1.
Nine Years' War
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It was fought on the European continent and the surrounding seas, Ireland, and in North America. Louis XIV of France had emerged from the Franco-Dutch War in 1678 as the most powerful monarch in Europe, Louis XIVs decision to cross the Rhine in September 1688 was designed to extend his influence and pressure the Holy Roman Empire into accepting his territorial and dynastic claims. The main fighting took place around Frances borders, in the Spanish Netherlands, the Rhineland, Duchy of Savoy, the fighting generally favoured Louis XIVs armies, but by 1696 his country was in the grip of an economic crisis. The Maritime Powers were also exhausted, and when Savoy defected from the Alliance all parties were keen for a negotiated settlement. By the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick Louis XIV retained the whole of Alsace, Louis XIV also accepted William III as the rightful King of England, while the Dutch acquired their Barrier fortress system in the Spanish Netherlands to help secure their own borders. In the years following the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV of France – now at the height of his powers – sought to impose religious unity in France, and to solidify and expand his frontiers. Louis XIV, along with his chief advisor Louvois, his foreign minister Colbert de Croissy, Vauban had advocated a system of impregnable fortresses along the frontier that would keep Frances enemies out. To construct a system, however, the King needed to acquire more land from his neighbours to form a solid forward line. The King grabbed the necessary territory through what is known as the Réunions, a strategy that combined legalism, arrogance, the Treaty of Nijmegen and the earlier Treaty of Westphalia provided Louis XIV with the justification for the Reunions. These treaties had awarded France territorial gains, but because of the vagaries of the language they were notoriously imprecise and self-contradictory, unsurprisingly, these courts usually found in Louis XIVs favour. By 1680 the disputed County of Montbéliard had been separated from the Duchy of Württemberg, the Chamber of Reunion of Metz soon laid claims to land around the Three Bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and most of the Spanish Duchy of Luxembourg. The fortress of Luxembourg itself was blockaded with the intention of it becoming part of Louis XIVs defensible frontier. By forcibly taking the Imperial city the French now controlled two of the three bridgeheads over the Rhine, on the same day that Strasbourg fell French forces marched into Casale in northern Italy. Thus, the Reunions were carving territory from the frontiers of Germany, since Leopold Is intervention in the Franco-Dutch War Louis XIV had considered the Emperor his most dangerous enemy, yet the French king had little reason to fear him. Leopold I was weak in Germany, and was in danger along his Hungarian borders where the Ottoman Turks were threatening to overrun all central Europe from the south. Louis had encouraged and assisted the Ottoman drive against Leopold Is Habsburg lands, when the Turks besieged Vienna in the spring of 1683 Louis did nothing to help the defenders. Taking advantage of the Ottoman threat in the east Louis XIV invaded the Spanish Netherlands on 1 September 1683 and renewed the siege of Luxembourg, spains military options were highly limited, yet the Ottoman defeat before Vienna on 12 September had emboldened them. In the hope that Leopold I would now make peace in the east and come to their assistance, however, the Emperor had decided to continue the Turkish war in the Balkans and, for the time being, compromise in the west
2.
Battle of Walcourt
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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, the Allied army was commanded by the Prince of Waldeck, the French army by the duc de Humières. The battle incurred some 2,000 French casualties against the Allied losses of less than 300, in September 1688, King Louis XIV’s forces invaded the Rhineland and besieged the German town of Philippsburg. What was supposed to be a campaign lasting months, evolved into the Nine Years War. By moving into the Rhineland, Louis dispelled fears in the Dutch Republic of an attack upon them. The Spanish Netherlands would later become the theatre of the war. William entrusted overall command of his 35,000 troops in the theatre to the 69-year-old Prince of Waldeck, administrative problems and the late arrival of contingents delayed the opening of the Allied offensive in the region until late June. Waldeck moved from near Tienen and headed towards Fleurus, the two spent the next two months marching and counter-marching in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage. By 24 August Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and had camped near the ancient town of Walcourt where he was satisfied to live upon enemy territory. On 25 August, Allied foragers, escorted by 600 English troops of Colonel Hodges’ Regiment were sent out to the surrounding countryside, Humières, in an effort to expel the intruders, fell upon the foraging parties and allied outposts about 2 miles south of Walcourt. The foragers were recalled and the Allied camp made readiness for action, for nearly two hours Hodges’ regiment was able to prevent the development of the French vanguard, and covered the retreat of the surprised foragers before retiring his troops to a nearby mill. By 11,00, Marlborough had arrived within sight of the engagement. Waldeck later commented to William – and the English, who are with him, have accomplished miracles, despite his troop’s failure to overcome Hodges’ small force, Humières decided to attack Walcourt itself, which had since been occupied by 600 men. The ground was not favourable to the French – although the defences of the town were antiquated, nevertheless, several attacks were pressed home, but the French suffered heavy casualties from the Allied enfilading guns. Despite the losses Humières persisted, and sent a party of Gardes Françaises to try to set alight Walcourt’s gates. The attempt failed, and the safety of the garrison was assured after Brigadier-General Thomas Tollemache brought the Coldstream Guards, Humières saw himself forced to widen the battle and now flung his men in an improvised attack against the right wing of the main Allied line beyond the town. Humières had been humiliated, but due to problems, Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success
3.
Siege of Bonn (1689)
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The Siege of Bonn took place in 1689 during the Nine Years War when the forces of the Dutch Republic and the Elector of Brandenburg 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 Frances ally the Electorate of Cologne, while to the west the large armies of Waldeck. In June 1689 Brandenburg took Kaiserswerth, leaving Bonn as the major settlement in Cologne not in Allied hands. 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, but a formal siege did not begin until the 16 September when Frederick of Brandenburg took over command, on 10 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, the Nine Years War and the British Army, 1688-97. The Wars of Louis XIV 1667-1714
4.
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
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The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years War. Waldecks suffered heavy losses in prisoners and equipment, and Luxembourg moved ahead to control Flanders, the Allies, meanwhile, withdrew to Brussels to recover and rebuild their army. In 1690 the main theatre of the Nine Years War moved to the Spanish Netherlands, command of French forces now passed to the talented Marshal Luxembourg, superseding Marshal Humières who had suffered defeat at the Battle of Walcourt the previous year. Luxembourgs army consisted of 34 battalions and 94 squadrons, if necessary he could call upon support from Marshal Boufflers’ forces on the Moselle, once again King William entrusted Allied forces in the region to Prince Waldeck. In other theatres Marshal de Lorge commanded French forces in the Rhineland, de Lorge was opposed by the Elector of Bavaria, who had succeeded command of Allied forces in the region after the death of Charles of Lorraine. Meanwhile, Marshal Catinat led the French forces in Dauphiné against the Duke of Savoy, Waldeck, meanwhile, left his assembly point at Tienen and advanced to Wavre. After dispersing his troops to live off forage, the Allied army reassembled and advanced to Genappe on 8 June, in mid-June Luxembourg split his forces. Humières was relegated to supervise the garrison of the Lines of the Lys, meanwhile, detachments from Boufflers force under Rubantel had augmented Luxembourg’s army, which continued its march, camping at Boussu on 27 June. As Luxembourg manoeuvred south of Mons and Charleroi, Waldeck moved his camp between Nivelles and Pieton on 28 June and that same evening, Luxembourg personally led a detachment from Gerpinnes, to establish a crossing of the Sambre at Ham. With the bridgehead secure, the rest of the French army crossed the Sambre on 30 June, Waldeck decamped and moved towards the French bridgehead. On the morning of 1 July, Luxembourg marched his forces towards Fleurus, Luxembourg divided his forces to attack both flanks of the Allied army – an audacious plan that in order for it to succeed would require secrecy and deception. The columns of the first French line split to take position between Heppignies and Fleurus, with troops moving up towards St Amant. The two columns of Luxembourg’s right veered off to the north across the Orme, their passage covered by the hedges and wheat fields, forty cannon were positioned near the chateau of St Amant, and another 30 guns positioned between the chateau and Fleurus. Unnoticed by Waldeck, Luxembourg had enveloped his flanks, had the Allied commander realised that Luxembourg had split his army in two, he might have overwhelmed the isolated French left before the right came into position, but he did not. After the French right wing was in position, their artillery opened fire at about 10,00, a cavalry charge on the right wing however, met with more success, driving the enemy cavalry back. On the heels of this attack, the French infantry now advanced against both flanks of Waldeck’s line which, finding itself enveloped by the enemy, finally broke, some of the Allied troops managed to regroup on high ground near Fleurus, but were eventually overwhelmed. Despite being pressed by French cavalry, Waldeck was able to create a new line with his forces further back. However, this line also collapsed, broken by French infantry flushed with confidence from their initial success, the remainder of Waldeck’s troops streamed towards Nivelles in the best order they could
5.
