| Battle of Seneffe | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Franco-Dutch War | |||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| France | Dutch Republic Holy Roman Empire Spain |
||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Prince de Condé | William III of Orange | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 30,000 infantry 14,200 cavalry 60 guns |
40,000 infantry 22,000 cavalry ~70 guns |
||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 10,000 dead, wounded, or captured[2] | 10,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, 5,000 captured[2] |
||||||
|
|
|||||
The Battle of Seneffe was fought on 11 August 1674 and resulted in a draw.The armies were under the command of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (France) and the Dutch-German-Spanish army under William III of Orange.
During the Franco-Dutch war, William III commanded a Dutch-German-Spanish 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 five weeks the two armies manoeuvred 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.
Condé sent a detachment of about 500 horsemen to keep the Dutch vanguard busy near the village of Seneffe, blocking the advance of William. In the meantime, Condé tried to surround the 60,000 allied troops with the 45,000 men at his disposal.
The horsemen managed to keep the Dutch vanguard busy, but the envelopment of the main allied force failed. After ten hours more than 8,000 people had died. Condé had 8,000 dead or wounded and William had 11,000. Both armies retreated from the battlefield and although the battle was indecisive both sides claimed victory.