Battle of Walcourt

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Battle of Walcourt
Schematic representation of the battle
Schematic representation of the battle
date August 15th jul. / August 25, 1689 greg.
place Walcourt , Spanish Netherlands , today's Belgium
output Victory of the Augsburg Alliance
Parties to the conflict

France Kingdom 1792France France

Republic of the Seven United ProvincesRepublic of the Seven United Provinces United Netherlands England Scotland Holy Roman Empire Spain
England kingdomKingdom of England 
Scotland 0843Scotland 
Holy Roman Empire 1400Holy Roman Empire 
Spain 1506Spain 

Commander

France Kingdom 1792France Louis de Crevant, duc d'Humières

Republic of the Seven United ProvincesRepublic of the Seven United Provinces Georg Friedrich von Waldeck John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
England kingdomKingdom of England

Troop strength
24,000 35,000
losses

~ 600–2,000 dead or wounded

~ 100–300 dead or wounded

Battles and sieges in the
Palatinate War of Succession (1688–1697)

The Battle of Walcourt was fought on August 25, 1689 during the War of the Palatinate Succession . The battle took place near the town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands and brought an uneventful summer of marching, looting, and maneuvering to an end. The Augsburg Alliance emerged victorious from the battle, the only significant battle of the 1689 campaign .

The Alliance army was led by the Prince of Waldeck ; the command of the French army was held by the Maréchal d'Humières . While the French lost around 2,000 deaths in battle, the Allies lost less than 300. The victory was a promising start to the war for King William's party and the Alliance, whereas Humières' military reputation was a fatal one Suffered a blow from which he should no longer recover. In the following campaign of 1690, Humières was replaced by the Duke of Luxembourg .

background

In September 1688 the troops of Louis XIV invaded the Rhine area and besieged Philippsburg . Ludwig had hoped to force the powerful German prince and the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I , to convert the Regensburg standstill into a permanent peace treaty, which would have confirmed the French territorial acquisitions from the Reunion War. Other German cities such as Oppenheim , Kaiserslautern and Heidelberg as well as the Mainz fortress fell quickly as a result. But instead of hiding from the French aggressors, the German princes allied against Ludwig. The campaign, which was originally designed for a few months, developed into the Palatinate War of Succession .

By attacking the Rhine area, Ludwig allayed Dutch fears that the French might attack the Dutch Republic, which eased the invasion of England by William of Orange in November. Wilhelm's subsequent success in the Glorious Revolution , which led to the accession to the English throne and joint reign with his wife Maria in February 1689, enabled him to use the full economic and military strength of England to fight France. The coalition he had longed for against France thus formed almost by itself. On May 12, 1689, the Orange and the Emperor signed the documents of accession of the Netherlands and England to the Augsburg Alliance , creating the Vienna Great Alliance . This alliance was intended to push France back to the borders of the end of the Thirty Years' War and the Franco-Spanish War , which would have meant that Louis would have lost all of his conquests since he came to power.

The Spanish Netherlands later became a major theater of war, but was only a sideline during the early stages of the 1689 war. That was because the protagonists of the war were busy on other fronts. Wilhelm had to deal with political issues and the Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, Ludwig was on the Rhine and the German princes raised their armies to push the French army back to the Rhine and revise their previous defeats.

foreplay

The Spanish Netherlands. Walcourt is located south of Charleroi near the Sambre river .

On May 14, 1689, Humières assembled his armies for the new campaign in the Spanish Netherlands near Boussières on the Sambre . A total of 24 battalions and 75 squadrons gathered there, all in all around 24,000 men. Wilhelm entrusted the high command of his 35,000-strong army at this theater of war to the 69-year-old Prince von Waldeck . The 8,000-strong English contingent was commanded by the Duke of Marlborough . Still, Wilhelm remained skeptical about the quality of the English troops. Compared to the Dutch armed forces, the British lacked organization, administrative structures and a supply commissioner. So Waldeck watched with great interest how Marlborough sought order and organization in its chain of command. He later wrote that he hoped the English were "... as disciplined as they are brave", although in September Waldeck lamented "... the temperament, the nonchalance, their miserable clothes and the worst of all footwear". "

Administrative problems and the late arrival of some contingents delayed the opening of the Allied offensive until late June. Waldeck marched in the direction of Fleurus from near Tienen . The two armies spent the next two months marching and marching back in an effort to gain a strategic advantage. On August 24th, Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and set up camp near the old town of Walcourt , where he was content to live on enemy territory.

battle

On August 25th, Fouriers were sent out into the vicinity by the Allies . They were escorted by 600 Englishmen from Colonel Hodges' regiment (the 16th Foot Soldier Regiment, later the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment). In an effort to drive away the invaders, Humières raided the Fouriere and Allied outposts, which were about 3 km south of Walcourt. So the Allies ordered their troops back and got ready to fight.

