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AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, WAR OF

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 611 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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AUSTRIAN See also:SUCCESSION, See also:WAR OF THE) was to See also:cover the See also:siege of the then important fortress of See also:Tournai, that of the See also:Allies, who slowly advanced from the See also:east, to relieve it. Informed of the impending attack, See also:Louis XV., with the dauphin, came with all See also:speed to See also:witness the operations, and by his presence to give See also:Saxe, who was in See also:bad See also:health and beset with private enemies, the support necessary to enable him to command effectively. Under See also:Cumberland served the Austrian See also:field-See also:marshal Konigsegg, and, at the See also:head of the Dutch contingent, the See also:prince of Waldeck. The right of the See also:French position (see See also:map) rested on the See also:river at Antoing, which See also:village was fortified and garrisoned, between Antoing and See also:Fontenoy three square redoubts were constructed, and Fontenoy itself was put in a See also:complete See also:state of See also:defence. On the See also:left See also:rear of this See also:line, and separated from Fontenoy by some furlongs of open ground, another See also:redoubt was made at the corner of the See also:wood of See also:Barry and a fifth towards Gavrain. The See also:infantry was arrayed in deployed lines behind the Antoing-Fontenoy redoubts and the See also:low See also:ridge between Fontenoy and the wood; behind them was the See also:cavalry. The approaches to Gavrain were guarded by a mounted volunteer See also:corps called Grassins. At See also:Calonne the marshal had constructed three military See also:bridges against the contingency of a forced See also:retreat. The force of the French was about 6o,000 of all arms, not including 22,000 left in the lines before Tournai. Marshal Saxe himself, who was suffering from See also:dropsy to such an extent that he was unable to See also:mount his See also:horse, slept in a wicker See also:chariot in the midst of the troops. At See also:early See also:dawn of the 11th of May, the Anglo-Hanoverian See also:army with the Austrian contingent formed up in front of Vezon, facing towards Fontenoy and the wood, while the Dutch on their left extended the See also:general line to Peronne. The See also:total force was 46,000, against about 52,000 whom Saxe could actually put into the line of See also:battle.

The See also:

plan of attack arranged by Cumberland, Konigsegg and Waldeck on the loth See also:grew out of circumstances. A preliminary skirmish had cleared the broken ground immediately about Vezon and revealed a See also:part of the defender's dispositions. It was resolved that the Dutch should attack the front Antoing- Fontenoy, while Cumberland should deliver a flank attack against Fontenoy and all in rear of it, by way of the open ground between Fontenoy and the wood. A See also:great cavalry attack See also:round the wood was projected but had to be given up, as in the See also:late evening of the loth the Allies' See also:light cavalry See also:drew See also:fire from its See also:southern edge. Cumberland then ordered his cavalry See also:commander to See also:form a See also:screen facing Fontenoy, so as to cover the formation of the infantry. On the See also:morning of the rith another and most important modification had to be made. The advance was beginning when the redoubt at the corner of the wood became visible. Cumberland hastily told off Brigadier See also:James Ingoldsby (See also:major and See also:brevet-See also:colonel 1st See also:Guards), with four regiments and an See also:artillery detachment, to See also:storm this redoubt which, See also:crossing its fire with that of Fontenoy, seemed absolutely to inhibit the development of the flank attack. At 6 A.M. the See also:brigade moved off, but it was irresolutely handled and halted See also:time after time; and after waiting as See also:long as possible, the See also:British and Hanoverian cavalry under See also:Sir James See also:Campbell rode forward and extended in the See also:plain, becoming at once the See also:target for a furious cannonade which killed their See also:leader and drove them back. Thereupon Sir See also:John (See also:Lord) See also:Ligonier, whose deployment the squadrons were to have covered, let them pass to the rear, and, See also:hearing the guns of the Dutch towards Antoing, pushed the British infantry for-See also:ward through the lanes, each unit on reaching open ground covering the exit and deployment of the one in rear, all under the French cannonade. This went on for two See also:hours, and See also:save that it showed the magnificent discipline of the British and Hanoverian regiments, was a bad prelude to the real attack. Cumber-See also:land's own exertions brought a few small guns to the front of the Guards' Brigade, and one of the first shots from these killed See also:Antoine Louis, duc de See also:Gramont, colonel of the Gardes Francaises, and another See also:Henri du Baraillon du Brocard, Saxe's artillery commander.

It was now o A.M., and while the guns from the wood redoubt battered the upright ranks of the Allies, Ingoldsby's brigade was huddled together, motionless, on the right. Cumberland himself galloped thither, and under his reproaches Ingoldsby lost the last remnants of self-See also:

possession. To Sir John Ligonier's aide-de-See also:camp, who delivered soon afterwards a bitterly formal See also:order to advance, Ingoldsby sullenly replied that the See also:duke's orders were for him to advance in line with Ligonier's See also:main See also:body. By now, too, the Dutch advance against Antoing-Fontenoy had collapsed. But on the right the cannonade and the blunders together had roused a stern and almost See also:blind anger in the leaders and the men they led. Ingoldsby was wounded, and his successor, the Hanoverian general Zastrow, gave up the right attack and brought his battalions into the main body. A second See also:half-hearted attack on Fontenoy itself, delivered by some Dutch troops, was almost made successful by the valour of two of these battalions (one of them being the then newly raised Highland See also:regiment, the See also:Black See also:Watch) which came thither of their own See also:accord. Meantime the See also:young duke and the old Austrian field-marshal had agreed to take all risks and to storm through between Fontenoy and the wood redoubt, and had launched the great attack, one of the most celebrated in the See also:history of war. The See also:English infantry was in two lines. The Hanoverians on their left, owing to want of space, were compelled to See also:file into third line behind the redcoats, and on their See also:outer flanks were the battalions that had been with Ingoldsby. A few guns, See also:man-See also:drawn, accompanied the assaulting See also:mass, and the cavalry followed. The See also:column may have numbered 14,000 infantry.

