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Battle of Walcourt

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Battle of Walcourt
Part of the Nine Years' War
Gevechten bij Walcourt, 1689 Afbeeldinge wegens de bloedige renkontre, voorgevallen op den 25 augustus 1689, tussen den prins van Waldek, en de maarschalk de Humiers, by het stedeken Walcourt, in de provinci van Naamen (cropped).jpg
Battle of Walcourt 1689
Date25 August 1689[1]
Location
Walcourt, Spanish Netherlands
(Present-day Belgium)
50°15′0″N 04°25′0″E / 50.25000°N 4.41667°E / 50.25000; 4.41667
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 Dutch Republic
 England
 Scotland
 Holy Roman Empire
 Spain		  France
Commanders and leaders
Dutch Republic Prince of Waldeck
Dutch Republic Lord of Slangenburg
Dutch Republic Aylva
Kingdom of England Duke of Marlborough		 Kingdom of France Duke of Humières
Kingdom of France Villars
Strength
30,000[2]-35,000[3] 24,000[4]-30,000[5]
Casualties and losses
~100–700 killed or wounded[6][7] 2,000[7]
600 killed
1,400 wounded or captured

The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging. The battle was a success for the Grand Alliance – the only significant engagement in the theatre during the campaign of 1689.

The Allied army was commanded by the Prince of Waldeck; the French army by the duc de Humières. The battle incurred some 2,000 French casualties against the Allied losses of less than 700. The Allied victory had been an auspicious opening of the war for King William III and the Alliance, but for Humières, his military reputation received a fatal blow; in the following campaign of 1690, Humières was replaced by the duc de Luxembourg.

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Nine Years' War

Nine Years' War

The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Alliance or War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition including the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy. While concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to the Americas, India, and West Africa, and it has been called the first world war. Related conflicts included the Williamite war in Ireland, and King William's War in North America.

Walcourt

Walcourt

Walcourt is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium.

Charleroi

Charleroi

Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,462 square kilometres (564 sq mi) with a total population of 522,522 by 1 January 2008, ranking it as the 5th most populous in Belgium after Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, and Ghent. The inhabitants are called Carolorégiens or simply Carolos.

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries held in personal union by the Spanish Crown. This region comprised most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the southern Netherlands, and western Germany with the capital being Brussels. The Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.

Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)

Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)

The Grand Alliance was the anti-French coalition formed on 20 December 1689 between the Dutch Republic, England and the Holy Roman Empire. It was signed by the two leading opponents of France: William III, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and King of England, and Emperor Leopold I, on behalf of the Archduchy of Austria.

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck was a German and Dutch Field Marshal and, for the last three years of his life, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John.

Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières

Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières

Louis de Crévant, Marquis then later duc d'Humières (1628–1694) was a French nobleman of the 17th century, who became a Marshal of France in 1668 and Grand Master of Artillery in 1685.

William III of England

William III of England

William III, also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from the 1670s, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is sometimes informally known as "King Billy" in Ireland and Scotland. His victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is commemorated by Unionists, who display orange colours in his honour. He ruled Britain alongside his wife and cousin, Queen Mary II, and popular histories usually refer to their reign as that of "William and Mary".

François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg

François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg

François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, Duke of Piney-Luxembourg, commonly known as Luxembourg, and nicknamed "The Upholsterer of Notre-Dame", was a French general and Marshal of France. A comrade and successor of the Great Condé, he was one of the most accomplished military commanders of the early modern period and is particularly noted for his exploits in the Franco-Dutch War and War of the Grand Alliance. Not imposing physically, as he was a slight man and hunchbacked, Luxembourg was nonetheless one of France's greatest generals. He never lost a battle in which he held command.

Background

In September 1688, King Louis XIV's forces invaded the Rhineland and besieged the German town of Philippsburg. Louis had hoped to compel the powerful German princes, and their Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, into converting the 1684 Truce of Ratisbon into a permanent peace, thus confirming Louis' territorial gains of the ‘Reunions’.[8] Other German towns fell in quick succession, including Oppenheim, Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg, and the key fortress of Mainz, but instead of cowering under French aggression, the German princes united against Louis' forces. What was supposed to be a campaign lasting only months, evolved into the Nine Years' War.

