Battle of Le Quesnoy (1568)
Battle of le Quesnoy (1568) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Eighty Years' War | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Dutch Rebels | Spanish | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William of Orange | Sancho d'Avila |
- v
- t
- e
Western Europe
- Beeldenstorm
- Valenciennes
- Wattrelos
- Lannoy
- Oosterweel
- Dahlen
- Heiligerlee
- Jemmingen
- Jodoigne
- Le Quesnoy
Western Europe
- Brielle
- Mons
- 1st Mechelen
- Goes
- Naarden
- Middelburg
- Haarlem
- IJsselmeer
- Alkmaar
- 1st Geertruidenberg
- Leiden
- Delft
- Valkenburg
- Mookerheyde
- Oudewater
- Schoonhoven
- Zierikzee
- European waters
- Flushing
- Borsele
- Haarlemmermeer
- Zuiderzee
- Reimerswaal
- Lillo
Western Europe
- 1st Antwerp
- Gembloux
- Rijmenam
- 1st Deventer
- Borgerhout
Western Europe
- 1st Maastricht
- 2nd Mechelen
- Diest
- 1st Steenwijk
- Kollum
- 1st Breda
- Noordhorn
- Niezijl
- Lochem
- 1st Lier
- 2nd Antwerp
- Eindhoven
- Steenbergen
- Ghent
- Aalst
- 3rd Antwerp
- Arnhem
- Empel
- Boksum
- 1st Grave
- 1st Venlo
- Axel
- Neuss
- 1st Rheinberg
- 1st Zutphen
- 1st Sluis
- European waters
- Ten Years, 1588–1598
Western Europe
- 1st Bergen op Zoom
- 2nd Geertruidenberg
- 2nd Breda
- 2nd Zutphen
- 2nd Deventer
- Delfzijl
- Knodsenburg
- 1st Hulst
- Nijmegen
- Rouen
- Caudebec
- 2nd Steenwijk
- 1st Coevorden
- 1st Luxemburg
- 3rd Geertruidenberg
- 2nd Coevorden
- Groningen
- 2nd Luxemburg
- Huy
- 1st Groenlo
- Lippe
- 2nd Lier
- Calais
- 2nd Hulst
- Turnhout
- 2nd Rheinberg
- 1st Meurs
- 2nd Groenlo
- Bredevoort
- Enschede
- Ootmarsum
- 1st Oldenzaal
- 1st Lingen
- European waters
Western Europe
- 1st Schenckenschans
- Zaltbommel
- Rees
- San Andreas
- Lekkerbeetje
- Nieuwpoort
- 3rd Rheinberg
- Ostend
- 1st 's-Hertogenbosch
- 2nd Grave
- Hoogstraaten
- 3rd Sluis
- 2nd Lingen
- 4th Rheinberg
- 3rd Groenlo
- European waters
- Dover Strait
- 2nd Sluis
- 1st Cape St. Vincent
- 1st Gibraltar
- Twelve Years' Truce, 1609–1621
Western Europe
- Aachen
East Indies
Western Europe
- Jülich
- 2nd Bergen op Zoom
- Fleurus
- 3rd Breda
- 2nd Oldenzaal
- 4th Groenlo
- 2nd 's-Hertogenbosch
- Meuse (2nd Maastricht, 2nd Venlo, 1st Roermond)
- 5th Rheinberg
- Leuven
- 2nd Schenkenschans
- 4th Breda
- 3rd Venlo
- 2nd Roermond
- Kallo
- 3rd Hulst
- 4th Hulst
European waters
- 2nd Gibraltar
- 2nd Cádiz
- Slaak
- Lizard Point
- Dunkirk
- 2nd English Channel
- The Downs
- 2nd Cape St. Vincent
Americas
- 1st Salvador
- Puerto Rico
- Bay of Matanzas
- Abrolhos
- Trujillo · Campeche
- 1st Saint Martin
- 2nd Salvador
- Itamaracá
- Southern Chile
- 2nd Saint Martin
East Indies
The Battle of Le Quesnoy (Le Quesnoy, Hainault, 12 November 1568) was fought between a mostly German army supporting the Dutch rebels and the Spanish Habsburg army.
