The Battle of Fontenoy, on May 11, 1745, pitted a French army commanded by Marshal de Saxe against an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian coalition during the War of Austrian Succession. Among the great victories between the House of Bourbon and the House of Habsburg, and in the confrontation between the French and the English, Fontenoy is the most famous, popularized by the phrase “Gentlemen of England, fire first!” King Louis XV, accompanied by the Dauphin of France, participated in the campaign, and the victory was celebrated by Voltaire, although the war continued for another three years, with mixed successes, until the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (October 18, 1748).
The Region of Tournai: Theater of the Battle of Fontenoy
Tournai, crossed by the Scheldt River, is a gateway to the Flemish plain and the cities of Ghent and Antwerp. Capital of the Franks in the 5th century, then attached to the County of Flanders, it became French under Philip the Fair (Philip IV of France), later conquered by Charles V, taken by Louis XIV, ceded to Austria, and… finally retaken during this 1745 campaign!
Louis XV was embroiled in war on all fronts: in 1740, the War of Austrian Succession; in March 1744, war against the King of England; in April 1744, a declaration of war against the Queen of Hungary. The battlefield would be in the north, and the king entrusted the army to Marshal de Saxe. His first step was to conquer Tournai. The city was well-equipped with hospitals and had sufficient infrastructure to feed and house soldiers. The battle plan, formulated in December 1744, was to concentrate the army in the north, divert towards Mons and Charleroi, and suddenly turn towards Tournai to surprise the Dutch.
Marshal de Saxe Takes Command
On April 6, 1745, Maurice de Saxe was in Lille, commanding an army of 100,000 men. Meanwhile, the Duke of Cumberland landed in Ostend at the head of 55,000 men composed of Hanoverians, English, and Dutch. Cumberland observed the French and noted that the army had concentrated between Armentières and Maubeuge, leading him to believe the attack would occur towards Mons and Charleroi. The Allies then closed the locks at Audenarde, flooding the right bank of the Scheldt towards Condé-sur-l’Escaut for about sixty kilometers.
On April 25, 1745, 6,000 French soldiers appeared before Tournai, creating a huge surprise. The next day, Marshal de Saxe began the siege of the city with his 60,000 men.
On April 28, 1745, the Duke of Cumberland decided to march towards Tournai, intending to attack the French from the rear, push them towards the city, and defeat them once they were trapped between two fires. But Marshal de Saxe had already anticipated this and organized accordingly! Cumberland had greater speed of action, except that he was poorly obeyed by his subordinates, jealous of his rank (duke and commander at the age of twenty-five!). His army did not mobilize until the 30th, in Brussels, taking nine days to reach Tournai, which was only seventy kilometers away—time enough for Maurice de Saxe to organize.
Marshal de Saxe’s Strategic Positioning
The Marshal decided that the battle would take place in the plain of Fontenoy, out of reach of the cannons of Tournai. The site, backed by the Scheldt, formed a square about a kilometer and a half wide, attackable only on two fronts. The village was a key point between these fronts, with the Barri woods to the north and the Scheldt to the south; the slightly sloping terrain meant that the enemy had to march uphill, favoring the defense.
Meanwhile, the Marshal reorganized his army: 20,000 men for the siege and 40,000 men positioned towards Fontenoy. He ordered abatis to be set up in the Barri woods, fortified the village, and built redoubts to the north to cover his army and to the south to close the gap between the villages of Fontenoy and Antoing. He positioned his infantry and cavalry on the left near the Barri woods and to the right along the Scheldt.
He entrusted the fortification of the village to M. de La Vauguyon, who had eight artillery pieces: two battalions and two batteries were placed in the redoubt in the Barri woods, and the main infantry was arranged in four lines between Fontenoy and the redoubts in the woods (four hundred thirty workers from the Dauphin and Beauvaisis regiments completed the entrenchments within twenty hours). Behind them were “the cavalry in two lines,” “the Maison du Roy, the Gendarmerie, and eight squadrons of Carabiniers held in reserve behind the cavalry.”
Battle of Fontenoy
On May 10, 1745, everything was in place, and the French awaited the 55,000 men of Cumberland. The “enemies had settled in the village of Vezon, opposite Fontenoy,” to the right near the woods of Barri and to the left by the Escaut River. The Dutch attacked the village of Bourgeon: the few hundred French soldiers entrenched there abandoned their position. During the night, taking advantage of the fog, Marshal de Saxe sent reinforcements of six artillery pieces to Fontenoy.
On May 11, 1745, at 4 a.m., the King and the Dauphin were at the ready, and “at dawn, the enemies advanced in good order toward the King’s army…”
Shortly before 6 a.m., the allies began bombarding French positions, and the French lines retaliated, with the Duke of Gramont losing his life.
The Dutch resumed their attack between Fontenoy and Antoing. By 9 a.m., they were within musket range of Fontenoy. For half an hour, the firefight was intense. They charged and suffered heavy losses. Marshal de Saxe defended the rear of the village with the Royal and Crown brigades.
The 8,000 Anglo-Hanoverians advanced, taking losses in vain: “the English attacked Fontenoy three times, and the Dutch tried twice to capture Antoing.” Cumberland reconsidered, adjusted his plans, and attempted a maneuver in a narrow space between the redoubts of the woods of Barri and Fontenoy. He reorganized his infantry “in two thick lines, with a third held in reserve,” and his cavalry formed a fourth column. This created a compact formation of 15,000 men.
The armies faced each other… it is perhaps here that the famous phrase was supposedly uttered: “Gentlemen of England, fire first.” In reality, the infantry rules of that time were such that the side that did not fire first often gained a tactical advantage!
The English wreaked havoc, broke through the first two French lines, and advanced slowly but surely. The French forces, from all units, counterattacked, causing losses…but the English continued to advance without slowing down. The French Guards and Swiss Guards scattered…the English column was poised to take Fontenoy from behind…Marshal de Saxe sent his cavalry to charge again…the English column suffered but continued advancing…
Around 1 p.m., the French were in a critical situation… several people from the King’s entourage urged him to retreat to the other side of the Escaut River…but this was impossible: it would have been a defeat! Jubé recounted: “In this critical moment, the King showed great confidence and composure; his demeanor helped to restore the courage of the troops…as some cannonballs landed near the hill where he stood, Louis XV smiled and said, ‘Send them back to the enemy, I don’t want anything to do with them!’”
Marshal de Saxe then decided to engage all available resources, including the King’s Household troops, to attack the English column from the front and both flanks: “the Horse Grenadiers struck the first sword blows, and the French Guards the first bayonet thrusts…The Dauphin drew his sword and tried to rally the troops that had wavered and charge the enemy…”
The result: “the column stopped, hesitated, and disintegrated; in a moment, this English column, which had once numbered 8,000 to 10,000 men, was annihilated.” By 2 p.m. on that May 11, 1745, Cumberland was retreating, trying to salvage what he could; Marshal de Saxe sent 3,000 men in pursuit “just in case.” Satisfied with the victory, Louis XV withdrew around 7 p.m.!
The Victory Belonged To…
French losses were estimated at between 7,000 and 7,500 men; the English, Hanoverians, and Dutch lost between 13,000 and 15,000 soldiers.
Victory was indeed secured for France, but opinions vary. According to Louis XV, the credit belonged to Marshal de Saxe; for General Jubé, it was achieved through a tactic that Voltaire claimed was suggested by the Duke of Richelieu; while for JP Bois, it was undeniably the work of Maurice de Saxe: “This battle was enough to establish Marshal de Saxe as one of the greatest military talents.”
