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Siege of Naarden (1673)

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Siege of Naarden (1673)
Part of the Franco-Dutch War
Atlas Van der Hagen-KW1049B11 092-BELEGERINGE DER STADT NAERDEN Zijnde de Eerste overwinninge die zijn Konincklijcke Hoogheyt de Heer Prinse van Oranjen heeft gedaen verovert.jpeg
Siege of Naarden
Date6–13 September 1673 (1673-09-06 – 1673-09-13)
Location
Naarden, Dutch Republic
Result Dutch-Spanish victory
Belligerents
 Kingdom of France  Dutch Republic
Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg Spain
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of France Phillipe de Pracé du Pas Dutch Republic William III of Orange
Dutch Republic Godard van Reede-Ginkel
Strength
3,000 men[1] 25,000 men[1]
Casualties and losses
c. 300[1] c. 300[1]

The siege of Naarden took place from 6 to 13 September 1673 during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672 to 1678, when a Dutch army captured the Dutch fortress town of Naarden. Naarden had been occupied by the French since the previous year.

Prelude

The Dutch army was stationed behind the Dutch Water Line until their counter-attack.
The Dutch army was stationed behind the Dutch Water Line until their counter-attack.

In May 1672, following the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and its peripheral conflict the Third Anglo-Dutch War, France, supported by Münster and Cologne, invaded and nearly overran the Dutch Republic. At the same time, it faced the threat of an Anglo-French naval blockade, though that attempt was abandoned following the Battle of Solebay. Naarden, which is positioned close to Amsterdam, was captured by the French on 20 June 1672 and further French advances into the province of Holland were only halted due too the Dutch Water Line. A stalemate followed.[2]

By August 1673 the French had diverted manpower and recources away from the Dutch Republic to be able to conquer the Alsace and the Electorate of Trier. The French did this to safeguard their eastern border. This French aggression was decisive in rallying the German states to support the Dutch and on 28 August, the Dutch Republic and Holy Roman Empire signed the Treaty of The Hague, soon joined by Spain and the Lorraine.[2]

The siege of Trier also proved more difficult than calculated by Vauban and so most of the French cavalry in the Dutch Republic had to be moved to Trier. Luxembourg, the French general in command of the forces in the Netherlands, thus had to take on a defensive posture, something which irritated him greatly. The Dutch, led by William III of Orange, were emboldened by these developments and started planning a counter-attack to liberate the occupied lands of the Dutch Republic. Naarden was chosen as target. William of Orange ordered Godard van Reede-Ginkel to mount a fake assault with 1,500 cavalrymen on Grave as a diversion. The rest of the army crossed the Water Line in the north and started to besiege Naarden on 6 September. The diversion had succeeded in tricking Luxembourg, as he had moved large amounts of troops to Tiel in the direction of Grave.[2]

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Franco-Dutch War

Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War, was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. In its early stages, France was allied with Münster and Cologne, as well as England. The 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and 1675 to 1679 Scanian War are considered related conflicts.

Electorate of Cologne

Electorate of Cologne

The Electorate of Cologne, sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne, was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift — the temporal possessions — of the Archbishop of Cologne, and was ruled by him in his capacity as prince-elector. There were only two other ecclesiastical prince-electors in the Empire: the Electorate of Mainz and the Electorate of Trier. The Archbishop-Elector of Cologne was also Arch-chancellor of Italy and, as such, ranked second among all ecclesiastical and secular princes of the Empire, after the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, and before that of Trier.

Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The United Provinces of the Netherlands, officially the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands. The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 and declaring their independence in 1581. It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland and Zeeland.

Kingdom of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England existed on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it unified from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Battle of Solebay

Battle of Solebay

The naval Battle of Solebay took place on 28 May Old Style, 7 June New Style 1672 and was the first naval battle of the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

County of Holland

County of Holland

The County of Holland was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a part until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. The territory of the County of Holland corresponds roughly with the current provinces of North Holland and South Holland in the Netherlands.

Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2023, it had a population of 1,921,014. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of Germanic and French influences.

