Battle of Castricum

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Castricum


caption=
partof=French Revolutionary Wars
date=October 6, 1799
place=near Castricum, The Netherlands
result=French victory
combatant1=flagicon|France France
flagicon|Netherlands Batavian Republic
combatant2=flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Kingdom of Great Britain
flagicon|Russia Russian Empire
commander1=flagicon|France Guillaume Brune
flagicon|Netherlands Herman Willem Daendels
commander2= flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Duke of York
flagicon|United Kingdom|1606 Sir Ralph Abercromby
flagicon|Netherlands|pri Prince of Orange.
strength1=25,700
strength2=26,400
casualties1=1,382
casualties2=2,536 men
11 guns|The Battle of Castricum (October 6, 1799) saw a Franco-Dutch force defeat an Anglo-Russian force near Castricum, Netherlands. The battle was fought during the War of the Second Coalition against Revolutionary France between French and Dutch forces under the command of General Guillaume Brune and Herman Willem Daendels and British and Russian forces under the command of the Duke of York, Sir Ralph Abercromby and the Prince of Orange.

Background

An Anglo-Russian force of 32,000 men landed in North Holland on August 27, 1799, captured the Dutch fleet at Den Helder on August 30 and the city of Alkmaar on October 3. Following a series of battles at Bergen on September 19 and Alkmaar on October 2 (also known as 2nd Bergen), they faced the French and Dutch armies at Castricum on October 6.

Action

The town of Castricum passed from British-Russian to Batavian-French hands several times until the former finally fled, losing 2536 men and 11 guns; the Batavian-French losses stood at 1382. The defeat persuaded the Duke that his position was untenable. After a chaotic retreat, in which two field hospitals were "forgotten", the parties signed the Convention of Alkmaar on October 10.

Aftermath

The British and Russians were allowed to withdraw, without paying reparations, and retaining captured bounty. As a sign of gratitude for enabling him honourably to emerge from the inglorious Dutch imbroglio, Brune received a number of horses from the Duke. By 19 November all the British and Russian troops had been embarked and the expedition was over. In the years following the 1799 invasion, defensive lines were constructed in Holland to protect Amsterdam from future invasions from the north.

Commemoration

In the "Huis met de Kogel" (House with the Cannonball) in Castricum, a cannonball that got stuck in the wall during the battle can still be seen. A plaque beneath the cannonball commemorates the battle. [http://www.kazenbroot.nl/Genealogie.algemeen00.html Midway down this page is a photograph of the plaque] Various locality names in Castricum also provide a reminder of the battle, like the Russenbergen dunes and the Doodelaan street. The Russisch Monument in Bergen marks the fighting there. The French victory was also commemorated on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris as "Alcmaer".

References

External links

* [http://home.planet.nl/~pdavis/Denhelder.htm Anglo-Russian invasion of North Holland (1799)]
* [http://home.planet.nl/~awaan/Noord_Holland_1799/noord_holland_1799.html Noord-Holland 1799] (in Dutch)
* [http://members.chello.nl/krom1/10__de_engels-russische_inval.htm De Engels-Russische inval] (in Dutch)