Battle of Ramillies
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| Battle of Ramillies | |||||||
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| Part of the War of the Spanish Succession | |||||||
 The King's Horse at the Battle. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| England Dutch Republic German states |
France Bavaria |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Duke of Marlborough Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk |
Duc de Villeroi Maximilian II Emanuel |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 62,000 | 60,000 | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 1,066 dead 2,560 wounded |
13,000 dead 6,000 captured |
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| War of the Spanish Succession |
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| Carpi – Chieri – Cremona – Luzzara – Cádiz – Friedlingen – Vigo Bay – Ekeren – Höchstädt – Schellenberg – Blenheim – Málaga – Cassano – Calcinato – Elixheim – Ramillies – Turin – Almansa – Toulon – Oudenarde – Lille – Malplaquet – Saragossa – Almenara – Brihuega – Villaviciosa – Bouchain – Denain – Barcelona |
In the Battle of Ramillies, 23 May 1706, a British-Dutch-German army under Duke of Marlborough, defeated a French army under duc de Villeroi at Ramillies-Offus near Namur, clearing the French from the Spanish Netherlands and leading to the capture of Antwerp, Bruges, and Ghent in the War of the Spanish Succession.
Contents |
[edit] Prelude
Following the great success at Blenheim in 1704, the year 1705 had proved disappointing to the alliance; the French were well on their way to conquering the whole of Italy. Marlborough’s original plan for 1706 – a bold march from the Netherlands to Italy to support Prince Eugene of Savoy and drive the French out of that country - was aborted due to an unexpected French offensive on the left bank of the Rhine. The States-General guaranteed their army’s loyalty to Marlborough if he would agree to campaign in the Low Countries, additionally promising an extra 10,000 troops to Eugene in Italy.
Marlborough acquiesced and moved to the vicinity of Liège and the lines of Brabant in an attempt to lure Marshal Villeroi into battle. Louis XIV was keen to reverse the setbacks suffered in 1704 and urged an unwilling Villeroi to avenge these humiliations. With this pressure, Villeroi set off from Leuven at the head of 70 battalions, 132 squadrons and approximately 70 guns, totalling a force of some 60,000 men, with the intention of re-taking the fortress of Léau lost the previous year.
Learning that the enemy had crossed the Dyle on 19 May, Marlborough concentrated his forces at Corswaren. The Anglo-Dutch-German army, with the Danes nearby consisted of 74 battalions, 123 squadrons and 120 guns, numbering some 62,000 troops.
At 1am 23 May, Marlborough ordered Cadogan to reconnoitre the next night’s campsite on the plateau of St André near the village of Ramillies. By coincidence, Villeroi had already decided to camp in the same position. Thus it was with serendipity that Cadogan, accompanied by the Earl of Sild, discovered the massed tents of the Franco-Bavarian army.
[edit] Deployment
St Andre lies amidst the rivers of Gheete, Little Gheete and Mehaigne (although only the Mehaigne can be considered a true river being more than 3m wide; the others are little more than brooks). However, the ground rises so steeply from the Little Gheete towards the French positions that it impedes cavalry manœuvres.
Villeroi’s army stretched in a 4-mile concave arc. His left, comprising of infantry supported by 50 squadrons of horse, was placed near Autre Église behind the Little Gheete. His centre between Ramillies and Offus comprised mainly infantry and guns (the village of Ramillies itself being occupied by 20 battalions with two large batteries either side). On his right wing, between the villages of Ramillies and Traviers, Villeroi placed 82 squadrons of French cavalry and three brigades of Bavarian foot (Traviers itself being garrisoned by 5 battalions). As well as the outlying villages of Traviers and Franquenée, the whole right wing was protected from any outflanking manœuvre by the Mehaigne.
The right wing of the Allied army was mainly comprised of British troops commanded by Lord Orkney. Marshal Hendrik Overkirk commanded the left wing. Next to Overkirk’s forces were placed 4 battalions of the elite Dutch Blue Guards under general Wertmuller ready to take Traviers and Franquenée. Another force of 12 battalions led by Dutch general Shultz had orders to attack Ramillies itself.