Electorate of Trier

Electorate of Trier

The Electorate of Trier was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince-archbishop of Trier who was, ex officio, a prince-elector of the empire. The other ecclesiastical electors were the electors of Cologne and Mainz.

Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Habsburg Spain

Habsburg Spain

Habsburg Spain is a contemporary historiographical term referring to the huge extent of territories ruled between the 16th and 18th centuries (1516–1713) by kings from the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg. Habsburg Spain was a composite monarchy and a personal union. The Habsburg Hispanic Monarchs reached the zenith of their influence and power ruling the Spanish Empire. They controlled territories over the five continents, including the Americas, the East Indies, the Low Countries, Belgium, Luxembourg, and territories now in Italy, France and Germany in Europe, the Portuguese Empire from 1580 to 1640, and various other territories such as small enclaves like Ceuta and Oran in North Africa. This period of Spanish history has also been referred to as the "Age of Expansion".

Duchy of Lorraine

Duchy of Lorraine

The Duchy of Lorraine, originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.

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.

The siege

Naarden
Naarden

The Dutch army, 25,000 strong, had gathered around Naarden on the 6th of September. Its fortifications were not very modern, but met the requirements of the time. In front of the gates, the most vulnerable areas of the fortress, lay ravelins with cannons behind an elevation. Because of a moat around Naarden the ravelins functioned as small triangular fortress islands. Those ravelins had to be captured before the attacker could make work of the main rampart. Phillipe de Pracé du Pas, the commander of Naarden, was struggling with a lack of gunpowder and bullets. This allowed the Dutch sappers to dig trenches without much difficulty. A French armed force of 600 men, send out on the first day with the aim of cutting wood for the necessary palisades on the earthen rampart, was also dispersed in disorder by the swift action of Dutch troops under Godard van Reede-Ginkel and a few French soldiers were captured. Some of those captured soldiers told the Dutch about the critical situation inside Naarden and also mentioned that Du Pas was expecting a relieve force under Luxembourg to arrive soon.[3]

Luxembourg had meanwhile been made aware of the attack, and travelled back north to Utrecht were he arrived on the 11th. But instead of moving strait to relieve Naarden he decided to wait for reinforcements. William of Orange, unaware of this had planned to take Naarden as fast as he could. Instead of the slow method of siege engineering, an assault now had to be organised with great haste. The Dutch artillery had by now shot a few solid breaches in the main wall and he French's weak cannon fire had been completely silenced. For the Dutch assault to succeed, the ravelin in front of the main wall had to be captured first. This was to be done by a Spanish infantry regiment and a regiment of Dutch marines led by Colonel Palm. As the moat was too deep to wade through, mats made of twigs had to be knotted first to dampen the moat. The path that could be laid with these was soggy, but usable for an assault.[3]

On 11 September at 11 o'clock in the evening, the trumpeters blew the signal and drum rolls rose from the Dutch and Spanish army camps. Immediately afterwards, the sound of the alarm bell resounded from Naarden. Covered in darkness, the attackers ran across the thickets of branches. Some 600 French soldiers lay ready in the breach. Colonel Palm and his soldiers plunged in on the soldiers in the breach, and were welcomed with a murderous salvo from the French muskets. After a fierce struggle the Dutch and Spanish succeeded in capturing the raveline. That same night, Dutch artillery was placed on the captured raveline to bring the guns as close to the city walls as possible. The next morning, no Frenchman dared to show up on the ramparts. That same morning, the Dutch began to organise a final attack. When Du Pas noticed this, he made it known he wanted to talk. The first proposal for a truce was refused by William. Not long after, the city was surrendered and the next morning the Dutch and their Spanish allies entered the fortified city. The 2,700 survivors were allowed to march out with the honours of war.[3]

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Aftermath

On the Dutch side, the recapture of Naarden was a huge boost; on the French side, the fall gave the Marquis de Louvois a rough couple of weeks. The Dutch War was not going well. Luxembourg clearly let him know this too. He simply did not have enough soldiers left to resist the Dutch. Luxembourg wrote 'This forces me to ask, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"' Did you not know how strong the Dutch were and that they would try something'. If Holland was to be preserved he simply needed more soldiers he reiterated.[4]

