - Boyne - Staffarda - Québec - Mons - Cuneo - Leuze - Aughrim - Barfleur / La Hougue - Namur 1 - Steenkerke - Lagos - Neerektiven - Marsaglia - Charleroi - Torroella - Camaret - Texel - Sant Esteve d'en Bas - Gerona - Dixmuyen - Namur 2 - Brussels - Ath - Cartagena - Barcelona
The siege of Namur from May 25th to June 30th 1692 took place during the Nine Years War . The French troops under the personal command of Louis XIV, supported by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, besieged the city and citadel while they were protected by a strong army under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency-Luxembourg . Defense at times became a battle between the two military engineers and fortress builders Vauban and Menno van Coehoorn . The Allies under Wilhelm III. did bring in a relief army without seriously attacking. Therefore, the city and finally the citadel fell into the hands of the French.
Preparations
The siege and conquest of Namur was planned by Louis XIV as a decisive blow against the Vienna Grand Alliance . Preparations for this began months in advance. Large magazines had been set up for this in various cities. Numerous field and siege guns were concentrated in the fortresses on the Meuse and Scheldt .
Minister of War François Michel Le Tellier de Louvois had made enormous armaments efforts shortly before his death, so that an army of 100,000 men was available for the Dutch theater of war. The king wanted to lead this personally. Most of the troops were gathered at Mons .
Before the campaign, Louis XIV instructed his commanders in the other theaters of war to act only defensively so as not to jeopardize operations in the Netherlands. At the same time, the fleet was to escort a landing force under Marshal Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds to England to bring James II back to the throne, while William III. was bound in the Netherlands. This calculation failed when the French fleet was defeated in the naval battles of Barfleur and La Hougue in late May / early June .
The allies had not gone unnoticed by the enormous armament efforts of the French. William III. and the governor-general of the Spanish Netherlands Maximilian II. Emanuel von Bayern gathered an army near Brussels that was strong enough to prevent the French from advancing further.
Louis XIV had traveled to the troops with his entire court. To demonstrate the superiority of his army, the king had a parade held, one of the largest of its kind of the century. The Marshal of Luxembourg led an army of about 60,000 men and 64 artillery pieces, which was intended to cover the siege army. He set up a fortified camp at Gemblours.
The king commanded an army of about 26,000 men. The two wings ranged from the Sambre to the lower Meuse. An army of about 20,000 men under Marshal Louis-François de Boufflers completed the enclosure of the city on the right bank of the Upper and Lower Meuse. The number of guns was 151 cannons and mortars. The planning of the actual siege was in the hands of Vauban.
Namur was heavily fortified. In addition, the Sambre and Meuse flowed in the south and east and the small river Vedrin in the north . The city was also protected by a citadel. This was on the right bank of the Sambre on a high rock. In addition, there was the new Fort Wilhelm that Coeshorn had built.
There is different information about the number of defenders under the governor duc de Barbançon. The highest number is 8,300 men. More recent information speaks of 6,000 men. The troops came from the various allied countries. There were German, Spanish and English units. Among them were about 200 cavalrymen and 80 gunners. The forces were insufficient to man all the works, but were strong enough to offer considerable resistance. The actual head of defense was Coehoorn.
course
The trenches were opened on the night of May 29th to 30th. These were driven forward quickly so that the French were able to open fire on the fortifications at the St. Nicolas gate from five batteries on the morning of May 31. With the help of 300 grenadiers and 400 dragoons, Marshal Baufflers took the outer works of the suburb of Jambe. As a result, he made further progress and conquered other fortifications. Eventually a beachhead was also taken. As a result, the besieged had to limit themselves to defending the old wall. The governor of the city had to realize that he could not hold the whole city with his limited strength and withdrew his troops to the citadel and Fort Wilhelm. He handed the city over to the French. The condition was that neither from the two fortresses into the city nor from this one at the two fortresses could be fired. Namur itself was then occupied by the French.
The Allies had brought together a strong relief army and were marching with them towards Namur. Louis XIV reinforced the troops of Luxembourg, who then moved towards the Allies. William III. attacked only the enemy outposts with his artillery, but otherwise remained inactive.
After the city had surrendered, there had been a brief armistice, which the French used to position their artillery outside the city against Fort Wilhelm and begin the bombardment. First, the French wanted to storm a redoubt belonging to the fort . The preparations were delayed. Bad weather conditions and supply problems played a major role here.
The two fortress builders Vauban and Coehoorn fought fierce competition over the construction of trenches and appropriate countermeasures. Coehoorn was wounded in the process.
Preparations for an assault were not completed until June 12 or 13. The French succeeded in forcing the crew to retreat into the fort with a great superior force. The losses on the part of the defenders were high. In the following night the positions were pushed further. On June 17, the besieged made a sortie, killing numerous French soldiers and destroying parts of the siege works.
The French managed to break contact between the fort and the citadel by means of a double sap . Prepared by artillery fire, Louis XIV stormed the fort on June 22nd. The crew of 80 officers and over 1,500 men capitulated and the next day they were able to leave the fort with flags and with a game of music. The French escorted them to the border.
William III. tried without looking for battle to worry Luxembourg and there were large and small skirmishes. Both armies broke camp on the 17th and marched on both banks of the Mehaigne River . They faced each other on June 23rd without a battle. However, this meant that the Allies could not effectively help the besieged.
The French wanted to attack more parts of the main work of the citadel. However, because of heavy rain, it proved impossible to position the guns and supply them with ammunition. In addition, the army ran out of supplies in late June and many of the horses died.
On the advice of Vauban, Louis XIV planned to break the agreement with the defenders and attack the fortress from the city side. Gun batteries were deployed for this purpose, but no order to fire has yet been given. The breach of the contract was not necessary, since on June 29th an outer works from outside the city was damaged so much that the king stormed this part and took it. From there it was possible to break through and also to take the main work.
Since the besieged had to realize that they could not hold out in the long run, the crew capitulated. The garrison of 4,500 left the citadel on July 1st with full honors and was directed to Leuven.
consequences
Allied losses totaled 3,000 men. The losses of the French are likely to have been at least twice as high. These resulted not only from direct enemy action, but also from illnesses due to poor supply and the weather.
Louis XIV ordered the restoration of all fortifications, handed over the command to Luxembourg and returned with his court to Versailles . Poets like Jean Racine or Nicolas Boileau celebrated the victorious ruler.
The Allies tried to force Luxembourg into an open field battle. After numerous tactical maneuvers by both armies, this came about four weeks later on August 3, 1692. The French claimed victory in the Battle of Steenkerke for themselves. Neither this battle nor the capture of Namur were decisive for the war.
In the war year 1695, the Allies besieged the city and recaptured it ( Siege of Namur (1695) ).
swell
- Warhieftiger ground rift of the city and Vestung Namur of the fortification / like those of which the French st.n. Anno 1692. besieged / and on the 5th of June the city / on the 1st of July but the castle was conquered by them by accord. [Print, 1692] Digitized
- Capitulation points such as those for the handover of the fortress Namur on June 30th, 1692 to France, have been compared on both sides. [Print 1692] digitized
literature
- Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe (Ed.): Militair-Conversations-Lexikon, Volume 6. Adorf, 1837, pp. 11-15
- William Young: International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great. Lincoln 2004, p. 228 f.
- Cathal J. Nolan: Wars of the Age of Louis Xiv, 1650-1715 . Westport, 2008, p. 311
- Francis Smith: The Wars from Antiquity to the Present. Berlin u. a. 1911, p. 393.
Web links
- Representation of the siege (Engl.)