Siege of Mons (1691)
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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 commencement of the campaigning season with minimal losses. Strategically, however, little had changed in the war, French forces had secured considerable success in 1690. In August Catinat had triumphed at the Battle of Staffarda in northern Italy, the only bright spot for the Grand Alliance in 1690 was King William’s victory over James II in Ireland at the Battle of the Boyne. Yet despite the successes, French forces in 1690 had failed to break the coalition ranged against the ambitions of King Louis. In 1691 the French had planned for a strike, Nice in northern Italy. William entered The Hague on 5 February to organise his army for the coming campaign, after securing forces totalling 220,000 men, the Stadtholder-King retired to his country home. In mid-March, surrounded by representatives of the Grand Alliance, he received news that Mons was under siege. Louis, accompanied by members of his court, joined his army in the Spanish Netherlands to take control of the armies in theatre, the King’s besieging army of 46,000 surrounded the town and its garrison of some 4,800 men. The Allies had formed an army of 38,000 under William to relieve the city, marshal Boufflers began the investment on 15 March, the trenches were opened ten days later. Inevitably, at 17,00 on 8 April, the besieged inhabitants beat the chamade, conditions were settled, the siege had begun and ended before the normal commencement of campaigning. Louis returned to Versailles on 12 April, whilst William, after distributing his troops to various garrisons, returned to The Hague. The French now prepared for the rest of the 1691 campaign season with the creation of five large armies bound for five major fronts, Flanders, the Moselle, the Rhine, Piedmont, and Roussillon. Luxembourg devastated Halle at the end of May, whilst Boufflers bombarded neutral Liege in early June, louvois, however, suggested a bombardment of Brussels would force the issue, but was opposed by Luxembourg and Vauban. William, meanwhile, arrived at Anderlecht on 2 June to take command of the Allied army of 63 battalions and 180 squadrons, Luxembourg successfully manoeuvred to prevent William besieging Dinant, but subsequent manoeuvres produced little action. After William left his troops in the command of the Prince of Waldeck, Luxembourg’s cavalry routed part of the Allied army at Leuze on 18 September, the Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, the Emergence of the Great Powers, 1685–1715. ISBN 0-06-139750-4 Wolf, John B. Louis XIV
6.
Battle of Leuze
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The Battle of Leuze was a minor Cavalry engagement of the Nine Years War that took place on 18 September 1691 between a detachment of French and a slightly superior Allied force. Marshal Luxembourg had been informed that William III of Orange had left for England and he was also informed that Marshal Waldeck, who was left in charge, was preparing to retire into winter quarters. Luxembourg was near Tournai and sent out a reconnaissance under Marsilly and he send a detachment to follow the movements of the main body, and with the squadrons of Villars and Marsilly he attacked the smaller party without warning. The French cavalry charged, only using their swords, the Allied cavalry was superior in numbers, but could not deploy efficiently because of the limited space they were manoeuvred in. The Allied infantry, including Mackays Regiment also took part in the battle, the battle lasted for only two hours, and the French had the advantage. The surviving Allied cavalry was brought off by troops that Waldeck sent back, Luxembourg had been in the thick of the action and been forced to beat off an attack, directed at his person
7.
Siege of Namur (1692)
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Namur, sitting on the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre rivers, was a considerable fortress, and was a significant political and military asset. As in 1691, five large armies were created for the five major fronts of the war, Flanders, the Moselle, the Rhine, Piedmont, and Roussillon. To these was added a further force in Flanders to attack what was to be France’s major goal for 1692, to deter William from marching to the town’s relief, Louis arranged for a simultaneous landing in England to assist King James II in his attempt to regain his throne. This force consisted of 12,000 Catholic Irish troops, released after the conclusion of the Irish war under the terms of the Treaty of Limerick, however, an essential preliminary to the invasion was the acquisition of naval supremacy in the English Channel. Louis, accompanied by individuals of the court, left Versailles for Flanders on 10 May, French cavalry invested the town on the night of 25–26 May, the main army arrived the following day. Namur’s garrison, under the command of Octavius Ignatius, Prince of Arenberg and Barbançon, the Siege of Namur in 1692 was a particularly notable operation of King Louis’ reign. First, the action involved the two great military engineers of the day, Vauban, who oversaw the siege, and the Dutch engineer, Menno van Coehoorn, second, the location and topography of the position made the siege particularly challenging. The actual town of Namur sat on low, flat land on the bank of the Sambre. But by reason of the position of its citadel, it was one of the strongest frontiers in Flanders, Vauban had secretly reconnoitred Namur the year before and managed to draw up plans of the town’s defences. Guided by these drawings, the French constructed lines of circumvallation, William, meanwhile, moved his forces southwest closer to Namur, whilst Luxembourg moved his army of observation east from Gembloux to Longchamps, north of the town. William hoped to bring Luxembourg to battle on the Mehaigne, most of the garrison of Namur were Spanish troops, weak and in poor condition. The garrison managed a sortie to reinforce a battery covering the main town. Offering little resistance the town capitulated on 5 June, at time it was agreed there would be a truce until the morning of 7 June. During this respite the garrison crossed over to the complex. It was also agreed that during the rest of the siege the Allies would not fire down on the town from the heights, and, for their part, the section of the citadel overlooking the Meuse is on a rocky height and is inaccessible and impossible to attack. The key to the citadel, therefore, was Fort William and it was in this direction that the French were obliged to attack. The first task for the attackers was to take the redoubt of La Cachotte. The trench was opened on 8 June, a major assault – consisting of seven battalions, La Cachotte fell, and Vauban turned to seizing Fort William, which was personally defended by Coehoorn
8.
Battle of Steenkerque
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The Battle of Steenkerque was fought on 3 August 1692, as a part of the Nine Years War. It resulted in the victory of the French under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, the battle took place near the village of Steenkerque in the Southern Netherlands,50 kilometres south-west of Brussels. Steenkerque is now part of the Belgian municipality of Braine-le-Comte, the French had achieved their immediate object by capturing of Namur. The French, not wishing to fight, took up a defensive position in accordance with the strategical methods of the time. The French army lay facing north-west with its right on the Zenne at Steenkerque and their supposition was that the enemy would not dare to attack it. William III had replaced Waldeck as supreme allied commander, the allied army was encamped about Halle. Of the 20 British regiments in the Allied army,8 were Scottish, including the famed Mackay Regiment, who had landed with William at Torbay in 1688. The Allies, who would probably have done as the French marshal desired, were by the fortune of war afforded the opportunity of surprising a part of the enemys forces. Accordingly, William set his army in motion before dawn on 3 August and he completely misled the enemy by forcing a detected spy to give Luxemburg false news. The Allied advanced guard of infantry and pioneers, under the Duke of Wurttemberg, the main body of the French army was farther back and forming up after the passage of some woods. Belatedly, Luxembourg became aware of the impending blow, when the fight opened, Luxembourg was completely surprised and he could do no more than hurry the nearest foot and dragoons into action as each regiment came on the scene. The march of the Allies main body was mismanaged, Wurttemberg started methodically cannonading the enemy while waiting for support and for the order to advance. The French worked with feverish energy to form a strong and well-covered line of battle at the threatened point. The allied main body had marched in the order with one wing of cavalry leading, the infantry following. On arrival at the field they were sorted out into infantry and cavalry. Only a few Allied battalions had come up to support the guard when the real attack opened at 12,30. Although the advanced guard had already been under arms for nine hours, the British and Danes stubbornly advanced and the second and third lines of the French infantry gave ground before them. However, Luxembourg was rapidly massing his whole force to crush them, during this time the confusion in the allied main body had reached its height
9.
Battle of Landen
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The French assaulted the Allied position three times before the French cavalry finally penetrated the allied defences and drove Williams army from the field in a rout. The battle was, however, quite costly for both sides, the French losing 9,000 men to the Allies 19,000, the French failed to follow up on their victory, allowing William to escape. William had no mind to retire over the Gete River and entrenched a line from Laar through Neerwinden to Neerlanden. On the right of line, the ground was broken. In the centre the open ground between Neerwinden and Neerlanden was solidly entrenched, in front of it Rumsdorp was held as an advance post, the left at Neerlanden rested upon the Landen brook and was difficult to access. Williams right was his dangerous flank, and Marshal Luxembourg was aware that the Allies front was somewhat long for the numbers defending it, the intervention of troops drawn from one wing to reinforce the other would almost certainly be too late. Elsewhere, delivering holding attacks or demonstrations, as might be necessary, would prevent the Allied centre. Marshal Luxembourg had about 80,000 men to Williams 50,000, opposite the entrenchments of the centre he drew up nearly the whole of his cavalry in six lines, with two lines of infantry intercalated. A corps of infantry and dragoons was held off for the attack on Neerlanden, the troops destined for the main attack,28,000 of all arms, formed up in heavy masses opposite Neerwinden. This proportion of about one-third of the force to be employed in the decisive attack in the event proved insufficient. The troops opposite the Allied centre and left had to act with the greatest energy to fulfill their containinment mission, at Laar-Neerwinden the eventual success of the attack was bought only at the price of the utter exhaustion of the troops. After a long cannonade the French columns moved to the attack, converging on Neerwinden, the edge of the villages was carried, but in the interior a murderous struggle began, every foot of ground being contested. After a time William himself, leading a counterattack, expelled the assailants from both villages. A second attack, pushed with the energy, was met with the same determination. Meanwhile, the French in other parts of the field had pressed their attacks home, the six lines of cavalry in the centre, after enduring the fire of the Allies for many hours, trotted over the open ground and up to the entrenchments to meet with certain defeat. At Neerlanden and Rumsdorp there was severe hand-to-hand fighting and they fell back slowly and steadily, defying pursuit—the English Coldstream Guards even captured a colour. However, at this crisis the initiative of a subordinate general, William had begun to move troops from his centre and left to the right in order to meet the great assault on Neerwinden. Feuquières, observing this, led the cavalry of the French centre once again straight at the entrenchments
10.
