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See also:STEENKIRK (STEENKERKE) , a See also:village in the Belgian See also:province of See also:Hainaut, on the See also:river Senne, famous for the See also:battle of See also:Steen-See also:kirk (Steinkirk, Estinkerke) fought on See also:July 23rd/See also:August 3rd 1692 between the See also:Allies (see See also:GRAND See also:ALLIANCE, See also:WAR OF THE) under See also:- WILLIAM
- WILLIAM (1143-1214)
- WILLIAM (1227-1256)
- WILLIAM (1J33-1584)
- WILLIAM (A.S. Wilhelm, O. Norse Vilhidlmr; O. H. Ger. Willahelm, Willahalm, M. H. Ger. Willehelm, Willehalm, Mod.Ger. Wilhelm; Du. Willem; O. Fr. Villalme, Mod. Fr. Guillaume; from " will," Goth. vilja, and " helm," Goth. hilms, Old Norse hidlmr, meaning
- WILLIAM (c. 1130-C. 1190)
- WILLIAM, 13TH
William III. of See also:England and the See also:French commanded by the See also:duke of See also:Luxemburg. Previous to the battle the French See also:army See also:lay facing See also:north-See also:west, with its right on the Senne at Steenkirk and its See also:left towards See also:Enghien, while the army, of William III. was encamped about See also:Hal. In accordance with the strategical methods of the See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time, the French, not wishing to fight after having achieved the immediate See also:object, the See also:capture of Namar, took up a strong position, supposing the enemy would not dare to attack it, while the Allies, who would otherwise
is all See also:probability have done as the French See also:marshal desired, were by the See also:fortune of war afforded the opportunity of surprising a See also:part of the enemy's forces. For in the 17th See also:century, when the See also:objects of a war were as far as possible secured without the loss of valuable lives, and See also:general decisive battles were in every way considered undesirable, a brilliant victory over a part, not the whole, of the enemy's forces was the See also:tactical See also:idea of the best generals, and accordingly William, having completely misled the enemy by forcing a detected See also:spy to give Luxemburg false See also:news, set his army in See also:motion before See also:dawn on July 23rd/ August 3rd to surprise the French right about Steenkirk. The advanced guard of See also:infantry and pioneers, under the duke of See also:Wurttemberg, deployed See also:close to the French camps ere Luxemburg became aware of the impending See also:blow; at this moment the See also:main See also:body of the army farther back was forming up after the passage of' some See also:woods. When the fight opened, Luxemburg was completely surprised, and he could do no more than See also:hurry the nearest See also:foot and dragoons into See also:action as each See also:regiment came on the See also:scene. But the See also:march of the Allies' main body had been mismanaged; while Wurttemberg methodically cannonaded the enemy, waiting for support and for the See also:- ORDER
- ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
- ORDER, HOLY
order to advance, and the French worked with feverish See also:energy to See also:form a strong and well-covered See also:line of battle at the threatened point, the Allies' main body, which had marched in the usual order, one wing of See also:cavalry leading, the infantry following, and the other wing of cavalry at the tail of the See also:column, was being hastily sorted out into infantry and cavalry, for the ground was only suitable for the former. A few battalions only had come up to support the advanced guard when the real attack opened (12.30). The advanced guard had already been under arms for nine See also:hours, and the march had been over See also:bad ground, but its attack swept the first French line before it. The See also:English and Danes stubbornly advanced, the second and third lines of the French infantry giving ground before them, but Luxemburg was rapidly massing his whole force to crush them, and meanwhile the See also:con-See also:fusion in the allied main body had reached its height. See also:Count Solms, who commanded it, ordered the cavalry forward, but the mounted men, scarcely able to move over the bad roads and heavy ground, only blocked the way for the infantry. Some of the English foot, with curses upon Solms and the Dutch generals, See also:broke out to the front, and Solms, angry and excited, thereupon refused to listen to all appeals for aid from the front. No See also:attempt was made to engage and hold the centre and left of the French army, which hurried, regiment after regiment, to take part in the fighting at Steenkirk. William's See also:counter-order that the infantry was to go forward, the cavalry to See also:halt, only made matters worse, and by now the advanced guard had at last been brought to a standstill. At the crisis Luxemburg had not hesitated to throw the whole of the French and Swiss See also:guards, led by the princes of the royal See also:house, into the fight, and as, during and after this supreme effort, more and more French troops appeared from the See also:side of Enghien, the Allies were driven back, contesting every step by See also:weight of See also:numbers. Those troops of the main body, foot and dragoons, which succeeded in reaching the front, served only to See also:cover and to steady the See also:retreat of Wurttemberg's force, and, the coup having manifestly failed, William ordered the retreat. The Allies retired as they had come, their See also:rear-guard showing too stubborn a front for the French to attack. The latter were indeed in no See also:state to pursue. Over eight thousand men out of only about fifteen thousand engaged on the side of the Allies were killed and wounded, and the losses of the French out of a much larger force were at least equal. Contemporary soldiers affirmed that Steen-kirk was the hardest battle ever fought by infantry, and the battle served not only to illustrate the splendid discipline of the old professional armies, but also to give point to the reluctance of the generals of those days to fight battles in which, once the fighting spirit was unchained, the armies shot each other to pieces before either would give way.
End of Article: STEENKIRK (STEENKERKE)
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