Battle of Rocoux
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The Battle of Rocoux (11 October 1746) was a French victory over an allied Austrian, British, Hanoveran and Dutch army in Rocourt (or Rocoux), outside Liège during War of the Austrian Succession. The result was a major French victory but not the crushing blow Maurice had hoped to inflict.[1]
Preliminary maneuvers
The French army was commanded by Marshall Saxe and the army of the Pragmatic Allies by Prince Charles of Lorraine of Austria and the British General Sir John Ligonier. Saxe had nearly completed his campaign to take Flanders and was threatening to invade the Netherlands. The allies took up a position next to Liège with the Dutch under Waldeck on the left from Liège to Rocoux, the British and Hanoverians in the center and the Austrians on the right almost to the River Jaar
The battle
The French main attack went against the Dutch portion on the left of the allied line between Liege and Rocoux. Heavily outnumbering the Dutch, the French defeated them on the third assault.[2] The Dutch were forced to withdraw behind the British and Hannoverian lines. In the face of a general French advance the allied line began to give way. The Austrians on the allied right were not engaged and made no attempt to take the initiative and advance against the French left flank. Lingonier's cavalry and some British, Hanoverian and Dutch infantry formed a rear guard that held off the French as the army withdrew. The French were victorious, although the allied army escaped from destruction. The French captured Liège.
Aftermath
This was the second great victory of three for Saxe, after Fontenoy and prior to Lauffeld. The French were victorious, immediately capturing Liège and breaking Austrian control over the Austrian Netherlands for the remainder of the war.
Notes
- ↑ Reed, p. 285
- ↑ Gentleman's Magazine Vol. XVI, 1746, page 542. Extract of a Letter from a Dutch Officer, Relating to the Action near Liege. "The affair that we had yesterday with the French begun in the evening. The fire which the enemy made upon us from their mask'd batteries, and otherwise, was one of the most terrible ever seen, and it look'd as if hell had opened her mouth to swallow us up. As I was of the rear-guard, and among the hindmost of my troop, in retiring from the field of battle, 'tis a miracle I escaped. As the stragglers come in, we hope to make some abatement in the number said to be lost.",
References
- Browning, Reed.The War of the Austrian Succession, St. Martin's Press, New York, (1993): ISBN 0-312-12561-5
- Chandler, David. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough. Spellmount Limited, (1990): ISBN 0-946771-42-1
- Skrine, Francis Henry. Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741-48. London, Edinburgh, 1906.
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