Battle of Dettingen

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Dettingen


caption=George II at Dettingen
partof=the War of the Austrian Succession
date=27 June, 1743
place=Dettingen, Bavaria
result=Allied victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Great Britain,
flagicon|Hanover|1692 Hanover
flag|Holy Roman Empire ["1911 Encyclopedia Britannica", entry National Flags: "The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire . The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black ." Also, Whitney Smith, "Flags through the ages and across the world", McGraw-Hill, England, 1975 ISBN 0-07-059093-1, pp.114 - 119, "The imperial banner was a golden yellow cloth...bearing a black eagle...The double-headed eagle was finally established by Sigismund as regent...".] Austria
combatant2=flagicon|France|restauration [George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, "The American Cyclopaedia", New York, 1874, p. 250, "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis...". * [http://www.anyflag.com/history/fleur23.htm] The original Banner of France was strewn with fleurs-de-lis. * [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgdisplaylargemeta.cfm?strucID=585779&imageID=1236061&parent_id=585395&word=&s=&notword=&d=&c=&f=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&lword=&lfield=&num=0&imgs=12&total=98&pos=1&snum=] :on the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)."] France
commander1=flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 George II
flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Earl of Stair
flagicon|Holy Roman Empire Duke of Arenberg
flagicon|Holy Roman EmpireMarshal von Neipperg
commander2=flagicon|France|restauration Duc de Noailles
flagicon|France|restauration Duc de Gramont
strength1=35,000-37,000: [Chandler, David. "The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough." Spellmount Limited, (1990): ISBN 0-946771-42-1, p.306: Some statistics taken from Chandler]
14 Austrian battalions
10 Austrian Squadrons
13 Hanoverian battalions
16 Hanoverian squadrons
15 British battalions
18 British squadrons

98 guns
strength2=23,000 [Hamilton, Lieutenant-General F.W.."Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards", London, 1874, Vol. II, p.109, gives French under Grammont at 20,000 in 5 Brigades.] engaged of 45,000
5 Infantry Brigades
27 Squadrons

56 guns
casualties1=2,000 - 3,000 [Hamilton, Lieutenant-General F.W.."Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards", London, 1874, Vol. II, p.111]
casualties2=5,000 - 6,000 [Hamilton, Lieutenant-General F.W.."Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards", London, 1874, Vol. II, p.111] The Battle of Dettingen ( _de. Schlacht bei Dettingen) took place on June 27, [Many British sources from the time have the date as June 16th instead of June 27 according to the Gregorian calendar, which the British had not yet officially adopted)] 1743 at Dettingen in Bavaria during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was the last time that a British monarch, George II, personally led his troops into battle. The British forces, in alliance with those of Hanover and Hesse, defeated a French army under the duc de Noailles although France and England had not yet declared war.

Prelude

The allied army was known as the Pragmatic Army because it was a confederation of states that supported the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 agreements to recognize Maria-Theresa as Empress of the Holy Roman Empire.

The British force of 16,000 men under John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair had landed at Ostend in the Austrian Netherlands on July 10, 1742. Here it formed the Pragmatic Army, some 44,000 strong at the start of the campaign, also containing 16,000 Hanoverians with the balance made up of Austrians, Hessians and Dutch. [Edward E. Morris, "The Early Hanoverians", London, 1886, pp.123- 127. ]
The army remained here inactive until January 1743, when King George II ordered Dalrymple to march into Germany, leaving the Hessians and some Austrian troops to protect the Netherlands. The internal divisions in the Dutch Republic delayed their army of 20,000 so that it came too late to participate in the campaign. [See [http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_gid001188501_01/_gid001188501_01_0035.htm DBNL. De Gids Jaargang 1885 (in Dutch), p.300.] ]

The Austrian commander, the Duke of Arenberg, proposed to follow the Neckar and march towards Bavaria, but King George feared a Prussian attack on Hanover and decided to march along the north bank of the Main, keeping all options open.

On June 17 the army set up camp between Kleinostheim and Aschaffenburg. King George II, accompanied by 25 squadrons of British and Hanoverian cavalry, arrived here on June 19 and took up overall command.

By June 27, the French had cut the allies' line of supply and the Pragmatic Army had suffered severely from a lack of supplies and, in a reduced state, decided to fall back on Hanau, just what the French wanted. This was the result of skillfull maneuvering and harassment by a French army of some 45,000 led by Noailles.

