Battle of Denain

Battle of Denain
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession
Marshal Villars leads the French charge at the Battle of Denain. Oil on canvas, 1839. (Galerie des Batailles, Palace of Versailles)
Date 24 July 1712 Location Denain, present-day France Result Decisive French victory
Belligerents
Dutch Republic Austria	France
Commanders and leaders
Earl of Albemarle Eugene of Savoy	Claude de Villars
Strength
11,000	30,000
Casualties and losses
6,500 killed or wounded (inc. 4,100 captured)	2,100 killed or wounded

The Battle of Denain was fought on 24 July 1712, as part of the War of the Spanish Succession, and resulted in a French victory under Marshal Villars against Austrian and Dutch forces under Prince Eugene of Savoy.

Prelude

Eugene had crossed the Scheldt with 105,000 men intending to force a battle with Villars' 120,000 troops. He quickly marched to the town of Denain and occupied it, receiving high ground and the Denain as his supply base. However, the sudden withdrawal (on secret orders from London) of British troops, recently placed under the Duke of Ormonde, led to the allied army being halted.

The battle

The French troops were south-east of Le Cateau at Mazinghien. After a detailed examination of the enemy dispositions, Villars decided in the greatest secrecy to attack Denain. Cavalry were sent to seize the various bridges crossing the river Selle which ran through le Cateau in a generally NNW direction to join the Scheldt opposite Denain . During the evening a detachment also took up positions around the mill at Haspres, blocking the river crossing there. That night the infantry began to march towards Prince Eugene’s forces at Landrecies (on the Sambre , ENE of le Cateau). In response to this threat Eugene reinforced Landrecies, in doing so weakening the Allied right wing (under Albemarle) holding Denain.

At dawn, however, Villars swung the line of advance of his army and aimed it (behind the cover of the Selle) in 3 columns at Denain. At five o'clock (equivalent to a modern seven o’clock summer time), Villars and his principal lieutenants drew up their plan of attack at Avesnes-le-Sec; they choose the windmill there as a vantage point for observation of the surrounding lowland. At seven o’clock the French infantrymen reached Neuville-sur-Escaut and were immediately ordered to seize the bridges across the Scheldt. At eight o’clock , the allies were surprised to discover the French presence in the area. Albermarle warned Eugene, who at this stage was not greatly concerned. At one in the afternoon the attack had developed to the point of an assault on the palisade at Denain. The French sappers, axes in hand, led the infantry which against heavy fire took the position at the point of the bayonet. The allied infantry, seized by panic, attempted to flee across the mill bridge. Jammed with the fugitives, it collapsed under their weight, drowning hundreds of infantrymen.

Eugene, who had responded too slowly attempted to force his way across the Scheldt at Prouvy to help Albemarle. Under the command of the Prince de Tingry, French regiments held the bridge at Prouvy against repeated Austrian attacks; finally, as the day drew to a close , the French blew up the bridge to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. On his left flank therefore, Eugene was blocked by the Scheldt and could not counter-attack to retake Denain which therefore stayed in the hands of the French.

The battle was not immediately recognised to be as decisive as it turned out to be; most of Eugene's army was relatively unscathed. However, with the loss of Denain the Allied position began to unravel, and in the next couple of months the French recovered most of the towns they had lost in previous years.

References

• Chandler, David G. Marlborough as Military Commander. Spellmount Ltd, (2003). ISBN 1-86227-195-X
• Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714. Longman, (1999). ISBN 0-582-05629-2