Walcourt, 1689 - Part 5 - Allied Order of Battle - New Sources Found!

Schlachtordnung der Holländer und Alliierten gegen die Franzosen bei Walcourt, 25. August 1689.

 

While researching the Battle of Seneffe in 1674, I stumbled across two documents in the Hessian State Archives that purport to be the Allied OOB for the Battle of Walcourt, fought on August 25th, 1689 in the opening campaign of the Nine Years' War in Flanders. Last year, I made a series of posts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) attempting to assemble the Allied OOB from the Tillroy list, made by a British soldier in Waldeck's army. I discussed the various difficulties in identifying the regiments, and even some inaccuracies I found, but even then I knew that Tillroy is an incomplete list. Upon further reflection, I realize that while the Tillroy list may represent how the army was encamped, it does not necessarily represent how the army was drawn up for battle. That information was unknown to me until discovering these two documents from the Hessian State Archives.

• The first document is in German and is probably a copy made from an original document written on the day of battle. It's difficult to read, and I suspect that some mistakes were made. 
• The second document is in French and is probably a copy of the first document. This one is more easy to read, but there are clear differences in spelling, further corrupting the names of the regiments. 

I have attempted to reconstruct the document using two tables, making changes based on the mistakes which I believe are present in both documents. The first table shows the brigade structure, though I should mention that it is very speculative, and may not be what the original document was intending to show. The second table represents each regiment's troop type and size, color-coded by nationality.

One amazing thing I have discovered in comparing this Order of Battle with the Tillroy list, is that while the order of the regiments is very different, both documents largely agree on which units were in the first line or second line. However, the Order of Battle has Marlborough in command of British troops on the right wing, while historically they engaged on the left, so even this document cannot be taken to be entirely accurate. It may perhaps represent a plan that was never executed amidst the swirl and confusion of a battle in which both sides were approaching and may not have expected a serious fight.

Brigade Structure

Allied Army: Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, Field Marshal
First Line: Prinz van Nassau-Friesland		Second Line: Graaf van Nassau-Saarbrucken
Brigade	Regiment	Brigade	Regiment
Lt. Gen. John Churchill, Earl of Marlborough	Marwitz Dragoons
	Anhalt
	Wijnbergen	Lt. Gen. Montpoullian	Baye du Thiel
	Rijngraaf van Salm		Amelisweerd
	Lifeguards		Mondemor
Lt. Gen. du Puy	Vaudemont		Du Mont
	Antoni		Nassau-Weilberg
	Cordoba	Brig. Gen. Coeverden	1st Württemberg
	3rd Wurttemberg		Nassau-Saarbrucken
	Salisch		Royal Scots
	Weilburg		Prince George
Lt. Gen. Frederick van Baer van Slangenberg	Coldstream Guards		Fitzpatrick
	Scots Guards		Hodges
	Wijnbergen		Fuziliers
	Fagel	Maj. Gen. Jacob van Wassenaer, Heer van Opdam	Schwerin
	Colyear		Prinz Philip/Brandt
	Bernstorff		Birkenfeld
	Holle		Nassau-Friesland
	Derfflinger		Flodorff
	Aylva		Brendecke
	Waldeck	Lt. Gen. Prinz von Birkenfeld	Fagel
Lt. Gen. Johann Theobald van Weybnom	Waldeck		Zuylenstein
	Obdam		Montpoullian
	Bentinck		Saxe-Gotha
	Kürprinz		Coeverden
	Tilly		Heyden
	2nd Wurttemberg		Friesland Garde
	Bulow		Franck Dragoons
Lt. Gen. Hans Willem van Aylva	Weybnom		Nethelhorst
	Weede		Linstau
	Oxford		De la Mott
	Bois d’Avid
	Lippe Dragoons

Order of Battle

This would represent the Allied Army at Walcourt at 74 squadrons and 36 battalions, which totals to between 32,000 and 36,000 men (assuming 150 men per squadron and 600-700 men per battalion).

First Line			Second Line
Type	Unit	Strength	Type	Unit		Strength
D	Marwitz Dragoons	3 squadrons
I	Anhalt	1 battalion	I	Baye du Thiel		1 battalion
I	Wijnbergen	1 battalion	I	Amelisweerd		1 battalion
I	Rijngraaf van Salm	1 battalion	I	Mondemor?[1]		1 battalion
H	Lifeguards	4 squadrons	I	Du Mont		1 battalion
H	Vaudemont	3 squadrons	H	Nassau-Weilberg		3 squadrons
H	Antoni?	3 squadrons	H	1st Württemberg		3 squadrons
H	Cordoba?	3 squadrons	H	Nassau-Saarbrucken		3 squadrons
H	3rd Wurttemberg	3 squadrons	I	Royal Scots		1 battalion
I	Salisch	1 battalion	I	Prince George		1 battalion
H	Weilburg	3 squadrons	I	Fitzpatrick		1 battalion
I	Coldstream Guards[2]	1 battalion	I	Hodges?[3]		1 battalion
I	Scots Guards	1 battalion	I	Fuziliers?[4]		1 battalion
I	Wijnbergen	1 battalion	I	Schwerin		1 battalion
I	O’Farrell?	1 battalion	I	Prinz Philip/Brandt		1 battalion
I	Colyear	1 battalion	I	Birkenfeld		1 battalion
I	Bernstorff	1 battalion	I	Nassau-Friesland		1 battalion
I	Holle	1 battalion	H	Flodorff		3 squadrons
I	Derfflinger	1 battalion	H	Brendecke		3 squadrons
I	Aylva	1 battalion	I	Fagel		1 battalion
I	Waldeck	1 battalion	H	Zuylenstein		1 squadron
H	Waldeck[5]	2/3 squadrons	H	Montpoullian		1 squadron
H	Obdam	3 squadrons	H	Saxe-Gotha		3 squadrons
H	Bentinck	3 squadrons	I	Coeverden		1 battalion
I	Kürprinz	1 battalion	H	Heyden		3 squadrons
H	Tilly	3 squadrons	H	Friesland Garde		2 squadrons
H	2nd Wurttemberg	3 squadrons	H	Franck Dragoons		3 squadrons
I	Bulow	1 battalion	I	Nethelhorst		1 battalion
H	Weybnom	3 squadrons	I	Linstau		1 battalion
I	Weede	1 battalion	I	De la Mott		1 battalion
H	Oxford[6]	3 squadrons	Key:		Dutch		British
I	Bois d’Avid	1 battalion	German Subsidy		Brandenburg[7]		Spanish
D	Lippe Dragoons	3 squadrons

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[1] This unit defies identification.

[2] Identified as “Thallmuth,” three squadrons of horse on the original, but probably misidentified. The Tillroy list identifies this unit as “Talmash Guards”, referring to the 2^nd Regiment of Foot Guards, the Coldstream Guards, commanded by Thomas Tollemache. (see also note 6)

[3] Possibly also Sir John Hales, as Hodges’ regiment was detached on foraging duty when the battle began.

[4] Tentative identification, based on original “de Phariseb”, and since grouped with other British regiments.

[5] In the original, Waldeck is said to have two battalions. However, the foot regiment Waldeck had only a single battalion, and the cavalry regiment Waldeck is otherwise absent from this list. Therefore, I propose that this has been misinterpreted, and that the second battalion of Waldeck in the original is actual Waldeck’s regiment of horse, and that is how I have represented it here.

[6] Identified as a battalion of foot on the original, but probably misidentified. Perhaps a solution would be to swap Oxford and Tollemache in their positions?

[7] Brandenburg regiments were subsidy troops as well, in the pay of Holland.

 

Soli Deo Gloria!