The year started with a Quadruple Alliance between Great Britain, Austria, the Dutch Republic and Saxony. Maria Theresa was granted a subsidy of £ 500,000, enough to maintain a force of 50,000 men. The States General of the Dutch Republic undertook to furnish 52,000 men and the British 40,000. Allied general command was granted to Cumberland, who also was commander of the British contingent. The 73 year old Konigsegg commanded the Austrian contingent, the (German) Prince of Waldeck the Dutch, and General de Wendt the Hanoverians. A review at Brussels in April 1745 revealed an effective strength of only 30,550 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. The Austrians had, due to a Prussian threat, only supplied 6 weak squadrons.

After settling a peace with Bavaria on April 15th, this potential enemy fought on the Austrian side for the rest of the W.A.S. and supplied several battalions to the allied army.

Although the year 1745 is always regarded as the year of the battle of Fontenoy, the real goal of the 1745 campaign for the French was the capture of Tournai. Lille and Tournai were always seen by the French as the gates to and the eyes on the Netherlands. With only Lille the French couldn't be satisfied and so they made Tournai the main object of their 1745-campaign. De Saxe had been appointed Commander-in Chief of the French armies in Flanders. At his disposal he had 90 regular battalions, 10 militia battalions (totalling 69,000 infantry) and 160 squadrons (25,600 cavalry), accompanied by about 100 field-guns and a siege-train of 87 cannon, 45 mortars and 14 stone-throwing engines (?). The army gathered at Maubeuge.

While a strong French detachment under d'Estr6es and Du Chayla was sent to Mons, the bulk of the army under De Saxe headed for Tournai. The Allies were deceived by this move and thought Mons was the main objective of the French. When noting their mistake they left Brussels on April 30th to advance upon Tournai. Marshal de Saxe felt that he first had to beat the allied army, before he could succesfully finish the siege of Tournai. What followed was to enter into history as the famous battle of Fontenoy. [Editor - Fontenoy will be the subject of a future issue]

Meanwhile on April 26th the investment of Tournai, from both banks of the Scheldt, had started under the command of the Count of Lowenthal. In the night of April 30th the French had opened trenches at the nearby village Orcq. By May 4th, 2 parallels had been completed and fire was opened with 60 siege-guns and mortars from 7 batteries. On May 10th the covered way, in front of the 2 hornworks covering the gate called The 7 Fountains, was occupied and on the night of May 12th work was started on the breaching-batteries.

Five well-aimed sorties and a good defensive fire assured the French that the resistance would be stronger as it had been during the sieges of the previous year.

The garrison of between 8-9,000 men was commanded by the brave infantry-general Van Dorth and included the following Dutch foot regiments: Villattes, Holstein-Gottorp, Panthaleon, Praetorius, Tyssot van Patot, Du Tertre, Van Brakel, Marjoribanks (Scots), all 1 battalion and Hirzel (Swiss, 3 btns). There also were 3 sqds. present of the cavalry regiment Schultz van Hagen.

Luck, however, was on Lowenthal's side. By way of treachery the watermark in the ditches was lowered 3 feet and the citadel powdermagazine was exploded. On May 15th Louis XV threatened Van Dorth to take the entire garrison prisoner, in case it didn't surrender within 5 days. On the night of May 16th, 2 French grenadier companies tried to enter into the hornwork through one of the corner-bastions.

This attack was repulsed, but 2 days later a renewed assault by 16 grenadier companies through 2 breaches was successful and the besiegers occupied both corner-bastions of the hornwork. Immediately siege-batteries were erected and 2 days later the curtain-wall could be climbed. Seeing this Van Dorth asked the French permission to withdraw into the castle; he had orders from the States-general to defend this stronghold, one of the famous works by the Dutch engineer Coehoorn. The French gave their allowance and the remaining 7,000 men were cramped into the castle. Without any bomb-free shelters they managed to hold out for another 20 days.

