| Siege of Charleroi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Franco-Dutch War | |||||||
 17th century depiction of Charleroi | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Dutch Republic |  Kingdom of France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| William III of Orange | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Charleroi was a siege launched by William III of Orange of the city of Charleroi which was in French hands. The siege resulted in a failure for William and had to retreat.
Charleroi was one of the cities annexed by France from Spain after the war of Devolution. And during the preparation of the French invasion of the Dutch Republic in 1672, it served as a supply point for the French army, it therefore had the purpose as a starting base for the French army. [1]
After the disastrous battle of Woerden, William gained permission from the Dutch field marshals to commence the siege of Charleroi. William also gained the permission from the governor of the Spanish Netherlands, the Count of Monterey to besiege Charleroi, even though that was a risky move since it could potentially drag Spain into war with France. [2]
William had trouble besiegeing the city, due to the frozen ground. His chance to take Charleroi also depended on his allies, Monterey was not in a state to provide him troops and Raimondo Montecuccoli was awaiting battle in the Holy Roman Empire. William also learned in the meantime that the waterline was threatened due to Luxembourg preparing an offensive against Holland, because of this William had to abandon the siege and returned to the Republic. [2] [3] [4]
After the siege, Luxembourg attacked and slaughetered Bodegraven and Zwammerdam through Woerden. He had also planned to invade Den Haag, but that failed due to heavy rain. [5] Although William's siege failed, it did show that the Dutch army felt strong and brave enough to take major initiatives on their own. In France, Louis XIV had to improve the defenses of Charleroi to prevent another future attack. [3]
The Third Anglo-Dutch War, began on 27 March 1672, and concluded on 19 February 1674. A naval conflict between the Dutch Republic and England, in alliance with France, it is considered a related conflict of the wider 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War.
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