1674 - The Franco-Dutch War - Part 1 - The Second Conquest of Franche-Comté and the Battle of Seneffe - from Quincy's Histoire Militaire
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| Siege of Besançon, April 26th to May 22nd, 1674. |
The following is a section from Volume 1 of the Marquis de Quincy's Histoire Militaire du Regne de Louis le Grand, from pages 370-389, detailing the third year of the Franco-Dutch War, with a focus on the 2nd Conquest of Franche-Comté, and the campaign in Flanders, the foremost action of which was the Battle of Seneffe. This post follows in a series of other selections from Quincy: The War of Devolution (1667-68) and the Franco-Dutch War (1672 and 1673). (This post is also the second in my series presenting sources for the Battle of Seneffe in 1674, the first of which presented a translation of William of Orange's letters.) This selection from Quincy was translated using Google, with common sense adjustments by myself.
[370] Never had the power of the King been greater than it appeared during the year into which we are entering. This prince would have to deal with all the forces of the Emperor, of all the Princes of the Empire, of Spain and of the Dutch. The King of England, his ally, in support of whom he had undertaken the war against Holland, was compelled by the intrigues which the States General formed in the interior of the Kingdom and in his Parliament, to abandon his alliance. The Bishop of Munster and the Elector [371] of Cologne, the only allies the King had retained, were obliged to take the same course; there was only the Elector of Bavaria who maintained neutrality, and the King of Sweden as mediator. Louis XIV in this state was compelled to hold his own against so great a number of enemies, and to support alone the heavy burden of a war which, according to the hope of his enemies, must entirely overwhelm him. However, to the great astonishment of Europe, it was the most glorious campaign that had ever been waged in France since the beginning of the King's reign. This Prince in person conquered an entire Province; his Generals won four great battles, destroyed the army of the Empire, 60,000 strong; and finally his troops carried their arms with advantage into all the countries where they acted. We will enter into the details of all these actions, when we have shown what took place on the subject of the conference of Cologne, and the measures which the King took, not only to render useless the forces which had been gathered against France, but also to make the conquests of which we have just spoken.
The war was no sooner begun than the King of Sweden had offered to mediate for peace; the offers having been accepted by both sides; the city of Cologne had been chosen in the month of March of the preceding year by the consent of both parties to hold the Conferences there. The Duc de Chaulne, MM. Courtin & de Barillon, whom the King had appointed Plenipotentiaries, went to Cologne in the month of June. Those of England and Holland arrived there almost at the same time, and on the 12th of July the French and the English placed in the hands of the Swedish mediators the draft of the conditions on which their Majesties wanted to give peace to the Dutch. They were such that one flattered oneself that they would have accepted them. But their new allies, who were arming themselves in their favor, and the hope in which they were of detaching England from the interests of France, brought them difficulties which stopped the negotiations altogether from their beginning.
While public negotiation was suspended, those which were secretly made to form new leagues against France, or to compel her allies to abandon her, were treated with great warmth. There would be no way [372] but one tried with the Swiss cantons to oblige them to break the engagements which united them for so long to France; but the artifices of the enemies had an effect quite contrary to their designs. For as the most pressing motive, which they used to shake the cantons, was to persuade them that the main intention of the King was to extend the limits of his kingdom at the expense of their freedom, after the King would have subjugated Franche-Comte. The refusal that the Emperor and the Spaniards made to accept the neutrality of the King made him propose for this province, so shocked the Swiss, that France persuaded them in the sequel all that she wanted for her interests.
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| Wilhelm Egon von Fürstenberg (d. 1704), whose arrest in 1674 was a further cause of tension between France and the Empire, and whose election in 1688 as Archbishop of Trier would help trigger the Nine Years' War. |
Kidnapping of the Prince of Furstemberg
During all these intrigues, the King having seemed to relax on several articles which had served as pretexts for suspending the conference at Cologne, and principally on the refusal which he had hitherto made to give passports to the Minister of the Duke of Lorraine. They recommenced, and the mediators had acted so powerfully in concert, that expedients were agreed upon to put Germany at rest, by causing the troops of the King and those of the Emperor to leave the lands of the Empire at the same time, when an attack on the rights of people and on public safety suddenly overthrew what had been so difficult to set in motion, and broke by an action which he there had not yet been an example, the negotiations and the assembly of Cologne. This was the kidnapping of Prince Wilhelm von Fürstenberg[1], who was at the assembly in the capacity of plenipotentiary of the Elector of Cologne, and who by virtue of his full power had been recognized as Public Minister by all the Ambassadors and even by those of the Emperor. However, in defiance of all holy and inviolable security among men, on the 14th of February ten officers of the regiment of Grana attacked in broad daylight in the streets of Cologne Prince William, killed three of his servants; seized his person and took him to Bonn. The King in whose interests this Prince had entered much before, complained loudly of this violence. He demanded reparation with the freedom of the prisoner; but as the Emperor refused to satisfy him, on the pretext that the Prince of Fürstenberg was a subject of the Emperor, and that he had betrayed the interests of his country, the King recalled his Ambassadors.
