1677 battle during the Franco-Dutch War
Battle of Cassel
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Part of
Franco-Dutch War
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Battle of Cassel, April 1677
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Date
| 11 April 1677
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Location
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Result
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French victory
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Belligerents
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France
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Dutch Republic
Spain
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Commanders and leaders
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Duke of Luxembourg
Philippe of Orleans
Duke of Humieres
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William of Orange
Count Waldeck
Prince of Nassau-Usingen
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Strength
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30,000?35,000
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30,000?35,000
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Casualties and losses
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3,200?4,400 dead or wounded
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7,000?8,000 dead or wounded
2,500?3,000 captured
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Low Countries and Lower Rhine
Upper Rhine
France
Southern Italy
North Germany and Scandinavia
Pyrenees
Americas
Naval battles
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The
Battle of Cassel
, also known as the
Battle of Peene
, took place on 11 April 1677 during the
Franco-Dutch War
, near
Cassel
, 15 km (9 mi) west of
Saint-Omer
. A French army commanded by the
duc de Luxembourg
defeated a combined Dutch?Spanish force under
William of Orange
.
At the start of 1677, peace negotiations opened at
Nijmegen
; France already held most of the positions in the
Spanish Netherlands
that
Louis XIV of France
considered necessary for a defensible border. This would be completed by taking St-Omer and
Cambrai
, which he wanted to capture as soon as possible, allowing him to negotiate from a position of strength. While William could not save St-Omer, he was determined to fight for Cambrai, leading to the battle outside Cassel.
After initial cavalry attacks by both sides were repulsed, a fierce struggle began between the two sets of infantry. The French infantry on the right drove back the Dutch left, which was then scattered by a French cavalry assault. Meanwhile, an Allied attack launched from their own right was fended off by the French left. In the centre, the Dutch nearly broke through the French lines, before being thrown back by a cavalry charge led by
Philippe of Orleans
. His flanks crumbling, in late afternoon William ordered a retreat.
Although the French missed an opportunity for a rout by delaying their pursuit to plunder the Allies' abandoned baggage, Cassel was one of the most comprehensive victories of the war. Saint-Omer and Cambrai surrendered shortly afterwards, followed by a number of other towns.
Background
[
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]
Campaigns of 1676?1677 in Northern France and the Spanish Netherlands
In the 1667?1668
War of Devolution
, France captured most of the
Spanish Netherlands
and
Franche-Comte
, but relinquished much of their gains at the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
. This was made possible by the
Triple Alliance
of the
Dutch Republic
, England and
Sweden
; to break this up, King
Louis XIV of France
paid Sweden to remain neutral, while King
Charles II of England
agreed to an alliance against the Dutch in the 1670
Treaty of Dover
.
When France invaded the Dutch Republic in May 1672 at the start of the
Franco-Dutch War
, it initially seemed to have won an overwhelming victory. However, the Dutch position stabilised, while concern at French gains brought them support from
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
,
Emperor Leopold
and
Habsburg Spain
.
With new fronts opening in the
Rhineland
and along the
Pyrenees
, Louis ordered his armies to withdraw from the Netherlands, although they retained the Dutch stronghold of
Maastricht
.
The anti-French alliance was strengthened when
Denmark-Norway
joined in January 1674, while the
Third Anglo-Dutch War
ended with the February
Treaty of Westminster
.
Despite this, France re-captured Franche-Comte and made significant gains in
Alsace
; after 1675, they focused on consolidating their gains, and establishing defensible borders.
An effective Allied response in Flanders was hampered by power struggles in
Madrid
, while Spanish control over the Spanish Netherlands was by now largely nominal.
Peace talks began at
Nijmegen
in the summer of 1676 but Louis consistently sought to negotiate from strength by taking the offensive before agreeing terms. To improve their position in
Flanders
, the French captured
Conde-sur-l'Escaut
,
Bouchain
,
Maubeuge
and
Bavay
during 1676, and repulsed an attempt to retake Maastricht.
The plan for 1677 was to take
Valenciennes
, Cambrai and Saint-Omer, completing the French
frontiere de fer
or iron border; Louis calculated that this would leave the Dutch little reason to continue fighting.
Throughout the war, superior French logistics allowed them to maintain larger armies and crucially begin operations while their opponents were still in winter quarters. In late February, a month earlier than the usual start of the campaigning season, the main army of 35,000 under Luxembourg
besieged Valenciennes
. Another 12,000 troops were detached to take Saint-Omer, led by Louis' brother
Philippe I, Duke of Orleans
and
Louis de Crevant, Duke of Humieres
. After Valenciennes surrendered on 17 March, Luxembourg moved onto Cambrai.
William of Orange assembled 30,000 men, including 4,000 Spanish, at
Roosendaal
; he could not save Cambrai but was determined to fight for Saint-Omer.
