Battle of Denain 1712 | Villars Triumphs over Eugene

[Music] after two decisive defeats for the Allies in Spain they continued to enjoy success further north in France itself with both armies having recovered from the bloody battle of malpaque what was to be the final dramatic phase of the War Began Marshall velars leading the French army of Flanders recovered from the near fatal wounds he received at Mountlake his bravery and excellent leadership kept his place as the Army's head the Allied Army is still led by the legendary Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy two men who skill bravery and careful planning routed the French in many a great battle being their only major exception both men viewed each other as equals and even dear friends but this companionship was not to last much longer in the meantime all that stood in their way were the fortresses of Cambray landrasi and Aras if these were taken Allied troops would be marching on to Paris but after huge British losses suffered at brija Lila maplake and lagorina the war drastically lost support in Britain most notably amongst the Tory party whose mission was to end Britain's involvement in the war of Spanish succession even if it meant preventing other glorious or costly victory for the Duke of Marlborough within that year the anti-war Tories defeated the pro Roar Whigs in the year's elections in Austria Emperor Joseph the first died only five years after his predecessor Archduke Charles knowing Spain can no longer be one took the throne of the Holy Roman Empire in 1711. the British phrase no peace without Spain no longer held any meaning the years of 1710 and 1711 in the low countries saw the war become one of attrition fearing the outcry generated by the massive casualties at Mount Blake and Eugene relied on the economic superiority of the Grand Alliance as well as the capture of key cities and fortresses along the volborn belt they achieved a great advance in these two years by Fielding their armies earlier than that of the French the fortresses of France held massive Supply warehouses and magazines and the capture of these meant greater logistical superiority over them but as the campaigning season of 1712 opened and that of 1711 closed the Allies suffered the loss of the Duke of Marlborough he was removed upon charges of embezzling military funds most likely a conspiracy created by the Tories to remove Marlborough from military control not only had Marlborough lost his position in the Grand alliance's Army as Field Marshal but he had lost his majority in the House of Lords as well as his reputation Prince Eugene arrived in England that year to testify for his dear friend but it was all in a vain effort in January of the same year Marlboro was replaced by James Butler the Duke of Ormond a much less decisive Commander with much less of a connection to Prince Eugene I concluded that the neck of war was broken and that I should be disappointed in the pleasure of seeing Paris that year though we were in hopes of arriving to the honor wrote Corporal John Matthew of Marvel's dismissal and the dismissal of the British army from the campaign marlborough's absence would prove devastating to Eugene and the Allied cause as a whole the Duke was responsible for earning England a great reputation on European battlefields contrasting its past of civil wars and limited expeditions he and Eugene sewed together The Divided and squabbling Leadership of the Grand Alliance he led men from all corners of Europe to Victory time and time again against the kingdom which before seemed almost invincible he left a legacy as one of the first great Coalition Commanders John Churchill the Duke of Marlborough left a legacy at a certain 20th century descendant would ride in the world's Darkest Hour but nonetheless the advance to Paris needed to continue and begrudgingly the Allies pulled together the Duke of Albemarle the Dutch Commander under Prince Eugene gathered intelligence reporting that the French were gathering massive magazines of forage and supplies in the remaining Frontier fortresses he and his fellow generals knew it was imperative to burn or capture these at any cost to deny the French an advantageous start to the campaigning season and on the 1st of March the Allies set out in their early Style with sixteen thousand men and 20 Canon they enveloped the Ross with a heavy yet carefully aimed bombardment they set Ablaze the city's magazines burning 1 million rations of forage despite this major setback the French still planned on taking the field early to meet the Allies in battle as well as hold strong positions in Aras landra C and Cambray they would at least Force Eugene to bleed before achieving a breakthrough Prince Eugene recognized the importance of seizing control of the sansei river if not taken a Siege of Aras or kembry would remain impossible on April 12th Albemarle marched to the San Jose only to discover that the French infantry had been posted on all sides not only that but the bridge there to Cambria was too small for any army to cross this issue forced a change of strategy for Eugene and so he first concentrated the Allied Army of over 100 000 men at douay this was without Imperial troops which were delayed on their arrival to May 18th creating yet another Allied setback and on the 26th the Allies then set out across the river from busane Albemarle posted 12 battalions and 26 squadrons of Dutch and German troops between Martia and the name he and Eugene also created a new yet vulnerable