[373] It was in this same month that the treaty which the King of England had been obliged to make with the Dutch the previous year, and which had been kept secret, was signed in London, and then made public, with great rejoicings in Holland. This peace was all the more advantageous to the Dutch because they found means of augmenting their forces by the succor they drew from England; it was because France was compelled to think of increase his troops. But nothing embarrassed him more than to give orders to the affairs of the sea. It was not that the King did not have vessels to oppose the enemies, and good captains to command them, but that required an excessive expense, and as we were obliged to do a great deal on land, it was resolved to disarm at sea. The safety of the coasts was provided for by another means; the Duc de Roquelaure was ordered to go to Normandy, the Duc de Navailles to the country of Aunis, and the Duc de Chaulnes to Brittany where he was Governor. They were not, however, given regular troops; but they commanded the [militia] of the country. The King gave order to the affairs of Roussillon by sending troops there under the orders of M. le Bret, while waiting for the Count of Schomberg whom he had designated to command there.
This Prince need fear only on the side of Burgundy, by which the enemies could carry their arms to the gates of Paris. It was also the Duke of Lorraine’s intention to make it the theater of war. But the Emperor preferred to attack Alsace, because this province would have to come back to him. Indeed he was afraid that the enemies would recognize the mistake they had made in not believing the Duke of Lorraine, and that, becoming wise at their expense, they would throw forces in that direction. It was for this reason that he decided to seize Franche-Comté, although the conquest seemed difficult, for besides the fact that the fortresses of this province were sufficiently provided with everything, they were strong of themselves and capable of stopping a large army. This was not, however, the greatest difficulty; it was also necessary to make the Swiss consider it good, whom the conquest of this province might arouse; this is what the King [374] knew how to manage as we have noticed.
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| Map of Franche-Comté |
While the King was occupied before Maastricht the preceding campaign, he had left the Duc de Navailles, Lieutenant General, in the Duchy of Burgundy to watch over the movements of the Spaniards there; which the Dục did more exactly since the declaration of war between Spain & France. Although he had very few troops, he first seized the town & castle of St. Amour, the castles of Aubépine, Beaufort, Perme & Mornay. This General then gathered up as many troops as he could with the intention of taking Gray, which had been demolished, but which the Spaniards had fortified with a good covered-way and some works of milled and palisaded earth. The Court sent him sixteen companies of the Gardes Françoises, the regiment of Lyonnais, and 600 horse; he had two pieces of cannon put in order, and had a flying bridge made to cross the Saône, with a view to entering Franche-Comté. He placed it above the Ognon to cross these two rivers at the same time; but the enemies who noticed this increased the troops guarding this passage by 300 horse; so that General Navailles went to cross the Ognon at a ford which he had discovered. He caused eight squadrons to pass there, with the design of taking the enemy not behind, while his infantry paled on his flying bridge which he had brought up: the enemy retired to Gray. The next day he attacked Peslinne, in which there were 350 infantry, and 300 dragoons, who surrendered at discretion the following day. He then took, near Dole between the river of Ognon and that of Doux, a castle which was very good and where there were 200 men.
Capture of Gray
General Navailles, having nothing left to prevent him from besieging Gray, marched there. On approaching it, he found the cavalry of the enemy coming to burn the villages where he intended to establish himself to make this siege. There was a great skirmish, and the enemies were driven back to their posts, where M. de Navailles received several shots which wounded him slightly. The next day, which was the 28th of February, he caused the trenches to be opened, and in spite of the flood which was great, the soldiers having water up to their waists, he attacked the covered way with Regiment Lyonnais. He surrendered [375] after a 5 hour fight. The enemies who saw themselves in a hurry, asked to capitulate. General Navailles would give them no other capitulation than that of Pessinne. He therefore took in this place 1,600 infantry, 400 horses, and 600 dragoons with M. de Massiette, an officer of reputation among the Spaniards, and who has done much harm in Burgundy and in Champagne. General Navailles returned part of his equipment to him, on his word that he would not serve the King of Spain for six months.
Capture of Vesoul
After Gray's capture, M. de Navailles marched to Vesoul, who surrendered at the first summons. He then took Lion le Saunier, and a small town near the Ançon, which made him master of all this country, so that if the King had been in a condition to complete the conquest of this province, he would have taken possession of Bezançon & Dole in 15 days’ time. But the King of Spain having had time to send M. de Vaudemont to this country, this General worked with so much application to put these two places in a better state, and to reassure the people, that these attacks became difficult, and worthy of the presence and care of the King.