Siege of Namur (1695)
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The Siege of Namur,2 July –1 September 1695, was the second siege of the city of Namur in the Nine Years War. The Allied forces of the Grand Alliance retook the city from the French, the recapture of Namur has been called the most important event in the Nine Years War. The French captured the city of Namur in the first siege in 1692, under the command of the Duc de Luxembourg, namurs defensive works had been designed by Menno van Coehoorn, who oversaw the citadels defence during the first siege. His French counterpart, Vauban improved the defensive works significantly after the city was taken, given its strategic position at the confluence of the Sambre and Meuse rivers, the Citadel of Namur became the most strategically important fortress in the Spanish Netherlands. By 3 July, they had invested the city, Menno van Coehoorn, in a reversal of roles, directed the siege works against the city. By 18 July, Allied forces had overcome the fortifications that Vauban had built. Five battalions of English and Dutch troops launched an assault on the Brussels Gate of Namur, the general assault began on 3 August, and the Duc de Boufflers, the French commander, offered the surrender of the city. The offer was accepted, and the day as part of the terms of surrender a six-day truce was granted to attend to the wounded. The truce was guaranteed by an exchange of high-ranking officers as hostages, after the six days had expired, the returned to their camps. The Duke of Villeroi made an attempt to draw the attackers away from Namur by bombing the militarily unimportant target of Brussels, the bombardment lasted from 13 –15 August, and did not divert any Allied troops from the siege of Namur. Villerois army later attempted to lift the Allied siege of Namur, after a further month of resistance, Boufflers surrendered the citadel to the besieging army on 1 September, having lost 8000 of his 13,000 men. William had Boufflers detained, as Boufflers had violated the terms of surrender and treated Allied prisoners of war poorly after battles at Deinze, other regiments taking part included the Bedfordshire Regiment In Laurence Sternes novel Tristram Shandy, Tristrams uncle Toby injured his groin at the Siege of Namur. A major subplot of the novel involves his obsession with the siege and reenacting battles from the war with his trusty sidekick, the siege and Tobys reconstruction of it are featured in the film version of the novel, A Cock and Bull Story. Asbl Les Amis de la Citadelle de Namur, Vauban et Coehoorn saffrontent à Namur, Namurcitadelle. be, archived from the original on 21 October 2013 Brewer, Shandy, Dictionary of Phrase & Fable
11.
Battle of Staffarda
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The Battle of Staffarda,18 August 1690, was fought during Nine Years War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The engagement was the first major encounter in the Italian theatre since Victor Amadeus, the battle was a clear victory for the French commander, Nicolas Catinat, who proceeded to take other Piedmontese strongholds. The French also overran most of the Duchy of Savoy, but due to sickness, lack of infantry, by 1690, the Nine Years War was in its third year. The greater part of the involved on both sides was engaged in the Spanish Netherlands where the Dutch, with considerable English and a little Spanish help. Along the Rhine – where ultimately the war would no more decisive than the Netherlands campaign – the German Princes provided the bulk of the troops to face France. The one area where the Allies had great hopes of forcing – … a door … into France, big enough … for us to get in at, was Italy. The territories of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, split into distinct areas, the County of Nice, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Aosta. At the beginning of 1690 Amadeus had yet to declare himself against Louis XIV, although his small army aroused only French contempt, Louis XIV understood that he had to retain Savoy in the French orbit. If he did not do so he would, in Louvois words, French demands from the Duke were nothing less than an attack on Savoyard independence, and the intimidation ultimately proved counter-productive. In the early summer of 1690 Amadeus realised he had to stand up to France, Amadeuss hectic preparations for war and his negotiations for financial assistance from England and Spain, were followed by a declaration of war against France on 4 June. In July Catinat took command of French forces in Piedmont, totalling some 12,000 men. Amadeus, meanwhile, received 10,000 Spanish reinforcements from the Spanish possession of Milan, little quarter was asked or given when fighting the French. However, the Marquis de Feuquieres, sent by Catinat with 1,200 troops to Luserna, although Savoy was far less important than Piedmont, its loss was a major setback for the Grand Alliance, making an invasion of France now much less likely. In a desperate attempt to halt the destruction and intimidation Amadeus – against the advice of Eugene – insisted on engaging the French with his own and Spanish troops. Believing that Feuquieres was lost, and anxious to catch the French whilst they were weak, Amadeus left his camp at Villafranca with the intention of attacking and surrounding Catinat. Catinat left his camp at Cavour and marched south with the intention of taking Saluzzo, when Amadeus moved to stop him, marshes and hedges impeded movement on the battlefield and sheltered the Savoyard line, but French troops eventually broke Amadeuss army. Only Eugenes command of the Savoyard cavalry and his conduct in retreat saved the Allied army from disaster, Amadeus suffered 2,800 casualties and 1,200 prisoners, he also lost 11 of his 12 cannon. Catinats casualties amount to some 2,000 troops, Catinat subsequently took Saluzzo, Savigliano, and Fossano
12.
Siege of Cuneo (1691)
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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 King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, the siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinats army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders – and an arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat’s small, utilising France’s main base at Pinerolo Catinat subsequently captured several other towns in the region. However, due to problems and poor logistics, the French were obliged to withdraw from the Piedmont plain at the end of 1690. The French began the 1691 campaign early, in March Catinat crossed the border into the County of Nice to attack the southern coastal towns of Nice and Villefranche. Villefranche immediately capitulated to Catinat on 20 March, the town of Nice also quickly surrendered, Nice was captured for the loss of just 100 men, and the whole county was now almost entirely under the control of Louis XIV. Of all the Savoyard towns west of the Alps only Montmélian, in the Duchy of Savoy, in Piedmont the Marquis de Feuquières marched south-west out of Pinerolo on 18 April to attack the Vaudois and refugee French Huguenots in Luserna. Encountering little resistance Feuquières, who had suffered defeat at Luserna the previous year, sacked the town, Catinat, meanwhile, ravaged the Turin–Susa route. Cuneo’s capture would enable the French to spend the 1691–92 winter east of the Alps, on hearing the approach of a relief force of Imperial cavalry under Prince Eugene of Savoy and Spanish troops led by the Marquis of Leganés, Bulonde lost his nerve and raised the siege. Cuneo’s garrison had held out, and was still intact when Eugene arrived, having reinforced the town Eugene returned to Turin. In July Feuquières managed to get reinforcements and cash to the main French stronghold of Casale, nevertheless, French forces in the Italian theatre continued to be handicapped by supply and manning shortages. On 26 September the Allies crossed the river Po to retake the lost town, due to the lack of available French troops, Carmagnola capitulated to the Allies on 8 October. Meanwhile, the Marquis de La Hoguette, commanding French forces in the Duchy of Savoy, the valley was one of the two main routes into Savoy through which Amadeus could send assistance from Piedmont. Hoguette reached as far south as Bard before returning to Savoy, destroying behind him all the bridges, due to a lack of siege guns Montmélian could not be properly invested until November. However, when it became apparent that no relief was coming from Piedmont, although the French had achieved little in Piedmont Catinat now controlled almost all of the County of Nice and the Duchy of Savoy. By now, however, Amadeus was not prepared to negotiate seriously, especially as he anticipated military superiority for the following campaign, the peace terms were rejected and hostilities resumed the following year. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714, Prince Eugene, Twin Marshal with Marlborough
13.
Battle of Marsaglia
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Here, on 4 October, the duke of Savoy attacked him with his whole army, front to front. But the greatly superior regimental efficiency of the French, and Catinats minute attention to details in arraying them, the Piedmontese and their allies lost c.10,000 killed, wounded and prisoners, as against Catinats 1,800. Marsaglia is, if not the first, at any rate, one of the first, hussars figured here for the first time in western Europe. A regiment of them had been raised in 1692 from deserters from the Austrian service, ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds. The Vinkhuijzen collection of uniforms, France, 1750-1757. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013
14.
