The above gives a total of 24 battalions (including 3 Austrian) and 60 squadrons (incl. 15 Austrian). According to Dutch sources almost all Dutch cavalry should have been present at Rocour, however in the O.O.B. of the Austrian general staff I don't find any trace of the others.

Back now to MAP II-a for the centre of the Allied army, which was under command of the English general Ligonier and the Hannoverian general Zastrow. The villages Rocour, Varoux and Liers formed their front and were defended by 8 battalions.:

• Rocour by the Hessian Mansbach battalion. and by the English regiments of "Green"Howard (19th Foot) and Graham (11th Foot);
• Varoux by the Hanoverian regiments. Boselager and Maydell and the Hessian regiment Donop;
• Liers by the Hanoverian regiment Garde (2nd) and Zastrow.

This entrenched front line was backed by the rest of the same contingent. However the composition of the second and third line of the centre is not quite clear. From the Austrian general staff I come to the following O.O.B.:

In the 2nd line:

• infantry; the Hanoverian regts. Garde (1st), Klinkowstrom, Horn, Hugo, Borch, Block and Sommerfeld, the Hessian regts. Garde, Prinz Friedrich and Grenadiere and the English regiments Douglas (32nd Foot) and Johnson (33rd Foot) (12 batt);
• cavalry; the Hanoverian cavalry regts. Leib, Hammerstein, Wrede, Behr, Hardenberg and the Pontpietin-dragoons, the Hessian cavalry regts. Leib, Graffendorf and the Bentheim cuirassiers and the English dragoon regts. of Cope (7th Dragoons) and Stair (6th Dragoons) (31 sqds);

In the 3rd line:

• infantry; the Hanoverian regts HauB, Sporken, Oberg, Freudemann and Durchtleben, the Hessian regts Prinz Max and the English regiments of Pulteney(13th Foot), Sempill (25th Foot) and Wolfe (8th Foot) (9 btns);
• cavalry; the Hanoverian regts. Schultzen and Montigny and the dragoon regts. Wendt and Adelepsen, the Hessian regts. Isenburg and Prinz Max and the English Rothes'(regt ?)-dragoons (19 sqds).

This gives a total for the English/Hanoverian/Hessian contingent of 29 battalions. and 50 squadrons.. As far as I can see from battle plans from the Osterreichisches Militar-Zeitschrift, in both lines the cavalry occupied the left wing, immediately behind Rocour.

The right (Austrian) wing was practically cut off from the rest of the army, since it was placed behind some (small) ravines, making it difficult to assist other parts of the line. Besides their numbers had been seriously weakened by illness, desertion and detachments.

Although they didn't have any active part in the real battle, I'll deal in some detail with their composition.

If we again turn to MAP II-a, you can see the villages Anixhe (G) and Slins-Fexhe (H) in front of their main position. These were defended by the following troops:

• Anixhe; the regts. Bayreuth and Botta (3 btns /4 gren.comp);
• Slins; the regts. Gaisruck, Platz, Heller, Damnitz and UjvAry (7 btns /6 gren.companies).

The rest of the Austrian contingent was lined up behind these villages in the following (rough) O.O.B.:

In the 1st line:

• infantry; the regiments. Carl Lotharingen, Alt-Arenberg, Wurmbrand, Browne, Jung-Wolffenbuttel, Ujvilry (8 btns / 10 grenadier companies);
• cavalry; the dragoon regiments. Batthyanyi, Ligne and the Hohenzollern-cuirassiers (19 sqds);

In the 2nd line:

• infantry; the regiments. Alt-KOnigsegg, Los Rios, Salm, Haller and Bethlen (7 btns / 5 grenadier companies);
• cavalry; the dragoon regiments. Styrum, Wurttemberg and the Diemar-curassiers (18 sqds);

In the 3rd line (reserve);

• infantry; 1 btn. Trenck-pandours; and cavalry; dragoon regiments. Althann and Lichtenstein (14sgds) hussar-regts. NAdasty, Beleznay, Kalnoky, Karolyi,Esterhazy and Ghilany (42sqds) and some Dutch and Hessian hussars (5 sqds).

This makes a total of 26 battalions. and 84 squadrons. Added to this the 3 battalions and 15 squadrons on the left wing the total of the Austrian contingent comes to 29 battalions and 99 squadrons. Their numbers are estimated by the Austrian general staff at 18.000 infantry and 10.000 cavalry (Skrine mentions 49.000 !). When we take the average of the other contingents at 600/battalion and 100/squadron this gives a total allied force of about 68.000 all ranks. Total numbers in various sources vary between 65.000 and 97.000. Dutch sources refer to approximately 73.000, a number I think very acceptable.