Naarden had showed that the French position in the Netherlands was untenable. The front line had become too long, leaving the Dutch front too sparsely manned. With the Imperial army approaching, the situation could become very dangerous. The French had to make a choice and perhaps withdraw from the Dutch Republic. However, this would be difficult for Louis XIV to stomach. Louvois wrote to Luxembourg that 'in his present mood His Majesty would rather give up Paris than Maastricht.' Supported by Turenne however, Louvios was able to convince Louis XIV of an evacuation of the Dutch Republic. The allied capture of Bonn, an important magazine in the long logistical lines between France and the northern war zone again showed the evacuation to be necessary. Louis was deeply shocked and retreated to St Germain where no one, except a few intimates, were allowed to disturb him. The next year only Grave and Maastricht remained in French hands.[4]

Du Pas had been stripped of his rank and expelled from the nobility as a result of the disgrace. He would not survive the disgrace he had brought on himself and his family. The following year, he sought and found death during the Siege of Grave.[1]

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François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois

François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois

François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War during a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Together with his father, Michel le Tellier, he oversaw an increase in the numbers of the French Army, eventually reaching 340,000 soldiers – an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713. He is commonly referred to as "Louvois".

Louis XIV

Louis XIV

Louis XIV, also known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign in history whose date is verifiable. Although Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the Age of Absolutism in Europe, the King surrounded himself with a variety of significant political, military, and cultural figures, such as Bossuet, Colbert, Le Brun, Le Nôtre, Lully, Mazarin, Molière, Racine, Turenne, and Vauban.

Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse, at the point where the Jeker joins it. Mount Saint Peter (Sint-Pietersberg) is largely situated within the city's municipal borders. Maastricht is adjacent to the border with Belgium and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, an international metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Liège and Hasselt.

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne, commonly known as Turenne [ty.ʁɛn], was a French general and one of only six Marshals to have been promoted Marshal General of France. The most illustrious member of the La Tour d'Auvergne family, his military exploits over his five-decade career earned him a reputation as one of the greatest military commanders in history.

Siege of Bonn (1673)

Siege of Bonn (1673)

The siege of Bonn took place from 3 to 12 November 1673 in Bonn, Germany, during the Franco-Dutch War. Having forced the armies of Louis XIV to retreat, the Dutch in 1673 went on the offensive. At Bonn, a garrison consisting of troops from France and the Electorate of Cologne was besieged by a force from the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain. The allied forces captured the garrison following a nine-day siege.

Magazine (artillery)

Magazine (artillery)

Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition or other explosive material is stored. It is taken originally from the Arabic word "makhāzin" (مخازن), meaning 'storehouses', via Italian and Middle French.

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a former royal palace in the commune of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the département of Yvelines, about 19 km west of Paris, France. Today, it houses the musée d'Archéologie nationale.

Siege of Grave (1674)

Siege of Grave (1674)

The siege of Grave took place from 25 July to 27 October in 1674 during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672 to 1678, when a Dutch army captured the Dutch fortress town of Grave in what is now North Brabant. Grave had been occupied by the French since the summer of 1672 when an army under Turenne forced the town to surrender.

Source: "Siege of Naarden (1673)", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 5th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Naarden_(1673).

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References
  1. ^ a b c d e Nimwegen 2020, p. 133.
  2. ^ a b c Panhuysen 2009, pp. 381–386.
  3. ^ a b c Panhuysen 2009, pp. 386–389.
  4. ^ a b Panhuysen 2009, pp. 391–398.
Sources
  • Panhuysen, Luc (2009). Rampjaar 1672: Hoe de Republiek aan de ondergang ontsnapte. Uitgeverij Atlas. ISBN 9789045013282.
  • Nimwegen, Olaf van (2020). De Veertigjarige Oorlog 1672-1712: de strijd van de Nederlanders tegen de Zonnekoning (in Dutch). Prometheus. ISBN 978-9044638714.

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