Within 11 days the French had gathered 200 heavy guns and 78 mortars to fire at the castle. Over 30,000 bombs were fired at the castle, some weighing 500 pounds. On the nights of June 4th, 5th and 8th sorties were undertaken with forces of up to 1,000 strong, causing much damage at material and personel.

By June 19th only 5,000 men remained, with most of the guns damaged, the water-supplies vitiated and a 78 foot wide breach in the main wall. Despite earlier threats, the garrison was allowed to leave the fortress on June 20th with military honours because of their braveness, in return for their promise not to take up arms against France before January 1747. French sources mention about 7,400 troops surrendering, against 5,000 mentioned by Dutch sources. They marched to Ghent. French losses were estimated at 10,000 in front of the town and about the same number during the siege of the castle. This heroic defence of Tournai offered some compensation for the dishounorable defeat some weeks before at Fontenoy, for which the Dutch were largely held responsible.

By the end of June French forces were further strengthened by reinforcements from Prince Conti's Rhine-army. By July 1st De Saxe's army totalled 106 btns. and 165 sqds., some 100,000 men, apart from a detachment at Maubeuge of 3 btns. and 34 sqds. Allied forces were estimated at 51 battalions. and 94 squadrons, totalling about 60,000 men.

The French under Lowenthal advanced further into Flanders, threatening the allied rear. They took possession of Lessines, the allied base where they had withdrawn after their defeat at Fontenoy and threatened the allied position at Grammont, which had been further reinforced up to 7 English battalions and 12 artillery pieces. The Allied forces retreated further into Flanders and took positions behind the rivers Dender and Marcq.

De Saxe made Cumberland believe that he was still looking for a possibility to force him to a decisive battle. However knowing that the Allied positions were too strong to force he again turned his attention to one of his prior goals: the further conquest of Flanders.

De Saxe succeeded in throwing a corps between Oudenaarde and the Allied positions, preventing Cumberland from fullfilling his two main aims: securing both Brussels and the line of communication for the British contingent with Ostend through Northern Flanders. To secure the last, the German (Hanoverian?) lieutenant-general Moltke was detached to Alost in order to reinforce Ghent in case of emergency and arrived there on July 8th.. Reacting on false information that the French were marching for Ghent, Moltke was ordered to leave for that town one day later. His force consisted of: the English foot regiments Royal (1st), Bligh (20th) and Handasyde's (16th ?); 1 sqd. each of the Hanoverian cavalry regiments Leib and Adelepsen, 3 sqds. of the English 4th Dragoons (Riches'), 3 sqds. of the Dutch Schlippenbach dragoons and I sqd. each of the Austrian Styrum and Ligne dragoons. Total strength between 3,000 and 3,500 men. When leaving for Ghent another 150 Austrian hussars were attached to his force.

In response, De Saxe, hearing of Allied forces heading for Ghent, sent Du Chayla with a strong detachment to Melle, a place halfway between Oudenaarde and Ghent. He had orders to throw a boatbridge across the Scheldt and prevent Allied forces from reaching Ghent and to reinforce a French attack on Ghent.

Du Chayla's force counted some 10,000 men and was composed of:

The infantry brigade Normandie (4btns), the infantry brigade Crillon(3 btns Crillon, l btn Laval) 24 sqds. of the cavalrybrigades Roi, Royal-Stranger and Berry, the Grassins lighttroops, 20 artillery pieces and 20 pontoons.

Moltke's force was hard pressed in the build-up area in and around Melle. After a heavy engagement Moltke succeeded in breaking through the French positions, covered by the 1st Foot (Royal Scots), which was almost annihilated. He managed to reach Ghent with only the Hanoverian cavalry, the hussars and a small number of Riches' dragoons. Bligh, who commanded the left wing of Moltke's force, hardly managed to escape in the direction of Alost. Total losses for the allies were between 500 and 700 dead and wounded, 1,400 pris oners and lots of baggage. Estimations of French losses vary between 300 and 1,000 men. Besides part of their artillery and pontoon-train was lost or damaged.