line of Supply from busane vulnerable as the French could find one point to attack and achieve a breakthrough Eugene did not let this detail slip from his mind though and kept his army not too far behind for reinforcement on May 28th Allied Picketts then reconnoited the Shelf River hoping to find a Crossing to Cambria the day after a council of war was held by all the Allied High command on their next move during that meeting Ormond suddenly revealed that he had received special orders not to engage any British forces in battle and not to communicate this to his allies but to martial villares himself later these orders became Infamous and were nicknamed the war's restraining orders with the frustration that's generated Eugene needed to intervene and calm the minds of Allied High command strangely enough hormone still agreed to cover the siege of Le quinoa but not participate in it the Allies quickly marched enveloped and besieged it the city quickly fell on the 4th of July but after The Siege Queen Anne proclaimed conditions of peace between Britain and France on the 17th of June the French King rejected this offer but all British troops were still ordered to march to do unkirk and sail for home subsidy Prussian and danish regiments thirty thousand to forty thousand men in all refused to go the Dutch agreed to pay for them instead the British national troops leaving did not hurt the Allies so severely as they were only about 20 battalions and 20 squadrons in all in 1712. so Eugene now having captured Le quinoa then moved to londra c hoping to take the French by surprise with a quick March the city became enveloped on the 17th of July but Eugene found it to be much harder Fork to crack laundry C was a much greater Fortress than that of Le quinoa and could be trusted to hold out before a relief Army arrived while Eugene concentrated his forces around laundr omaro continued to guard the supply line with this smaller contingent this decision left a very vulnerable and tempting Target that being the Allied supply lines which much of their supplies Siege guns and line of communication traveled this also allowed the French to attack at one concentrated point of their choice while the Allies were obligated to spread their men along a 24 mile or 40 kilometer long line Marshall Velar has watched it as it all happened he received reports from dragoons reporting to Marshall de artanal who reported to villars with this information he and Marshall the artinal determined that the line between domain and Martian held by Albemarle to be the best point of attack when the time came it only posted about 12 battalions and 26 squadrons of cavalry Eugene also knew of this danger but hoped he could quickly relieve the name if it came under attack Villar is consulted with Versailles and on the 19th of July he received orders from Louis XIV himself to relieved landra sea in an open battle foreign on the 23rd at 6 PM the French army of 100 000 men marched with great secrecy and speed along a 19-mile or 30 kilometer Long March in the Memoirs of Jean Martin de la Colony a veteran of many of the war's greatest battles wrote about the measures valars took to maintain the secrecy of the Army's March to the Shelt River and danane 1200 workmen were mustered and set to work to make roads along the banks of the Sombra in the direction of geese although this was not the route our general had in mind to take us to deceive the enemy still more he sent some dragoons wet full of night took this road along the Sombra with measured tread and so as to lead our opponents to believe that the whole of our army was on the March they were accompanied by reliable men extended to intervals who shouted out in the darkness the names of our regiments and drummers were posted here and there along the line who every now and then gave a few taps with their sticks as if to Rick Hall scattered soldiery on the night of the 23rd of July the French army crossed the shell River with pontoon bridges Albemarle was doing the same on his end opposite of the French both were finished by the following morning Albemarle was completely unaware of how close the French had come and did not launch a preemptive strike Marshall de vupal was the first to cross with his Cavalry wing behind him were the Infantry of the comp the albargati The Men Who led the defense of the buadisar at Mount Blake behind the Allied line the prince of tinji's infantry columns arrived and began deploying into line of battle not intended to attack unless ordered in the center Polaris arrived with the Infantry of they aren't enough and these two began deploying into line of battle enabling an attack from the south and west Cavalry encountered further around the name and discovered that the Allied supply line which was left undefended and so they occupied it Albemarle was only informed of valarza's March around 8 AM and by that point his main line of communication to Martian had been cut it was imperative to him to take immediate action and throw back the deploying French with a sudden cavalry charge he hastily mounted his horse and joined the now 30 squadrons of Dutch Imperial Cavalry under his command his sixth Cannon fired one shot each as a warning the buglers gave the sound of boots and Saddles and as quickly as they could put themselves to a Gallop after mounting Viewpoint expected this and put his own Cavalry into a charge it was far too late to be thrown back across the shelves and view Paul's Troopers engaged albemarle's Troopers the French