[edit] Battle begins
Shortly after 1pm the battle opened. On the Allied left wing the Dutch Blue Guards, supported by six Danish squadrons, attacked first Franquenée and then Traviers - by 3.15pm both villages were in Allied hands. The French, with two Swiss battalions and 14 squadrons of dragoons, attempted to retake the villages. However, these forces were routed and Villeroi ordered the Bavarians, commanded by La Calonie, to intervene. After fierce fighting, the Bavarian troops found themselves isolated amongst the marshes, thus depriving Villeroi’s right wing of all its foot.
Meanwhile to the north on the opposite wing, Lord Orkney was advancing towards Autre Église with 12 British battalions and 39 squadrons. The infantry crossed the Little Gheete, utilising bridging materiel, but soon found themselves counter-attacked in force - Villeroi, newly joined by the Elector of Bavaria, had reinforced the position with infantry from his centre.
With the French having thus unbalanced their forces, the Allied centre (supported by Overkirk's 69 squadrons) moved on Ramillies and Offus (at this point Orkney was ordered to break off his attack and retire). However, 68 French squadrons, aided by its remaining infantry, charged and eventually gained the upper hand - a French counter-attack almost broke through south of Ramillies, routing some Dutch squadrons. After ordering Orkney to transfer first 18 squadrons, then a further 21 squadrons from the Allied right wing to the left, Marlborough personally led two charges to check the French.
[edit] Breakthrough
By now, some 25,000 horsemen were engaged. However, with the Allied cavalry intervention from Marlborough’s right and the Danish envelopment from the Mehaigne flank, the flower of the French cavalry was roundly defeated. At around 5pm the entire French right wing, deprived of sufficient infantry support, disintegrated and swung back north westwards. Marlborough seized the moment. Half of Lord Orkney’s disengaged battalions moved southwards – their colour-parties left behind to fool the French – giving Marlborough commanding superiority opposite Ramillies. Schulenburg was ordered to attack. After the Allied batteries smashed the defences of Ramillies, the French centre collapsed.
[edit] Pursuit
By 7pm, Villeroi and the Elector were carried away with the remnants of their army, narrowly avoiding capture as Orkney swept forward through Autre Église. The pursuit lasted all night, with thousands of French soldiers slaughtered or taken prisoner. La Colonie escaped for a third time by retreating his troops to Namur (city). Small sections of the French army did manage a relatively ordered retreat to Jodoigne and Wavre.
[edit] Aftermath
At the end 13,000 French casualties scattered the battlefield and further 6,000 taken prisoner. The French also lost all their cannon and camp. The Allies lost 1,066 killed and 2,560 wounded.
The whole of the Spanish Netherlands now lay at the mercy of the Allied army, and without the presence of the French army, the civil authorities changed their loyalties. In rapid succession Leuven, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges and other towns surrendered to Marlborough; later followed by Ostend, Dendermonde and Menin. Ath surrendered on the 6 October, 1706 and the Archduke Charles was now acknowledged as sovereign by the greater part of the southern Netherlands.
Another consequence of the battle was that Louis XIV was required to move forces from other fronts to re-build his army in Flanders. This greatly aided Eugene in his attempt to relieve Turin.
The deadlock of the War of the Spanish Succession seemed to have come to an end, but within a year the stalemate had returned - the war would last another seven years.
[edit] Analysis
Villeroi had overextended his army - the concave position made it difficult to transfer troops from one flank to another. By contrast, Marlborough concentrated his army on a 3-mile front between the ‘horns’ of the French position, having the advantage of interior lines to swing troops from one flank to another. Villeroi had also mistakenly placed some of his cavalry at Autre Église uselessly behind marshes.
Some of the French infantry on the day did not excel; Traviers and Franquenée fell quickly to similar sized forces. Additionally, the counter-attack on Traviers was ill co-ordinated.
In contrast, Marlborough brilliantly executed a controlled plan of action. By concentrating his cavalry on the southern wing, he was able to defeat the French cavalry and with his army’s superior communications, he had outclassed Villeroi.[1]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army p.72
[edit] References
- Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army, (1995). Oxford University Press.
