1673 - The Franco-Dutch War - from Quincy's Histoire Militaire
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| Map of Louis XIV's movements in 1673, from Carl J. Ekberg's The Failure of Louis XIV's Dutch War |
The following is a section from Volume 1 of the Marquis de Quincy's Histoire Militaire du Regne de Louis le Grand, from pages 345-370, detailing the second year of the Franco-Dutch War, the second of Louis XIV's Wars in his personal reign. It was translated using Google, with some common-sense adjustments by myself.
[345] This campaign being a continuation without interruption of the preceding campaign, we are going to resume the movements that Marshal Turenne made on the Rhine to oppose the designs of the Imperialists in favor of the Dutch; we left him in the territory of Trier, where he had placed his troops in quarters which were covered by the Moselle; but having learned at the end of the month of January that the Duc de Bournonville[1], who was to command the Imperial troops, had joined the Elector of Brandenburg, and that they were going up the Rhine together, with the intention of crossing this river and the Moselle at Koblenz, with their army which was 25,000 men. He resolved, although he had only 12,000, to oppose it, because these Princes would have found in France all the subsistence they needed. For this purpose, he marched in the direction of Willich. The enemies on their side, not daring to attempt this passage before him, marched into the County of Mark. Marshal Turenne, who heard of it, went to Wesel with the intention of crossing the Rhine there; while his troops passed him on a flying bridge, he went to find the Bishop of Munster who was at Ortendorf [sic] to confer with him and try to keep him in the French party because he had learned that this Prince was solicited by the Emperor and by the Princes of the Empire who had taken the side of Holland to join them, and that he was even resolved to do so, having known how few troops of which Marshal Turenne’s army was composed, and fearing the forces of the Emperor joined to those of the Elector of Brandenburg. This General, as skillful a negotiator [346] as he was a great captain, hiding the fact that he knew that [the Bishop] had listened to the proposals of the Emperor to leave the alliance of France, and wanting to make him understand that his troops, now at the Rhine, were more numerous than he had been led to believe, told him that he was coming to his aid, and [that he should] take measures with him for the subsistence of his army, so that it would not be a burden to his country. He had brought with him Mr. Jaquier, quartermaster, to whom he gave orders before the Bishop of Munster to advance with a large detachment into the country, and to bake bread there for 24,000 men. This approach to the Bishop of Munster having imposed on him, he no longer listened to any proposals from the Imperials, and he broke off all negotiations on this subject.
Marshal Turenne having rejoined his army which had crossed the Rhine, marched on the 5th of February to Birkenbaum, a door of consequence, and having found no one there, he went to besiege Unna which he took in two days, that is to say, on the 7th, almost in the presence of the Imperials who dared not oppose him. He marched without losing time to Kamen, of which he made himself master without almost any resistance. This General marched on the 9th to Altena, a city located on the Lenne river, which he forced to surrender the day after it was attacked. After having taken measures to preserve his conquests, he went to Roam [sic], another city, which he reduced. This bold maneuver, although with troops inferior to those of the enemy, compelled the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duc de Bournonville to recross the Weser: they believed him to have a stronger army, and feared being attacked by it. Marshal Turenne having no more enemies on his hands, put his troops in quarters in the County of Mark. He pushed some to the edge of the Weser and took some to [Soest?] to be brought to support them.
The Marquis de Bourlemont, colonel of Regiment Picardie, being in a post with 1,600 men, was attacked there a few days later by a body of enemies of 4-5,000 men. He defended himself there with so much valor for eighteen hours, that the Imperials were obliged to retire after having made a very considerable loss there, just as [Bourlemont] was about to be carried off, because they learned that Marshal Turenne had come to his assistance. [347] M. de Bourlemont's action was all the finer because, in the opinion of all the officers who saw this post, he should not have lasted more an hour.
Capture of Höxter
Marshal Turenne having let his troops rest for a few days, gathered some of them and marched on the Weser, laying siege to Höxter, a place situated on this river with the intention of capturing a passage there, and he made himself master of it on the 2nd of March & the third day of the attack, he then took Bielefeld, while the Marquis de Revel made himself master of Raverberg [sic].
Accommodation with the Elector of Brandenburg
The Elector of Brandenburg, having recrossed the Weser as we have said, gave some alarm to the Bishop of Munster, who apprehended that he was coming his way. [The Bishop] had made some conquests over the Dutch with troops which the King had given him under the orders of M. de Revel, [whom] he ordered to march to observe the Elector. But M. de Revel received orders from the King to join Marshal Turenne, who then saw himself in a condition to follow the Elector of Brandenburg, already withdrawn to the extremities of Westphalia. Marshal Turenne crossed the Weser with his army for this purpose, the Elector of Brandenburg, whose troops were a third stronger, wanted to retrace his steps to give him battle. But having been diverted by his Generals, he resumed the road to his country. Marshal Turenne, who had led his troops at full speed, so to speak, thinking that the [Elector] was to fight, did not see that was not his intention, so he stopped to let his men catch their breath and giving them an abundance [of supplies], being quite right [to do so] after the pains they had suffered in a long march during extremely rainy weather. He abandoned the countryside to them; which made the people cry out loudly against the Elector of Brandenburg, to whom each blamed his misfortune.
Marshal Turenne having thus given some respite to his troops, set off again to try to join the Imperials [in battle], and having been unable to reach them, he entered the States of the Elector of Brandenburg, which he entirely devastated; which compelled him to send M. d'Espense, a Frenchman by birth, and in whom he had great confidence, to offer Marshal Turenne an accommodation, and to ask him to make his troops behave with more discipline. This general replied that he would inform the King of the Elector's proposals; but that, with regard to what concerned [348] his troops, as he was in an enemy country where he had orders to use them with the greatest rigor, he could not change anything there without new orders. [The Elector of] Brandenburg found this answer conformable to reason, although it was not to his wishes; he resolved to await the return of the courier which Marshal Turenne had sent to the court. He brought him full power to treat with this Prince; they agreed:
· That the King would withdraw his troops from the territories of Brandenburg.
