Siege of Menin | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of War of the Austrian Succession | |||||||
Menin, as Barrier city on the border with France. | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
France | Dutch Republic | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Duke of Noailles Louis XV of France | Jan, Baron van Echten [1] | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
50,000 [2] | 1,500 [3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Low | Low |
The siege of Menin took place between 28 May and 4 June 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession, and was the first battle fought in the Austrian Netherlands. A French army under the nominal command of King Louis XV of France and operational command of the Duke of Noailles, took the city from its Dutch garrison after a short siege. [4]
Before 1744, the Austrian Netherlands had been kept out of the War of the Austrian Succession, which had been fought since 1740 in Eastern Europe and Italy. In 1744, Louis XV decided to attack the Netherlands and left Versailles to lead his army in person.
The Austrian Netherlands were defended by a small Austrian contingent of 7,000 men under command of Léopold, Duke of Arenberg, an ill-prepared Dutch force of some 20,000 men led by Maurice of Nassau-Ouwerkerk and a British-Hanoverian Army of 38,000 men under command of the 70 years old Field Marshal George Wade.
Menin was the Barrier fortress closest to France and the first to be besieged. The city had been reinforced by Vauban in the 1680s, but then severely damaged in the 1706 Siege.
The allied commanders didn't agree on how to react and remained inactive.
The French surrounded Menin and started digging trenches on the East and West side of the city. The operations on the West side were directed towards the Ypres gate and were led by Noailles. On the East side, troops under command of the Count of Clermont had as objective the hornwork of Halluin. The city walls were bombarded from a closer and closer range and on 2 June a small breach appeared in the Halluin hornwork. French scouts found the stronghold deserted, except for 5 soldiers, who were taken prisoner. This accelerated the progress of the French trenches in the east and in the evening of 3 June they were ready for the main attack.
General van Echten did not wait for this attack and had the white flag hoisted on 4 June. Marshal Noailles allowed the Dutch force to march out of the city with all their weapons on 7 June. [5]
The French army advanced towards the North Sea and also captured the other Barrier cities Ypres (Ieper) on 26 June, Fort Knokke on 28 June, and Furnes (Veurne) on 11 July. [6] Further actions in Flanders were then halted, as the main army was sent to the Alsace to repel an Austrian incursion there. [7]
The next major action in the Austrian Netherlands would be the Siege of Tournai in late April 1745.
The French evacuated Menin after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748).
The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King George's War in North America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War, and the First and Second Silesian Wars.
King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia. Its most significant action was an expedition organized by Massachusetts Governor William Shirley that besieged and ultimately captured the French fortress of Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, in 1745. In French, it is known as the Troisième Guerre Intercoloniale or Third Intercolonial War.
The Battle of Dettingen took place on 27 June 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession at Dettingen in the Electorate of Mainz, Holy Roman Empire. It was fought between a Pragmatic Army, composed of the British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops, and a French army commanded by the duc de Noailles.
Menen is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Menen proper and the towns of Lauwe and Rekkem. The city is situated on the French/Belgian border. On January 1, 2006, Menen had a total population of 32,413. The total area is 33.07 km2 which gives a population density of 980 inhabitants per km2.
The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then part of the Austrian Netherlands, now in Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by the Duke of Cumberland.
Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles was a French nobleman and soldier.
The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of 120,000, led by the Duke of Cumberland.
Pierre L'Enfant was an 18th-century French artist who was known for his battle scene paintings in the court of Louis XV. He was also an instructor at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and the father of Pierre Charles, who designed the urban plan for Washington, D.C.
The siege of Bergen op Zoom took place during the Austrian War of Succession, when a French army, under the command of Count Löwendal and the overall direction of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, laid siege and captured the strategic Dutch border fortress of Bergen op Zoom on the border of Brabant and Zeeland in 1747. The fortress was defended by Dutch, Austrians, British, Hanoverians and Hessians that supported the Pragmatic Sanction.
The siege of Genoa took place in 1747 when an Austrian army under the command of Count Schulenburg-Oeynhausen launched a failed attempt to capture the capital of the Republic of Genoa.
The siege of Brussels took place between January and February 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French army under the overall command of Maurice de Saxe, in a bold and innovative winter campaign besieged and captured the city of Brussels, which was then the capital of the Austrian Netherlands, from its Austrian garrison.
The siege of Maastricht took place in April–May 1748 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French force under the overall command of Maurice de Saxe besieged and captured the Dutch barrier fortress of Maastricht in the final few months of the campaign in the Low Countries. After a relatively long siege the garrison of Maastricht capitulated and marched out with the honours of war. Maastricht was returned along with France's conquests in the Austrian Netherlands according to the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle signed in 1748.
Noël Jourda de Vaux, comte de Vaux, seigneur d'Artiac was a French nobleman and General. He oversaw the conquest of the Corsican Republic in 1769. He was given command of land forces in the planned Franco-Spanish Invasion of Britain in 1779, but this was abandoned. He became a Marshal of France in 1783. He was the son of Jean Baptiste Jourda de Vaux, seigneur de Retournac and Marie Anne de Saint-Germain.
The siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, commanded by the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Valenciennes fell on 28 July, resulting in an Allied victory.
The Battle of Wervik or of Wervik and Menin was fought on 12 and 13 September 1793 between 30,000 men of the French Army of the North commanded by Jean Nicolas Houchard, and 13,000 Coalition troops: the Veldleger of the Dutch States Army, commanded by the William, Hereditary Prince of Orange and his brother Prince Frederick of Orange-Nassau, and a few squadrons of Austrian cavalry under Pál Kray, seconded by Johann Peter Beaulieu. The great superiority in numbers being on the French side the battle ended in a victory for France, with the Dutch army suffering many losses. Among the casualties was Prince Frederick, who was wounded in the shoulder at Wervik, an injury from which he never fully recovered. The combat occurred during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. Menen is a city in Belgium located on the French border about 100 km (62 mi) west of Brussels.
The Régiment de Royal Marine was an infantry regiment of the Kingdom of France, established in 1669. The regiment was directly involved in the Day of the Tiles, which took place in Grenoble on June 7, 1788. The last unit of the regiment was incorporated into the 23 demi-brigade on March 21, 1797 and the regiment ceased to exist.
Fort Knokke or Fort de Cnocke or Fort de la Knocque or Fort de Knocke was an important fortification that defended western Flanders from the 1580s until it was demolished in the 1780s. During its 200 year history, the place was held by the Spanish Empire, Kingdom of France, Habsburg Austria and the Dutch Republic. The existing defenses were improved in 1678 by the famous military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The fort was attacked by the Grand Alliance in 1695 during the Nine Years' War but the French garrison successfully held out. It was captured from the French by a ruse in 1712 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Control of the fort and other strong places in the Austrian Netherlands was a key feature of the so-called Barrier Treaty in 1713. The French captured the fort after a two-month siege in 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. Emperor Joseph II had the citadel demolished in 1781. The site is on the Yser River about 8 kilometres (5 mi) southwest of Diksmuide, Belgium.
Isaac Cronström was a Dutch States Army officer and nobleman. In the Netherlands, he was most known for his leadership role during the Siege of Bergen op Zoom.
The siege of Ypres took place between 15 and 24 June 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French army under the nominal command of King Louis XV of France and operational command of the Duke of Noailles, took the city from its Dutch garrison after a short siege.
The siege of Namur took place between 6 and 30 September 1746, during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French army under command of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, took the city from its Dutch garrison after a three-week siege.