Battle of Torroella
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In the year 1694 the French king decided to make an effort in Catalonia, and put Catinats army in Piedmont on the defensive, reserving more troops to the Spanish front. The two armies were approximately of the same force, the French regiments were composed mostly of veteran troops, while the Spanish forces had a very large number of recruits and newly constituted units never tested on the field. Furthermore, the French army was superior in the number of pieces and firepower, served by good trained officers. The Spanish army was divided into three corps for guarding the fords at Verges, Ullà and Torroella, according to the Spanish viceroy all our army was constituted by 11, 900-foot and 4,000 horse which all included make the number of 16,300. The previous days the enemies attempted with no success to force the fording at Verges, the French made a general advance against the Spaniards, with little opposition, killing many soldiers and capturing baggage and artillery pieces, beside a large number of standards. According to the version the Spaniards lost 2, 931-foot and 324 horse, among dead, wounded. According to French sources Spanish losses exceeded 9,000 men including 2,000 prisoners, while their own losses amounted to about 500. In this situation the viceroy had no choice than sending some troops to Girona and marched with the largest part of his army towards Barcelona. In the meanwhile the French sacked over 10 villages in the surroundings of the river Ter. On 30 May, three days after the Spanish defeat at the river Ter, Noailles started the blocquade by land and sea of the fortress of Palamos, the city of Girona was taken on 29 June. Barcelona was saved by the French minister of war who reduced the money to the Marshal of Noailles, another factor was the approach of an English fleet under Edward Russell which made the supporting French fleet under Tourville retreat to Toulon. Ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds, the Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms, France, 1750-1757. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013
15.
Battle of Sant Esteve d'en Bas
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The Battle of Sant Esteve den Bas took place on 10 March 1695 in the Catalan front of the War of the Grand Alliance. The first and more bloody fight took place at the wood of Malatosquera and the bridge of Sant Roc, defeated, Juigné and his remaining troops fled to Olot, where they entrenched themselves in a convent. The Catalans forced the French to surrender by setting the building on fire, at the slight cost of 7 men killed and 5 wounded, the miquelets and peasants under Sala i Saçala killed 260 French soldiers and took 826 prisoners. Catalonia was one of the fronts of the Nine Years War. The French army under the Duke of Noailles, however, was short of resources. During the winter of 1694-1695, the inhabitants of Calella repelled a punishment force of 800 or 1,000 French soldiers from the Blanes garrison, French troops were also harassed by Catalan militia forces, the miquelets, who laid ambushes to Noailles forces from woods and heights. One of the villages that refused to pay the French was Sant Esteve den Bas, despite a French party looted the place in punishment, the villagers still refused to obey. A force of 700 soldiers was dispatched on 28 December to arrest the aldermen and these troops were taken from the German Alsace regiment, the Swiss Manuel and Schellenberg regiments, and the French Royal-Artillery regiment. Philippe de Courcillon, a famous French diarist, labeled them as of the best troops of that country. The French force left Castellfollit 9 March on the evening, passed at some distance from Olot and spent the night at the palanca de Cudella, at dawn, some peasants and miquelets discovered them and sent a warning to Sant Esteve den Bas. Women and children sought shelter in the mountains, while the men prepared to fight off the French column. In the meantime, Juigné reached la Vall den Bas –the Bas valley–, leaving a rearguard at El Mallol, from there, he dispatched a third of his force to burn Sant Esteve. The French troops had burned 16 buildings when Ramon de Sala ahead 8 companies of miquelets and Pere Baliart leading 8 others arrived to the village, when they tried to cross back the Fluvià, however, they found the way blocked. Juigné decided then attempting to escape to Olot across the wood of Malatosquera and through the bridge of Sant Roc, during the running fight under the trees Juignés force lost 25 men and abandoned part of its ammunitions. The French column, despite the harassment, managed to control of the bridge. The miquelets and armed peasants, however, fired on them from the south, according to Charles Sévin, marquis de Quincy, a contemporary French artillery general and military historian of Louis XIVs reign, Juignés corps was able to retreat to Olot in good order. Arriving to Olot, most of Juignés force took positions inside the convent of El Carme, while the Swiss troops promptly surrendered, the bulk of the French column, with Juigné himself, still held for two hours. The miquelets and peasants encircled the building and managed to open a gap in its walls, only to be repelled in the hand-to-hand fight, losing two men killed and one wounded
16.
Siege of Barcelona (1697)
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The Siege of Barcelona of 1697 was successfully conducted during the Nine Years War by France. Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, commanding some 32,000 troops, forced the garrison, under Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Nine Years War and the British Army. El frente catalán en la Guerra de los Nueve Años, 1689-1697, departament dHistòria Moderna i Contemporània,1994. The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714
17.
Siege of Derry
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The Siege of Derry, was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. While the gates of the old walled city were closed in December 1688. The siege lasted three and a half months, ending on 30 July 1689 when relief ships bringing an English army sailed down Lough Foyle. The siege is commemorated yearly in August by the Apprentice Boys of Derry, in Scotland, the privy council asked William to assume responsibility for the government in January 1689, and he and Mary were formally offered the Scottish throne in March. The situation was different in Ireland where most of the population were Catholics, Irish Catholics were hoping that James would re-grant them lands, which had been seized from them after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. James thus looked to Ireland to muster support in re-gaining his kingdoms just as his father, Richard Talbot, who was acting as Jamess viceroy in Ireland, was eager to ensure that all strongholds in the country were held by garrisons loyal to James. He focused on the province of Ulster, which had been the most heavily planted by British Protestant colonists. By November 1688, Enniskillen and Derry were the two garrisons in Ulster that were not wholly loyal to James and these became the point of the first stage in the Williamite war in Ireland. The elderly Alexander MacDonnell, 3rd Earl of Antrim, a Jacobite, was ordered to replace these two garrisons with forces loyal to King James and he agreed, but wasted several weeks searching for men who were at least six feet tall. A force of about 1,200 Scottish Highland Redshanks then set out for Derry, on 7 December, with the army a short distance away, thirteen apprentice boys seized the city keys and locked the gates. On 10 December, King James fled London and he was caught, but fled a second time on 23 December and made his way to France. Jamess first cousin, King Louis XIV of France, said he would help James regain power, in London on 13 February 1689, William and Mary were crowned. On 12 March, James landed in Kinsale with 6000 French soldiers and he took Dublin and marched north with an army of Irish and French Catholics. In April 1689 reinforcements from England arrived under the command of Colonel Cunningham and he was under instructions to take his orders from the Derry City Governor, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Lundy. Lundy advised Colonel Cunningham to leave as arrangements had been made for the city to be surrendered and he wrote on 15 April that without an immediate supply of money and provisions this place must fall very soon into the enemys hands. Lundy called a meeting with several of his most loyal supporters to discuss surrender, news of the meeting spread, angering many of the citizens. That night, Lundy and many left the city and took ship to Scotland. The citys defence was overseen by Major Henry Baker, Colonel Adam Murray, as the Jacobite army neared, all the buildings outside the city walls were set alight by the defenders to prevent them being used as cover by the besiegers
18.
Siege of Carrickfergus (1689)
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The Siege of Carrickfergus took place in August 1689 when a force of Williamite troops under Marshal Schomberg landed and laid siege to the Jacobite garrison of Carrickfergus in Ireland. After a week the Jacobites surrendered, and were allowed to march out with the honours of war, Carrickfergus was a traditional stronghold of the Crown in Ulster, commanded by the Norman-era Carrickfergus Castle. During 1689 with its Irish Army garrison, it became a refuge for Catholic inhabitants of the region to flee to as the rebellion against James IIs rule grew. In February 1689 local Protestant forces made an attempt to storm the town. After the Break of Dromore on 14 March, Richard Hamiltons royal forces had swept through Eastern Ulster bringing all of County Down and Antrim under their control. Carrickfergus and its area were securely under Jacobite rule as Hamilton advanced to lay siege to Derry. What had initially seemed as though it would be a quick victory began to drag out through the summer, meanwhile, a series of relief forces were being prepared in England. Percy Kirke led an expedition to Derry, where the siege was broken on 28 July. In the face of this defeat, Jacobite forces began to withdraw from Derry. A second major wave of reinforcements was assembled at Chester under the veteran Huguenot commander Frederick Schomberg, while it was originally suggested that they might head for Cork, it was decided that they should be landed in Ulster. By the time the expedition sailed from Hoylake on 12 August 1689 and it meant that Schomberg could now act offensively. By 13 August the expedition was in sight of the Mountains of Mourne and they were accompanied into Bangor Bay by George Rooke who had led a Royal Navy force to clear Belfast Lough of French shipping. The same afternoon Schomberg began disembarking his men and he kept them at the alert in case the Jacobite garrisons of nearby Belfast, Bangor and Carrickfergus should attack, but there was no opposition as the troops were brought ashore. The artillery and supply ships arrived separately a few days later, by the end of August, a total of six cavalry and nine infantry regiments had been landed safely at Carrickfergus. The landing added to a series of setbacks for the Jacobites including their failures at Derry and Enniskillen, faced with strong Williamite forces in both the north-west and north-east, the Jacobite commander in the north Thomas Maxwell ordered a withdrawal towards Newry. At Carrickfergus he left a garrison consisted of Charles MacCarthy Mores infantry regiment. The garrison were charged with delaying Schombergs army for as long as possible, the Jacobites abandoned Belfast which was swiftly occupied by Henry Whartons English regiment. As Schomberg wanted to march on Dublin before the set in
19.