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| Detail of Siège de Besançon en mai 1674 by Pierre Denis Martin. |
Capture of Bezançon
This Prince having resolved to conquer the rest of Franche-Comté; which the Duke of Navailles had just facilitated by the capture of Gray and the other towns of this province, sent the Duke of Enghien to Burgundy under the pretext of settling some affairs in this province. The Duke having joined General Navailles with more troops, marched to Bezançon which he invested on April 25th. The King, who wanted to make this conquest in person, having left St. Germain on the 20th of this month with the Queen and the whole Court, arrived on the 2nd of May. On his arrival he observed all the exteriors of the place, and having examined the fortifications, he settles with M. de Vauban, Chief Engineer, the attack on the city which is divided into high and low. The citadel is situated on a very steep and very high rock which can only be approached from the side of the City. The side facing it had two bastions surrounded by a good moat carved into the rock with a demi-lune on the right and an antique tower on the left. Although the Citadel seemed impregnable by its advantageous location, the King, on examining it, recognized [376] that it could be bombarded from a mountain which was opposite of it, the difficulty being to get the cannon there. But the Swiss took charge of it, and they succeeded in doing so, thanks to the indefatigable care of His Majesty, who had this painful work done during the night by torchlight. The Baron de Soye, Governor of Bezançon was seconded by the Prince de Vaudemont who had thrown himself into it with a garrison of 3,000 men.
The trench was opened in front of the city on the night of May 6th to 7th, by the Chevalier de Lorraine, Maréchal de camp, with two battalions of Gardes Françoiſes, the Duc de la Feuillade, colonel of this regiment at their head, in the presence of the Duc de Enghien; although the continual rains had made the ground so troublesome, that the soldiers were in the mud and in the water up to their knees, it did not fail to be carried far forward. On the following days the soldiers, encouraged by the presence of the King, pushed on the works with so much diligence that they led them to the nine [?] as far as thirty paces from the river of Doux, despite the great fire which the besieged made and the difficulty of the ground because of the rocks with which it was filled.
On the 10th, three batteries of cannon and mortars having been [made] ready, dismounted 4 of the [enemy’s] cannon, who made a sortie, and were vigorously repulsed to their counterscarp. The next day the trenches were pushed to within reach of the covered way, which was attacked in the evening, and carried after a strong resistance. The quarters were perfected on the 12th, and work was done to establish batteries there to make the breach. The besiegers attempted during the night to recapture it; but they were compelled to return promptly to the city by the resistance they encountered. On the 13th, the batteries being ready, struck the right face of the demi-lune and on the 14th the Governor raised a white flag to ask for capitulation. The King granted the inhabitants of the city the continuation of their privileges; but with regard to the garrison, they became a prisoners-of-war. Part of the garrison wishing to escape despite this capitulation was cut to pieces after passing through the Marquis de Revel’s quarter.
Capture of the Citadel of Bezançon
After the King had brought troops into the city to take the [remaining] posts, he continued the attacks against the citadel. The batteries which had worked against the town were turned, and they bombarded the fort on [Mount] St. Etienne which covered the place on that side [377] of the town, while those which were on the mountain made a continual fire against the citadel. The fort of S. Etienne being in a state of being assaulted, the King commanded his Musketeers for this action with a detachment of the Gardes Françoises. These troops, joined by the French nobility in the capacity of volunteers, animated by the presence of the King and seconded by a great fire of artillery, attacked this fort in broad daylight, and after some resistance, they carried it sword in hand. Those of the enemies who could escape the first fury of the soldier fled into the citadel. Batteries were immediately established on this fort, which beat the citadel with such vigor, that the Governor asked to capitulate. Coming out of the trench, the Marquis de Beringhen had the misfortune to be killed by a blow from a falconet. The Comte de Saint Geran, whom he was hugging when he was struck on the head, was wounded by his shattered bones which entered so far into his that he had to be trepanned. The Marquis de Rouvroy and the Chevalier de la Salle died of wounds they had received in this action.
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| Diagram of French attacks during the Siege of Besançon, retrieved here. |
The King saw the garrison leave, to which all the honors of war were granted, the Prince de Vaudemont at the head; the King showed him many amities, and gave him a passport to join his regiment in Flanders. M. de Massiette, who had found the means of throwing himself into the place with 100 horse, came out with the garrison. All those who were employed in this siege did, so to speak, the impossible, seeing with what courage the King was going there. He was on horseback day and night, giving his orders himself, having them carried out in person, and often exposing himself more than was necessary for a king, to whom no accident could happen that was not of great consequence for his kingdom.