· That at the end of the war they would return the Fort of Schenken and the other places of the Duchy of Cleves which France had conquered from the Hollanders, who had retained them for more than forty years.
· That the Elector would abandon the Dutch alliance.
· That he would renounce all the engagements into which he had entered against [French] interests, and would remain neutral.
He did not keep this treaty; as will be seen in [time]. This expedition made by Marshal Turenne with half as many men as the Elector of Brandenburg was rightly regarded as one of the boldest and finest maneuvers ever made in war.
The Campaign in Holland
The jealousy which the Emperor had conceived of the zenith of power that France had reached for several years, obliged him to make every effort to engage all the princes and the states of the Empire in the war into which the Prince of Orange and the King of Spain wanted to enter. The King, who was informed of it, sent renewed assurances to the [Imperial] Diet of Ravensburg, and to all the courts of the princes of Germany, of his sincere intentions to do nothing which might interfere with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), unless the Emperor compelled him to do so by acts of hostility. He made them an offer to compensate all those whose countries had suffered from the passage of his troops, and to rebuild the bridge at Strasbourg. But all this had no effect on minds already warned by the ministers of the House of Austria, and it was useless that the Elector of Bavaria and the Duke of Neuburg, who were allies of France, made the Emperor represent that all the evils that the war was going to cause to the Empire should only be attributed to him. This prince persisted in the party that the Spaniards had inspired in him, and employed the winter only to raise new troops in his hereditary lands.
[349] The King no longer being able to doubt that the Emperor and a great number of Princes of the Empire would declare themselves openly against him, employed the winter to re-establish his troops and to increase them, in order to continue the war with the same advantage with which he had begun it. Besides the new troops he had raised throughout the Kingdom, he increased the number of Swiss he had in his pay, and the King of England sent him 8,000 English despite all the efforts the Dutch made to force this prince to leave the party of France, or at least to remain neutral. Of all these troops, the King formed three armies on entering the campaign:
The one he led, of whom he was Generalissimo himself, was 40,000 men, having as Lieutenant-Generals, the Duc de la Feuillade, the Comte de Lorges, the Marquis de Rochefort, the Duke of Monmouth, the Comte d'Estrades and the Marquis de Fourille. As Maréchaux de camp, the Chevalier de Lorraine, the Marquis de Vaubrun, and M. de Montal. Prince Condé commanded the second towards Utrecht covering the whole of the lower Rhine, and Marshal Turenne with the third remained on the upper Rhine covering the whole country above the Moselle.
The King, who intended to lay siege to Maastricht, did not take the road to Holland the better to conceal his design; but he advanced on the side of Flanders where he caused fear, principally when he passed the Canal of Bruges with a corps of 4,000 men, and when he approached Brussels. He had detached the Marquis de Rochefort who advanced by the Senne, and charged a guard who was at the bridge of Capelbruge who wanted to dispute his passage; he then took quarters as if he wished to blockade Brussels, while the King was with his army on the other side of this river; which made the Count of Monterrey believe that the King intended to besiege this place, and obliged him to march there all the troops he could draw from the places of his government, and part of those he had sent to the aid of the Dutch, of whom he formed a small army corps. But the King, who only made this pretense with the intention of making him withdraw part of the troops which were covering Maastricht, did no sooner see that he had taken the bait than he ordered M. de [350] Montal to draw the garrisons of Tongres and Maaseik and to invest Mastricht on one side, while the Comte de Lorges, whom he had sent off with a large detachment, blocked him on the other. It was on the 6th of June that M. de Montal having arrived on the other side of the river, had a bridge built there and took quarters on that side, while the Count de Lorges quartered on the other side of the river.
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| Siege of Maastricht, 1673. |
The Capture of Maastricht
Maastricht is the principal fortress of Dutch Brabant, a large city placed along the Meuse, with well-situated fortifications. The body of the place was only fortified by a good wall & flanked by a few bastions & towers; but the exteriors were well fortified by five hornworks, all intrenched, and by several detached bastions, and several demi-lunes covered, the whole was surrounded by an excellent covered way. The garrison still numbered 5,000 infantry and 1,000 horse, besides a large number of citizens who had taken up arms, although the Count of Monterrey had withdrawn part of the troops who were there by the maneuver which the King made for this purpose. M. Fariaux[2], an officer of great reputation who commanded there, took all the necessary precautions to make a good defense. He flattered himself that the Prince of Orange would not allow a place of such consequence to be lost without attempting to help it; all this caused the King to take more precautions than he had hitherto taken in attacking fortresses. He arrived there on the 10th with the rest of his army; 7,000 peasants were working from the 8th on the lines of circumvallation which he had ordered and which were completed on the 14th.
We worked during this time to bring to the camp all the artillery and ammunition necessary for such a large enterprise as well as food and fodder for the subsistence of the troops. We then worked on the preparations for opening the trenches which was done on the night of the 17th to the 18th. The King ordered two attacks after having reconnoitered them. The trenches were mounted by two battalions of the Gardes Françoises and one of the Suisses on the right, and on the left by a battalion of Regiment Picardie and two of Regiment du Royal, one commanded by the Duc de la Feuillade and the other by M. de Vaubrun, all supported by eight squadrons of the Maison du Roi. [351] The principal attack was at the Tongres Gate. M. du Mets, who commanded the artillery, established a battery of 18 cannon to fire between the Brussels and the Tongres Gates. This attack was commanded by the King in person; the second, which was only a false attack, was commanded by Monsieur, it was on the side of Wyck. He led it with several brigades which he had under command. A battery was likewise made there on the hill of St. Pierre to flank anything that came out of the place with the intention of disturbing the work.
