Battle of Seneffe

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Battle of Seneffe
Part of the Franco-Dutch War
Date August 11, 1674 Location near Seneffe, present-day Belgium Result Indecisive
Combatants
France	United Provinces Spain Austria
Commanders
Louis II de Bourbon	William III of Orange
Strength
30,000 infantry 14,200 cavalry 60 guns	40,000 infantry 22,000 cavalry ~70 guns
Casualties
10,000 dead, wounded, or captured[1]	10,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, 5,000 captured[1]

Franco-Dutch and Third Anglo-Dutch War
Solebay – Schooneveld – Texel – Maastricht – Seneffe – Stromboli - Agosta - Palermo - Utrecht – Groningen - Cassel - Saint-Denis

The Battle of Seneffe was fought on August 11, 1674 and resulted in a draw.The armies were under the command of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (France) and the Dutch-Spanish-Austrian army under William III of Orange.

During the Franco-Dutch war, William III of Orange commanded a Dutch-Spanish-Austrian army through the southern Netherlands into the territory of Northern France. France defended this area with an army under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé. For 5 weeks the two armies manouvered without getting into combat with each other. On the 10th of August William III decided to head for Paris in order to force the enemy into fighting.

Louis II de Bourbon send a detachment of about 500 horsemen to keep the Dutch vanguard busy near the village of Seneffe, blocking the advance of William.During this Louis II tried to surround the Dutch troops with the 45,000 men at his desposal opposed to 60,000 men in the allied army.

The horsemen managed to keep the Dutch army busy, but the surrounding failed. After 10 hours more than 8000 people had died.Condé had 8,000 dead or wounded and William 11,000. Both armies retreated from the battlefield and although the battle was indecisive both sides claimed victory.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714. Longman, (1999). ISBN 0-582-05629-2

[edit] External link

• The Battle of Seneffe