Du Chayla advanced with part of his force up to the Imperial Gate at Ghent, where he waited for Lowenthal to arrive with his siege force.

(This might be a nice smaller-scale action to deal with in more detail in a future issue

Although Ghent was packed with military supplies, it was left by the Allies almost without a garrison of any importance. Dutch and Austrian accounts speak of 500 English (probably the Royal Welsh Fusiliers - 23rd Foot), 200 Austrians and a newly raised English free-company., consisting mainly of French deserters. Moltke had fled the town with the Hanoverian cavalry and the hussars, leaving the few survivers of the 1st. Foot behind.

Skrine however speaks of a 2,200 strong Dutch garrison; perhaps these include the ±700 wounded English soldiers of Fontenoy who were nursed there.

After Lowenthal's arrival on July 11th, trenches were opened. Soon the garrison retreated into the citadel, against which trenches were opened on July 14th. Before the siege-batteries began to speak however, the Dutch governor surrendered. The French captured 30 guns, full equipment for several regiments and supplies worth Hfl 500,000.

Meanwhile, in June 1745, England had promised to take into pay from the Austrian army 12 infantry battalions and 12 companies of hussars. A total of about 8,000 men, of which however only 5,600 arrived. Austria couldn't make more troops free for service in the Netherlands, because its frontier-towns were in permanent danger. Also in June the Landgrave of Hesse sent 6,000 troops to the Allied camp. By the end of June paper strength of the Allied army was again 70,000 men, but still just about half of the French army. A problem was that each of the frontier towns should have a 10,000 strong garrison for an adequate defence. So a choice had to be made by the allies: neglecting the frontier defences or totally weakening the field force.

Brugge was an open town without any garrison. It surrendered on July 18th. to a French detachment of 4 grenadier companies and 150 men from the Grassins Freikorps.

Oudenaarde was defended by a mixed small force, under the Austrian general MacHugo. The garrison was composed of the following troops: 450 men of the Austrian battalions Gaisruck and Beauclerc, 600 men from the Dutch battalion Brauw, 30 hussars and 20 artillerists for 32 guns, which were in a bad condition. (Dutch sources mention the English 48th Foot to be present).

French siege forces under Lowenthal consisted of 20 battalions and the artillery battery Richecourt. Total artillery-power was ±50 pieces of all kind. Oudenaarde had reasonable defensive works, but again too small a garrison to man them. It held out four days untill July 21st. The garrison was made prisoner-of-war.

In the meantime Cumberland, with about 34,000 men left, had been pushed back by De Saxe into the direction of Brussels, leaving all Flanders open to the eager Lowenthal. The latter was despatched by De Saxe with an advance guard to clear the last obstacles in the maritime region of Flanders: Dendermonde and Ostend.

Dendermonde's defences were mainly simple walls surrounded by some innundations. The garrison totalled between 8-900 men under the command of the Austrian general Tunderfeld; the Austrian battalion Pri6 and the Dutch battalion La Rocque. (Again Dutch sources mention the British 48th Foot (Ligonier's - the brother of the general), which should have retreated from Oudenaarde.) From Antwerp reinforcements were shipped to reach Dendermonde over the Scheldt. But the ships with 300 English and 300 Dutch infantry were forced to turn back by a French detachment lead by the Grassins Freikorps.

The French siege forces totalled about 14,000 men; 23 battalions, 20 grenadier companies and 400 dragoons. After the French had easily been able to make a diversion for the water-streams, the garrison surrendered on August 13th. It was allowed to leavethe town with full honours of war. Meanwhile general Lowenthal had laid siege to Ostend, making use of the captured artillery park from Dendermonde. Ostend, a well fortified town, full of supplies, was defended by a strong garrison commanded by the Austrian general Chanclos. Just in the knick of time 14 transports had entered the harbour with artillery and other supplies. The garrison was composed of the following troops: the English regiments. Campbell (21st), Mordaunt, Skelton (32nd; formerly Handasyde's), Harrison and one Guard battalion, the Dutch batt. Kinschott, 2 Austrian grenadier companies and 210 Dutch and Austrian artillerists. Total strength between 4-5,000 men. It was a town renowned for its defensive capacities, however Lowenthal wasn't impressed by this. His siege force counted initially 14 batallions., while general Contades was already ahead of him with another 9 battalions and 5 sqds.. Lowenthal was closely followed by an additional force of 6 batallions and 20 guns.