At the first approaches, the besieged slipped out [ to gather some wheat ?] they had not wanted to cut, which gave some alarm to the workers. But the King marched there some infantry, who skirmished with them, while he commanded some troops of cavalry to cut them off; which having perceived this, the allies decided to retire. The King, having been present at the opening of the trench, gave orders to perfect it, as the garrison was strong. And that we were dealing with an enterprising governor, he ordered places of arms so that the troops present could fight without confusion and with order. All the work was carried out by M. de Vauban & was done with such diligence that on the fourth day all the cannon in the place was dismantled, with the exception of a single piece. As a reward, they made a continual fire of musketry on the trenches which were constantly advanced in the presence of the King, who visited the work every day. They were finally led to the glacis, where wells were dug to vent the mines of the besieged, in spite of several sorties that the Governor had made, and in which the enemy was always repelled. The trenches, having come within reach of the covered way nearest the hornwork on the side of the King's attack, this Prince made arrangements to attack it. The troops thus commanded marched there with so much valor that they drove out the enemy after a fairly strong resistance, but with great loss on both sides, and the dispositions were so well executed that quarters were made and secured there in a few hours. Batteries were then established there which in a short time made such considerable breaches at the demi-lune, while they were working on the descent of the ditch, which the King commanded for this action. The Musketeers, whom [352] he had supported by a detachment of various corps, all under command of the Duke of Monmouth, natural son of the King of England, and Lieutenant-General by day. M. d'Artagnan was at the head; the attack was pressed to strongly that in less than half an hour he saw himself master of the work. But while they were busy making accommodation there, M. de Fariaux, having gathered the elite of his troops, marched them to retake the demi-lune before the accommodation was established, and thanks to a mine which he set off, he fell on the workers and on the troops who supported them, and after a very stubborn fight, he forced them to abandon this work. M. d'Artagnan was killed there after having shown marks of great courage.
The King, who was present at this action, being at the rear of the trench, commanded new troops to recapture what they had just lost. So the Duke of Monmouth, having put himself at the head, pushed back all those who wanted to resist him, and finally chased them from the work after a strong resistance. Then the accommodation was made and perfected there. The Gardes du Corps, whom the King had dismounted, armed with partisans, did wonders on this occasion.
The King, seeing himself master of this demi-lune, which had cost him so much blood, took measures to reduce the other works. Having learned that the Prince of Orange was assembling all the forces of the Dutch to succor the place, he caused a hornwork which was on the left to be beaten with such vigor that [the Prince] was in a short time in a condition to be insulted. The Prince of Orange had not hurried, in the hope that the City would hold out for several months, that during that time the Imperial troops would go on campaign, and that after having joined his troops with theirs, he would easily oblige the King to abandon this enterprise; but having heard that the place was in danger of being lost, he finally took measures to attempt to succor it.
While the Prince of Orange was making his arrangements, the King had the hornwork attacked on the right by the Comte de Lorges, and on the left by the Marquis de Fourille, and it was carried off after some resistance. We immediately lodged on this point to avoid the effect of the mines, and we established there some pieces of cannon to make a breach in the curtain of the place. The descent of the ditch was done, the attack was directed towards another work [353] which was attached to the city gate, and they mastered it as well as the others with very little loss, which so greatly astonished the Governor, who was moreover pressed by the burghers and the garrison, that he made up his mind to beat the chamade on the 30th. Hostages were sent on both sides, and the articles were signed the next day. The garrison, which was diminished by about 1,100 men, came out still 5,000 strong, M. de Fariaux at the head. He complimented the King, who saw them file past, and they were taken to 's-Hertogenbosch. The King then made his entrance there. It was thus that in thirteen days of trenching this Prince made himself master of one of the strongest places in Europe, which had sustained a siege of two months against the Prince of Parma in 1579. He appeared indefatigable during this enterprise; he gave good orders, and provided for everything, so that nothing was wanting of what was necessary. He was on horseback from morning until evening, whatever the weather. He visited the trenches, ordered the attacks, and was present at all the actions. His example made his troops intrepid, always ready to sacrifice themselves for his service. He put a strong garrison there, and the Comte d'Estrades to command there. He also gave him his orders for the repair of this place and for its safety.
This Prince intended afterwards to bring his arms to bear against the other places of Dutch Brabant, if the States had not flooded the surroundings with them by raising all the locks. This obliged him to march to the other side; and as events in Germany gave him some anxiety, and it could require his presence there, he went to Lorraine with the intention of dispelling some rebels, who on the noise of the war with the Emperor, wanted to make intrigues in this Province in favor of the Duke of Lorraine. He went towards Nancy and sent part of his troops there, having left the others under the orders of Prince Condé, whom they joined in Utrecht. The King, by his presence, reassured the spirits in Lorraine, and then proceeded to Alsace to retain the allies who were strongly urged to take the side of his enemies, and to prevent the city of Strasbourg from declaring itself against him. His position, which would give the Germans entry into Alsace, was of great consequence. He succeeded through the intervention of the Marquis de Louvois; but [354] he could not retain the Elector Palatine in his alliance, which was very damaging to the interests of France; for this Prince being very skillful, his counsel alone did us more harm than the efforts of many other Princes who had more power. He, however, attracted by this change the two armies into his country, which became the theater of war, as we shall see hereafter.
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| Map of naval battles of Third Anglo-Dutch War |
First Battle of Schooneveld
After the King was occupied with the Siege of Maastricht, the naval forces, joined to those of England, gained a considerable advantage over the Dutch navy. The French fleet was commanded by the Comte d'Estrées, with 30 strong men-o-war, 7 frigates, 3 fireships, and some galiottes. It was joined on the 25th of May in the Channel by the English fleet commanded by Prince Rupert. These fleets set sail five days later to intercept the navy of Holland, which was on its coasts. Admiral de Ruyter, who commanded it, had orders not to abandon the coasts, and to oppose the descents with which the Dutch were threatened; for they knew that landing troops had been placed on the English fleet under the orders of the Count of Schomberg. The Comte d'Etrées commanded the vanguard carrying the white flag; Prince Rupert was in the main body with a red flag, and the rear guard was led by Admiral Spragge flying a blue flag.
