Battle of Lauffeld

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Battle of Lauffeld
Part of the War of the Austrian Succession

Marshal Maurice de Saxe at the Battle of Lauffeldt. Contemporary painting by Pierre Lenfant.
Date July 2, 1747
Location Lauffeld between Tongeren and Maastricht.
Result French victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United Kingdom Great Britain
Flag of Province of Hanover Hanover
Flag of the Netherlands United Provinces		 Flag of France[1] France
Commanders
Flag of the United Kingdom Duke of Cumberland Flag of France Maurice de Saxe
Strength
60,000 80,000
Casualties and losses
8,000[2]
Including 2,000 prisoners		 8,700[3]
v • d • e
War of the

Austrian Succession

The Battle of Lauffeld[4] took place on July 2, 1747,[5] during the French invasion of the Netherlands. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession. Marshal Saxe led the French forces against the Pragmatic Army, the combined forces of the British and Hanoverians under the banner of the Duke of Cumberland, and the Dutch Republic, fighting under the Prince of Orange, at Lauffeld (or Lafelt, now part of Riemst), just west of Maastricht. Cumberland moved to defeat a detachment of the French army commanded by the Prince of Clermont that de Saxe had sent to bait the Pragmatic Allies into moving. Then Saxe forced-march the main French force to the ground he had chosen outmanuvering them.

Contents

[edit] The Battle

Cumberland now faced the entire French army but further compromised his chances of success by ignoring General Ligonier's[6] advice to occupy and fortify a line of villages across the front of the allied army. Once again, as at the Battle of Rocoux the Austrians on the right refused to move against the open French left flank. The villages changed hands several times until Saxe gained the upper hand. A large French column drove the 10,000 British and Hessian defenders out of and around the village of Lauffeld a final time.

Cumberland reorganized the Dutch and British for a counter-attack. However, the Dutch cavalry was broken by the charge of the French Carabiniers and fled from the French cavalry throwing the infantry behind them into disorder. The French cavalry pierced the allied center.[7] Now a general French advance began to turn the Allied left flank, threatening the annihilation of the British infantry. General Ligonier, on his own iniative, then led the cavalry in charges that would save the army. The greatest cavalry engagement of the war ensued with over 15,000 horsemen charging and counter-charging. Ligonier was captured along with four standards while covering the retreat of the Allies with a final charge.[8]

[edit] Aftermath

It was a French victory that left the gateway to the Dutch Republic open to invasion and the Dutch at the mercy of the French. The allied retreat allowed Saxe to send a detachment of 30,000 under Count Lowendahl north across the lowlands, capturing the city of Bergen-op-Zoom to finish that year's campaign season. At the opening of the Spring campaign season of 1748, the French invested Maastricht and after a brief siege the city fell on May 7. The city's siege started the peace process in April that ended the war in October 1748 with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Maurice de Saxe's long series of victorious campaigns, sieges, and battles in the lowlands ensured France's position as the dominant land power in the peace negotiations during which the sound of Saxe's siege guns could be heard pounding away at the city of Maastricht.

[edit] References

  1. ^ George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, The American Cyclopaedia, New York, 1874, p. 250, "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis...". *[1]The original Banner of France was strewn with fleurs-de-lis. *[2]:on the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)."
  2. ^ History of England, Phillip Henry Stanhope, p. 333, "The number of killed and wounded, on both sides, was very great, and nearly equal."
  3. ^ Skrine, Francis Henry.Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741-48. London, Edinburgh, 1906, p.332.
  4. ^ The Battle of Lauffeld is also know as the Battle of Lafelt or Battle of Maastricht, also Battle of Val.
  5. ^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8. 
  6. ^ Lingonier was a professional soldier who commanded the British cavalry in Cumberland's battles.
  7. ^ Smollett, Tobias. History of England, from The Revolution to the Death of George the Second, London, 1848, Vol.II, p.524.
  8. ^ History of England, Phillip Henry Stanhope, p. 334

[edit] Bibliography

  • Stanhope, Phillip Henry, Lord Mahon. History of England From the Peace of Utrecht to the Peace of Versailles., Boston, 1853, Vol.III.
  • Browning, Reed.The War of the Austrian Succession, St. Martin's Press, New York, (1993): ISBN 0-312-12561-5
  • Chandler, David. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Spellmount Limited, (1990): ISBN 0-946771-42-1
  • Skrine, Francis Henry. Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741-48. London, Edinburgh, 1906.
  • Smollett, Tobias. History of England, from The Revolution to the Death of George the Second, London, 1848, Vol.II.