Cavalry emboldened by their success at Mount Blake threw back and mauled the desperate charge by Albemarle the fighting was short and one-sided and at the worst time a baggage train arrived from busane not knowing of the ensuing battle viewpoint's French Cavalry then intercepted and captured the baggage train heading to resupply the name the confused escort in Carters surrendered almost immediately after this short engagement villar's Army had nearly been fully deployed he prepared himself and the men for the coming attack at this time Prince Eugene was informed of velar's fast March he would be heading toward the proven Bridge with 40 battalions within just a couple hours Volaris was aware that Prince Eugene was not far away from the name I knew he had to attack as soon as possible albemarle's men had prepared defenses the days before but few of them were complete and this would make his scaling assault much easier for the French at 10 A.M Prince Eugene arrived but with only seven battalions from General II he ordered albemarle's remaining squadrons to retire To the Left Bank of the Shelt the seven battalions of the Imperial Army then took positions on the Bridgehead with the Dutch troops the rest of his army was further away and he rode back to hurry them forward not long afterward velars finally ordered coordinated attacks from the South and West to begin three batteries had been deployed by the French which Unleashed a heavy bombardment in the Dutch defenses albemar responded with his mere six guns but their fire proved ineffective against such a high volume of lead the French guns smashed the poor defenses of the name creating some small gaps in the line and so the French lines in the west began their attack valars they arethanol and Albert Gotti All LED in person or on horseback as the Frenchman Advanced within musket range they were met with the whiff of grape shot and musket fire from the Dutchman the initially high volume of fire halted the first line of infantry but they rallied and pressed onward the first line responded with a volley along the entire line which was composed of all pickets and grenadiers it was about a half hour of savage fighting until the French pressed into the Dutch Palisades at Bayonet Point the French being forced to attack a high ground entrenched position took heavy losses it is here that Marshall vilara stood up before his grenadiers and urged them on waving his sword forward leading by example this action is immortalized in one of the most famous paintings of any 18th century battle by jean-alu his Ben cheered on and grenadiers managed to touch his grenades into the Dutch trenches Albemarle tried to throw back this reinvigorated charge with bayonets but to no avail the last few Defenders remaining at the Palisades fired their lost pot shots before falling back with the rest of their comrades the Allied infantry facing such a ferocious and overwhelming attack fada panicked retreat the first line had broken through and followed the Dutch closely initially the Dutch stood against them in an intense melee some Imperial battalions attempted a flanking attack but were repulsed by well-timed musket volleys and were denied any success now that the French had achieved their foothold they chased the Defenders chanting or long live the king as albemarle's troops turned around and ran French troops from the South had already joined in in the fighting in the Dutch Retreat turned into a panicked route all them had only one Avenue of Escape that being the povery bridge which was too narrow to fit very many men at once the poofy Bridge became packed with men and horses running for their lives many men were pushed or shoved aside into the water forces clinged onto the sides of the bridge but would never be able to lift themselves up and over cannons were brought across and some fell into the river many fleeing Imperials and Dutch drowned or were shot down by French infantry following behind them Albemarle unable to escape across the purvi bridge was captured by French soldiers Prince Eugene finally arrived with the rest of his army they attempted to relieve the broken Dutch but were halted by tunji's French infantry which entrenched themselves to prevent a Crossing seeing that albemarle's Army was shattered and the French had already taken the position with a superior Force Eugene reluctantly ordered a retreat [Music] the Battle of danane was incredibly short but would prove incredibly decisive the French had lost 865 men killed and 1075 men wounded for an Allied cost of 2 400 men killed or wounded and 4100 taken as prisoners these losses seem far lighter than their previous great battles of which the Duke of Marlboro was present for however the Battle of denane had impacts far beyond casualties taken during the engagement Prince Eugene felt it imperative to immediately Retreat from the name not wishing to be pursued closely by French cavalry valars did not pinch tents for his army and set out immediately the following morning instead of relieving laundressi immediately he first attacked Martian the greatest Supply Depot of the grand alliance's armies it quickly surrendered on the 30th of July not anticipating such a fast march by villars it give up over 100 Cannon and its Garrison of 9 000 men as prisoners horrified Eugene raised the siege of lingerie C and retreated North villaras followed and retook douay on the 1st of August into October Eugene would be forced from malls to Sequin as valars recaptured Lake and Busan costing the Allies