All the infantry battalions closed on their centre, the normal three ranks becoming six. If the proper distances between lines were preserved, the mass must have formed an oblong about 500 yds X 600 yds (excluding the cavalry). The duke of Cumberland placed himself at the head of the front line and gave the See also:

signal to advance. Slowly and in See also:parade order, drums beating and See also:colours flying, the mass advanced, straight up the See also:gentle slope, which was swept everywhere by the flanking artillery of the defence. Then, when the first line reached the low See also:crest on the ends of which stood the French artillery, the fire, hitherto convergent, became a full See also:enfilade from both sides, and at the same moment the enemy's horse and See also:foot became visible beyond. A brief pause ensued, and the front gradually contracted as regiments shouldered inwards to avoid the fire. Then the French advanced, and the Guards Brigade and the Gardes Francaises met See also:face to face. See also:Captain Lord See also:Charles See also:Hay (d. 1760), See also:lieutenant of the First (See also:Grenadier) Guards, suddenly ran in front of the line, took off his See also:hat to the enemy and drank to them from a See also:pocket See also:flask, shouting a taunt, " We See also:hope you will stand till we come up to you, and not swim the river as you did at See also:Dettingen," then, turning to his own men, he called for three cheers. The astonished French See also:officers returned the salute and gave a ragged See also:counter-cheer. Whether or not the French, as See also:legend states, were asked and refused to fire first, the whole British line fired one tremendous See also:series of volleys by companies. 50 officers and 76o men of the three foremost French regiments See also:fell at once, and at so appalling a loss the remnant See also:broke and fled.

Three See also:

hundred paces farther on stood the second line of the French, and slowly the mass advanced, firing See also:regular volleys. It was now well inside the French position, and no longer See also:felt the enfilade fire that swept the crest it had passed over. By now, as the rear lines closed up, the assailants were practically in square and repelled various partial attacks coming from all sides. The Regiment du Roi lost 33 officers and 345 men at the hands of the Second (See also:Cold-stream) Guards. But these counter-attacks gained a few See also:precious minutes for the French. It was the crisis of the battle. The See also:king, though the See also:court meditated See also:flight, stood steady with the dauphin at his See also:side,—Fontenoy was the one great See also:day of Louis XV.'s See also:life,—and Saxe, See also:ill as he was, mounted his horse to collect his cavalry for a See also:charge. The British and Hanoverians were now at a standstill. More and heavier counter-strokes were repulsed, but no progress was made; their cavalry was unable to get to the front, and Saxe was by now thinking of victory. Captain See also:Isnard of the See also:Touraine regiment suggested artillery to See also:batter the face of the square, preparatory to a final charge. General Lowendahl galloped up to Saxe, crying, " This is a great day for the king; they will never See also:escape! " The nearest guns were planted in front of the assailants, and used with effect.

The infantry, led by Lowendahl, fastened itself on the sides of the square, the regiments of See also:

Normandy and Vaisseaux and the Irish Brigade conspicuous above the See also:rest. On the front, waiting for the See also:cannon to do its See also:work, were the Maison du Roi, the See also:Gendarmerie and all the light cavalry, under Saxe himself, the duke of See also:Richelieu and See also:count d'See also:Estrees. The left wing of the Allies was st ill inactive, and troops were brought up from Antoing and Fontenoy to support the final See also:blow. About 2 P.M. it was de-livered, and in eight minutes the square was broken. As the infantry retired across the plain in small stubborn See also:groups the French fire still made havoc in their ranks, but all attempts to See also:close with them were repulsed by the terrible volleys, and they regained the broken ground about Vezon, whence they had come. Cumberland himself and all the See also:senior generals remained with the rearguard. The losses at Fontenoy were, as might be expected, somewhat less than normally heavy when distributed over the whole of both armies, but exceedingly severe in the See also:units really engaged. Eight out of nineteen regiments of British infantry lost over 200 men, two of these more than 300. A See also:tribute to the See also:loyalty and discipline of the British, as compared with the generality of armies in those days, may be found in the fact that the three Guards' regiments had no " missing " men whatever. The 23rd (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) had 322 casualties. Boschlanger's Hanoverian regiment suffered even more heavily, and four others of that nation had 200 or more casualties. The total loss was about 7500, that of the French 7200.

The French " Royal " regiment lost 30 officers and 645 men; some other regimental casualties have been mentioned above. The Dutch lost a See also:

bare 7% of their strength. Fontenoy was in the 18th See also:century what the attack of the Prussian Guards at St Privat is to-day, a See also:locus classicus for military theorists. But the technical features of the battle are completely overshadowed by its epic See also:interest, and above all it illustrates the permanent and unchangeable military characteristics of the British and French nations.

End of Article: AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION, WAR OF

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