Battle of the Boyne
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The battle took place across the River Boyne near the town of Drogheda in the east of Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William. This turned the tide in Jamess failed attempt to regain the British crown, the battle took place on 1 July 1690O. S. Williams forces defeated Jamess army, which consisted mostly of raw recruits, although the Williamite War in Ireland continued until October 1691, James fled to France after the Boyne, never to return. The symbolic importance of this battle has made it one of the battles in the history of the British Isles. Its commemoration today is principally by the Protestant Orange Institution, which records the first commemorative parades as having held in 1791. It is regarded as a moment in the struggle between Irish Protestant and Catholic interests. The previous year William had sent the Duke of Schomberg to take charge of the Irish campaign and he was a 75-year-old professional soldier who had accompanied William during the Glorious Revolution. Under his command, affairs had remained static and very little had been accomplished, William, dissatisfied with the state of affairs in Ireland, decided to take charge in person. In an Irish context, the war was a sectarian and ethnic conflict, for the Jacobites, the war was fought for Irish sovereignty, religious tolerance for Catholicism, and land ownership. The Catholic upper classes had lost almost all their lands after Cromwells conquest, as well as the right to public office, practice their religion. They saw the Catholic King James as a means of redressing these grievances, to these ends, under Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel, they had raised an army to restore James after the Glorious Revolution. By 1690, they controlled all of Ireland except for the province of Ulster, most of James IIs troops at the Boyne were Irish Catholics, however, there were also Scots-Irish Presbyterians fighting for James II. Conversely, for the Williamites, the war was about maintaining Protestant, in particular, they dreaded a repeat of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, which had been marked by widespread killing. For these reasons, Protestants fought en masse for William of Orange, Jamess supporters controlled much of Ireland and the Irish Parliament. James also enjoyed the support of his cousin, Louis XIV, Louis sent 6,000 French troops to Ireland to support the Irish Jacobites. William was already Stadtholder of the Netherlands and was able to call on Dutch, James was a seasoned officer who had proven his bravery when fighting for his brother – King Charles II – in Europe, notably at the Battle of the Dunes. William, although a seasoned commander, was one of historys great generals and had yet to win a major battle. Many of his battles ended in stalemates, prompting at least one historian to argue that William lacked an ability to manage armies in the thick of conflict
20.
Siege of Limerick (1690)
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Limerick, a city in western Ireland, was besieged twice in the Williamite War in Ireland, 1689-1691. On the first of these occasions, in August to September 1691, the Williamites, under William III, tried to take Limerick by storm, but were driven off and had to retire into their winter quarters. Following the successful defence of Derry and the Siege of Carrickfergus and their defeat at the Battle of the Boyne on July 1,1690 saw their forces make a disorderly retreat from the eastern part of the country, abandoning the capital Dublin in the process. James II himself had fled Ireland for France, judging his military prospects there to be hopeless, the main Jacobite army had retreated to Limerick after their defeat at the Boyne. The principal reason why many Jacobite officers were reluctant to surrender was the surrender terms published by William in Dublin after his victory at the Boyne. These terms offered a pardon only to the Jacobite rank and file, the Jacobite’s French commander, Lauzun, also wanted to surrender, expressing his dismay at the state of Limerick’s fortifications, saying that they could be knocked down by roasted apples. There were however sufficient Jacobite troops to defend Limerick, a total of 14,500 Jacobite infantry were billeted in Limerick itself and another 2,500 cavalry in Clare under Sarsfield. Moreover, the morale of the soldiers was high, despite the defeat at the Boyne. This was due to the circulation of an ancient Irish prophecy that the Irish would win a victory over the English outside Limerick. This may seem bizarre, but such prophecies were an important part of Irish popular culture at the time, Williamites mocked such superstition in songs such as Lillibullero. Lauzuns deputy Marquis de Boisseleau backed the hardliners in their attempts to defend the city, William of Orange and his army reached Limerick on August 7,1690, with 25,000 men and occupied Ireton’s fort and Cromwell’s fort outside the city. However he had with him only his artillery, as his siege cannon were still making their way from Dublin with a light escort. This siege train was intercepted by Sarsfield’s cavalry, at Ballyneety in county Limerick and this meant that William had to wait another ten days before he could start bombarding Limerick in earnest, while another siege train was brought up from Waterford. By this time it was late August, winter was approaching and William wanted to finish the war in Ireland so he could return to the Netherlands and get on with the main business of the War of the Grand Alliance against the French. For this reason, he decided on an all out assault on Limerick and his siege guns blasted a breach in the walls of the Irish town section of the city and William launched his assault on 27 August. The Danish grenadiers, and the eight regiments who followed them into the breach, suffered terribly from musketry, Jacobite soldiers without arms and the civilian population lined the walls and threw stones and bottles at the attackers. A regiment of Jacobite dragoons also made a sortie and attacked the Williamites in the breach from the outside, after three and a half hours of fighting, William finally called off the assault. Williams men had suffered about 3,000 casualties, including many of their best Dutch, Danish, German, the Jacobites lost only 400 men in the battle
21.
Siege of Athlone
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Athlone was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland. The town is situated in the centre of Ireland on the River Shannon, for this reason, it was of key strategic importance. The Williamites first besieged Athlone in 1690, not long after their victory in the Battle of the Boyne, during this siege, they were commanded by William of Orange. An assault was made on the part of Athlone on 20 June, which caused the Jacobites to retreat across the Shannon to the west bank of the river. The Jacobites garrison at the half of Athlone led by Clifford, initially held off the Williamite assault by fierce fighting. The Williamites tried to lay planks over the partially wrecked structure, several attempts by the Williamites to storm the bridge were repulsed with heavy losses. The Williamite bombardment of the western, Connacht, side of the town was intense, one survivor described the scene, with the balls and bombs flying so thick, that spot was hell on earth. However, Ginkel identified another crossing upriver and sent an elite force,2,000 strong, to cross there. The grenadiers manned the towns west-facing ramparts and held off Jacobite counter-attacks until the main Williamite force could be brought up, after this, the Jacobite garrison, who had been awaiting reinforcement from the main Jacobite force advancing from Limerick, hastily abandoned their positions in Athlone. Ginkel and the Williamites went on to march on Limerick, on the march they were confronted by the main Jacobite army at the Battle of Aughrim and the Williamites inflicted a crushing defeat on them — effectively ending Jacobite resistance in Ireland
22.
Battle of Aughrim
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The Battle of Aughrim was the decisive battle of the Williamite War in Ireland. It was fought between the Jacobites and the forces of William III on 12 July 1691, near the village of Aughrim, the battle was one of the more bloody recorded fought on Irish soil – over 7,000 people were killed. It meant the end of Jacobitism in Ireland, although the city of Limerick held out until the autumn of 1691. The Jacobite position in the summer of 1691 was a defensive one, from this position, the Jacobites hoped to receive military aid from Louis XIV of France via the port towns and eventually be in a position to re-take the rest of Ireland. Godert de Ginkell, the Williamites Dutch general, had breached this line of defence by crossing the Shannon at Athlone - taking the town after a bloody siege. Ginkel marched through Ballinasloe, on the road towards Limerick and Galway. Both armies were about 20,000 men strong, the soldiers of St Ruth’s army were mostly Irish Catholic, while Ginkels were English, Scottish, Danish, Dutch and French Huguenot and Irish Protestants. The Jacobite position at Aughrim was quite strong, St Ruth had drawn up his infantry along the crest of a ridge known as Kilcommadan Hill. The left of the position was bounded by a bog, through there was only one causeway, overlooked by Aughrim village. On the other, open, flank, St Ruth placed his best infantry under his second-in-command, the chevalier de Tessé, the battle started with Ginkel trying to assault the open flank of the Jacobite position with cavalry and infantry. This attack ground to a halt after determined Jacobite counter-attacks and the Williamites halted, the French Huguenot forces committed here found themselves in low ground exposed to Jacobite fire and took a great number of casualties. Contemporaneous accounts speak of the grass being slippery with blood, to this day, this area on the south flank of the battle is known locally as the Bloody Hollow. In the centre, the Williamite infantry under Hugh Mackay tried a frontal assault on the Jacobite infantry on Kilcommadan Hill. The Williamite troops, mainly English and Scots, had to each line of trenches. The Williamite infantry attempted three assaults, the first of which penetrated furthest, eventually, the final Williamite assault was driven back with heavy losses by cavalry and pursued into the bog, where more of them were killed or drowned. In the rout, the pursuing Jacobites manage to spike a battery of Williamite guns and this left Ginkel with only one option, to try to force a way through the causeway on the Jacobite left. This should have been a position, with the attackers concentrated into a narrow lane. However, the Irish troops there were short on ammunition, Mackay directed this fourth assault, consisting mainly of cavalry, in two groups - one along the causeway and one parallel to the south
23.
