| French Army Commander: Prince of Condé Infantry: 30 000 men Cavalry: 14 200 men Artillery: 60 guns Losses > 7 000 men |
Dutch, Spanish and German Armies
Commander: William III of Orange Infantry: 40 000 men Cavalry : 22 000 men Artillery: 70 guns ? Losses > 11 000 men (some 3 000 prisonners) |
Strategic Situation: In 1674, the Dutch, the Spanish
and the Holy Empire join their forces to invade the north of France. In July,
the Stadhoulder William III of Orange organised this powerful army of more
than 60 000 men (70 battalions and 170 squadrons) and prepared carefully his
move. On the other side, the French king Louis XIV evacuate the remain of
his troops from the United Province and give the command of the French North
army to the Prince of Condé with the objective to stop the possible
invasion. The 10 of August the allied army decided to move to the south,
by the royal road from Bruxelles - Mons to obliged the French to get out from
their fortified camp based at le Piéton.
Allied army in august 1674:
United Province => between 38 and 42 infantry battalions (some
34 regiments including William’s Guards regiment and the Frisian Guard regiment)
and 60 squadrons of cavalry (24 regiments) and dragoons (2 regiments). In
total some 31 000 men divided in 9 000 horsemen and dragoons and 20 000 -
23 000 foots.
Spain => between 6 and 8 infantry battalions (Including the
Spanish Tercios Departamental de Brabantes and Departamental de Holanda,
and the walloon Tercio of de Beaumont), 20 squadrons of cavalry (mainly Walloons)
and 500 dragoons (Tercio of Verloo). In total some 6 000 – 7 000 men divided
in 3 000 horsemen and dragoons and 3 000 – 4 000 foots.
Holy Empire => between 20 and 22 infantry battalions and 90
squadrons of cavalry and dragoons (2 regiments). In total some 22 000 men
divided in 12 000 horsemen and dragoons and 10 000 - 11 000 foots. Most
of the troops are coming from the small German states.
The 10 of august 1674, the allied were organised as fellow in the vanguard,
2 000 horsemen (Dutch and German), after a first column with the imperial
troops under the Conte of Souche, a second column with the Dutch infantry
and artillery under William of Orange, a third column of the Spanish
army under Marquis of Assentar protecting the luggage and at last
a strong rearguards of 5200 horses (2 000 Dutch, 2 200 German and 1 000 Spanish)
and 500 Spanish dragoons commanded by Vaudemont.
The French army was based in a fortified camp near the village
of le Piéton and consisted of 8 infantry brigades with 50 battalions
(27 infantry regiments), 9 cavalry brigades (109 squadrons) made of, La Maison
du Roi, La gendarmerie and 34 regiments of Chevaux legers. At last we have
2 regiments of dragoons and some 60 field guns. In total the Prince of
Condé had some 45 000 men subdivided in 30 000 – 31 000 foots,
13 000 horses and 1200 dragoons.
In the morning of the 10 of august the French Vanguard was out of the
camp and consist in some 12 000 men divided in, 2 infantry brigades with
9 battalions (Regiment of La Reine, Navarre, la Fère
et Royal Italien), 4 cavalry brigades with some 39 squadrons (Brigades
of Garde du Corps with 8 squadrons, Gendarmerie with 13 squadrons,
Tilladet with 12 squadron and Fournilles with 6 squadrons)
two regiments of dragoons (Colonel Général and Dragon
Dauphin) and 6 guns from the regiment Royal - fusillier.
Situation from 6:00 to 9:00
| French scouts advertised Condé
that the allied were moving to the south, the French general decided to sent
two cavalry detachment, firstly Saint Clas (C) with 500 horses to occupied
the allied vanguard at the village of Haine Saint Paul and secondly Fourilles
(F) with 800 horses behind Seneffe. Condé (VG) moves the rest of the
army, parallel to the allied columns, to attack the rearguards at Seneffe.
Vaudemont had observed the French movement and at 9:00 am advised William
of Orange to sent him some reinforcement (3 battalions) to defend Seneffe.
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Phase 1: Attack on Seneffe (9:00 to 11:00)
| At 10:00 am the French vanguard, of 11 000 men faced the
7 000 men of Vaudenont in Seneffe. A) The French infantry and the dragons attacked the 500 Spanish dragoons and the infantry fortified in Seneffe. After fierce fighting the French infantry took the village. B) The elite French cavalry (Garde du Corps and Gendarmerie) was able to cross the river and to charge Vaudemont’s cavalry C) With the help of the returning 800 horses of Fourilles, the French routed the Allied cavalry which collapsed and fled away, at 11:00 the French had taken and secured Seneffe. |
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Phase 2: The pursuit and Battle of St Nicholas (12:00 to 14:00)
|
A): To gain some time
the Marquis of Assentar formed a new rearguard with 2 or 3 Spanish battalions,
6 Dutch battalions, 1 000 Spanish horses and some 600 German horses. Condé
waited only some infantry and attacked the allied position. After hard fighting
and the charged of 1000 Spanish horses, the rearguard broke away and Assentar
was captured.. B) William of Orange used the time gained by Assentar to organise a new defensive line around the Monastery of Saint Nicolas north of Fayt. Again the French launch a combined infantry and cavalry assault, obliging the allied to give ground while losing more men and materials. C) Meantime a portion of the French cavalry, under Luxembourg, attacked the Spanish and Dutch luggage defended by 3 battalions and 9 squadrons. The allied forces surrender or fled away leaving the major part of the luggage and some 600 000 gold gulden in the hand of the French. |
Phase 3: The battle of Fayt (15:00 to 22:00)
| At last William of Orange
receive reinforcement from the imperial column and organised with them and
the rest of the Spanish and Dutch battalions a strong line of defence from
Lallestre to Bois Haine. He place the infantry around Fayt and the cavalry
on the wings, he had some 45000 men. The French arrived and organised a battle
line with Luxembourg on the right with the King house cavalry, 48 squadrons
and 2 battalions from Picardie, in the centre Condé with 3 infantry
columns (Brigades of the Guards, of Gacé Matignon, of de la Mothe)
and a small reserve of 8 Swiss battalions some 35 battalions in total and
on the left we find Navailles with some 48 squadrons and the infantry brigade
of Enghien. A) Firstly, Condé launch several times his infantry columns against Fayt. Each time the allied repulsed the French assaults with heavy losses for both side. The French and Swiss Guards suffered heavily in this assaults. B) Secondly, Luxembourg attacked the enemy’s position, but he was obliged to stop his assault in order to counter a flank movement. Meantime, the allied retook their previous position. C) At last, on the left wing, Navailles attacked the German cavalry but a counter-attack stop also the French advance on this side of the battlefield. |
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Balance:Hard fighting continued during the rest of the
day but the positions did not move. At 22:00 the battle stopped because
the two armies were to exhausted to continue.
Next morning by mutual agreement the two armies retired in good order.
Both commanders would claim the victory but in front of the massive losses
(around 12 000 - 14 000 dead and wounded) suffered by both the French and
the allied it is difficult to find a victorious.