On August 7th the encirclement of the town was completed and trenches were opened on August 13th.. He was much aided by the Austrian governor of Flanders, Kaunitz, who refused to innundate the surroundings. So Lowenthal was able to place some batteries on the beach to keep the British navy at some distance. First the outwork Fort Plassendael was captured without any resistance. On August 15th a battery was completed in the dunes, enfilading the sea-harbour. The covered way was occupied after some resistance on August 22th..

Meanwhile the allies had been lucky that the arrival of the French siege train (by water over Ghent and Brugge) was delayed. So the English navy had been able to ship lots of supplies to Antwerp. Despite stiff resistance by the garrison, they were compelled to surrender 2 days later, being allowed to leave with full honours of war.

The allies had withdrawn North of Brussels along the canal between Brussels and Antwerp. The British and Hanoverian right wing covered Antwerp, while the Dutch covered Brussels. A chain of redoubts and entrenchments was erected along the canal.

After the fall of Ostend, Nieuwpoort didn't even put up anything resembling a serious defence and the garrison (3 Austrian btns) surrendered after 5 days on September 5th.. The commander general Gibson was dismissed for his disgraceful behaviour.

Cumberland met still worse conditions. He was forced to sent many troops to England to meet the Jacobite Rebellion. Besides 6,000 Dutch, he also had to let go 10 British battalions: 3 Guard battalions and 7 line, totalling about 7,500 men all ranks.

Finally the French turned to Ath, the last Allied stronghold in Western Flanders. It was defended by ±1,500 men: the English 25th Foot (Semphill's), the Dutch battalion Maleprade, an Austrian detachment of 270 men and only 17 artillerists for 56 guns. Command was in the hands again of an Austrian, general Wurmbrand. The small fortress came under fire of 24 mortars and 36 cannon. On October 1st trenches were opened and after the arsenal had been set on fire this town too surrendered on October 8th..

The garrison was allowed to join the allied army at Brussels. The conquest of Flanders was completed. The last feat of arms of the Allied army was to prevent d'Estrees from cutting them off from Mons. A detachment of 3,000 cavalry, 600 Dutch grenadiers and some Free Companies under Hawley, succeeded in driving back a French foraging party with heavy losses, upon which d'Estrees withdrew from Enghien.

In October both sides went into winter-quarters again. From England came the request to send the remainder of the English infantry, 18 sqds. of British horse and dragoons, 4 artillery companies, the field-train and 6,000 Hessian troops. Cumberland returned to England on Oct.29th, while the old and tired KOnigsegg returned forever to Austria. Waldeck was left in command of the remainder of the Allied army.

Within a half year the French army had succeeded in overrunning the greatest part of Flanders. There were several causes for this very successful campaign. Their troops were commanded by 2 of the best generals of those days; Marshal de Saxe and his very able right hand General LOwenthal (a nobleman of Danish birth). The Allies weren't able to make fast decisions, deferring the initiative to the French. Moreover their available field forces had fallen to just over 35,000 during the campaign year 1745. The once famous defensive works were in serious arrears of repair, the artillery equipment was in a bad condition, and many of the troops were badly trained. Many commanders were over-aged and were not fit for their task. On the opposite the French had invested in training of engineers, artillery personel and equipment during the past decades.

Dutch Commitment War of Austrian Succession

Introduction and Preliminaries
1744: First Hostilities in Flanders
1745: Conquest of Flanders
1746: Further Conquests of Austrian Netherlands
Battle of Rocour: 11 October 1746
1747: Dutch Republic Threatened
Battle of Laffelt: 2 July 1747
Siege of Bergen-op Zoom
1748: Maastrict and the End of the War