Capture of Dole
After the King had made himself master of Bezançon, he wanted to add to this conquest that of Dole; he sent part of his army under the orders of the Duke of Enghien to invest it: it arrived there on the 26th of the same month of May. The King having given the necessary orders for the security of Bezançon, left and arrived on the 27th. He examined the place, and having recognized that the front by which he had besieged it the first time he had [captured] it had been well fortified, he resolved to attack it on the side of the Bezançon gate, either because it was the easiest place, or because the covered way was not [378] completed on this side. While the General Officers were occupied in marking the quarters of the army, the besieged made a sortie which at first met with some success; but they were repulsed by the besiegers, sword in hand, as far as their town. The next day the King blew a trumpet to the Marquis of Borgomanero of the house of Este, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, who was Governor there, to summon him to surrender since he could not hope for help. But he replied that he was only too happy to see himself attacked by an army commanded by such a great Prince; that he beg him to leave him the freedom to defend with honor the place which the King his master had confided to him, the better to deserve his esteem. The King, after this answer, took measures to press the siege; he caused the trench to be opened by two battalions of a regiment of Gardes commanded by the Chevalier de Lorraine, supported by a squadron of Gardes du Corps, at the head of which was M. de Brasac, ensign of this Corps. We worked on a battery of 14 cannon which was supported by two assembly points which we had made, and the work was advanced by a hundred paces thanks to this battery.
On the 29th, two more batteries were built to ruin the defenses of the curtain wall and the flanks of the two bastions attacked. On the night of the 29th to the 30th, the King attacked the covered way, from which the besieged were driven out. While they were working on the accommodation, the governor caused it to be [counter-]attacked with such vigor that our troops were obliged to abandon it. But having returned sword in hand, they drove out the besieged, remained there, and lodged there. Batteries were established there to breach the body of the place, and to dismount some cannon which the besieged had in a low flank, in order to work at the descent of the ditch; which was finally done on the first of June. The attached miner met the one of the besieged who continued on his side; he gave her a camouflet[2] which showed off her already very advanced appearance. On the 6th our miners having encountered the gallery of the besieged had a land mine laid to burst it, which succeeded, and made an opening in the bastion. A second mine was prepared to blow up this bastion, in order to make the breach larger. This obliged the Governor to beat the chamade on the day that Monsignor, who was only twelve and a half years old, arrived at the siege: [379] he was accompanied by the Princes of Conti and of La Roche-sur-Yon; it was the eighth day of the trenching.
Capture of Salins
After the reduction of this place, the King having left the command of the troops to the Duc de la Feuillade returned with the Court to Paris. The Duc, after filling in the trenches and providing security for Dole, set out to lay siege to Salins. This place was surrounded by three forts which he had to attack and take before coming to the body of the place; he made himself master of both in eight days of attack. During the course of this siege he gave marks of his ordinary valor and of such great vigilance that he climbed, so to speak, all the trenches himself. This General having then reduced Fauconey, Luxeüil & Lur, which the Spaniards still occupied, the King saw himself entirely master of this Province in six weeks’ time. He gave the government to the Duc de Duras, nephew of Marshal Turenne.
[ For more information on the 2nd Conquest of Franche-Comte, the French Wikipedia page is very detailed, and discusses combat that Quincy omits in his narrative. ]
The Campaign in Flanders
The great number of enemies in arms which France had promised no less than to penetrate into France during this campaign. The King, who alone governs his projects, began, as we have just said, with the conquest of Franche-Comté, which was made before his enemies were in a condition to act in Flanders. He then put himself in a position to sustain in this country the great efforts which they were to make there.
It was not the same with the princes leagued against him. Their different interests made their resolutions not conform to the hopes they had conceived of their forces. The Dutch wanted Grave or Maastricht to be besieged, because these places were due to them, and the Spaniards were for Charleroi for the same reason. The Emperor did not care that sieges were made, provided that the Prince of Orange, who was to command their army, held the main forces of France in check, so that they would not go to the aid of Marshal Turenne, who commanded on the Rhine, where his Imperial Majesty intended to make great conquests.
Capture of the Castles of Erklens, Argentau and Navague
The King had appointed Prince Condé to command his Army of Flanders, and wanting to take advantage of the indecisiveness of the enemy's difficulties, he sent him orders to cover the Marechal de Belfonds who was to attack the forts of Erklens and Navague, and the Chateau d'Argentau on the Meuse, by means of [380] which the Spaniards were prevented from descending to Maastricht by that river.
The Marshal, covered by Prince Condé, first attacked the fort of Erklens, which he immediately captured on the 10th of May, he then marched to the Château d'Argentau, located on a rock, proof against guns and swords; but a panic having seized the garrison, they surrendered him on his approach on the 16th of the same month, although this castle could have hindered him for a long time, if he who commanded there had wanted to do his duty.
