Siege of Valenciennes

Siege of Valenciennes

Part of: Dutch War

Storming of Valenciennes by Mousquetaires de la garde

date	February 28 to March 17, 1677
place	Valenciennes , then the Spanish Netherlands , now France
output	French victory

Parties to the conflict
France	Spain
Commander
Marquis de Vauban Duke of Luxembourg-Piney	Marquis de Richebourg
Troop strength
40,000 men	3,000 men
losses
unknown	unknown

The Siege of Valenciennes was a military conflict between the Kingdom of France and the Kingdom of Spain and took place between February 28 and March 17, 1677 during the Dutch War . A French army besieged the city of Valenciennes , which was then part of the Spanish Netherlands and was defended by a small Spanish army. The city surrendered to the French on March 17th. In the peace of Nijmegen , which ended the war, the following year it was formally ceded to France.

background

Sébastien, Marquis de Vauban (1633–1707), who was in command of the siege.

In the war of devolution in 1667/68, France conquered most of the Spanish Netherlands and the Spanish province of Franche-Comté , but renounced most acquisitions in the Treaty of Aachen , which was concluded through the agency of the Triple Alliance of England , Sweden and the United Netherlands in 1668 but again. In order to break up the alliance, Louis XIV paid the Swedes to remain neutral and, in the Treaty of Dover, made his own alliance with England against the Dutch.

France invaded the Dutch Republic in May 1672 at the beginning of the Dutch War and at that point appeared to have won an overwhelming victory. Over time, however, the Dutch position consolidated and fears about possible French conquests brought the support of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Prussia , Emperor Leopold I and King Karl II of Spain . France took the Dutch fortress of Maastricht , but withdrew from the Netherlands in 1673 and opened further fronts in the Rhineland and the Spanish Pyrenees .

The French position deteriorated at the beginning of 1674 when Denmark-Norway first joined the alliance and England then made peace with the Dutch Republic in February with the Treaty of Westminster . Nevertheless, by the end of 1674 France had recaptured Franche-Comté and achieved significant territorial gains in Alsace . Now France put the main focus on holding the territories. An effective response from the Allies in Flanders was prevented by power struggles in Madrid , although the Spanish grip on the Spanish Netherlands increased.

Peace negotiations began in Nijmegen in the summer of 1676, but Ludwig's strategy was to go on the offensive before peace talks in order to negotiate from a position of strength. In 1676 the French took Condé-sur-l'Escaut , Bouchain , Maubeuge and Bavay , while at the same time repelling an attempt to retake Maastricht. For 1677 his plan was to take Valenciennes , Cambrai and St. Omer and thus complete the 'frontière de fer' (iron border); Ludwig reckoned that the Dutch would then have little reason to continue the war.

In the winter of 1676/77 the French Minister of War, the Marquis de Louvois , had supply depots set up along the Dutch border. This made it possible to start the campaign as early as February, a month earlier than usual. This left enough time to take Valenciennes and Cambrai before the Dutch or Spanish could intervene. Marshal Luxembourg was in command of the entire campaign in Flanders and arrived at Valenciennes on February 28 with around 35,000 men.

The battle

Valenciennes is located on the Rhonelle , a tributary of the Scheldt (French: l'Escaut ), which is one of the main trade routes in the region and provides access to the sea near Antwerp . Until the establishment of the railroad in the 19th century, goods and supplies were largely transported by water and campaigns were often designed to gain access to precisely those transport routes.

The Spanish governor was Henri de Melun, Marquis de Richebourg (1623–1690), an experienced soldier and that of the Prince d'Epinoy, both members of the French-speaking nobility in the Spanish Netherlands. Around 1,150 regular troops were available to him, as well as two to three thousand civilian auxiliaries and sufficient supplies of food and weapons. His position, however, was hopelessly without support and, thanks to Louvois' preparations, the Dutch were still unsuspecting and had to gather troops and supplies first. Since even the best defended city cannot be held forever, it was the ultimate goal for commanders of besieged cities like Richebourg to bind the attacking force as long as possible.

Map of Valenciennes in the 17th century

Siege operations were overseen by the French military engineer Vauban ; the bombardment began on March 1st, but the siege work was delayed due to heavy rain. For propaganda purposes, Ludwig often showed himself personally during larger sieges and so he also joined Luxembourg before Valenciennes. He was accompanied by subordinate commanders, including his brother Philippe, Duke of Orléans , the Duke d'Humières and the Duke of Roannais .