By moving into the Rhineland, Louis dispelled fears in the Dutch Republic of a possible attack upon them, thus facilitating Prince William of Orange's invasion of England in November. William's success in the subsequent ‘Glorious Revolution’ – leading to his accession to the English throne in February 1689 (reigning jointly with his wife Mary) – enabled him to bring the full commercial and military power of England into the war against France, and rapidly led to the formation of the coalition he had long desired. On 12 May 1689, the Dutch and Emperor Leopold I signed the Grand Alliance, the aims of which were no less than to force France back to her borders as they were at the end of the Thirty Years War, and the Franco-Spanish War, thus depriving Louis of all his gains since his assumption of power.[9]

The Spanish Netherlands would later become the main theatre of the war, but during the conflict's early stages in 1689, it was considered only a secondary front. This quiescence was because the main protagonists were busy elsewhere: King William was occupied with political matters in England and a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, whilst King Louis was busy along the Rhine where the powerful German princes were preparing their forces to push the French army back towards the Rhine, and reverse all their earlier setbacks.[9]

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Rhineland

Rhineland

The Rhineland is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.

Philippsburg

Philippsburg

Philippsburg is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain, Leopold became heir apparent in 1654 by the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV. Elected in 1658, Leopold ruled the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1705, becoming the second longest-ruling Habsburg emperor. He was both a composer and considerable patron of music.

Oppenheim

Oppenheim

Oppenheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a well-known wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum, and is particularly known for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen vineyards.

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is 459 kilometres from Paris, 117 km from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers from Berlin, and 159 km from Luxembourg.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.

Fortress of Mainz

Fortress of Mainz

The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, under the term of the 1815 Peace of Paris, the control of Mainz passed to the German Confederation and became part of a chain of strategic fortresses which protected the Confederation. With the dissolution of the Confederation and the Austro-Prussian War, control of the fortress first passed to Prussia, and, after the 1871 Unification of Germany, to the German Empire.

Nine Years' War

Nine Years' War

The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Alliance or War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and the Grand Alliance, a coalition including the Holy Roman Empire, the Dutch Republic, England, Spain, and Savoy. While concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to the Americas, India, and West Africa, and it has been called the first world war. Related conflicts included the Williamite war in Ireland, and King William's War in North America.

Glorious Revolution

Glorious Revolution

The Glorious Revolution is the term first used in 1689 to summarise events leading to the deposition of James II and VII of England, Ireland and Scotland in November 1688, and his replacement by his daughter Mary II and her husband and James's nephew William III of Orange, de facto ruler of the Dutch Republic. Known as the Glorieuze Overtocht or Glorious Crossing in the Netherlands, it has been described both as the last successful invasion of England as well as an internal coup.

Mary II of England

Mary II of England

Mary II was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694.

Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)

Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)

The Grand Alliance was the anti-French coalition formed on 20 December 1689 between the Dutch Republic, England and the Holy Roman Empire. It was signed by the two leading opponents of France: William III, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic and King of England, and Emperor Leopold I, on behalf of the Archduchy of Austria.

Jacobitism

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was a political movement that supported the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the British throne. The name derives from the first name of James II and VII, which in Latin translates as Jacobus. When James went into exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, the Parliament of England argued that he had abandoned the English throne, which they offered to his Protestant daughter Mary II, and her husband William III. In April, the Scottish Convention held that he "forfeited" the throne of Scotland by his actions, listed in the Articles of Grievances.

Prelude

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

On 14 May 1689, Humières assembled his army for the new campaign in the Spanish Netherlands near Boussières on the river Sambre, where he marshalled 24 battalions and 75 squadrons, totalling 24,000 men.[10] William entrusted overall command of his 35,000 troops in the theatre to the 69-year-old Prince of Waldeck. The English contingent of 8,000 men was commanded by the Earl of Marlborough, but William remained sceptical about the quality of the English troops; compared to the Dutch troops of the period, the English lacked organisation, field administration, and a commissariat.[11] However, Waldeck watched with interest as Marlborough sought to bring order and organisation to his command, later writing that he hoped the English " … were as disciplined as they were brave" – although by September Waldeck was still lamenting their " … temperament, nonchalance, wretched clothing and the worst of shoes."[11]

Administrative problems and the late arrival of contingents delayed the opening of the Allied offensive in the region until late June. Waldeck moved from near Tienen and headed towards Fleurus; the two armies spent the next two months marching and counter-marching in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage.[11] By 24 August Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and had camped near the small ancient town of Walcourt where he was satisfied to live upon enemy territory.[12]

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Sambre

Sambre

The Sambre is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck

Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck was a German and Dutch Field Marshal and, for the last three years of his life, Grand Master of the Order of Saint John.