another estimated six thousand to nine thousand men and an unknown but supposedly large number of Canon by the 19th of October of 1712 Volaris offensive was complete Volaris and the ardenons 1712 counter-offensive saw the French Frontier reclaimed and secured as a result of one swift victory it took years for the Allies to take these positions in Long bloody sieges and now they were already back in French hands Eugene humiliated by his passive defense at the frontier and late arrival at the name took on a damaged reputation for the next several years Louis XIV Court erupted with joy upon hearing the victory the king himself personally thanked his courtiers for the very first time in his 60-year reign the sun King's Realms were saved from defeat in occupation had valar's been more positively received by those of high society in France who would probably be known as France's restorer the men that had been beaten so thoroughly by the partnership of Marlborough and Eugene finally tasted what had been brought upon them for years from the other side they didn't just regain their reputation they had decisively beaten their enemy in detail with the years-long Flanders campaign coming to a close negotiations once more reopened between the warring powers the Dutch Estates General along with the British tried for A Separate Peace they began drafting the piece of Utrecht including terms now more favorable to France Eugene was forced to March back to the Rhineland valars followed suit and managed to capture the cities of Londo and Freiburg in two switched sieges the two men then began drafting the Treaty of rostadt between France and the Holy Roman Empire in these two separate pieces both sides agreed on the following main issues 1. Naples Milan Sardinia and Flanders would be suited to the austrians this brought forward the largest extent of the Holy Roman Empire since the time of Charles V in the 14th century the Spanish were reluctant to let these territories go but they had long been conquered 2. Spain would seed Minorca and Gibraltar to Great Britain as they had never been retaken 3. Spain would seed Sicily to savoir as the austrians promised 4. France retains Landau and is given the ubayi valley and the principality of Orange 5. Philip V has given the Throne of Spain but will not Unite with the Throne of France this isn't what Louis XIV sought after but it did end hundreds of years of Hasbrouck influence over the Spanish Empire so who exactly won the war of the spin a succession why was it fought and why should we remember it despite the territorial gains of Emperor Charles he considered the loss of Spain and its possession is to be an unacceptable failure and couldn't help but feel defeated for many years to come France did not suffer any loss of territory on the mainland but did not make any significant gains either Britain made some territorial gains but the only major claim would be Gibraltar it would provide a great Naval Base that allowed for British Naval dominance in the Mediterranean well into even the 20th century and Still Remains British today Philip V had won his place as bubon king of Spain it did not matter much to him that he would not Unite with his grandfather thrown in France and still had to deal with the rebellious catalonians the war can reasonably be referred to as a stalemate as neither side came out with a decisively advantageous position over the other the war of the Spanish succession was the first war where the hegemonic power of Louis XIV was seriously challenged is one of the first world wars that saw fighting on multiple continents a topic this channel has yet to cover it was one of the early modern eras shining examples of Coalition Warfare being used to great success it ended hundreds of years of Hasbrook dynastic rule over the Spanish Empire the war introduced Britain once more as a great rival to France and a force to be reckoned with on land and at sea this rivalry set the stage for the next 100 Years of colonial expansion and conflicts across the years around 400 000 Souls lost their lives in combat with disease and other causes the total would climb up to an estimated one million two hundred and fifty one thousand this does not include wounded and captured Personnel or civilians the number is Titanic for the age the world had not seen such a toll since the 30 Years War of the century before Europe had been laid waste all because of the death of one disheveled monarch in 1715 the Sun King would die of old age holding the record of longest reigning monarch at 72 years and 110 days although the war of the Spanish succession would technically continue in Catalonia the powers which kick-started this world war seized most of the fighting coupled with the rise of the Russian Empire in the east a new era would begin for Europe and the world the Age of Reason or the age of the Enlightenment

Channel: Field Marshal

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Keywords: War of Spanish Succession, War of the Spanish Succession, 1701-1714, 1712, Battle of Denain, Battle of Denain 1712, Duke of Marlborough, Prince Eugene of Savoy, Claude Louis Hector de Villars, Marshal Villars, Denain, Battle of Malplaquet, Battle of Blenheim, Napoleonic Wars, Animated History, Documentary, Seven Years War, American Revolution, War of Spanish Succession Documentary, Battle of Denain Documentary, Animated Battle Map, Animated Battle, Napoleon

Id: 64TAlQuL62c

Length: 25min 6sec (1506 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 08 2022