Battle of Steenkerque

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Steenkerque
partof=the Nine Years' War


caption=
date=August 3, 1692
place=Steenkerque, present-day Belgium
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France|royal Kingdom of France
combatant2=flagicon|England England
flagicon|Netherlands|pri United Provinces
flagicon|Denmark Denmark
flagicon|Scotland Scotland
commander1=flagicon|France|royal Duc de Luxembourg
commander2=flagicon|England flagicon|Netherlands|pri William III
strength1=80,000
strength2=80,000
casualties1=8,000 killed and woundedLynn: "The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714," p. 227]
casualties2=10,000 killed and wounded|

The Battle of Steenkerque (Steenkerque also spelled "Steenkerke" or "Steenkirk") was fought on August 3 1692, as a part of the Nine Years' War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg against a joint British-Dutch-German army under Prince William of Orange. The battle took place near the village of Steenkerque in the Southern Netherlands, 50 km south-west of Brussels. Steenkerque is presently part of the Belgian municipality of Braine-le-Comte.

Prelude

Previous to the battle the French army lay facing North-West , with its right on the Zenne at Steenkerque and its left towards Enghien. The army of William III, who had replaced Waldeck as supreme allied commander, was encamped about Halle. In accordance with the strategical methods of the time, the French, not wishing to fight after having achieved the immediate object (the capture of Namur) took up a strong position, supposing the enemy would not dare to attack it.

While the Allies, who would otherwise probably have done as the French marshal desired, were by the fortune of war afforded the opportunity of surprising a part of the enemy's forces.For in the 17th century, when the objects of a war were as far as possible secured without the loss of valuable lives, and general decisive battles were in every way considered undesirable, a brilliant victory over a part, not the whole, of the enemy's forces was the tactical idea of the best generals. Accordingly William set his army in motion before dawn on August 3rd to surprise the French right about Steenkerque, having completely misled the enemy by forcing a detected spy to give Luxemburg false news.

The Battle

The advanced guard of infantry and pioneers, under the Duke of Wurttemberg, deployed silently around 5:00 a.m. close to the French camps, where Luxemburg became aware of the impending blow. At this moment the main body of the army farther back was forming up after the passage of some woods. When the fight opened, Luxemburg was completely surprised, and he could do no more than hurry the nearest foot and dragoons into action as each regiment came on the scene.

But the march of the Allies' main body had been mismanaged. Valuable time was lost. At 9:00 a.m. Wurttemberg started methodically cannonading the enemy, waiting for support and for the order to advance. The French worked with feverish energy to form a strong and well-covered line of battle at the threatened point. The Allies' main body, which had marched in the usual order (one wing of cavalry leading, the infantry following, and the other wing of cavalry at the tail of the column) was being hastily sorted out into infantry and cavalry, for the ground was only suitable for the former.

A few battalions only had come up to support the advanced guard when the real attack opened (12.30). The advanced guard had already been under arms for nine hours, and the march had been over bad ground, but its attack swept the first French line before it. The English and Danes stubbornly advanced, the second and third lines of the French infantry giving ground before them, but Luxemburg was rapidly massing his whole force to crush them, and meanwhile the confusion in the allied main body had reached its height.

Count Solms ordered the cavalry he commanded forward, but the mounted men, scarcely able to move over the bad roads and heavy ground, only blocked the way for the infantry. Some of the English foot, with curses upon Solms and the Dutch generals, broke out to the front, and Solms, angry and excited, thereupon refused to listen to all appeals for aid from the front.

No attempt was made to engage and hold the centre and left of the French army, which hurried, regiment after regiment, to take part in the fighting at Steenkerque. William's counter-order that the infantry was to go forward, the cavalry to halt, only made matters worse, and by now the advanced guard had at last been brought to a standstill.

At the crisis Luxemburg had not hesitated to throw the whole of the French and Swiss guards, led by the princes of the royal house, into the fight. As more and more French troops under command of Boufflers appeared from side of Enghien during and after this supreme effort, the Allies were driven back, contesting every step by weight of numbers.

Those troops of the main body, foot and dragoons, which succeeded in reaching the front, served only to cover and to steady the retreat of Wurttemberg's force, and, the coup having manifestly failed, William ordered the retreat. The Allies retired as they had come, their rear-guard under the Dutch Marshal Ouwerkerk showing too stubborn a front for the French to attack. The latter were indeed in no state to pursue.

Aftermatch

Over eight thousand men out of only about fifteen thousand engaged on the side of the Allies were killed and wounded, and the losses of the French out of a much larger force were at least equal. Contemporary soldiers affirmed that Steenkirk was the hardest battle ever fought by the infantry in that war.Five British regiments were completely destroyed. Their commander, general Hugh Mackay, was also killed. John Cutts, was one of the few survivors.The British blamed their great losses on the attitude of the Dutch.

Trivia

An article of dress was named after the battle. A "steinkirk" (also Steinquerque, Stinquerque in the mémoirs of Abbé de Choisy) was a lace cravat loosely or negligently worn, with long lace ends. According to Voltaire (l'Âge de Louis XIV), it was in fashion after the Battle of Steenkerque, where the French gentlemen had to fight with disarranged cravats on account of the surprise sprung by the Allies.

Notes

References

* Lynn, John A. "The Wars of Louis XIV: 1667–1714." Longman, (1999). ISBN 0-582-05629-2