Siege of Bonn (1689)

Last updated
Siege of Bonn
Part of Nine Years' War
Lambert-van-den-Bos-Schauplatz-des-Krieges MG 9504.tif
DateInvestment:
July 1689 – 12 October 1689
Siege:
16 September – 12 October 1689
(3 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Result Allied victory
Territorial
changes
Allied capture of Bonn
Belligerents
Brandenburg-Prussia
Statenvlag.svg  Dutch Republic
Royal Standard of the King of France.svg  France
Cologne
Commanders and leaders
Frederick III
Hans Adam von Schöning
Statenvlag.svg Adriaan van Flodroff
Alexis Bidal Marquis d'Asfeld (DOW)
Strength
30,000
100 guns
46 mortars
4 howitzers
8,000
Casualties and losses
4,000 6,500 killed, wounded and sick

The siege of Bonn took place in 1689 during the Nine Years' War when the forces of Brandenburg-Prussia and the Dutch Republic besieged and captured Bonn. It was part of the Rhineland campaign which Brandenburg was fighting as part of the Grand Alliance against Louis XIV of France. Following Louis' incursions into the Rhineland the previous year, a coalition of nations had formed to resist French hegemony.

In Germany this involved an advance into the territory of France's ally the Electorate of Cologne, while to the west the large field armies of Waldeck and Humières were manoeuvring against each other. Waldeck, the overall commander of the Allied forces, was wary of taking any offensive action against the French until he received reinforcements from Rhineland, but the Brandenburg forces concentrated on their own operations in Cologne. In June 1689 Brandenburg took Kaiserswerth, leaving Bonn as the only major settlement in Cologne not in Allied hands. [1] Bonn was already under threat and a blockade had been imposed on it.

On 11 July the Allied commanders Hans Adam von Schöning and Adriaan van Flodroff captured a key fort close to Bonn, and eleven days later the main Allied field army arrived outside Bonn. Batteries opened fire on 24 July, but a formal siege did not begin until 16 September. On 12 October the defenders surrendered after a very heavy bombardment that left much of Bonn in ruins.

In 1703 Bonn again came under siege during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fleurus (1690)</span> Battle in the Nine Years War between France and the Grand Alliance

The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690 near Fleurus, then part of the Spanish Netherlands, now in modern Belgium, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War. A French army led by Marshall Luxembourg defeated an Allied force under Waldeck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Denain</span> 1712 battle

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nine Years' War</span> War (1688–97) between France and a European coalition

The Nine Years' War, was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between France and the Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial possessions in the Americas, India, and West Africa. Related conflicts include the Williamite war in Ireland, and King William's War in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)</span> European coalition

The Grand Alliance, sometimes erroneously referred to as its precursor the League of Augsburg, was formed on 20 December 1689. Signed by William III on behalf of the Dutch Republic and England, and Emperor Leopold I for the Habsburg Monarchy, its primary purpose was to oppose the expansionist policies of Louis XIV of France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco-Dutch War</span> 1672–1678 European war

The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War, was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. In its early stages, France was allied with Münster and Cologne, as well as England. The 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and 1675 to 1679 Scanian War are considered related conflicts.

<i>Rampjaar</i> 1672 in Dutch history

In Dutch history, the year 1672 is referred to as the Rampjaar. In May 1672, following the outbreak of the Franco-Dutch War and its peripheral conflict the Third Anglo-Dutch War, France, supported by Münster and Cologne, invaded and nearly overran the Dutch Republic. At the same time, it faced the threat of an English naval blockade in support of the French endeavor, though that attempt was abandoned following the Battle of Solebay. A Dutch saying coined that year describes the Dutch people as redeloos ("irrational"), its government as radeloos ("distraught"), and the country as reddeloos. The cities of the coastal provinces of Holland, Zealand and Frisia underwent a political transition: the city governments were taken over by Orangists, opposed to the republican regime of the Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt, ending the First Stadtholderless Period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)</span> 1678 battle

The Battle of Saint-Denis was the last major action of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-78). It took place on 14 August 1678, four days after Louis XIV of France had agreed the Treaty of Nijmegen with the Dutch Republic, but before he finalised terms with Spain. The battle was initiated by the Dutch and Spanish forces to prevent the French capturing the Spanish-held town of Mons, then on the border between France and the Spanish Netherlands. The result was disputed, as both sides claimed victory.