If we look once more at MAP 11-a we see for the French in great lines the following O.O.B.:

• On the right wing the corps of D'Estrdes (4) and Clermont Prince (5), centered around the village of Montfort (E);
• In the centre the corps of Maubourg and Hdrouville (6),Clermont-Gallerande (8) in front of the village of Villers (F);
• On the left wing the corps of Montagne (9) A reserve under Du Chayla (7).

Below you find a more detailed O.O.B. For the right wing and centre you have to look at MAP II-b; the numbers in brackets(..) refer to it.

Right wing;

Corps of General d'Estrees (4);

despatched right cavalry flank under Armentieres; regiments. Grassins and MorliBres (Freikorps), Hussar regiments. Polleretzky, Raugrave, David, Bercheny and Lynden (22 sqds);

Main body:

infantry; regiments. Grassins and MorliBres (Freikorps), Picardie, Monaco, Rochefort, S6gur, Bresse, Bears, Bourbon, Beaujolais and Bassigny (14 btns);

cavalry; cavalry regiments. St.Jal, Vintimille, Rosen and dragoon regiments. Beauffremont and Caraman (11 sqds);

Corps of General Clermont-Prince (5);

infantry; regiments. Champagne, La Fere, Angoumois, Enghien, Royal-SuBdois and La Tour d'Auvergne, Montboissier, Royal-Wallon, Rohan, Nivernois, Aunis and Cambr6sis (20 btns);

cavalry; regiments. Roi, Clermont-Tonnerre, ClermontPrince, du Rumain, Bourbon-Prince, Harcourt, Conde, Broglie and Nassau (36 sqds;

Center

Corps of General Maubourg (6);

infantry; regiments. Piemont, Bourbonnais, Vermandois, Dauphin ,Royal-Corse, Custines, Lorraine, Orleans, Chartres, Beauvoisis, Bigorre, Boufflers, Montmorin, Dauphine, Laval and Navarre (32 btns);

cavalry ; regiments. Colonel-General, Brionne, Bretagne, Chabot, Saluces, Royal-Rousillon, Royal-Etranger, BourbonBusset, Royal-Pologne, Talleyrand, Beaucaire, Mestre-deCamp-General, Seedorf, La Marck, Wittmer and Courten (60 sqds);

Corps of General H6rouville;

infantry; regiments. Normandie, Roi, Touraine, Nice, Limousin, Saintonge, Rouergue, Royal-Barrois, La Marche, Royal-Vaisseaux, Traisnel, Royal, Languedoc, Boulonnais and Auvergne (32 btns);

cavalry: regiments. Cuirassiers, Egmont, Conti, Noailles, Prince-Camille, Berry, Royal-Cravattes, Fiennes, Dauphin-Etranger, Bellefonds Rohan and Royal (48 sqds);

Corps of General Clermont-Gallerande;

infantry; regiments. Mailly, Royal la Marine, Bretagne, Medoc,Talru, Artois, Luxembourg, Penthievre and Chabrilland (14 bins);

cavalry; cavalry regiments. Reine, Penthievre, CommissaireG6n6ral and Barbancon (16 sqds) and the dragoon regiments. Mestre de Camp General, Egmont, Orleans and Colonel-General (20 sqds).

Left wing

Corps of General Mortagne;

infantry; Croats, Freikorps Fischer, Volontaires Royaux (3 btns) and the regts. Couronne and Hainaut (4 btns);

cavalry; Volontaires Royaux (6 sqds).

Reserve; General Du Chayla;

infantry; regiments. Garde, Alsace, Eu, Guise, Soissonnais, Bettens, Cour au Chantre, Menin, Diesbach, Coiney, Chantilly La Tresne (32 btns) and the Freikorps Cantabres;

cavalry; regiments. Maison du roi, Gendarmerie, Carabiniers, Saxe-Voluntaires, Anjou, Chabrillant, Orleans, Maugion and the Beausobre Hussars (54 sqds).

Furthermore the artillery-batteries Richecourt and Fontenny accompanied the French army, guarded by the battalions Royal Comtois and Fleury.

This would give a total of 153 battalions and 257 squadrons. Taking again an average of 600/battalion and 100/squadron this would give a theoretical strength of 117,500 + artillery. This matches well with the actual field-strength of between 100-110,000 given by several sources.

The Allied left wing was the most vulnerable, since they were afraid that the citizens of Liege might open their gates to the French. The Allied line showed, apart from the bad position of the Austrian right wing, some more tactical faults. The entire line was stretched too long and thus rather vulnerable if the enemy would mass his troops against one or some points.