Hodges' regiment managed for almost two hours to prevent the advance of the French vanguard and to cover the retreat of the surprised Fouriers before he in turn ordered a retreat to a nearby mill ( see map above ). At 11:00 a.m., Marlborough came within sight of the scene. When he became aware that Hodges was being shot at from various French positions, he ordered the beleaguered Colonel to retreat to a hill east of Walcourt, behind which the bulk of the Allied army was forming to attack. Waldeck later remarked to Wilhelm: "[Hodges] and the English who fought with him performed a miracle, and I would never have believed that so many of the English would have such a joie de combattre ."

Although his troops had not even succeeded in defeating Hodges' few men, Humières decided to attack Walcourt himself, which had been occupied by 600 men. Although the city's defenses were antiquated, it was not easy to take because it was on a hill and partially protected by a river. In addition, the underground was not particularly beneficial for the French. However, several attacks were carried out, but the French suffered heavy losses from the Allied enfilade weapons. Despite the losses, Humières persevered and sent a group of the Régiment des Gardes françaises to set fire to the gates of Walcourt. The attempt failed and the security of the garrison was finally guaranteed after Brigadier General Thomas Tollemache was able to bring the Coldstream Guards and a German battalion into the city at 2:00 p.m.

Humières was forced to expand the battlefield and threw his men in an impromptu attack against the right wing of the main Allied force behind the city. At around 6:00 pm, Waldeck launched a double counterattack against the tired French; the Dutch General Slangenburgs against their left flank and Marlborough at the head of the Life Guards and the Blues (supported by two regiments of foot soldiers) against their right. The French staggered back in disarray, but the French cavalry under Colonel Villars prevented a headless escape, allowing Humières and his men to escape the battle.

Humières was humiliated, but due to administrative problems Waldeck made little effort to follow up and so solidify his victory. For a few days the armies stood face to face and fired their cannons at one another, but there was no further fighting. Humières returned to the fortresses on the Scheldt and Waldeck in Brussels .

Scottish regiments that took part in the battle included the Scots Guards , Royal Scots, and Royal Scots Fusiliers .

Aftermath

Marlborough, painting by Adriaen van der Werff

The battle, the only significant confrontation of the entire campaign, was intense and bloody. Contemporaries could not recall an equally serious clash between English and French troops. The losses of the French were estimated at between 600 and 2,000 men, plus six lost cannons. Allied losses ranged from 100–300. The Prince of Waldeck gave Wilhelm his recommendation for the 39-year-old Marlborough, who "... despite his youthfulness" had shown great military skill. On September 5, Wilhelm awarded Marlborough the prestigious command of the 7th Infantry Regiment, the later Royal Fusiliers, in view of his services .

Walcourt's victory boosted the Allies' confidence. Humières, however, who was dubbed le maréchal sans lumière (loosely translated: “The Marshal without Light”, possibly to be understood as a hopeless case) by his colleagues , was embarrassed. Before marching to winter quarters, he withdrew four battalions from Gardes françaises to march into the Rhineland, where Ludwig's outnumbered troops faced their greatest challenge in 1689. But already in 1690 the main theater of war shifted back to Flanders. Ludwig entrusted the command of this campaign to the Duke of Luxembourg , who accomplished his strategic masterpiece on July 1, 1690 in the Battle of Fleurus .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 30. All statistics are taken from Chandler .
  2. ↑ Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 32. Chandler lists fewer than 100 dead, Churchill assumes 300 dead.
  3. ↑ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714, p. 191
  4. ↑ a b Wolf: The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685-1715. P. 43
  5. ↑ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714, p. 200
  6. ↑ a b c Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 30
  7. ^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, p. 279
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 32
  9. ^ A b Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, p. 280
  10. ↑ http://www.regimental-art.com/royal_scots_fusiliers.htm
  11. ↑ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714, p. 200
  12. ↑ Lynn: The French Wars 1667-1714 , p. 51