Siege of Limerick (1691)
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Limerick in western Ireland was besieged twice during the Williamite War in Ireland. The city, held by Jacobite forces was able to beat off a Williamite assault in 1690, however, after a second siege in August-October 1691, it surrendered on favourable terms. By the time of the siege, the military situation had turned against the Jacobites. The main Jacobite army was smashed at the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691, losing 4,000 men killed, including their commander, the Marquis de St Ruth and thousands more taken prisoner and deserted. The Jacobite army retreated from Galway with all the honours of war to Limerick, on the other hand, the defences of Limerick had been considerably strengthened since 1690. The Williamite general Godert de Ginkell surrounded the city and bombarded it, a surprise Williamite attack drove the Irish defenders from the earthworks defending Thomond bridge, sending its Irish defenders reeling back towards Limerick. The French defenders of the gate of the city refused to open it for the fleeing Irish. After this point, Patrick Sarsfield ousted the Chevalier de Tessé and the Marquis dUsson, the French commanders in Limerick, Limerick capitulated under these favourable terms in October 1691. Sarsfield left Ireland with 10,000 soldiers and 4,000 women and children to enter the French service and this journey has become known as the Flight of the Wild Geese. S. McGarry, Irish Brigades Abroad, Dublin 2013, piers Waudchope, Patrick Sarsfield and the Williamite War, Dublin 1992. Webpage on the Williamite sieges - including good maps and photos
24.
Battle of Bantry Bay
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The Battle of Bantry Bay was a naval engagement fought on 11 May 1689 during the Nine Years War. The English fleet was commanded by Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington, apart from the inshore operations at La Rochelle in 1627–28, the Battle of Bantry Bay was the first time English and French navies had met in fleet action since 1545. But although the French failed to follow up their success with strategic gain. Following the Glorious Revolution in 1688, James II of England lost his throne to William, the new William III reigned jointly with his wife Mary. James fled to France and was given succour by his co-religionist, Louis XIV, while in France, James built up an army to support his Lord Deputy in Ireland, the Earl of Tyrconnell. James had already sent financial help, but it was not until March 1689 that he was ready to sail in person to lead the campaign. After landing in Kinsale with 100 French officers and about 2,500 mixed troops, James, James hoped to quickly establish control over Ireland before pressing on to Scotland or England, but this was impossible while Protestant strongholds in northern Ireland remained outside his control. The newly appointed commander-in-chief of the English main fleet, Arthur Herbert, did not go to sea until the beginning of April, Herberts fleet of 19 ships sailed on 4 April, it was off Cork by 12 April, seeking to intercept enemy vessels. As the French approached southern Ireland Herberts squadron had made offloading supplies at Kinsale impossible, the following morning on 11 May, as the French were landing 1,500 men with money, arms and ammunition, Admiral Herbert’s fleet came into view. The French weighed anchor, and a battle ensued in the confined waters of the bay. Initially the two opposed each other in parallel lines but Château-Renault, enjoying the weather gage, drove Herbert from the bay into the open sea. The ensuing battle – which in total lasted four hours – was somewhat inconclusive, when the French broke off the action late in the afternoon in order to return to the anchorage, Herberts ships were too damaged to follow, and he had suffered many casualties. The fleets withdrew, Château-Renault returned to Brest on 18 May, Herbert sailed for the Scilly Isles, before reaching Spithead, via Plymouth, on 22 May. For both the French and English however, the battle was equally unsatisfactory, William was also unsatisfied with the outcome, nevertheless, the King created Herbert Earl of Torrington, mainly in recognition of his work the previous year during the Glorious Revolution. Moreover, the King knighted two of Herbert’s captains, John Ashby who had led the van, and Cloudesley Shovell, and ordered a gratuity of ten shillings a head for the seaman. In response, the Scottish parliament commissioned two small cruisers, the Pelican and the Janet to oppose the French squadron, but, on 20 July, they were both taken by Duquesne in the North Channel. The Allies now began to build up their strength in the Channel. After rendezvousing with victuallers, the Anglo-Dutch squadrons patrolled south of Kinsale to prevent further French supplies reaching Ireland, with Schombergs reinforcements, the Williamite army opposing James in Ireland now amounted to some 40,000 troops
25.
Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
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The Battle of Beachy Head was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English, the Dutch lost six ships of the line in total, as well as three fireships, and their English allies also lost one ship of the line, whereas the French did not lose a single vessel. Although control of the English Channel temporarily fell into French hands, Admiral Tourville failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient ardour, Tourville was heavily criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command. Although he was acquitted, King William dismissed him from the service, King James II was campaigning in Ireland as a first step in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne following his deposition after the Glorious Revolution. As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland, with substantial reinforcements, in order to salvage the situation. Sir Cloudesley Shovell remained in the Irish Sea, but his squadron was too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so. However, the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign and this French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired. On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester on board 280 transports, after evading Killigrew off Cadiz, Château-Renaults Toulon squadron joined Tourvilles fleet on 21 June. Tourville, now commanding the combined Brest and Mediterranean fleets totalling 75 ships of the line and 23 fireships, sailed on 23 June into the Channel, by 30 June, the French were off the Lizard. Torringtons fleet reached the Isle of Wight and was joined by a Dutch squadron under the command of Cornelis Evertsen, on 5 July, Torrington sighted the French fleet, calculating their strength at almost 80 ships of the line. In Williams absence, Queen Mary and her advisors – the Council of Nine – hastened to take measures for the defence of the country, as the two fleets moved slowly up the channel, Russell drafted the order to fight. Countersigned by Nottingham, the reached the admiral on 9 July whilst he was off Beachy Head. Torrington realised that not to battle was to be guilty of direct disobedience, to give battle was, in his judgment. Torrington called a council of war with his flag-officers, who concluded that they had no option, the following day,10 July, off Beachy Head near Eastbourne, Torrington advanced towards the French in line of battle. He placed the Dutch white squadron with 21 ships – commanded by Cornelis Evertsen – in the van, Torrington himself was in the centre red squadron, the rear blue squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Ralph Delaval, comprised both English and Dutch ships. The French admiral divided his force into the three squadrons, with white and blue, white, and blue pennants respectively. Tourville, aboard the Soleil Royal, commanded the centre, white squadron, the blue squadron in the French van was commanded by Château-Renault, Victor-Marie dEstrées commanded the rear white and blue squadron. In each fleet the squadron commanders were in the centre of their squadrons
26.
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue
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The related naval battles of Barfleur and La Hogue took place between 29 May and 4 June New Style,1692. The first action took place near Barfleur, later actions were at Cherbourg and Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue in the Cotentin peninsula, Normandy and it was the decisive naval battle of the Nine Years War, known to the British as the War of the English Succession. Despite Tourville being in command of the fleet, strategic decisions were to be taken by James II, François dUsson de Bonrepaus and Bernardin Gigault de Bellefonds. The French victory at the Battle of Beachy Head two years earlier, in June 1690, had opened up the possibility of destroying the allied fleet, Tourville boldly engaged the 82-vessel Anglo-Dutch fleet at Barfleur. After a fierce but indecisive clash that left many ships on both sides damaged, Tourville disengaged and he slipped off into light fog and for several days tried to escape the superior forces. The French fleet was scattered, and fifteen were lost–three at Cherbourg, the threat of invasion of England was lifted. King Louis XIV and his minister, Count Pontchartrain, planned to land an army in England. They first planned to launch the invasion in April 1692 before the English and Dutch fleets put to sea, troops were collected at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, and the cavalry and guns were to be loaded into transports at Le Havre. Tourville was to bring the French fleet up from Brest and collect the transports, tourvilles Brest fleet was undermanned, and when he sailed, on 29 April, he was forced to leave 20 ships under Chateau-Renault behind. His fleet was delayed by adverse winds and did not clear Berteaume Roads until 2 May. Tourville entered the Channel with 37 ships of the line, accompanied by 7 fireships, plus frigates, scouts, the Dutch had despatched a fleet, under Almonde, from the Texel in April, which was making its way south. Admiral of the Blue Sir John Ashby sailed from the Nore on 27 April, Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell was delayed until 29 April, but gained time by making a risky passage through the Gull channel. He met Almonde at the Downs and a further Dutch squadron at Dungeness, more detachments joined over the next few days, until 14 May, when Russell had a force of over 80 ships of the line, plus auxiliaries. Thus by 14 May, when the fleet was fully assembled. However, Louis XIV had furnished Tourville with strict orders to seek battle, strong or weak, the fleets sighted each other at first light on 29 May 1692, off Cap Barfleur. On sighting the allied fleet Tourville held a conference with his officers and their advice, and his own opinion, was against action, however Tourville felt bound by strict orders from the king to engage. He may also have expected some defections by English captains with Jacobite sympathies, both fleets were in three squadrons, each split into three divisions and commanded by a flag officer. Because of the conditions it was not until after 11 am, five hours after first sighting each other
27.
