- This battle should not be confused with the two battles of Fontenay,
which occurred at a different location, in 841 and 1944.
| Battle of Fontenoy |
| Part of the War of the Austrian Succession |
The Battle of Fontenoy by Edouard Detaille. Oil on canvas. |
|
|
| Combatants |
Great Britain,
 Hanover,
 Dutch Republic,
 Austria |
France,
Ireland |
| Commanders |
|
Duke of Cumberland |
Maurice de Saxe |
| Strength |
50,000[1]
101 guns |
50,000[2]
110 guns[3] |
| Casualties |
over 10,000:
5,842 British and Hanoverians[4] and 1,544 Dutch dead or
wounded[5]
3,000 captured |
7,137 dead or wounded[6]
400 captured |
The Battle of Fontenoy (May 11, 1745) near
Fontenoy in the Austrian Netherlands (in present
day Belgium), was a French victory in the War
of Austrian Succession.
French forces, under Marshal Maurice de Saxe had
outmanuvered the Allies by feinting an advance on the city of Mons which diverted allied forces. De Saxe then marched his main
army on Tournai, defended by a Dutch garrison of 7,000 and invested it. With the French
besieging Tournai, the allies were compelled to come to its relief as the city was the gateway to Flanders. An
Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army under the Duke of Cumberland, known as
"The Pragmatic Army" advanced to Tournai.
De Saxe had deployed the French on a slight rise in a strong position designed to compensate for the somewhat lesser quality
of his infantry compared to the British foot. The French line ran at a right angle with the village of Fontenoy as its apex and
fortified linchpin. To either side of Fontenoy were positions that were defensively enhanced with redoubts and field
fortifications. The French right was in the village of Antoin and rested on the River Scheldt, their left on the woods, Le Bois
de Barry. De Saxe chose and designed the position to funnel the Allies attack into the clear area between Fontenoy and the woods.
The Pragmatic Army obliged him with Marshall Koningseck leading the Austrian contingent against Antoin, Prince Waldeck assaulted
Fontenoy with the Dutch and Cumberland, leading the main attack force of British and Hanoverians advanced into the funnel between
Fontenoy and the woods. Against all expectation the British advance passed Fontenoy in a great, deep column, known as the
'Infernal Column', in which the superior discipline of the infantry initially compensated for the column's exposed flanks.
However, de Saxe had planned for this possibility. After being pushed back by the assault, Marshal de Saxe ordered several
successful counter-attacks culminating in furious charges by the Wild Geese of the
Irish Brigade, the French and Swiss Guards and finally the cavalry of the
Maison du Roi. These eventually halted and then repelled the British army, taking
the field.
The victory allowed the French to capture Tournai and other Flemish towns throughout the rest of 1745.
Anecdotes
- The most celebrated anecdote of the battle relates to Sir Charles Hay, a captain in the 1st Foot Guards. On reaching the brow
of the incline the columns confronted the French line of Foot. Opposite the 1st Foot
Guards were the Gardes Françaises. This French regiment had given way at the
Battle of Dettingen and in their precipitate retreat had tipped up one of the
bridges of boats, causing many soldiers to drown.
Sir Charles Hay is reputed by Voltaire to have mockingly doffed his hat and bowed to the
French officers saying: "We are the English Guards. We remember you from Dettingen and intend to make you swim the
Scheldt as you swam the Main." The alternative
story is the French officer Count of Anterroches said "English gentlemen, please shoot first!" (Messieurs les anglais, tirez
les premiers!). Another version is that Sir Charles Hay said "Gentlement of the French Guard, fire first!". The French
officer replied "Après vous messieurs les anglais." Hay was wounded in the battle.
- In Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure
Island, Dr. Livesey, a doctor and friend of Squire John Trelawney (the organizer of
the treasure expedition) who goes on the journey and for a short while narrates the story, is mentioned to have fought at
Fontenoy.[1]
Irish Brigade
The Irish Brigade had joined the French army after the British tore up the
treaty of Limerick and effected the penal laws.
They showed particular bravery in the battle, capturing an English flag as the British army fled the field. Their role in this
battle was commemorated on its 250th anniversary by the issue of a common design stamp by the Irish and Belgian post
offices.
Notes
- ^ Chandler p.306: Some statistics taken from Chandler
- ^ There is a wide range of estimates across sources from the army strengths
of Fontenoy both Chandler in The Art of War in the Age of Marlborough and Colin in Les campagnes de Maréchal de
Saxe give a slight numerical advantage to the Pragmatic army
- ^ The Journal of the Battle of Fontenoy Published by Order of His Most
Christian Majesty Translated from the French, Published LONDON MDCCXLV Published: M. Cooper: London, 1745; "We had one
hundred and ten pieces of cannon in the villages and redoubts and in the Front of our first line".
- ^ Letters of Richard Davenport, 4th Troop of the Horse Guards 1745
- ^ Gentlemen's Magazine Vol. XV 1745 page 250
- ^ The Journal of the Battle of Fontenoy Published by Order of His Most
Christian Majesty Translated from the French Published LONDON MDCCXLV, Published: M. Cooper: London, 1745; "We had about five
hundred and twenty Officers killed and wounded and about four thousand soldiers also either killed or wounded. The Allies have
lost including the killed, wounded, prisoners and deserters fifteen thousand Men according to their own accounts which joined
with the loss of almost all their cannon of which we have taken forty nine pieces will certainly render them incapable of
undertaking anything considerable for some time at least."
References
- Chandler, David. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Spellmount Limited, (1990): ISBN 0-946771-42-1
- Browning, Reed. "The War of the Austrian Succession" St. Martin's Press, New York, (1993): ISBN 0-312-12561-5
External links
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