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs. From a gentry family, he served first as a page at the court of the House of Stuart under James, Duke of York, through the 1670s and early 1680s, earning military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill.

Commissariat

Commissariat

A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries.

Tienen

Tienen

Tienen is a city and municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in Flanders, Belgium. The municipality comprises Tienen itself and the towns of Bost, Goetsenhoven, Hakendover, Kumtich, Oorbeek, Oplinter, Sint-Margriete-Houtem and Vissenaken.

Fleurus

Fleurus

Fleurus is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles.

Walcourt

Walcourt

Walcourt is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium.

Battle

On 25 August, Allied foragers, escorted by 600 English troops of Colonel Hodges' Regiment (16th Foot, later the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment) were sent out to the surrounding countryside. Humières, in an effort to expel the intruders, fell upon the foraging parties and allied outposts about 2 miles (~3 km) south of Walcourt. The foragers were recalled and the Allied camp made readiness for action.

For nearly two hours Hodges' regiment was able to prevent the development of the French vanguard, and covered the retreat of the surprised foragers before retiring his troops to a nearby mill (see map). By 11:00, Marlborough had arrived within sight of the engagement. Noticing Hodges was under attack by several French batteries, the English commander ordered the embattled colonel to withdraw to a hill east of Walcourt, behind which the main Allied force was forming.[13] Waldeck later commented to William – "[Hodges] and the English, who are with him, have accomplished miracles, and I could never have believed that so many of the English would show such a joie de combattre."[13]

Despite his troop's failure to overcome Hodges' small force, Humières decided to attack Walcourt itself, which had since been occupied by 600 men. The ground was not favourable to the French – although the defences of the town were antiquated, it stood on a hill partly covered by a river.[14] Nevertheless, several attacks were pressed home, but the French suffered heavy casualties from the Allied enfilading guns. Despite the losses Humières persisted, and sent a party of Gardes Françaises to try to set alight Walcourt's gates. The attempt failed, and the safety of the garrison was assured after Brigadier-General Thomas Tollemache brought the Coldstream Guards and a German Battalion into the town around 14:00.[13]

Humières saw himself forced to widen the battle and now flung his men in an improvised attack against the right wing of the main Allied line beyond the town.[14] However, at about 18:00, Waldeck launched a double counterattack against the tiring French; General Slangenburg's Dutch against their left, and Aylva with two regiments of foot, supported by Marlborough, at the head of the Life Guards and the Blues, against their right. The French reeled back in disarray but valuable service by the French cavalry, commanded by Colonel Villars, prevented the retreat from becoming a rout, allowing Humières to extricate his men from the field.[13]

Humières had been humiliated, but due to an infectious disease among his soldiers, Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success. Mortality was highest among the English since they had not yet learned to build huts and to therefore keep themselves dry and warm.[15] For a few days the two armies remained face to face, cannonading one another at intervals, but no further fighting occurred. Humières returned to the region of the Scheldt fortresses, and Waldeck to Brussels.

Among the Scottish Regiments taking part in the battle were the Scots Guards, The Royal Scots, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers.[16]

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Thomas Tollemache

Thomas Tollemache

Thomas Tollemache, also spelt Talmash or Tolmach, was an English soldier and Member of Parliament. Beginning his military career in 1673, in 1686 he resigned his commission in protest at the introduction of Catholic officers into the English army by James II. A supporter of military intervention by the Protestant William of Orange, in early 1688 he joined a regiment of the Anglo-Scots Brigade, a long established mercenary unit in the Dutch army.

Coldstream Guards

Coldstream Guards

The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonial occasions. The Regiment has consistently provided formations on deployments around the world and has fought in the majority of the major conflicts in which the British Army has been engaged.

Hans Willem van Aylva

Hans Willem van Aylva

Hans Willem van Aylva was a Dutch soldier and lieutenant general.

Royal Horse Guards

Royal Horse Guards

The Royal Regiment of Horse Guards (RHG) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.

Claude Louis Hector de Villars

Claude Louis Hector de Villars

Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun was a French military commander and an illustrious general of Louis XIV of France. He was one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France.

Scheldt

Scheldt

The Scheldt is a 435-kilometre-long (270 mi) river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old English sceald ("shallow"), Modern English shoal, Low German schol, West Frisian skol, and obsolete Swedish skäll ("thin").