Action at La Hogue (1692)
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The action at La Hogue occurred during the pursuit of the French fleet after the Battle of Barfleur on 19 May Old Style,1692, during the Nine Years War. Tourville’s fleet of badly damaged ships was swept by wind and tide down the coast of the Cotentin peninsula, three of the most badly damaged ships were beached at Cherbourg, where they were attacked and destroyed by an English squadron under Vice Admiral of the Red Sir Ralph Delaval. The remaining ten French ships, with Tourville and four of his officers, were swept down the coast. This was the place where the French had assembled an army, under the command of James II, tourville’s force joined two of the ships that had retired from the battle with Nesmond, which had been beached at la Hougue the day before. The ships were put ashore in two groups on the beaches on either side of the town. On the north beach, between the town and the tidal island of Tatihou, lay Ambitieux 96 guns, Merveillieux 90, Foudroyant 84. With them was the smaller St Philippe 84, and, further out on the shore of Tatihou and these ships were covered by shore batteries at the Fort d’Islet, on Tatihou, and on platforms set up by the army on the north shore. These were covered by the 68 guns of Fort St Vaast, also, in a small harbour known as the port of La Hougue, which was behind the town of St Vaast and under the guns of the fort, was the fleet of transports prepared for the invasion. The fleet was also protected by a fleet of 200 boats, the English fleet, under Russell, started to arrive on the evening of 21 May, the rest of the fleet joined during the night and over the next two days. Russell also used the 22nd to organize the 3rd and 4th rates of his command to form a line close inshore, while the bigger 1st and 2nd rates were set to organize boats. Danby was keen to take part in the action, and appealed first to Shovell, in the assault he was given command of the boat parties that went close inshore. At 6am on the 23, the ships of the squadron were ordered to attack the ships on the north beach. After a preliminary bombardment the boats were despatched, and about 8.30 am one of the fireships grappled the Terrible, meanwhile, the boats closed with the other ships. They were accompanied by another fireship, which drew the fire from the French batteries, the supporting ships countered, sweeping the French gun platforms, resistance melted away as the attack was pressed, and the English sailors were able to board and fire the remaining great ships. The second action opened at 5am on the 24 when Rooke again sent in his boats, supported by gunfire from Deptford and Crown, and with close support from Charles and Greyhound, both under oars, the English sailors were able to board and fire all six ships. The French seamen, and the ashore, were demoralized by this point. Rooke now saw an opportunity to follow up the success with an attack, at high water, the boats, led by Rooke, and with two fireships in tow, entered the harbour on the flooding tide, despite gunfire from both the fort and the ships. Several other of the transports were captured, and carried away when the boats retreated on the ebb, but most of the transports were too far up the harbour to be boarded, and escaped serious damage
28.
Battle of Lagos (1693)
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The Battle of Lagos was a sea battle during the Nine Years War on 27 June 1693, when a French fleet under Anne Hilarion de Tourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet under George Rooke. Rookes squadron was protecting the Smyrna convoy, and it is by name that the action is sometimes known. This squadron was bound for the Mediterranean, to take up station there, the convoy was to be covered by the combined allied fleet for its passage across the Channel, until it was past the port of Brest, to guard against attack by the French stationed there. The fleet, which was charged with protecting England from the threat of invasion. To this end, Louis XIV had dispatched the French fleet under Tourville, his most able commander, by 7 June the convoy was about 150 miles southwest of Ushant, and the main allied fleet had turned back, leaving Rooke and the convoy to proceed south. The allies had made no move to check where the French fleet was, by this time Rooke and the convoy were in action off Lagos, having been sighted by the French on the morning of 17 June. Rooke could not avoid battle, but held the advantage of being to windward, ordering the merchant ships to disperse, his squadron took up battle positions. The battle started around 8 pm. when the rear of his squadron was overtaken by the French van, two Dutch ships, Zeeland and Wapen van Medemblik, engaged the French, thus sacrificing themselves. They fought valiantly, giving the rest of the ships time enough to escape. When the two Dutch ships finally surrendered, Tourville was very impressed and congratulated the two captains, asking if they were men or devils. Rooke declared it one of the best judged things I ever saw in action, the next day Rooke, with 54 merchant ships in company, was standing west. In pursuit were just four French warships, as they closed, Rookes flagship, the Royal Oak guns, turned to face them. After a short exchange they abandoned the chase and drew off, Rooke and his group were able to reach Madeira without further incident, where he found Monk with one of the Dutch warships, and 40 or 50 merchant ships in company. With this party and stragglers collected en route, Rooke was able to reach Ireland on 30 July, over half of the convoy was saved. Some 90 ships were lost, the majority were Dutch and 40 were captured by the French, the two main goals of the convoy, first, to deliver the traders to their destinations in the Mediterranean and second, to establish a naval presence there, were defeated. For the French there was a gain, with prizes valued at 30 million livres. The City of London judged it the worst financial disaster since the Great Fire,27 years previously, for Tourville it was worthy revenge for his defeat in the Battle of La Hogue one year earlier. Ripley, George, Dana, Charles A. eds, the Vinkhuijzen collection of military uniforms, France, 1750-1757
29.
Battle of Camaret
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It was successfully opposed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. At the start of 1694, Louis XIV decided to take the fight to the Mediterranean, after Tourvilles victory at Lagos in 1693, William III of England had sent an expedition to take reprisals against Saint-Malo and planned to mount other similar operations against other French ports. Having got wind of the plan against Brest via spies, Louis XIV made Vauban military commander of Brest, Vauban started immediately to organize the defence of the city and the rocky coast around it. The bad weather kept the English fleet in its harbour for a month, in fact, in 1685, well before the start of the Nine Years War, Louis XIV had charged Vauban with inspecting the coast from Dunkirk to Bayonne. Vaubans first designs foresaw the building of a tower. While work on the tour de Camaret began in 1689, and forewarned by their spies and realising the importance of the works, when in 1691 sixteen Anglo-Dutch vessels were sighted in Camaret Bay, five French frigates happened to be present and routed the enemy fleet. At the start of 1694, having got wind of Tourville leaving Brest with 53 ships of the line, William III believed Brest would be easily taken and decided to launch his attack on it. In the face of more and more precise English threats, Louis XIV made Vauban supreme commander of all French land, Vauban had already been lieutenant-général des Armées since 1688 and accepted the new post on one condition, that he would not be honorary lieutenant-general of the Navy. The statement on the fortifications by the engineers Traverse and Mollart, dating to 23 April 1694, showed only 265 cannon and 17 in place. When Vauban received the royal directives at the start of May, Brest was defended by around 1,300 men and 6 battalions, one cavalry regiment, arriving in Brest on 23 May 1694, Vauban knew that the balance of power was in his favour. He expanded the extensions being made on strong points along the coast, in mid-June he inspected the defences under his command and noted that the baie de Douarnenez and above all Camaret would allow landings by large numbers of troops. Aiming to prevent any landings, and with no warships at his disposal, he equipped scores of chaloupes to defend the goulet and armed militias with weapons requisitioned by the navy. The cavalry regiments and dragoons were positioned at Landerneau and Quimper and, to enable the fast transmission of information, Vauban organised a communications code in the form of signals. In a letter to Louis XIV on 17 June 1694, he reported, The Anglo-Dutch fleet under Berkeley finally set out and it anchored halfway between Bertheaume and le Toulinguet near Camaret Bay, close to the mouth of Brest harbour. Rear admiral the Marquess of Carmarthen approached the coasts to check on the French positions and this aided the French for a cavalry corps commanded by Monsieur de Cervon and part of the militia only arrived at Châteaulin at 9 oclock. The Tour de Camaret, supported by the batteries at Le Gouin and Tremet, despite this surprise, the English retaliated, with several shots reaching the tower. In this encounter a cannonball shot off the top of the spire of the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Rocamadour, meanwhile, Tollemache landed on the beach at Trez-Rouz at the head of 1,300 men, including French Huguenots, and was met with heavy fire. Wavering for a moment, they were charged by 100 men of independent companies and 1,200 coastguard militiamen
30.