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| Detail of map from Histoire de la Campagne de M. le Prince de Condé en Flandre en 1674, showing the movements of the French army around Maastricht and Liege in capturing the three forts. (Unable to identify Erklens, perhaps the Jrkoloo at the top right?) |
Monsieur de Belfonds was no sooner in control than he blew it up, as well as Fort Navague, which he then attacked and forced to surrender on the 24th. These forts were about twenty leagues distant from the army of the allied princes, a part of which was lost on the side of Cologne. This distance was not great enough to [prevent] saving these castles if they had wanted; but they allowed themselves to be intimidated by advice they had that the Mareschal de Belfonds should receive great help. The capture of these posts caused Maastricht to receive considerable help from the Meuse, which found itself free. They were taken from Liege which, being a neutral and extremely fertile country, only asked to make money from its foodstuffs.
After many disputes between the allied princes, the Dutch prevailed and they agreed to lay siege to Grave, to which they charged General Rabenhaupt[3] with 10-12,000 men. The rest of their army under the command of the Prince of Orange remained in the vicinity of French Flanders to confront Prince Condé and to cover the siege of Grave, which we will discuss below.
The Prince of Orange at the head of the armies of the King of Spain and of the Dutch, awaited in this situation that of the Emperor who joined him at the beginning of August. These three armies altogether composed 60,000 men. That of the Prince of Conde was only 40,000, but this inequality of forces did not prevent him from thinking of fighting the enemies, and his long experience, his reputation, and his valor gave a confidence to his troops which made them despise what forces the enemies had above him. To wait for a moment favorable to his design, he posted himself between Charleroi and Fontaine-l'Evêque, having the little Pieton River [381] in front of him, and the Sambre behind. Attentive to all their movements, he resolved to profit by the first advantage they could give him.
Battle of Seneffe
The Prince of Orange, who counted on the superiority of his troops, and who on his side was looking for an opportunity to fight the Prince of Condé, approached on the 9th of August to within a league and a half of the army. He encamped his right at the Bois de Busseray, and his left at Arquennes, leaving before him the Village of Seneffe, where he remained on the 10th, in the resolution to attack the Prince de Condé, in order to be able, after having beaten him, to besiege Charleroi and then to enter France. This Prince during this day went to reconnoiter the army of France; but having found no prospect of attacking it in the situation in which it was, he decided to decamp the next day to try to compel the Prince of Conde to leave his post. With this intention he decamped on the morning of the 11th, marching in three columns, and taking the road to Binch and Marimont by the Village of Seneffe, where he sent a column of infantry and his cavalry to the right. The third column, made up of baggage, marched on the right, and passed on the bridges he had had made the day before on the brook of Seneffe. Prince Condé used them to go and charge the enemy, as we will see in a moment, because he did not give them time to break them.
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| Map of my own creation showing in orange the movements of the Allied army around Conde's camp at Pieton, including his proposed march around the French flank, and in blue Conde's reposition and then his attack on the Allied rearguard at Seneffe. |
In this march the Imperials had the vanguard commanded by the Comte de Souches. The Dutch had the main body of battle under the Prince of Orange who commanded the whole army in chief, the Spaniards made the rear guard in command of the Count of Monterrey. The Prince de Vaudemont made the rearguard of the whole [army], with a corps of 6,000 horse. He must protect the march of all the troops, and remain in line while they parade. They still posted some infantry at the head of the village of Seneffe.
As soon as the Prince of Condé was informed of the enemy's march, he detached M. de Saint-Clar, colonel of cavalry and a good partisan with 400 chosen horse and doubled officers to go and encamp on their march, and give alarm to the vanguard of their army, while he would fall on their rearguard. M. de Saint Clar marched a long league between two columns of their army without being perceived. He [382] finally made himself known in the plain of Binch, by charging a squadron of their vanguard, which soon drew the whole column into his skirmish. He supported them with as much valor as cold blood, and withdrew half a league, from defile to defile, occasionally opposing the enemies, not losing more than 20 men.
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| Diagram showing (A) the infantry attack on Seneffe itself, (B) the attack of the Maison du Roi on the Allied cavalry. |
Prince Condé during this time caused the regiments of Navarre, la Reine and la Ferté to cross the river Pieton, and a battalion of fusiliers with four pieces of cannon to be at the head; he then posted the Gardes du Corps, the Gendarmes, the Chevaux-legers de la Garde with the regiment of Cuirassiers in a bottom from which the enemy could not see them. And as he wanted to be exactly informed of their route, he ordered the Marquis de Choiseuil, Maréchal de camp, to a height, to watch out for the movements of the enemies. This Prince then caused the dragoons to advance under the command of the Marquis de Ranes and the Chevalier de Tilladet, who drove the enemies from this height, and forced them to retire with loss to the village of Seneffe. They halted there to regroup, and threw their infantry behind the ditches, the hedges, and the hop-fields, of which the roads of this village are cut, and entrenched themselves in the Church, and in the cemetery. The Prince de Condé caused this village to be attacked by M. de Montal with the regiments of which we have spoken; this one was wounded in the knee. The Prince went himself at the head of the Maison du Roi to cross the bridges over the brook of Seneffe in sight of the enemy who was in line on the other side, and who instead of charging him as he went pass, waited for him with a firm footing. As soon as he had a front nearly equal to that of the enemy, he marched towards them, sword in hand, at a slow pace. The enemies waited for him within pistol range. Then they approached closely, and fired at him. Their line was twenty squadrons, the fire of which did not kill ten men; and the Prince having shaken it off, attacked them sword in hand, drove them in and put them to flight. Many of their officers were killed or taken prisoner. Those who escaped by flight rallied on a height where ten of their squadrons had halted about half a league from Seneffe; the cavalry pursued them there. Prince Condé, having noticed that the enemy had rallied the rest [383] of the infantry of their rearguard in the gardens, and in the hedges which were at the foot of this height, ordered his cavalry to halt and ranged them right and left under as much cover as possible until his infantry, which after a bloody battle had carried the village of Seneffe, had arrived.