The excavation work began in preparation for an attack on the Porte d'Anzin, on March 8th. The Porte d'Anzin was the best fortified part of the defenses; however, the soil was the driest there. On March 16, Vauban thought the work had progressed sufficiently to risk an attack and suggested that it be done later in the day. This surprised Ludwig and Luxembourg, as such attacks usually took place at night. Vauban argued that this would confuse the defenders and at the same time allow better coordination of the attacking forces.

His proposal was approved and the French artillery kept the defenders under constant fire during the night of March 16-17, while a raid squad consisting of 4,000 men, including an elite group of Mousquetaires de la garde , took up position in the trenches. At 9:00 am on March 17th, the attackers formed two lines and stormed the walls; the completely surprised defenders were quickly overrun. Soon a bridge was taken over the Ronnelle, which gave the attackers access to the city center.

Ludwig planned to annex the city. In addition, it was customary in siege warfare to give the defending garrison and civilians generous terms if they surrendered after a 'viable breach' had been struck. Since both sides also wanted to reduce the looting, which often took place after a successful conquest, as much as possible, Richebourg surrendered immediately, while Luxembourg withdrew the attacking troops after the city council had agreed to pay a ransom.

Aftermath

The main army marched on to Cambrai, while a 12,000-strong detachment under the leadership of Philippe von Orléans and Humières was deployed to take St. Omer. An attempt at relief by William of Orange failed on April 11 in the defeat at Cassel and so Cambrai surrendered on April 17, followed by St. Omer on April 20. The war continued until the Peace of Nijmegen in August 1678, when Spain ceded St. Omer, Cassel, Aire, Ypres, Cambrai, Valenciennes and Maubeuge to France. Ypres was returned in 1697, but the French northern border was almost fixed on its current course.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bodart, p. 100
2. ↑ John Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714 (Modern Wars In Perspective) . Longman, 1996, ISBN 978-0-582-05629-9 , pp. 109 .
3. ↑ Lynn, pp. 109-110.
4. ↑ Rhea Smith: Spain; A Modern History . University of Michigan Press, 1965, ISBN 978-0-472-07150-0 , pp. 200 .
5. ↑ Lynn 1999, p. 117.
6. ^ Francis Gardiner Davenport: European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies, p. 238 , accessed November 10, 2018
7. ^ William Young: International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great . iUniverse, 2004, ISBN 978-0-595-81398-8 , pp. 134-135 .
8. ↑ Van Nimwegen, 2010, p. 499
9. ↑ Young, p. 134.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Van Nimwegen, 2010, p. 498
11. ↑ Van Nimwegen, 2010, p. 500
12. ^ John Childs: The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-1697: The Operations in the Low Countries . Manchester University Press, 1991, ISBN 0-7190-8996-4 , pp. 32-33 .
13. ^ Jean Baptiste Visconti Primi: La campagne du roy en l'année 1677 . HACHETTE LIVRE-BNF, 1678, ISBN 978-2-01-267961-0 , pp. 14-15 ( link ).
14. ↑ Holger Afflerbach and Hew Strachan (Eds.): How Fighting Ends: A History of Surrender . OUP, 2012, ISBN 0-19-969362-5 , pp. 159 .
15. ↑ Hardy De Perini: Bataille françaises . Ernest Flammarion, Paris 1896, p. 186 .
16. ↑ De Perini, 1896, p 187
17. ^ Afflerbach & Strachan, 2012, p. 160
18. ↑ De Perini, 1896, p 189
19. ↑ Van Nimwegen, 2010, p. 502
20. ^ Cathal J Nolan: Wars of the age of Louis XIV, 1650-1715 . ABC-CLIO, 2008, ISBN 0-313-33046-8 , p. 128 .

literature

• Afflerbach, Holger, Strachan, Hew (Eds.); How Fighting Ends: A History of Surrender; (OUP, 2012)
• Childs, John; The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-1697: The Operations in the Low Countries; (Manchester University Press, 2013)
• De Perini, Hardy; Batailles françaises, 1660-1700; (Ernest Flammarion, Paris, 1896)
• Lynn, John; The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714; (Longman, 1999)
• Nolan, Cathal; Wars of the age of Louis XIV, 1650-1715; (ABC-CLIO, 2008)
• Van Nijmegen, Olaf; The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688; (Boydell Press, 2010)
• Young, William; International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great; (iUniverse, 2004)

Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ′ 25.6 ″  N , 3 ° 31 ′ 6 ″  E