Background
In October 1568, William of Orange had invaded the Spanish Netherlands with a considerable army. Despite capturing some fortified towns, he did not manage to face the Spanish Army under the Duke of Alva in a decisive battle. Manoeuvering to meet up with a French Huguenot army, Orange lost his rear-guard at the Battle of Jodoigne.[citation needed]
On 23 or 24 October, near Wavre, Orange's army met the Protestant Huguenot force from France led by Francois de Hangest Sieur de Genlis & d'Abbecourt. It was small, about 2,000 infantry and 500 cavalry (estimates of the total vary between 2,000 and a probably exaggerated 5,800).[2] The French were commanded by Francois de Hagest, Genlis himself, and Sieur de Morvilliers, assisted by the Barons of Ranty, Mouy, Autricourt, Desternay, Requires, and la Personne. The commander of the French infantry was Capitain Poyet.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Campaign_Map_of_Prince_of_Orange_vs_Duke_of_Alva_November_and_December_1568.jpg/350px-Campaign_Map_of_Prince_of_Orange_vs_Duke_of_Alva_November_and_December_1568.jpg)
Orange's army was mostly from Germany, and with winter developing, they needed to get home. The river Meuse had swollen to winter proportions, so it could only be crossed at a bridge, and all the bridges were in cities controlled either by Alva or by the Prince-Bishop of Liège, Gerard van Groesbeeck.[citation needed]
On 3 November 1568, Orange set up camp outside Liège.[4] The Prince-Bishop of Liège, Gerard van Groesbeeck, neither yielded to demands nor would he permit passage through his state.[5] Orange's army ransacked some monasteries.[6] The Prince Bishop of Liege, Groesbeck, appealed to Alva for help and initially Alva reinforced Liège and Huy (Dutch: Hoei; Walloon: Hu) with companies of Walloons. Orange, hoping to gain submission of the city and passage for his troops, demonstrated an assault on Liège during the night of 4–5 December, but hearing that Alva’s main army was approaching he abandoned the siege on the morning of 5 December.[4]
The only option for Orange was to march south-west into Hainault (or Dutch: Henegouwen; German: Hennegau). Alva, with his army, of course followed.[citation needed]
Battle
Outside Le Quesnoy (or between le Quesnoy and Cambrai) on 12 November 1568, Orange 's army finally had a good opportunity to fight some of the Spanish army, including 10 German companies of infantry, 8 Spanish companies of infantry, and 3 cornets of cavalry.[7]
The Spanish were defeated. The Spanish commander Sancho d'Avila, along with his officers Francois de Tolede and Ruy de Lopez were wounded[7] and the son of the Duke of Alva, Don Rufille Henriques, died in the action.[1] The fortified town of Le Quesnoy yielded to Orange, to be relieved a few days later by the Spanish.[8] Nearby the fortified town of Le Cateau-Cambrésis put up a fight killing some of Orange 's troops[5] but was also defeated.[9]
Aftermath
Genlis and other French officers proposed that Orange should change focus to support the French Protestants or Huguenots. However, most of Orange's army, who had signed on to fight the more lucrative Spanish enemy, would not do that.[citation needed]
On 17 November, Alva's army entered Le Cateau-Cambrésis and Orange's army moved away into France, marched through Picardy, Champagne, and Lorraine, to Strasbourg.[1]
In that city, Orange disbanded most of his army, yet retained his reputation, by paying the troops, even at the cost of selling the army cannons, his own silverware, and mortgaging rights to his lands. With that reputation, Orange would return to the Netherlands in later years to continue the Dutch Revolt.[citation needed]
The next step for Orange was to take the rump of his army, some 1,200 cavalry, to join Count Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken who was heading to support the Huguenots in the Third French War of Religion.[10]
References
- ^ a b c Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de Hollande et des autres Provinces-Unies. Author: Aubery du Maurier, Louis, 1609-1687
- ^ Michel de Castelnau Collection universelle des mémoires particuliers relatives a l’histoire de France Tome XLV Londres 1788
- ^ L'Histoire Des Pays-Bas ... Ou Recueil des guerres, et choses memorables advenues tant es dits Pays, qu' es Pays voysins, depuis l'an 1315. jusques a l'an 1612. Corrigee et augmentee par l'Autheur Emanuel van Meteren - Wou, 1618
- ^ a b Relation de L'Expedition du Prince D'Orange dans les Pays-Bas, Secretaire d'Etat Courteville, 1568, Archives du Royaume
- ^ a b Geschiedenis der zeventien Nederlanden, Volume 2, Issue 2 By Pieter Harme Witkamp Arnhem-Nijmegen Gebrs. E&M Cohen 1882, p. 835
- ^ Famiano Strada, Histoire de la guerre de Flandre, de Famianus Strada traduite par P. du Ryer chez Joseph t'Serstevens, Brussels 1712
- ^ a b Histoire universelle de Jacque-Auguste de Thou depuis 1543 jusqu'en 1607, traduite sur l'édition latine de Jacques-Auguste de Thou London 1734
- ^ Eusèbe Girault de Saint-Fargeau: Dictionnaire géographique, historique, industriel et commercial de toutes les communes de la France et de plus de 20000 hameaux Firmin Didot, 1844
- ^ The rise of the Dutch Republic by John Lothrop Motley 1855 (Motley's History of the Netherlands, pg edition, 1566-1574)
- ^ The Rise of the Dutch Republic a History by John Lothrop Motley London George Routledge & Sons 1880, p. 418
50°15′N 3°30′E / 50.250°N 3.500°E / 50.250; 3.500