The width of the front was such, that Charles thought it to be too small to allow the French to exploit their numerical superiority. He didn't seem to realize though that his own numbers actually were too small to satisfactory cover the full length of his front line. Moreover he misjudged De Saxe's tactical capabilities. The latter was known for his experiments with mixed formations of line and column. In this case the main objectives were the strengthened villages in front of the Allied line. Possession of these could best be realized by attacking them with column-formations. So the obviously small frontage wasn't such a disadvantage to the French. Charles thought his front to be strong enough with the entrenched villages in front. However the terrain behind the front was full of ditches, hedges etc, thus hampering movement between parts of the entire line. Their back was covered by the river Meuse, what might make a retreat more difficult and even dangerous in case of a hotly pursued rout.

The main orders for the French generals were the following.

The corps of Clermont-Prince, assisted by D'Estrees, was to attack the allied left (Dutch) flank, which De Saxe thought to be an easy prey. Meanwhile Clermont-Gallerande was to attack the village of Liers to pin down the Allied centre, while the Allied (Austrian) right wing, watched by the French right wing was by its position hardly able to assist the other parts of the line. Clermont-Gallerande was to be supported by the left wings of both infantry lines (32 btns) of Maubourg and Herouville. The rest of the centre and the reserve were held back to await further orders, depending on the course of the battle.

As the French were completing their line of battle, the Allied left wing artillery started firing, followed up by a Dutch cavalry-attack, which was closely followed by the Bavarian and Scottish infantry. At first the French infantry was pushed back against the villages in their back. When the cavalry wanted to follow up, they were received by an intense French artillery fire and had to withdraw behind the infantry.

At about 1:30pm, the allied line was in the positions shown on MAP-IIb and the battle started. I'll try to give a brief outline of the main events of the battle.

Clermont-Prince and D'Estrees opened an artillery-fire with about 36 guns on the positions of the allied left wing. After 4 rounds the French light troops advanced against the Dutch left flank, where the light troops had taken positions in some orchards. The French suffered heavy losses, but were closely followed by the rest of D'Estrees' Corps, supported by a 10-gun battery. These guns managed to push back the pandour battalion, and thus exposed the flank of the main position of the Dutch. 

Under pressure of the supporting corps of Clermont-Prince, the latter were forced back upon the road to Ance, at right angles with the rest of their line. Dutch dragoons, supported by 2 battalions, immediately countercharged the advancing French infantry, but after 2 attempts were forced back behind the infantry. This had allowed the Dutch to organize their new positions. Meanwhile the Dutch comamnder Waldeck had requested reinforcements from Charles of Lotharingen. The French however managed to occupy Ance. When they advanced further the Dutch managed to drive them back into Ance, however new French reinforcements succeeded in bypassing Ance and threatened to close in on Waldeck's position.

Meanwhile Liege had opened its gates to the French, probably for the light troops under Armentieres. In one account they are said to have made a flank march on Liege. They forced back the German/Austrian supporting cavalry of Hammerstein, thus threatening Waldeck's back. So the Dutch were forced further back again up to Vottem, but still Waldeck hoped to hold his new position until reinforcements would arrive. The French were so impressed by the unexpected Dutch resistance, that the latter were allowed to complete their withdraw]. At this point it was 3:30pm.

Meanwhile De Saxe had personally arranged the centre of, his line for an all out attack on the villages of Rocour, Varoux and Liers. Against the strong centre of the Allied line De Saxe directed a mass of some 60 battalions formed in 3 columns. Because of a misunderstanding with Clermont-Gallerande, the attack was delayed till about 4.00 P.M.. The 3 villages in the centre changed sides two times. Allied resistance was fierce. However following the example of De Saxe, who personally led the attack, his men finally succeeding in occupying Rocour and Varoux. Liers had almost been shot to pieces and was already evacuated by the Allies.

At about 4.30 the Allies withdrew from Rocour and some time after Varoux followed. The entire centre of the allied line was forced back to the heights behind the hollow road to Vottem. Here the British foot put up a determined resistance with severe losses, allowing first the Dutch and later the rest of the centre to retire in good order. The British and Hanoverian cavalry checked any further advance of the French. The final retreat over some pontoon bridges across the Meuse at Vise was again covered by the English foot, assisted by the cavalry.

The Austrians, unthreatened but useless, retired in good order on Maastricht.

Allied losses were about 4,500 killed, wounded and missing, 3,000 prisoners, 60 guns and 9 flags. The French are said to have lost 3,800 killed and wounded. The allies were lucky that De Saxe decided not to pursuit the defeated enemy, probably because evening was approaching.

A more comprehensive account of the battle would take too much space, but if their is enough interest, this might be an item for a seperate article.

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