Battle of Texel (1694)
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De Vries was captured by the French, but shortly after died of wounds. In 1692 and 1693 there were massive harvest failures in France, leading to acute famine, from 1693 to 1694 over 2 million people died. Therefore, France needed to import large quantities of grain from neutral countries like Poland, Sweden, on May 29,1694, Jean Bart was instructed to sail to Norway, to escort a huge fleet of 120 ships full of grain to France. The convoy didnt wait for the arrival of Barts squadron and left under the protection of 3 neutral warships, the convoy was immediately captured by the Dutch without a shot being fired. Jean Bart searched for the convoy and found it on June 29 at 3,00 a. m. before the Dutch island of Texel, despite having fewer guns than the Dutch, at 5,00 a. m. Jean Bart attacked the Dutch flagship of Hidde de Vries, after a fierce battle which lasted only half an hour, the Prins Friso was captured, with Hidde Sjoerds de Vries severely wounded and taken prisoner. Two other Dutch ships were taken, with the remaining five fleeing to their harbor. The Dutch losses amounted to 100 killed,129 wounded and 455 prisoners, Jean Bart repaired the damage to his ships and took the convoy to Dunkirk, where it arrived on July 3, received by an enormous crowd celebrating their hero. On July 5, Jean Bart, his son François Cornil and his brother-in-law were invited to Versailles, Jean Bart was raised into the nobility on August 4,1694. Hidde Sjoerds de Vries died of his wounds on July 1,1694,40120 or more merchant ships - captured that day or soon after Haws, Duncan, Hurst, Alexander Anthony. The Maritime History of the World, A Chronological Survey of Maritime Events from 5,000 B. C, until the Present Day, Supplemented by Commentaries. An account of the battle by Jean Bart La Bataille du Texel
31.
Brussels
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Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, but is separate from the region of Flanders or Wallonia. The region has a population of 1.2 million and an area with a population of over 1.8 million. Brussels is the de facto capital of the European Union as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions, the secretariat of the Benelux and the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are also located in Brussels. Today, it is considered an Alpha global city, historically a Dutch-speaking city, Brussels has seen a language shift to French from the late 19th century onwards. Today, the majority language is French, and the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. All road signs, street names, and many advertisements and services are shown in both languages, Brussels is increasingly becoming multilingual with increasing numbers of migrants, expatriates and minority groups speaking their own languages. The most common theory of the origin of Brussels name is that it derives from the Old Dutch Broekzele or Broeksel, meaning marsh, Saint Vindicianus, the bishop of Cambrai made the first recorded reference to the place Brosella in 695 when it was still a hamlet. The origin of the settlement that was to become Brussels lies in Saint Gaugericus construction of a chapel on an island in the river Senne around 580. The official founding of Brussels is usually situated around 979, when Duke Charles of Lower Lotharingia transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint Gaugericus chapel, Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, doing so on that same island. Lambert I of Leuven, Count of Leuven gained the County of Brussels around 1000 by marrying Charles daughter, as it grew to a population of around 30,000, the surrounding marshes were drained to allow for further expansion. The Counts of Leuven became Dukes of Brabant at about this time, in the 13th century, the city got its first walls. After the construction of the city walls in the early 13th century, to let the city expand, a second set of walls was erected between 1356 and 1383. Today, traces of it can still be seen, mostly because the small ring, Brabant had lost its independence, but Brussels became the Princely Capital of the prosperous Low Countries, and flourished. In 1516 Charles V, who had been heir of the Low Countries since 1506, was declared King of Spain in St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels. Upon the death of his grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 and it was in the Palace complex at Coudenberg that Charles V abdicated in 1555. This impressive palace, famous all over Europe, had expanded since it had first become the seat of the Dukes of Brabant. In 1695, during the Nine Years War, King Louis XIV of France sent troops to bombard Brussels with artillery, together with the resulting fire, it was the most destructive event in the entire history of Brussels
32.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
33.
Grand Place
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The Grand Place or Grote Markt is the central square of Brussels. It is surrounded by opulent guildhalls and two edifices, the citys Town Hall, and the Breadhouse building containing the Museum of the City of Brussels. The square is the most important tourist destination and most memorable landmark in Brussels and it measures 68 by 110 metres, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 10th century, Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine constructed a fort on Saint-Géry Island and this was the seed of what would become Brussels. By the end of the 11th century, a marketplace was set up on a dried-up marsh near the fort that was surrounded by sandbanks. The market was called the Nedermerckt, or Lower Market, the market likely developed around the same time as the commercial development of Brussels. A document from 1174 mentions a lower market not far from the port on the Senne river, the market was well situated along the Causeway, an important commercial road which connected the prosperous regions of the Rhineland and the County of Flanders. At the beginning of the 13th century, three indoor markets were built on the edge of the Grand Place, a meat market, a bread market. Other buildings, made of wood or stone, enclosed the Grand Place, improvements to the Grand Place from the 14th century onwards would mark the rise in importance of local merchants and tradesmen relative to the nobility. Short on money, the Duke transferred control of mills and commerce to the local authorities, the city of Brussels, as with the neighbouring cities of Mechelen and Leuven constructed a large indoor cloth market to the south of the square. At this point, the square was still laid out. The city expropriated and demolished a number of buildings that clogged the Grand Place, the Brussels City Hall was built on the south side of the square in stages between 1401 and 1455, and made the Grand Place the seat of municipal power. It towers 96 metres high, and is capped by a 4-metre statue of Saint Michael slaying a demon or devil. To counter this symbol of power, from 1504 to 1536 the Duke of Brabant built a large building across from the city hall as symbol of ducal power. It was built on the site of the first cloth and bread markets, which were no longer in use and it is currently known as the Maison du roi in French, though in Dutch it continues to be called the Broodhuis, after the market whose place it took. Wealthy merchants and the increasingly powerful guilds of Brussels built houses around the edge of the square, the French launched a massive bombardment of the mostly defenseless city centre with cannons and mortars, setting it on fire and flattening the majority of the Grand Place and the surrounding city. Only the stone shell of the hall and a few fragments of other buildings remained standing. That the town hall survived at all is ironic, as it was the target of the artillery fire
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Small ring (Brussels)
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The Brussels small ring inner ring road, formally R20 is a series of roadways in central Brussels, Belgium, surrounding the historic city centre. The city centre is defined as the area within the small ring. The pentagon forms the core of the City of Brussels municipality, the road was built on the site of the 14th-century second walls of Brussels, after they had been torn down. During the second stage of the covering of the Senne in the 20th century and this freed up the main tunnels that had contained the water to allow construction of the Brussels premetro with minimal disruption of the surface. The small ring is about 8 km long and it is surrounded by the Greater Ring, which runs about 30 km and by the Ring. The road passes through tunnels allowing vehicles to avoid traffic lights that regulate the circulation at surface level, the section of the small ring between the Place Sainctelette and the south station via the Anderlecht gate is completely at surface-level and is subsequently slower to travel along. In the 14th century, Brussels had a set of defensive walls built to accommodate the expanding city. There were eight gates built along its length, many of which give their names to squares, after the latter, the defensive works were in ruins. By that time, siege was no longer as important a part of warfare, due to the growth of commerce and roads, it was found that the fortifications did little more than frustrate transit into and out of the city. In 1782, Emperor Joseph II ordered the dismantling of most fortifications in the Low Countries, the dismantling work of the exterior defences began in the east of the city. In 1795, when Republican France invaded and annexed the Low Countries, laeken Gate was destroyed in 1808. By an ordinance on May 19,1810, the French Emperor ordered the walls demolished and replaced by boulevards with a median in the centre. The fall of the First French Empire prevented the immediate execution. With the return of stability, in 1818, authorities organized a contest for plans to demolish the ramparts, the proposal of Jean-Baptiste Vifquain was ultimately chosen. It involved construction of squares and boulevards, with spaces to walk, a barrier with a ditch running its length was still installed, however, and customs houses built at the entrances, to allow continued taxation of commercial goods entering the city. The work was to be financed by selling the land that was freed up, in the 1950s, with pressure from the automobile, new plans to improve traffic flow were implemented, partly due to the 1958 Worlds Fair. Later, tunnels were dug, and one of the lines of the Brussels Metro now runs primarily underneath the small ring. All ring roads in Belgium bear the name ring, the small ring is actually composed of a set of roads that form a pentagon, or ring
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Media related to Perspectives des ruines de la ville de Bruxelles, dessinées au naturel par Augustin Coppens at Wikimedia Commons