The fight began with the Comte d'Estrées who wanted to separate Tromp from the rest of the enemy fleet; but Admiral de Ruyter having hastened to help, prevented him from executing his design. [355] Prince Rupert, on his side, rescued the Comte d'Etrées, and these two Admirals sought each other out, and were not long without finding each other. The rest of the fleet mingled, following the example of the chiefs; and the fight was so obstinate on both sides that we fought from ten o'clock in the morning until nightfall, without any vessel giving way. The Comte d'Etrées, who, by the help that Admiral de Ruyter had given to Vice-Admiral Tromp, saw himself snatched from the advantage he had had at first, seeing that he was engaged with Prince Rupert, took Tromp again with the same success he had had at the first shock; which forced Admiral de Ruyter to leave Prince Rupert again to come to his aid; after he had repaired things by his presence, he turned against Prince Rupert, and mistreated his vessel which was leaking on all sides so badly, that the Prince was advised to mount another, his [ship] beginning to sink in such a way that the batteries below could no longer be used, but being afraid that this would take away the courage of his people, he concealed the danger in which he found himself, and pursued the fight with great intrepidity.
It was only night that gave a truce to such a furious combat, and as it was favorable to conceal the loss that each had suffered, no one gloated over what had happened to them; to steal even knowledge of it, the fleets retired to various ports, and those who had been killed in the fight were thrown into the sea. The English lost there two warships with a few small vessels, and the Dutch had two of their large vessels sunk to the bottom, in addition to two frigates and three fireships. The Comte d'Estrées had the greatest share in the success of this combat, especially since Vice-Admiral Spragge, having taken great care to spare himself on his side, did not lose any vessels.
Second Battle of Schooneveld
After the two fleets were repaired, Admiral de Ruyter obtained permission from the States to leave his coasts; he went into the open sea with the purpose of seeking the English to have his revenge. Prince Rupert, who wished to draw the Dutch away from their coasts, made a few movements in the rear, as if he wished to avoid them; but he suddenly turned the point of his ships against them and forced Admiral de Ruyter to take more precautions, for he believed at first that he was dealing only with fugitives. [356] The combat recommenced with equal ardor on both sides, but which ceased after four hours. The Dutch having seen themselves held back by a contrary wind which they could not overcome, the English were not clever enough to take advantage of it, or did not want to, and contented themselves with cannonading them without approaching them. The Comte d'Estrées, who had exposed himself at the beginning, believing that he would be followed, complained loudly to Prince Rupert, who accused Vice-Admiral Spragge of it. These complaints went as far as the King of England, when the naval army had retired to make amends, and this Prince, in rendering justice to the Count d'Estrées and to the other French officers, who had by their valor been the cause of the advantages which the two nations had had over the Dutch on this occasion, pacified all things in the design where it was to send back the fleets to fight the Dutch a third time, as we will presently show.
Prince Condé, to whom the King had sent part of the troops of his army, was obliged to leave M. de Luxembourg at Utrecht to keep the Dutch fortresses which the troops of France occupied with a large body of troops. With the rest he approached Flanders to watch over the movements of the Spaniards who had resolved to openly declare war on France.
It was at this time, that is to say, the 24th of June, that M. de Mornas at the head of the troops of the Elector of Cologne, who was still in the alliance of France, attacked a body of Dutch troops commanded by Prince Maurice van Nassau[3] near Zwartsluis whom this prince was besieging. He defeated the best part of the Dutch infantry after a hard fight, took his cannon, twelve flags, forced this Prince to raise the siege of this place, and then forced the district of the Frisians commanded by Colonel Green, whom he took prisoner.
During these great expeditions, the King of Sweden testified that he wanted to mediate between France, the Empire and the Netherlands. Dunkirk had first been proposed for the conference, but the Dutch being opposed to it, since the place was under the domination of France, Cologne was agreed upon. The Plenipotentiaries of France had gone there in the month of May, as well as those of the Emperor, the Kings of Spain and [357] England, of some Electors and of the Dutch; but as the Plenipotentiaries of the States had no ample proxies, they were obliged to return to Holland to obtain sufficient ones.
All sides, however, were preparing for war. The Emperor, the King of Spain, and the Dutch renewed the treaty they had made against France, to which they were bound by the persons who had recently gained the greatest part in the government of the States General, and the hope that the house of Austria had conceived of finding considerable advantages in it henceforth. By these treaties the Emperor and the King of Spain bound themselves to declare war on France, and to remain inseparably united with the States-General until the conclusion of a peace advantageous to all the Allies, so that none of them could separate their particular interests from the common cause.
The Duke of Lorraine entered this league by a particular treaty, as well as some princes of the Empire who were led by these examples. The Elector of Trier, having been the first to break neutrality with France, had reason to regret it very soon. The King, after taking Maastricht, marched through his Electorate a body of 18,000 men under the command of the Marquis de Rochefort, who seized all the small towns and castles which belonged to the Elector, and put all his country under contribution. After having done damage in all the places which did not redeem themselves from the pillage, the Marquis de Rochefort attacked the town of Trier, whose garrison fortified itself without arms after a weak resistance which had lasted eight days.
During this expedition the King had gone to Lorraine as it was mentioned. He remained there three weeks, during which time he had Nancy fortified. He then passed through Alsace to entirely subjugate the ten towns which had been ceded to France by the treaties of Westphalia (1648). And as Colmar was the one that had always seemed the least submissive, he had it demolished, and then returned to France, towards the end of the month of September, after having fortified the army commanded by Marshal Turenne with the troops which had followed him into Lorraine and Alsace, and those commanded by the Marquis de Rochefort [358] in the Electorate of Trier.
In August, the Emperor had openly declared war on France. He reviewed the army he intended to send to the Rhine, which commenced its march at the beginning of September under the command of Count Montecuccolli.
As soon as we were informed of this declaration of war, the King sent an order to Marshal Turenne, who since the siege of Maastricht had marched in Weteranie [sic], and who had placed his troops in refreshment quarters in this country, to watch over the movements of the Imperials. Following these orders, he left his district of Vézelay on August 19, and after a few days' march he had a bridge built over the Main two hundred paces below Seligenstadt. But on certain reports that the Imperials had taken the road to Nuremberg, he caused his pontoon bridge to be broken, seized the stone bridge of Aschaffenburg in Franconia, and garrisoned the castle which belonged to the Elector of Mainz. His whole army having passed over this bridge, he made it march to the enemy, leaving the Main to the left. But as this general foresaw what might happen, he strove to keep on the side which covered Lorraine and Alsace, where the King was then occupied in the demolition of a few places. In taking this course, he left the other side of the river free for the Imperials to go to Bonn, but he hoped to harass them in such a way that would delay their march, while he received news from the court.
