Battle of Walcourt
Encyclopedia
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 300. 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.
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
’. 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.
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.
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. 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
. 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."
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. 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.
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. 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."
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. 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.
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. However, at about 18:00, Waldeck launched a double counterattack against the tiring French; General Slangenburg's
Dutch against their left, and Marlborough, at the head of the Life Guards
and the Blues
(supported by two regiments of foot), 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.
Humières had been humiliated, but due to administrative problems, Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success. 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.
The victory at Walcourt had bolstered Allied confidence; but Humières, dubbed le maréchal sans lumière by his colleagues, found himself disgraced. 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. 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
.
Walcourt
Walcourt is a Walloon municipality and town located in Belgium in the province of Namur.On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 17,516 inhabitants...
near Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
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
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck was a German and Dutch Field Marshal .In 1641, Waldeck entered the service of the States-General of the Netherlands; later in 1651, in the service of Brandenburg, he reached the highest rank as minister...
; the French army by the duc de Humières
Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humières
Louis de Crévant, Duc d'Humières was a Marshal of France and Governor of Compiègne, Bourbonnais and Lille.He was present at the Battle of the Dunes, and participated in the Franco-Dutch war under Turenne. He was made Marshal of France in 1668...
. The battle incurred some 2,000 French casualties against the Allied losses of less than 300. The Allied victory had been an auspicious opening of the war for King William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
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.
Background
In September 1688, King Louis XIV’s forces invaded the RhinelandRhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
and besieged the German town of Philippsburg
Philippsburg
Philippsburg is a town in Germany, in the district of Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemberg.-History:Before 1632, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim".The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1371–1718...
. Louis had hoped to compel the powerful German princes, and their Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I
Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
| style="float:right;" | Leopold I was a Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia. A member of the Habsburg family, he was the second son of Emperor Ferdinand III and his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain. His maternal grandparents were Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria...
, into converting the 1684 Truce of Ratisbon
Truce of Ratisbon
The Truce of Ratisbon, or Truce of Regensburg, concluded the War of the Reunions between Spain and France. The Truce was signed on 15 August 1684 at the Dominican convent at Ratisbon in Bavaria between Louis XIV of France on the one side, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, and the Spanish King,...
into a permanent peace, thus confirming Louis' territorial gains of the ‘Reunions
War of the Reunions
The War of the Reunions was a short conflict between France and Spain and its allies. It was fueled by the long-running desire of Louis XIV to conquer new lands, many of them comprising part of the Spanish Netherlands, along France's northern and eastern borders...
’. Other German towns fell in quick succession, including Oppenheim
Oppenheim
Oppenheim is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is well known as a wine town, the site of the German Winegrowing Museum and particularly for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen vineyards.- Location :...
, Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
, Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
, 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
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
’s invasion of England in November. William’s success in the subsequent ‘Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
’ – leading to his accession to the English throne in February 1689 (reigning jointly with his wife Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
) – 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
Franco-Spanish War (1653)
The Franco-Spanish War was a military conflict that was the result of French involvement in the Thirty Years' War. After Swedish allies were forced to seek terms with the Holy Roman Empire, First Minister, Cardinal Richelieu declared war on Spain because French territory was now surrounded by the...
, thus depriving Louis of all his gains since his assumption of power.
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
Jacobitism
Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
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.
Prelude
Sambre
The Sambre is a river in northern France and Wallonia, southern Belgium, left tributary of the Meuse River. The ancient Romans called the river Sabis.-Course:...
, where he marshalled 24 battalions and 75 squadrons, totalling 24,000 men. William entrusted overall command of his 35,000 troops in the theatre to the 69-year-old Prince of Waldeck
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck was a German and Dutch Field Marshal .In 1641, Waldeck entered the service of the States-General of the Netherlands; later in 1651, in the service of Brandenburg, he reached the highest rank as minister...
. The English contingent of 8,000 men was commanded by the Earl of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, 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
Commissariat
A commissariat is the department of an army charged with the provision of supplies, both food and forage, for the troops. The supply of military stores such as ammunition is not included in the duties of a commissariat. In almost every army the duties of transport and supply are performed by the...
. 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."
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
Fleurus
Fleurus is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Fleurus had a total population of 22,221. The total area is which gives a population density of 375 inhabitants per km²...
; the two armies spent the next two months marching and counter-marching in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage. By 24 August Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and had camped near the small ancient town of Walcourt
Walcourt
Walcourt is a Walloon municipality and town located in Belgium in the province of Namur.On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 17,516 inhabitants...
where he was satisfied to live upon enemy territory.
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. 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."
Thomas Tollemache
Thomas Tollemache was an English soldier; the second son of Sir Lionel Tollemache of Helmingham, Suffolk and his wife, Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Dysart....
brought the Coldstream Guards
Coldstream Guards
Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, also known officially as the Coldstream Guards , is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division or Household Division....
and a German Battalion into the town around 14:00.
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. However, at about 18:00, Waldeck launched a double counterattack against the tiring French; General Slangenburg's
General Slangenburg
Frederik Johan van Baer, Lord of Slangenburg was a Dutch officer in the military service of William III of Orange.-Career:He was a professed Catholic, and therefore was denied a career in government...
Dutch against their left, and Marlborough, at the head of the Life Guards
Life Guards (British Army)
The Life Guards is the senior regiment of the British Army and with the Blues and Royals, they make up the Household Cavalry.They originated in the four troops of Horse Guards raised by Charles II around the time of his restoration, plus two troops of Horse Grenadier Guards which were raised some...
and the Blues
Royal Horse Guards
The Royal Horse Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, part of the Household Cavalry.Founded August 1650 in Newcastle Upon Tyne by Sir Arthur Haselrig on the orders of Oliver Cromwell as the Regiment of Cuirassiers, the regiment became the Earl of Oxford's Regiment during the reign of...
(supported by two regiments of foot), against their right. The French reeled back in disarray but valuable service by the French cavalry, commanded by Colonel Villars
Claude Louis Hector de Villars
Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Prince de Martigues, Marquis then Duc de Villars, Vicomte de Melun was the last great general of Louis XIV of France and one of the most brilliant commanders in French military history, one of only six Marshals who have been promoted to Marshal General of...
, prevented the retreat from becoming a rout, allowing Humières to extricate his men from the field.
Humières had been humiliated, but due to administrative problems, Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success. 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
Scheldt
The Scheldt is a 350 km long river in northern France, western Belgium and the southwestern part of the Netherlands...
fortresses, and Waldeck to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
.
Among the Scottish Regiments taking part in the battle were the Scots Guards, The Royal Scots, and the Royal Scots Fusiliers.
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 between 600 and 2,000, and six guns; Allied casualties numbered between 100–300. 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. 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. 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
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War. In a bold envelopment the Duc de Luxembourg, commanding Louis XIV’s army of some 35,000 men, soundly defeated Prince Waldeck’s Allied force of approximately 38,000 men comprising mainly Dutch, German, and...
.