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| Diagram showing (A) Assentar's attempt to delay the French attack "half a league from Seneffe," followed by (B) the Allied attempt to hold a more defensive line around the church of St. Nicholas, surrounded by "gardens and hedges." |
As soon as they joined them, he attacked the gardens and the hedges behind which the enemies had thrown their infantry. They fought there with obstinacy, and the enemies disputed the victory there for a long time, but at last they were forced to yield to the efforts of three battalions of Gardes Françoises led by the Prince of Condé himself. Their infantry was pushed to the foot of the height, and the fire of ours shook their cavalry, which had stood firm. The Marquis de Fourilles, impatient to see a troop of cavalry which had not moved, caused a passage to be cleared to go and reconnoiter it before the King's gardes arrived: this haste cost him his life. He had his back broken; and it was as he retired that he said he only regretted the pleasure of seeing how the Prince of Condé would turn out that day. The troops of the Maison du Roi having finished cutting this infantry to pieces, all their cavalry retired in disorder to the other side of a village, about six hundred paces from the place of combat; the Prince of Condé followed them them immediately with his cavalry. But he found that, at the noise of the battle, the rest of their army had retraced their steps to support their rearguard, and that the Prince of Orange had already posted several battalions in the gardens, and behind the hedges which bordered the village of Say [Fayt], so that in order to attack them, the Prince of Condé had to wait for his infantry, which he had left far enough away from him.
His cavalry, however, remained exposed to the fire of the enemy, who having had the leisure to enlarge and pile up squadron upon squadron to support their infantry, fired continually from behind the hedges whence they fired in complete safety. Their artillery loaded with canister shot carried off entire files in our squadrons at each shot, which remained for more than an hour in this situation without moving, and were reflected as the cannon widened the files without making any movement which could mark neither impatience nor fright.
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| Diagram showing the combat that swirled around the village of Fayt with the remainder of both armies until midnight. |
As soon as the Infantry of the Prince of Condé had arrived, the combat [384] began again with more carnage and obstinacy than that of the morning; the enemies occupied the Village of Say [Fayt], which had a good church, and a castle surrounded by a strong hedge; there was a marsh on one side and a wood on the other, in which the Prince of Orange placed several battalions supported by all the German cavalry which had come to his assistance. The Duke of Luxembourg was instructed to attack them from the side of the wood with the regiments of Enghien, Condé, Conti, and Auvergne, while the Prince of Condé had them attacked from the other by the Gardes Françoises and Suisses, supported by other regiments. It was here that there was a bloody fight which the night could not put an end to. It continued for two hours in the moonlight, and lasted five hours without it being possible to say that one of the parties had an advantage over the other. The ensuing darkness made him stop. Each remained on his side in the door where he found himself. The two camps had been resting for two hours, and the soldiers, overwhelmed with weariness and for the most part covered with wounds and blood, were trying to regain their strength to resume the fight as soon as day broke, when suddenly, the two armies, as if in concert, discharged so suddenly and so quickly that it resembled a salvo rather than a discharge of troops fighting. They were so close to each other that many soldiers of the two armies were killed or wounded; and as all perils appear more dreadful in the horror of the night, the terror was so great that the two armies retreated hastily at the same time; but each perceiving very soon that he was not pursued, they stopped short, and the Prince of Condé, having returned to the head of his army, made it return to the field of battle, where he spent the rest of the night. The Prince of Orange abandoned him; which was one of the proofs that Prince Conde gained a victory which the Prince of Orange endeavored to attribute to himself inappropriately.