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| Map of Turenne's Campaign vs. Montecuccoli. Quincy downplays Turenne's blunder here. Map taken from Ekburg's Failure of Louis XIV's Dutch War. |
As these armies marched one and the other, they found each other. see in a few days in presence; Marshal Turenne did not doubt that Count Montecuccolli, whose army was more numerous than his, preferred to battle him. He arranged for it on his side, and resolved to give it, but Count Montecuccolli, who had his own reasons, withdrew towards the mountains which were behind him. And since having urged the Bishop of Würzburg to break neutrality with France, the refusal which this Bishop made to the troops of the King to receive them in his town, served to allow Count Montecuccolli to steal a march, who was too far ahead on the road to Bonn by the time Marshal Turenne noticed it. The whole country of the Bishop suffered for this and was pillaged and burned, with the exception of the city of Würzburg which was well fortified.
[359] When Marshal Turenne learned of Count Montecuculli's design, there was no time to oppose it. He had neither supplies nor measures taken for this counter-march, and as he was not accustomed to making mistakes in his judgment, which he ordinarily made of the designs of the enemy. It was not without sorrow that he found himself obliged to recross the Rhine at Philipsburg and to take up winter quarters in the valley of Neustadt while the Germans were marching to lay siege to Bonn.
Before showing the movements made by the Prince of Orange
while the King's troops were occupied in Germany, it is appropriate to speak of
a third action which took place at sea between the fleets of France and those
of England & Holland.
Battle of Texel
The navy of the two nations having returned to the coasts of England as remarked, the King of Great Britain appointed commissioners to see in what condition it was. When he had provided for it all that was lacking, he went to visit the fleet himself, and gave orders to Prince Rupert to sail again to seek the enemy. Admiral de Ruyter had orders on his side to avoid combat, and to apply himself only to guarding the coasts. The order of battle was the same as in the previous combats, the Comte d'Estrées having the vanguard, Prince Rupert the main body, & Vice-Admiral Spragge the rearguard. In this order the navy took the road to Schooneveld where Admiral de Ruyter was always [found]. Prince Rupert challenged him to battle with several cannon shots, and seeing that he did not want to risk any, he continued on his way to find a place where he could attempt a descent.
But an incident forced the States to revoke the order they had given to Admiral de Ruyter not to fight, because they had news that their East Indian fleet was on the point of returning. Because of this, they decided to send orders to this Admiral to fight the fleet of the two nations, in order not to see themselves deprived of so rich a spoil. De Ruyter concealed having received these orders, as long as the wind was against him, but as soon as he had turned to the North, which was all he could wish, he weighed anchor, and followed the English navy which took the road to Amsterdam. On the advice of Prince Rupert, they awaited it firmly, but de Ruyter, standing above [360] the wind, again avoided the fight, contenting himself with keeping ready to succor the Indian fleet in case of need. The two navies thus remained face to face two days, and Prince Rupert, in despair at having the contrary wind, uselessly used the skill of the sailors to repair the wrong he was doing them. However, the wind having changed, then de Ruyter, on the contrary, promptly retired to his own shores where Prince Rupert dared not pursue him. The fruit which this prince derived from the change of the wind, was that having arrived at Uli, a vessel of the East Indian fleet, richly loaded, came to deliver itself in the middle of his fleet, not yet having heard of the war which was between the two Nations. This deeply affected the Dutch, and in fear that the same thing would happen to the rest, the States sent orders to their Admiral to risk everything to prevent this terrible event. He weighed anchor at the same time, and learned on the way that the English fleet, after having attempted a descent in several places, was in front of the Texel; he sailed there and prepared for battle. The English did the same, and having come to meet him, Prince Rupert ordered the Comte d'Estrées to begin the fight; but night having fallen before they could join, he was postponed until the next day.
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| Battle of Texel, perhaps depicting Rupert's flagship Royal Sovereign breaking out. |
The Comte d'Ertrées, as usual, having undertaken to cut off several enemy ships, was obliged to sustain the fire of almost the entire enemy fleet, which came to the aid of those whom he had taken. Never was a fight harder or longer; it lasted from morning until evening without slowing down on either side. Prince Rupert, who had an eye for everything, wanting to go and give help to his men, was surrounded by enemy ships, and found himself in such great danger that he was obliged to fly the blue flag, a signal that the English have to ask for help. But the smoke having prevented his people from discovering him for some time, the danger became so great that they were obliged to put the signal at the very top of the ship, so that they could see him from further away. This sight did not fail to bring several ships to the aid of the Prince. The combat began again in this way more furious than before, so much so that there was in a moment an infinite number of men killed on both sides. As for the Comte d'Estrées, when he saw that a squadron in of the enemy still wanted to break through his own [361] to overwhelm Prince Rupert, he vigorously opposed it without being able to overcome it. Finally, the fight between the two chiefs would have ended with the loss of one and the other, if someone had not come to tell Prince Rupert that Vice-Admiral Spragge, who was at hand with Vice-Admiral Banckert, was still in greater danger than he, which obliged this Prince to make so many efforts that he pushed aside all the ships which surrounded him to go and give him help. But he arrived a little too late, for Vice-Admiral Spragge, after having fought the battle with great courage, and having changed vessels twice, had unfortunately drowned. He was extremely pitied of the English who held him in high esteem. However, as night approached, the only thought on either side was to save the vessels which were the most damaged, and each one having retired on his side, the combat ended.
Prince Rupert did on this occasion all that could have been expected of a most experienced General; he was seconded by the Earl of Ossory and [Admiral] Chicheley who exposed themselves to save him. The Comte d'Estrées won on this occasion the honor of the French Nation, as well as the Marquis de Martel, to whom the English and the Dutch could not refuse praise, for having disentangled himself with four vessels of a large part of the enemy fleet, which had undertaken to destroy him.