The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years' War. The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands, and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching, manoeuvring, and foraging. The battle was a success for the Grand Alliance – the only significant engagement in the theatre during the campaign of 1689.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Namur (1692)</span> 1692 battle of the Nine Years War

The Siege of Namur, 25 May–30 June 1692, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War, and was part of the French grand plan to defeat the forces of the Grand Alliance and bring a swift conclusion to the war. Namur, sitting on the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers, was a considerable fortress, and was a significant political and military asset. French forces, guided by Vauban, forced the town's surrender on 5 June, but the citadel, staunchly defended by Menno van Coehoorn, managed to hold on until 30 June before capitulating, bringing an end to the 36-day siege. Concerned that King William III planned to recapture the stronghold, King Louis XIV subsequently ordered his commander-in-chief, the duc de Luxembourg, to join battle with the Allies in the field, resulting in the bloody Battle of Steenkerque on 3 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Namur (1695)</span> 1695 battle of the Nine Years War

The 1695 Siege of Namur or Second Siege of Namur took place during the Nine Years' War between 2 July and 4 September 1695. Its capture by the French in the 1692 siege and recapture by the Grand Alliance in 1695 are often viewed as the defining events of the war; the second siege is considered to be William III's most significant military success during the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Cuneo (1691)</span> 1691 battle of the Nine Years War

The siege of Cuneo was fought on 28 June 1691 during Nine Years' War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The siege was part of French King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, who had sided with the Grand Alliance the previous year. The siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinat's army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders – and a timely arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster, resulting in the loss of between 700 and 800 men. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat's small, ill-equipped army was forced onto the defensive. Louis XIV subsequently offered Amadeus generous peace terms but the Duke, who had by now received substantial Imperial reinforcements from the Empire, considered himself strong enough to continue hostilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Mons (1691)</span> 1691 battle of the Nine Years War

The siege of Mons, 15 March–10 April 1691, was a major operation fought during the Nine Years' War, and was the main French objective for the 1691 campaign in the Spanish Netherlands. The city was besieged and captured before the normal commencement of the campaigning season with minimal losses. The outcome was not in doubt, but in a conflict dominated by siege warfare, neither the French army of King Louis XIV, nor the forces of the Grand Alliance under King William III, could bring about a decisive battle. After the siege the duc de Boufflers bombarded the neutral city of Liège, whilst the duc de Luxembourg captured Halle, and scored a minor victory against the Prince of Waldeck at the Battle of Leuze in September. Strategically, however, little had changed in the war, and both combatants returned to winter quarters at the end of the campaigning season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Valenciennes (1676–1677)</span> French victory in the Franco-Dutch War

The siege of Valenciennes took place from 28 February to 17 March 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War, when Valenciennes, then in the Spanish Netherlands, was attacked by a French army under the duc de Luxembourg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Bonn (1673)</span> Siege during the Franco-Dutch War

The siege of Bonn took place from 3 to 12 November 1673 in Bonn, present day Germany, during the Franco-Dutch War. Having forced the armies of Louis XIV to retreat, the Dutch in 1673 went on the offensive. At Bonn, a garrison consisting of troops from France and the Electorate of Cologne was besieged by a force from the Dutch Republic, the Holy Roman Empire, and Spain. The allied forces captured the garrison following a nine-day siege.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bremen-Verden campaign</span>

The Bremen-Verden Campaign was a conflict during the Northern Wars in Europe. From 15 September 1675 to 13 August 1676 an anti-Swedish coalition comprising Brandenburg-Prussia, the neighbouring imperial princedoms of Lüneburg and Münster, and Denmark-Norway, conquered the Duchies of Bremen and Verden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Willem van Aylva</span> Dutch soldier

Hans Willem van Aylva was a Dutch soldier and lieutenant general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capitulation of Diksmuide</span> 1695 siege of Diksmuide in the Nine Years War

The Capitulation of Diksmuide, or Dixmuide, then in the Spanish Netherlands, took place from 26 to 28 July 1695, during the 1689 to 1697 Nine Years' War. An Allied garrison of around 4,000 men surrendered to a superior French force.

The 1676 siege of Maastricht was a failed attempt by William III of Orange to take the city, which had been occupied by the French since 1673. The siege took place from 6 July to 27 August 1676 during the Franco-Dutch war of 1672 to 1678.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Grave (1674)</span> 1674 siege

The siege of Grave took place from 25 July to 27 October in 1674 during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672 to 1678, when a Dutch army captured the Dutch fortress town of Grave in what is now North Brabant. Grave had been occupied by the French since the summer of 1672 when an army under Turenne forced the town to surrender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniël van Dopff</span>

Daniël Wolf baron van Dopff was a prominent soldier in the Dutch Republic. He was, among other things, general of the cavalry of the Dutch States Army in the War of the Spanish Succession, Quartermaster general of that army, and later commander and governor of the fortress of Maastricht.

References

  1. Childs p.111

Bibliography