It is true that if Prince Condé had wanted to be content with the first advantage he had over the enemies, which was great, since he had killed more than 3,000 men for them, taken nearly 4,000 prisoners, among whom were 500 officers and a large number of flags and standards, he would have spared much blood and saved the King a large number of people of consideration who were killed there. One [385] can even say that this Prince had hitherto pushed the victory as far as it could go; but the greatness of his courage animated him in such a way that it induced him to pursue the enemies to places almost inaccessible, and to attack them there in a bold and intrepid manner which made him pay dearly for this victory. The Prince of Orange retired to Haine S. Pierre and Haine S. Paul while Prince Condé returned to his camp. Never was a bloodier battle; the Dutch had 5-6,000 men killed or wounded, the Spaniards 3,000, and the Germans 600. 6,000 prisoners were made of them, the greater part Spaniards, among whom was the Comte de la Tour. The Marquis of Assentar and the Landgrave [?] were killed there; among the wounded of note were Prince Charles of Lorraine, Princes Pio, of Nassau, of Birkenfeld, the Counts of Waldeck, Douglas, de la Riviere & de Chavagnac, the Duke of Holstein, and the Marquis de Grana. They lost a large part of their equipment, 107 flags or standards, three guns and one mortar, 2,000 wagons, 300,000 crowns intended for the payment of their troops, and 60 pontoons. The French, on their side, had 5-6,000 dead or wounded and 1,000 officers there. Among the first were the Marquis de Fourille, Mestre-de-Camp General de la cavalerie, and Lieutenant-General, the Marquis de Chanvalon, de Bourbonne, d'Ambly, de Chemerault & de Sandricourt, the Comtes de Noirmoutier, de Rancé, Messieurs de Servon, de Luzancy, de Sainseim, and the Chevalier de Razilly. Among the wounded were the Prince de Soubise, M. de Montal, the Comtes de Konigsmarck, Matignon, Gaffé, Hautefort, Nonant, the Marquis de Tonnerre, Oieliers, Neille, Ars, Sevigny, de Courcelle, de Villars, MM. de Mouchal, de Lassay, de Catinat, de Croisil, du Vivier, de Montini and Balançon.
Prince Condé spared himself less than the least soldier. He carried himself everywhere sword in hand, although very ill with gout, he was everywhere a shining light. Wherever he took his steps, no enemy dared to stand firm before him; he was seconded by the Duke of Enghien who shared the glory of this great day with him, and who was always at his side, by M. de Montal, the Ducs de Luxembourg, de Navailles, [386] de Lesdiguiere, the Marquis of Rochefort, de Ranes, the Comte de Choiseuil, the Chevalier de Tilladet, the Comte de la Mothe, M. de Rubantel, and by several other noteworthy officers who distinguished themselves there.
The Prince of Orange, on his side, saved the Allied army from complete defeat by the decision he took to keep himself well. He did not spare himself in this action, he was admired by his side, and praised by ours, particularly Prince Condé who did justice to his value. Prince Condé left the Marquis de Ranes on the field of battle, who had the wounded of both parties removed from it. This Prince said of him the next day that he had never seen a man of greater help or of such cold blood than he on an occasion.
After the battle of Seneffe, the misunderstanding which had existed from the beginning of the campaign between the chiefs of the Allies increased. The Prince of Orange, seeing that the Counts de Souche and Monterrey were rather inclined to garrison their troops than to attempt a new action, gave it to be understood that he would march with the troops of Holland before Grave, where the General Rabenhaupt was still in command, which obliged the Generals of the Confederates to acquiesce in his wishes. This Prince, who had made the States of Holland understand that he had won the Battle of Seneffe, intended to lay siege to try to convince them of his courage, and to prevent the King from sending reinforcements to Germany to Marshal Turenne who had great need of it.
After these two armies had recovered from the great losses they had suffered in this bloody battle, they returned to the field. The Prince of Orange did all he could to come to blows again, but the Prince of Condé always chose posts so advantageous that he could not engage him there, and contented himself with observing the Allies, preserving the conquests that France had made, and preventing the enemies from invading France, which was their main goal.
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| Map of French operations around Oudenade in September. |
Lifting of the Siege of Oudenaarde
The Prince of Orange, seeing that it was not possible to induce Prince Condé to a new action, marched in the month of September to Oudenarde to lay siege to that place. Prince Condé hearing this news, and knowing [387] that M. de Rocheper, who was Governor of it, was not in a condition to act because of his great age, detached the Marquis de Ranes, who threw himself into the place with 100 horses, and 100 dragons. The enemy opened the trenches on September 16. They made this opening in broad daylight with great audacity, and worked for some time in the open within musket range. They were seven days before the place, where they lost 6-700 men; all they could do was to get within range of the counterscarp which they had not yet been able to attack, when the Prince de Condé, after having swelled his army with troops which the Marshal d'Humieres drew from the nearest to his government, marched diligently to the aid of the beleaguered city with the finest order in the world. The enemy dared not wait for him in their lines; nor to leave it to meet him, and they raised the siege as soon as he approached it.