The Capture of Naarden by the Prince of Orange
As soon as the separation of the fleets of France and England (which after this battle both returned to their ports) had relieved the Dutch of the anxieties which they had for their coasts, the Prince of Orange wanted to make useful employment of the troops which he had kept within reach during the campaign to oppose the descents of the navies of the two Nations. Naarden, occupied by the troops of France, was a fortress of great consequence for the troops of the King; because the enemies taking this place could come to Utrecht which was badly fortified, and then to all our other conquests, which were hardly better. This is why the Prince of Orange determined to besiege Naarden, which greatly inconvenienced the city of Amsterdam. He arrived there on the 4th of September with an army of 25,000 men, and laid siege to it. M. du Pas commanded there with a garrison of 3,000 men, [362] both French and Swiss. The Prince of Orange sent thither from Amsterdam a quantity of large cannon, which he distributed in eight batteries, which made a great fire on the place, until the end of the siege, which did not last long.
The Duc de Luxembourg picked up a body of 10,000 men to try to throw reinforcements within, and sent two parties to reconnoiter the enemy army, one of which was ambushed by a 1,000 horse in a wood, who captured the Baron de Trukses, falling on his troops and defeating them.
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| Siege of Naarden, 1673, the first major fortress recaptured under William of Orange's leadership, which led to the French evacuation of the Netherlands. |
On the night of the 11th to the 12th, the trenches being far advanced, the Marquis de Vargmis and le Ringrave were ordered to attack the counterscarp and the ravelin in front of the Huizen Gate; they made themselves masters of it after three hours of resistance, during which they lost many men. The enemy continued to bombard the place with so extraordinary a fire that there were several considerable breaches in a few minutes. They began to work to fill up the ditch, when the Governor, pressed by the terrified inhabitants, caused the chamade to be beaten. It was granted to him that he would go out with two pieces of cannon and all the honors of war, and that he would be taken with his garrison to Arnhem. They left on the 13th with 30 carts filled with the sick and wounded. This place being very well-fortified and well-equipped, M. du Pas, who was in disfavor at court, was sent before the court-martial, by which he was degraded from his nobility and arms for having surrendered too soon. He has since done fine deeds in the defense of Grave, and he was killed there.
Capture of Bonn by the Allies
We noted above that Count Montecuccolli had marched to besiege Bonn with the army of the Empire, without Marshal Turenne being able to prevent him. As soon as he was within range of this place, he crossed the Rhine with the right wing of cavalry of his army, while his infantry and his left wing blockaded the place on the other side. It was joined two days later by the Prince of Orange with his army which had marched there after the capture of Naarden, and by a body of troops from the King of Spain under the orders of the Duc de Bournonville. This prince had finally decided to openly declare war on France, which was done by a declaration of October 15th, given by his master, the Count of Monterrey, Governor [363] of the Spanish Netherlands. Bonn was the ordinary residence of the Elector of Cologne. Besides the troops of the Elector there were in this place two French regiments commanded by MM. de Revoillon and de Gacé, 80 cannon, provisions, and ammunition in abundance. The Count of Lantsberghen [sic] was Governor of the place for the Elector of Cologne. As soon as the place was invested, the Prince of Orange had the trench opened there in two places, and put a large number of batteries to work, the Governor had them fired when they were ready, more than a 1,000 cannon shots on them to dismantle them, and, under the cover of this great fire, caused a sortie to be made which, however, did not prevent the work from advancing and the place had not been battered on all sides.
Prince Conde, who with his army, as we have noted, observed the movements of the Spaniards, detached Marshal d'Humieres with 7-8,000 men to try to get some assistance into the place; the garrison was very weak. Having arrived within range, he brought in 100 dragoons, who passed through the quarter of the Imperials, calling themselves troops of the Duke of Lorraine; but 100 cavaliers who attempted to pass through the Prince of Orange’s quarters were recognized, and some were cut into pieces, which caused 500 others who were hidden in a nearby wood to retire very quickly on this news. So Marshal d'Humieres, seeing that he could do no more, was obliged to retire and join Prince Condé.
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| Siege of Bonn, which saw the Dutch and Imperials successfully work together as Allies for the first time. |
On the 9th of November, a large quantity of bombs were thrown into the place, which damaged several buildings, and on the first day of the siege, after having made a great fire of cannon and mortars, attacked a demi-lune which was in front of the Cologne Gate. The allies were forced to abandon it after a very stubborn fight & after a very considerable loss on both sides. Count Königsmarck[4] from the Imperials was bludgeoned to death there.
The Prince of Orange, having made the arrangements for launching the assault, summoned the besieged to surrender, seeing that they had no help to hope for, and that the mines that had been laid were ready to go, with the intention of putting them to the sword if they were delayed any longer. This forced the Count of [364] Lansberghen [sic], after having held a war council, to beat the chamade on the 12th. The Prince of Orange granted him an honorable surrender. The next day the Marquis de Grana[5] entered the place with his regiment, and the garrison came out 1,500 strong, who were taken to Nuits. The army which attacked this place was 45,000 strong.
After this conquest, the Prince of Orange made himself master of the castle of Beuel, where there were 80 men, and then attacked that of Echuits [sic], which was very strong, and defended by 150 Frenchmen. He took it after some resistance, and these three armies, before separating, also seized Kerpen and Duren, towns of the Electorate of Cologne. Finally, the season being advanced, the Imperials resumed their journey to Bonn, and the Prince of Orange crossed the Meuse at Roermond with the Spaniards, and the army of the States, to go to the Hague, where he arrived on the 8th of December.