Delayed by lack of money and supplies, the Dutch-Spanish force reached Mont-Cassel on 9 April, near the French-held town of
Cassel
, about 15 km (9 mi) west of Saint-Omer. Leaving minimal forces to maintain the sieges of Saint-Omer and Cambrai, the combined French armies met at
Buysscheure
on 10 April.
Battle
[
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]
The two armies were separated by the
Peene Becque
, a small river running through the village of
Zuytpeene
; while not a great obstacle, the Dutch failed to identify it and had to abandon a surprise attack on 10 April 1677. This gave the French time to organise their lines, while they also received an additional 38 battalions of infantry and 80 cavalry squadrons from Saint-Omer as reinforcements.
As a result, Luxembourg now outnumbered William by over 5,000.
Early on 11 April, the Dutch-Spanish army crossed the Peene Becque, but halted when they discovered a second arm of the river between them and the French. Luxembourg and Humieres commanded a mixed force of infantry and cavalry on the left and right respectively, with the bulk of the infantry and artillery under Orleans in the centre.
Without waiting for his infantry, Humieres attacked as soon as his cavalry was across and was repulsed by entrenched Dutch infantry. A charge led by the Prince of Nassau threw the French back across the river; the Dutch cavalry ran into heavy artillery fire, retreated to the far side of Mont-Cassel, and played no further part in the battle.
After reorganising his troops, Luxembourg made a second attack around midday. His infantry engaged the Dutch in a bloody struggle centred on some farm buildings; these were eventually taken, while a subsequent cavalry charge scattered the retreating Dutch infantry.
A simultaneous attack by Humieres on the right was also successful, but the French centre was over-run by infantry under
Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck
and the line only re-established after a charge led by Orleans himself. With his flanks giving way, around 16:00 William ordered a general retreat towards
Ypres
, covered by Nassau's cavalry. Cassel was a resounding French victory; in return for 3,200 to 4,400 dead and wounded, they inflicted around 7,000 to 8,000 casualties. They also took 2,500 to 3,000 prisoners, and captured the Dutch baggage train, but the delay caused by looting meant they failed to fully exploit their victory.
Aftermath
[
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]
Cambrai capitulated on 17 April 1677, followed by Saint-Omer on 20 April, but the goal of forcing the Dutch to accept peace terms remained elusive. French resources were diverted by an Imperial offensive in the
Rhineland
, while by August, William and the Spanish governor
Carlos de Aragon de Gurrea, 9th Duke of Villahermosa
had over 60,000 troops available. Luxembourg avoided battle, forcing William to besiege
Charleroi
instead; this was unsuccessful and the French followed up by taking
Saint-Ghislain
in December, but it demonstrated the Dutch capacity to fight on.
English public opinion was strongly anti-French and Cassel led to pressure from
Parliament
to intervene on behalf of the Dutch, forcing Louis to downplay this success. The Dutch were reluctant to continue the war but restoring the Spanish Netherlands as a buffer zone became even more important after the disasters of 1672, while their position was improved by William's marriage in November 1677 to Charles II's niece,
Mary
.
Cassel was the first and last time Orleans fought in the front-line, allegedly due to Louis' resentment of the attention and popularity he gained as a result.
The 1678
Treaties of Nijmegen
reset France's northern border, Spain ceding Saint-Omer, Cassel, Aire, Ypres, Cambrai, Valenciennes and Maubeuge. With the exception of Ypres, returned in 1697, this fixed the frontier close to where it remains today.
References
[
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]
Sources
[
edit
]
- Barker Nicholls, Nancy (1998).
Brother to the Sun King: Philippe, Duke of Orleans
. Johns Hopkins Press.
ISBN
978-0801861642
.
- De Perini, Hardy (1896).
Batailles francaises, Volume V
. Ernest Flammarion, Paris.
- Davenport, Frances (1917).
European Treaties bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies
.
- Lynn, John (1996).
The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667?1714 (Modern Wars In Perspective)
. Longman.
ISBN
978-0582056299
.
- Nolan, Cathal (2008).
Wars of the age of Louis XIV, 1650?1715
. ABC-CLIO.
ISBN
978-0-313-33046-9
.
- Smith, Rhea (1965).
Spain; A Modern History
. University of Michigan Press.
ISBN
978-0472071500
.
- Van Nimwegen, Olaf (2010).
The Dutch Army and the Military Revolutions, 1588-1688
. Boydell Press.
ISBN
978-1843835752
.
- Young, William (2004).
International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great
. iUniverse.
ISBN
978-0595813988
.
- Van Nimwegen, Olaf (2020).
De Veertigjarige Oorlog 1672-1712
. Prometheus.
ISBN
978-90-446-3871-4
.
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