The battle

On June 27, the Pragmatic Army marched west from the town of Aschaffenburg, along the line of the north bank of the Main river, right into the trap set by Noailles at the village of Dettingen. There, behind a stream running into the Main, Noailles had stationed the Duc of Gramont with a blocking force of some 23,000 troops in a line that ran from Dettingen to the Spessart Heights behind the Forbach creek and had lined the south bank of the Main with artillery that could fire without interference on the Pragmatic army's left flank while about 12,000 French troops marched south on Aschaffenburg crossing the Main behind the allied army. Thickly wooded hills to the Pragmatic Army's right flank prevented the allies from turning Gramont's position.

Some six hours passed with the British, Austrians and Hannoverians trying to form an advance in this confined position. At one point, George II's horse ran off with him; it was halted by Ensign Cyrus Trapaud, who received a promotion as a reward. Finally, against orders, [Duffy, Christopher "The Military Experience in the Age of Reason", 1998, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Hertfordshire, ISBN 1 85326 690 6, p. 19, "the Comte de Stainville(later Duc de Choiseul) three times heard Marshall Noailles order the army to reoccupy the position...".] Gramont impatiently attacked the allies with the Maison du Roi cavalry, initially with some success breaking through the English front lines throwing the British cavalry into their infantry and capturing a number of standards. [Morris, Edward Ellis."The Early Hanoverians", London, 1886, p.126, of the Maison du Roi cavalry: "The charge came with such force that it broke, at least in parts, the three front lines of the English, but could not break the fourth."] The French infantry followed. However, the charge forced the French artillery to stop firing and with the attack spent and the French out of their defenses, the allies counter-attacked. An Austrian brigade of three regiments advanced into a gap made by the British retiring [Robert Wright, "The Life of Major-General James Wolfe", London, 1864, pp. 44-45.] and charged the French infantry in the flank while a large Hannoverian artillery battery cannonaded the French line. [Daniel Mackinnon, "Origin and services of the Coldstream Guards", London 1883, Vol.1, p. 358] The French line collapsed with the allies driving Gramont's force across and into the river, opening the road to Hanau for continuing the allies' retreat and resupply.

The two parties had agreed before the battle that the sick and wounded who fell into the hands of the enemy would be cared for and not considered prisoners of War. When the allies retreated, they left behind most of their wounded and the French respected the agreement, a precursor of the Geneva Convention.

Aftermath

With the French defeat at Dettingen, the Duc du Noailles missed the best opportunity to win the war at a stroke for the French. Had the French prevailed the Pragmatic Army would have had to surrender or starve and the King of England, George II, would have fallen prisoner to Louis XV.

Quotations

During the battle, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Andrew Agnew of Lochnaw warned his Regiment The Royal Scots Fusiliers not to fire until they could “see the white’s of their e’en.” [See [http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/18/messages/305.html quote from "The Times"] ] A noted wit, Sir Andrew is also quoted as addressing his regiment thus: "Lads, you see they "loons" (young men) on yon' hill. Better kill them afore they kill you." And to George II after the battle, who had (humorously) chided him for letting a French cavalry charge break into his Regiment's position: "An' it please Your Majesty, but they didna' gang oot again."

Legacy

In memory of this victory, Handel composed his "Dettingen Te Deum" and "Dettingen Anthem."

"Dettingen" has since 1947 been the name of one of the training companies at the British Army's officer training academy. In recent years it has been the training unit for short courses (for example the Territorial Army Officers' Commissioning Courses) run at the Academy. Additionally, it is the name of 4 (Dettingen) Troop at Army Training Regiment Winchester.

Notes

References

* Chandler, David. "The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough." Spellmount Limited, (1990): ISBN 0-946771-42-1
* Browning, Reed."The War of the Austrian Succession", St. Martin's Press, New York, (1993): ISBN 0-312-12561-5
* Hamilton, Lieutenant-General F.W.."Origin and History of the First or Grenadier Guards", London, 1874, Vol. II.
* Mackinnon, Daniel. "Origin and services of the Coldstream Guards", London 1883, Vol.1.
* Morris, Edward Ellis."The Early Hanoverians", London, 1886.
* Wright, Robert, "The Life of Major-General James Wolfe", London 1864.

External links

* [http://www.anyflag.com/history/fleurwht.htm] French Fleur-De-Lis:Prior to the French Revolution, there was no national flag which represented France. A variety of flags were used by troops, different types of ships and for other purposes. From 1590-1790 this flag is one of four that was used on warships and fortresses.
* [http://www.britishbattles.com/battle_of_dettingen.htm The Battle of Dettingen 1743]
* [http://www.kuk-wehrmacht.de/gefechte/17430627det.html Die Schlacht bei Dettingen 1743 (German)]
* [http://www.timespacemap.com/search/eventsearch.htm?_what=dettingen&_maptype=2 An interactive map and timeline] of the battle