After the Battle of Texel, the peace of the Dutch with England was not long in the making; which caused France to lose a powerful ally. Spain, on the other hand, having declared war on it, as well as the Emperor and the Empire which had joined the Dutch; all this made the King, who saw so many enemies on his hands, resolve to abandon all the places he occupied in Holland, and to bring the troops back to the frontiers of Flanders. The Duc de Luxembourg, who commanded in these places, received orders to do so in such a way that no violence would be committed there, although the laws of war seemed to permit it in a country which was abandoned forever to the enemies; he complied with these orders, and the troops of the Kingdom, numbering about 10,000 men, came out of Utrecht, Woerden, Crèvecœur, Bommel, Kampen, and several other small places of less consequence. They were restored to the power of their magistrates with the same gentleness with which places are returned after peace is made; and although each one in particular found the means of extracting without noise whatever contribution from his host, one still left immense wealth at the height of the war, in a country which was going to become the principal resource of the enemies.
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| An exhausted, overstretched French army evacuating the Netherlands, with several more years of hard fighting ahead of them. |
The Duc de Luxembourg withdrew with his troops near [365] Maastricht, where the Prince of Orange formed the design of surprising him there and fighting him. For this purpose, he ordered his army to go ineffectively to Aarschot, and he went there himself on the 24th of December with the Count of Waldeck and the 12,000 men that this Count had commanded in Holland during this campaign. He joined all these troops with those of the Count of Monterrey. And as the Duc de Luxembourg had then left Maastricht and was marching along the Meuse to enter the Condroz and through the Ardennes in France, the Prince of Orange crossed this river at Huy to cut him off, which compelled Marshal Luxembourg to retrace his steps, and to regain the surroundings of Maastricht. The armies of Spain and Holland, which feared that this General would withdraw by Charleroi, recrossed the Meuse, leaving Prince Vaudemont on the other side with part of the cavalry, to prevent M. de Luxembourg, in case he wished to attempt to cross a second time.
While the Spaniards were on the main road to Charleroi, the Dutch approached Tongres & Hasselt and pretended to want to withdraw in order to oblige the Duc de Luxembourg to leave his post, and indeed this General decamped on the occasion of these movements; but he had no sooner perceived that the two armies were coming to him, than he retired once more under the cannon of Maastricht, in the resolution of waiting for the succor he had requested to come to him from France. Then the Prince of Orange and the Count of Monterrey saw clearly that they could not engage him in battle. They separated and sent their troops into winter quarters.
The King, having an open war with the Spaniards, was obliged to take precautions on the side of Roussillon, where the King of Spain was dispatching troops and where he had already had a few minor battles; for, believing that they would take advantage of the few troops we had there, the Spaniards had passed the Pyrenees and had been afraid of making themselves masters of Boulou. Monsieur le Bret, Lieutenant-General wanted to oppose it. The armies charged on both sides on the 4th and 6th of November, and in these small battles the Spaniards were repulsed with loss, although M. le Bret was wounded.
While the King seemed to take all care to protect himself [366] against the great number of enemies who fell to their arms, this prince did not however neglect what could contribute to the advantage of his neighbors, to the usefulness of his people, to the progress of the arts and to the decoration of his palaces. It was with this view that he established peace during that year between the Duke of Savoy and the Republic of Genoa, who had disputes together capable of disturbing Italy. He also arranged the marriage of the Duke of York, brother of King of England, with the Princess of Modena, and established a chamber for the meeting of the benefices of the order of St. Lazare. He gave an edict to extend jure regalia throughout his kingdom, an edict which came from the Court of Rome. He ordered at the Royal Garden the anatomical demonstrations whose usefulness has been so generally recognized. And finally, by his orders the façade of the Vieux-Louvre was completed such as we see it today that it is reputed to be the largest & most magnificent piece of land in Europe.
It was also during the course of this year that, the Prince of Orange having confiscated the Marquisate of Bergen op Zoom and other lands which belonged to the Comte d’Auvergne, [the King] confiscated the Principality of Orange and gave it to this Comte. At that time died Eugene Maurice de Savoye, Count of Soissons, Colonel-General of the Swiss.
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| Map of my own creation depicting the major events of 1673. Its a mess of colors, forgive me. |
Recapitulation
At the beginning of this year Marshal Turenne, whom the King had opposed to the Elector of Brandenburg (who had come with the Duc de Bournonville to the aid of the Dutch with an army of 25,000 men), after having rested his troops in the Electorate of Trier, learned that this army was on the march with the intention of crossing the Rhine, that is why, having only 12,000 men, they were not opposed, but he himself crossed this river at Wesel to meet the enemy. This maneuver, so beautiful, imposed upon the Elector of Brandenburg, who could not imagine that he could risk it with so few troops, that he suspended his march and his plan. We have also seen with what skill this general retained in the party of France the Bishop of Munster who had already negotiated with the Imperials and the Dutch; that he took the towns of Unna, Kamen, Altena, [367] Roam almost in sight of the Elector of Brandenburg, which made this Prince believe that he had a greater number of troops, and made him decide to recross the Weser, that Marshal Turenne, seeing no more enemies on his hands, put his troops in quarters in the County of Mark after having seized the Town of Soest. It was during the defense of one of these quarters that the Marquis de Boulemont put up an attack of 4-5,000 men for ten hours, with 600 men in a very bad post without having been able to get up. Marshal Turenne then marched on the Weser took Höxter to have a passage on this river, and Bielefeld while the Marquis de Revel whom he had detached seized Ranensberg [or Raverberg].
Marshal Turenne, having been joined by the corps of troops commanded by the Marquis de Revel, crossed the Weser, followed the Elector of Brandenburg, who had retired into Westphalia; but this prince resumed the road to his country. Marshal Turenne made his troops live at discretion to recover from their fatigue, and finally obliged the Elector of Brandenburg to come to an agreement, moderately, by which he obliged himself to remain neutral and to renounce all the commitments he had made against France.
We have seen that the King of Spain and almost all the princes of the Empire had sided with the Dutch. The King was obliged to have three armies, he gave command of one to Prince Condé to guard the lower Rhine, another to Marshal Turenne to watch over the upper Rhine & took command of the strongest with which he besieged Maastricht, an important & very strong place, which had a strong garrison commanded by a Governor of great reputation. Brilliant actions took place during this siege in which the nobility of France and the troops gave great proofs of valor and contributed to subjugating this place in thirteen days of trenching.