Prince Condé, to give battle to the Prince of Orange, posted himself between the city and the enemy army and remained there all the 22nd in presence, in a place all the more profitable because it was not there were neither hedges nor defiles that could, like at Seneffe, hide their defeat from consummate experience, and from the valor of Prince Condé. But a thick fog which lasted until eleven o'clock in the morning, favored the retreat of the enemies, and concealed them from the sight of the Prince of Condé. And as it almost always happens that in armies composed of different Nations and commanded by different chiefs, jealousy or the diversity of interests cause divisions. The Prince of Orange and the Comte de Souches complained of each other, and brought to light the faults of this campaign, so that these three armies separated after the raising of the siege of Oudenarde with mutual dissatisfaction. The Germans returned to their country and did so much damage and violence in all the places of Brabant which were on their way, that it seemed that they had come rather to ruin their allies than to succor them. The Spaniards also withdrew towards them, and the Prince of Orange went with the best part of the troops of the States General to Grave to press its surrender.
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| Map of Siege of Grave in 1674, the last fortress held by the French north of Maastricht. |
Capture of Grave by the Enemy
This place, which General Rabenhaupt had besieged since the end of July with troops from the States General and [388] the Elector of Brandenburg, was defended by the Marquis de Chamilly, son of the Marquis de Chamilly, Lieutenant general, an officer of a great reputation, who died of illness in the last campaign. Prince Condé, who knew its worth to them, and that this place was abundantly supplied with all that was necessary to support a long siege, was not much worried when he learned that the enemies had undertaken to make the siege, and never left his posts near Charleroi. General Rabenhaupt made his approaches with ease, but as he pushed them further, he found a garrison so obstinate, that by the frequent sorties it made, it would be hard to tell who was attacking or who was attacked, since this General did not take an inch of ground before the besieged immediately recaptured it, sword in hand. For a long time no one had seen such a long and beautiful defense; and fortune seconding the valor of the Marquis de Chamilly, there was hardly an occasion where he did not gain the advantage. This made General Rabenhaupt realize that he had been mistaken, when he flattered himself that he would reduce this place with the few men he had been given; and as he saw that his troops were diminishing every day, he was obliged to take the decision to fortify himself in his camp, to put himself under cover in the middle of his troops from the frequent attacks of the Marquis de Chamilly, who was not content to attack him in his trenches. He took this resolution all the sooner because he well knew that the Prince of Orange was daily awaiting the troops of the Elector of Brandenburg, who, having failed in the treaty made with the King, had joined himself with his enemies; and that when they had arrived, as well as Brunswick's troops, it was impossible that the King was not obliged to weaken Prince Condé’s army to reinforce that of Marshal Turenne which was very weak on the Rhine, and that by this means the Prince of Orange would be able to send him a reinforcement of troops to complete this enterprise. However, the Marquis de Chamilly, taking advantage of the respite given him, worked to fortify the places that needed it, in which he was well supported by the garrison. Several peculiar actions took place during this time. The Marquis de Chamilly lacking money, and the Dutch hostages for the contributions being confined [389] in Grave, they returned to the power of the States General after the capture of this place; and this was what had determined the allies to attach themselves rather to this conquest than to any other, and because most of the ammunition of war that had been taken from the Dutch places that France had abandoned was there, the Comte d'Estrades, who commanded in Maastricht, detached Colonel de Melin, who found it easy to enter Grave, bring money there, remove the layers, pass through the enemies and lead them to Maastricht, all this meant that when the Prince of Orange arrived there with the Dutch army after the lifting of the siege of Oudenarde, the siege was no further advanced since the day that General Rabenhaupt had arrived there and opened the trench. On October 24th, the Prince of Orange was joined by Princes Charles of Lorraine, Rijngrave, and Waldeck. This Prince was preparing to push the siege vigorously, and the Marquis de Chamilly to defend the place with the same obstinacy and the same valor as he had done for 93 days, ruined as it was by the bombs, when he received orders from the King to surrender, in order to save the lives of so many brave people who were there, and who would have perished uselessly if they had been allowed to continue their defense.
It was by the surrender of this place which had cost the Dutch 5-6,000 men that the campaign of 1674 in Flanders ended, a campaign which despite the great forces of the Allies in this country was very glorious to France by the capture of the castles on the Meuse, by winning the famous battle of Seneffe, and by lifting the siege of Oudenaarde, with no other advantage on the part of the Allies than the capture of Grave, which cost them much time and many troops. It was to this that the Prince of Condé, by his skill, reduced an army of 60,000 men with 40,000 which he had under his command.
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| The thanksgiving of Dutch soldiers in Grave, having fully liberated their homeland. |
But what happened on the Rhine during this time and of which we are going to give the account, was even more honorable for France, for the Prince who was the motive, and for the General who carried out his orders…
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