Brussels

Brussels

Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country and is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region.

History of the Scots Guards (1642–1804)

History of the Scots Guards (1642–1804)

This article details the history of the Scots Guards from 1642 to 1804. The Scots Guards (SG) is a regiment of the Guards Division of the British Army. The Scots Guards trace their origins back to 1642 when, by order of King Charles I, the regiment was raised by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll for service in Ireland, and was known as the Marquis of Argyll's Royal Regiment. It spent a number of years there and performed a variety of duties, but in the mid-1640s, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, the regiment took part in the fight against James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose who was fighting on the side of Charles I. In 1646, Montrose left Scotland upon the defeat of the King in England.

Royal Scots

Royal Scots

The Royal Scots, once known as the Royal Regiment of Foot, was the oldest and most senior infantry regiment of the line of the British Army, having been raised in 1633 during the reign of Charles I of Scotland. The regiment existed continuously until 2006, when it amalgamated with the King's Own Scottish Borderers to become the Royal Scots Borderers, which merged with the Royal Highland Fusiliers, the Black Watch, the Highlanders and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Royal Scots Fusiliers

Royal Scots Fusiliers

The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers which was later itself merged with the Royal Scots, King's Own Scottish Borderers, the Black Watch, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and the Highlanders to form a new large regiment, the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Aftermath

The battle (the only notable incident in the whole campaign), was sharp and bloody; there had within living memory been no equally serious encounter between the English and French. French losses are estimated at 2,000, and six guns; Allied casualties numbered between 100–700. Prince of Waldeck commended the 39-year-old Marlborough to William who " … in spite of his youth" had shown great military aptitude; on 5 September (26 August O.S), in recognition of his endeavours, William awarded Marlborough the lucrative colonelcy of the 7th Foot (later the Royal Fusiliers).

The victory at Walcourt had bolstered Allied confidence; but Humières, dubbed le maréchal sans lumière by his colleagues, found himself disgraced.[13] Before Humières went into winter quarters, he detached four battalions of Gardes françaises to march to the Rhineland, where in 1689 Louis' outnumbered forces faced their greatest challenge.[17] But by 1690, the main seat of action of the war returned to Flanders. For this campaign, however, King Louis entrusted command of the theatre to the duc de Luxembourg, who, on 1 July, fought his tactical masterpiece at the Battle of Fleurus.[18]

Source: "Battle of Walcourt", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 10th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Walcourt.

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Further Reading

Battle of Blenheim

Battle of Ramillies

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough

Battle of Fleurus (1690)

Battle of Malplaquet

Battle of Steenkerque

Battle of Oudenarde

Battle of Beachy Head (1690)

Camille d'Hostun, duc de Tallard

Battle of Cassel (1677)

Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)

Battle of Almenar

Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières

Battle of Leuze

Siege of Namur (1692)

Battle of Elixheim

Siege of Mons (1691)

Hans Willem van Aylva
Notes
  1. ^ All dates in the article are in the Gregorian calendar (unless otherwise stated). The Julian calendar as used in England in 1689 differed by ten days. Thus, the battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August (Gregorian calendar) or 15 August (Julian calendar). In this article (O.S) is used to annotate Julian dates with the year adjusted to 1 January. See the article Old Style and New Style dates for a more detailed explanation of the dating issues and conventions.
  2. ^ Van Nimwegen: De Veertigjarige Oorlog, p. 192
  3. ^ Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 30.
  4. ^ Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 30.
  5. ^ Van Nimwegen: De Veertigjarige Oorlog, p. 192
  6. ^ Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 32. Chandler states less than 100; Churchill states 300.
  7. ^ a b Childs 1991, p. 123.
  8. ^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, p. 191
  9. ^ a b Wolf: The Emergence of the Great Powers: 1685–1715. p. 43
  10. ^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, p. 200
  11. ^ a b c Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 30
  12. ^ Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, p. 279
  13. ^ a b c d e Chandler: Marlborough as Military Commander, p. 32
  14. ^ a b Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, p. 280
  15. ^ Van Nimwegen: De Veertigjarige Oorlog, p. 194
  16. ^ "Royal Scots Fusiliers - Cranston Fine Arts Regiment Art".
  17. ^ Lynn: The Wars of Louis XIV 1667–1714, p. 200
  18. ^ Lynn: The French Wars 1667–1714, p. 51
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