The King intended to push his conquests into Dutch Brabant; but the States having flooded the surroundings, he left a part of his army to Prince Condé, went to Lorraine to destroy the factions which were brewing there in favor of the Imperials, gave orders there to fortify Nancy, and then marched to Alsace to secure this province and the city of Strasbourg. He fortified some places there and demolished Colmar, then returned to France, after augmenting [368] the troops which had accompanied him, the army of Marshal Turenne.
It was while the King was busy at the siege of Maastricht that the fleets of France and England joined together, commanded by Prince Rupert and the Count d'Estrées, fought the Dutch navy under de Ruyter's orders, with the intention of making descents on the coasts of the Provinces. There was a great combat in which the fleet of the two nations had a great advantage over the Dutch, whose loss was greater. Admiral de Ruyter having gone to seek Prince Rupert to have his revenge, the action recommenced the next day. Although it was most lively, nothing, so to speak, was decided, since the English fleet, in spite of the advantage it had over that of the enemies, could not put into execution the plan of making the descents which had been projected in England.
M. de Mornas, commanding the troops of Cologne, laid siege to Zwartzluis in the month of July, which Prince Maurice van Nassau besieged, after having defeated a body of Dutch troops which this Prince commanded. We have seen next that the King of Sweden offered to mediate to procure peace for the princes who were at war. They sent plenipotentiaries to Cologne, the place which was chosen to hold these conferences there. However, the Emperor and Spain renewed the treaty made with the Dutch against France, and the Duke of Lorraine entered into this league, along with several Princes of the Empire. The Elector of Trier had reason to repent some time afterwards; for the Marquis de Rochefort entered his country, with 18,000 men, seized all the small towns and castles, put all his states to contribution, caused damage in all the places which refused to pay for them, and besieged the town of Trier, of which he made himself master in a few days.
The Emperor, who until then had treated with the Dutch, finally decided to declare war on France, and marched the army he had prepared under the command of Count Montecuccolli towards the Rhine. On this news, the King sent orders to Marshal Turenne, who was in Weterania, to assemble his troops and watch over his movements; he learned that the General Imperial had taken the road to Nuremberg. [369] He seized Aschaffenburg, where he put a garrison, and having crossed the Main there, he marched against the enemy, leaving this river on the left. As he could not guard the two sides of the Rhine, he endeavored to cover Lorraine and Alsace, where the King was still; but he could not prevent the Imperials from marching to Bonn. The armies found themselves face to face in their march. Marshal Turenne presented the battle to Montecuccolli, who, although much superior, avoided it by a retreat, having a design which the Emperor had formed with the Spaniards and the Dutch on Bonn. The Bishop of Würzburg, who at that time broke neutrality, caused Count Montecuccolli to steal his march from Marshal Turenne. This General had well foreseen it, and he had planned to delay it by watching him go to have time to receive the orders of the Court; but the infidelity of this Bishop caused this project to fail. The Prelate was well punished for it, since Marshall Turenne pillaged his country, after which he was forced to recross the Rhine at Philipsburg and to take up winter quarters in the Palatinate.
We have mentioned the third battle at sea between the fleet of the two nations and that of Holland near the Texel. The King of England, having had the fleet re-established after the last two battles, had militia embarked there and ordered Prince Rupert to go and seek the Dutch fleet to fight it, with the intention of making a descent on the coasts of Holland if he defeated it. Admiral de Ruyter, who had orders to avoid combat, applied himself to the guard of the coasts; but the Dutch having received notice that their East Indian fleet was ready to arrive, and a richly laden vessel of this fleet having been captured, the States sent orders to their Admiral to fight. He went to seek the naval army of England and found it near Texel. The fleets came to blows on August 21st. The combat was bloodiest and most obstinate, and lasted from morning till night, without either of the two parties slowing down, and being able to boast of having had an advantage over the other.
The Prince of Orange, after the retreat of the English navy from his ports, having nothing more to fear for the coasts of Holland, besieged with an army of 25,000 men Naarden, a place which greatly inconvenienced Amsterdam. He battered it so vigorously with numerous artillery, [370] that he obliged the place to capitulate after a week's attack. The Governor was put before the court martial and degraded in nobility and arms.
After the capture of this city, the Prince of Orange entered the Electorate of Cologne which he ravaged. Then having joined the troops of Spain, he marched before Bonn, which the Count of Montecuccolli had invested. These three armies, amounting to more than 35-40,000 men, pressed the attacks from that place with great vigor. The Governor defended himself until the mine was attached to the body of the place for eight days, after which he was obliged to surrender by capitulation; he had a weak garrison. After taking this place, the Prince of Orange made himself master of the castles of Beuel, and Lechnits [sic], then Kerpen, and Duren, all cities of the Electorate of Cologne.
The King of England at the end of that year made peace with Holland. Spain, the Emperor, and almost all the Princes of the Empire declared themselves against the King. So many enemies on hand compelled him to abandon part of the places which his troops occupied in Holland in order to confront them. The Duc de Luxembourg abandoned Utrecht, Woerden, Crèvecœur, Bommel, Kampen, and several other small places without doing any violence. He withdrew with his troops under Maastricht, where the Prince of Orange made several useless attempts to attack him.
Some misdeeds which the Spaniards committed in Roussillon, were the beginning of the war in this province. The Spaniards wanted to make themselves masters of Boulou in the month of November, and M. le Bret, Lieutenant-General, having wanted to oppose them with some troops which he had given orders, drove back the enemies and was wounded there.
[1] Alexander de Bournonville, Prince of Bournonville (d. 1690), Flemish commander in Imperial service.
[2] Jacques de Fariaux (d. 1695), who was governor of Ath during the Nine Years’ War.
[3] Johan Mauritz van Nassau-Siegen (d. 1679), a cousin of the Prince William III of Orange.
[4] Count Kurt Christoph von Königsmarck (d. 1673), Swedish soldier in Dutch service.
[5] Ottone Enrico del Caretto, Marquis of Grana (d. 1685), Italian soldier in Imperial service, later Governor of the Spanish Netherlands.
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