Fleurus, 1690 - Part 2 - Allied Order of Battle

 

Schlachtordnung der holländischen Armee gegen die Franzosen bei Fleurus, 1. Juli 1690.

Thus far, I have discovered two sources for the Allied Order of Battle at Fleurus on July 1st, 1690. The first I found on a post of the excellent blogger Rampjaar. That lead me to the source of the diagram at the head of this post, retrieved from the Hessian State Archives (Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg). The second source comes from volume 2 of the Marquis de Quincy's Histoire Militaire, pages 251-252. Today I want to present these two documents, with limited interpretation on my part. You will find that while the documents agree largely on what Allied units were present, beyond that the two documents diverge.

Schlachtordnung

First Line		Second Line
Spanish Cavalry	3 squadrons
Anhalt	1 battalion
Spanish Cavalry	3 squadrons	Spanish Cavalry	4 squadrons
Spaen	1 battalion	Derflinger	1 battalion
Nassau-Saarbrucken	3 squadrons	Von der Burg	3 squadrons
Linstau	1 battalion	Rheingraff	1 battalion
Tilly	3 squadrons	Von der Lippe	3 squadrons
Briquemont	2 squadrons	Nethelhorst	1 battalion
Louenhaupt	1 battalion	Ryswijk	3 squadrons
Nassau-Weilburg	3 squadrons	Warfusle	3 squadrons
Styrum	1 battalion
Flodorpf	3 squadrons
Waldeck	1 battalion
Birckenfeld	1 battalion	Aylva	1 battalion
Zobel	1 battalion
Luneburg	1 battalion	Noyelle	1 battalion
Salisch	1 battalion
Weinbergen	1 battalion	Hencklen	1 battalion
Weede	1 battalion
Nassau-Friesland	3 battalions	Dellwig	1 battalion
Opdam	2 squadrons
Darmstadt	2 squadrons	Heyden	3 squadrons
Erseken	1 battalion
Brunerke	2 squadrons	Saxe-Gotha	3 squadrons
Wolfenbuttel	2 squadrons
Berensdorff	1 battalion	Brandenburg	1 battalion
Heldboncg	1 squadrons	Wurttemburg	3 squadrons
Merseburg	2 squadrons
Harshold	1 battalion	Holle	1 battalion
Spaen	2 squadrons	Bentinck	3 battalion
Berlo	2 squadrons
Wolfenbuttel (Lippe)	1 battalion	Bieleke	1 battalion
Weybnum	3 squadrons	Nassau-Friesland	4 squadrons
Benwett	1 battalion	Nassau?	1 battalion
Waldeck	3 squadrons

 

Quincy

First Line		Second Line
Lippe Dragoons	2 squadrons
English Grenadiers	1 battalion	Spanish Cavalry	5 squadrons
English Guards	1 battalion	Du Thiel	1 battalion
Spanish Cavalry	3 squadrons	Nassau-Weilburg	3 squadrons
Anhalt foot	1 battalion	Amelisweerd?	1 battalion
Wijnbergen	1 battalion	Hersa?	2 squadrons
Rheingraff	1 battalion	Nassau	2 squadrons
Berlo	2 squadrons	Schomberg	1 battalion
Salisch	1 battalion	Churchill	1 battalion
Waldeck	1 battalion	FitzPatrick	1 battalion
Marlborough	1 battalion	Horge	1 battalion
Scotch Guards	1 battalion	O’Farrell	1 battalion
Colyear	1 battalion	Suveria	1 battalion
Masburg	1 battalion	Brandenburg	1 battalion
Berensdorff?	1 battalion	Birkenfeld	1 battalion
Galles?	1 battalion	Prince Nassau	1 battalion
Domingue	1 battalion	Flodorpf	2 squadrons
Aylva	1 battalion	unidentified	1 squadron
Waldeck	1 battalion	Fagel	1 battalion
Opdam	1 battalion	unidentified	1 battalion
Brandenburg	1 battalion	Saxe-Gotha	2 squadrons
Bentinck	2 squadrons	Cœverden?	1 battalion
Hagendoorn	1 battalion	Heyden	2 squadrons
Tilly	2 squadrons	Nassau	2 squadrons
Truches	2 squadrons	unidentified	1 battalion
Bulot	1 battalion	Nethelhorst	1 battalion
Weybnum	2 squadrons	Linstau	1 squadron
Weede	2 squadrons	La Mothe	1 squadron
Weede	1 battalion
Oxford	1 battalion

Conclusion

Given how largely different these two orders of battle are, it is difficult to come to any definitive conclusions. I would tend to trust the Schlachtordnung more, since it provides a detailed diagram of how the units were formed up, and it was probably based on the Allies' own account of the battle. But Quincy's version may represent the order of battle that came about as the armies actually came into contact, and as the Allied flank began to collapse and the army began its ignominious retreat.

Soli Deo Gloria!