The Battle of Landen (or Neerwinden), in the current Belgian province of Flemish Brabant, was a battle in the War of the Grand Alliance, fought in the Netherlands on July 29, 1693 between the French army of Marshal Luxembourg and the Allied army of King William III of England. The French assaulted the allied position three times before the French cavalry finally penetrated the allied defenses and drove William's army from the field in a rout. The battle was, however, quite costly for both sides, the French losing 9,000 men to the Allies' 19,000, and the French failed to follow up on their victory, allowing William to escape. Flemish Brabant is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. ... The War of the Grand Alliance (also known as the War of the League of Augsburg, the War of the English Succession, and the Nine Years War) was a major war fought in Europe and America from 1688 to 1697, between France and the League of Augsburg (which, by 1689... François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Piney, called de Luxembourg (January 8, 1628 - January 4, 1695), marshal of France, the comrade and successor of the great Condé, was born at Paris, France. ... William III of England (14 November 1650–8 March 1702; also known as William II of Scotland and William III of Orange) was a Dutch aristocrat and a Protestant Prince of Orange from his birth, King of England and King of Ireland from 13 February 1689, and King of Scots... A rout is a disorderly withdrawal made by a military force following defeat , a collapse of discipline, or poor morale. ...

Among the dead on the French side was Patrick Sarsfield, the Jacobite Earl of Lucan, who had been permitted to sail for France, December 22, 1691, the last of the Jacobite Irish army. After his surrender at Limerick ended the Jacobite war in Ireland, 1691. As his seniors were killed, disabled or taken prisoner, Major-General Sarsfield was eventually in command but was struck by a bullet in the chest. He was taken to the town of Huy, about twenty miles away, where he died three days later. "Oh, that this were for Ireland," he said as he expired. Patrick Sarsfield (d. ... This article concerns the political movement supporting the restoration of the House of Stuart, not the earlier Jacobean period. ... Earl of Lucan was a title in the Irish peerage which has been possessed by two related Irish families in creations of 1691 and 1795. ... Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) is a city and the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster, in the midwest of the Republic of Ireland. ... Huy (Walloon: Hu; French: Huy, Dutch: Hoei) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. ...

William followed with a silver medal struck to commemorate his "victory". It was designed by Jan Boskem and featured a Roman bust of William crowned with laurel and an aerial battle between a falcon and a stork. Species About 37; see text. ... Genera See text The storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long stout bills, belonging to the family Ciconiidae. ...

Details of the battle

Luxembourg, having by feints induced William to detach portions of his army, rapidly drew together superior numbers in face of the Allied camps, which lay in a rough semicircle from Elissem on the right to Neerlanden, and thence along the Landen brook on the left (18 July-28 July 1693). William had no mind to retire over the Geete River, and entrenched a strong line from Laer through Neerwinden to Neerlanden. July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... Events January 11 - Eruption of Mt. ...

On the right section of this line (Laer to Neerwinden) the ground was much intersected and gave plenty of cover for both sides, and this section, being regarded as the key of the position, was strongly garrisoned; in the centre the open ground between Neerwinden and Neerlanden was solidly entrenched, and in front of it Rumsdorp was held as an advanced post. The left at Neerlanden rested upon the Landen brook and was difficult of access.

William's right, as his line of retreat lay over the Geete, was his dangerous flank, and Luxembourg was aware that, the front of the Allies being somewhat long for the numbers defending it, the intervention of troops drawn from one wing to reinforce the other would almost certainly be too late. Under these conditions Luxemburg's general plan was to throw the weight of his attack on the Laer-Neerwinden section, and specially on Neerwinden itself, and to economize his forces as economy of force was understood before Napoleon's time elsewhere, delivering holding attacks or demonstrations as might be necessary, and thus preventing the Allied centre and left from assisting the right. Napoleon I of France, by Jacques-Louis David Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution, and the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from 11 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, then as Emperor of the...

Luxembourg had about 80,000 men to William's 50,000. Opposite the entrenchments of the centre he drew up nearly the whole of his cavalry in six lines, with two lines of infantry intercalated. A corps of infantry and dragoons was told off for the attack of Neerlanden and Rumsdorp, and the troops destined for the main attack, 28,000 of all arms, formed up in heavy masses opposite Neerwinden. This proportion of about one-third of the whole force to be employed in the decisive attack in the event proved insufficient. The troops opposite the Allied centre and left had to act with the greatest energy to fulfill their containing mission, and at Laer-Neerwinden the eventual success of the attack was bought only at the price of the utter exhaustion of the troops. Infantry of the 36th Ulster Division, in the First World War Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, mainly with small arms and operate within organized military units. ... Infantry of the 36th Ulster Division, in the First World War Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot, mainly with small arms and operate within organized military units. ... A light dragoon from the American Revolution Statue of a dragoon on the Triumph Arc of the Louvres in Paris During the late 17th and early 18th centuries a dragoon was traditionally a soldier trained to fight on foot, but transport himself on horseback. ...

After a long cannonade the French columns moved to the attack, converging on Neerwinden; a smaller force assaulted Laer. The edge of the villages was carried, but in the interior a murderous struggle began, every foot of ground being contested, and after a time William himself, leading a heavy counter-attack, expelled the assailants from both villages. A second attack, pushed with the same energy, was met with the same determination, and meanwhile the French in other parts of the field had pressed their demonstrations home. Even the six lines of cavalry in the centre, after enduring the fire of the Allies for many hours, trotted over the open and up to the entrenchments to meet with certain defeat, and at Neerlanden and Rumsdorp there was severe hand-to-hand fighting. But, meantime, the two intact lines of infantry in the French centre had been moved to their left and formed the nucleus for the last great assault on Neerwinden, which proved too much for the exhausted defenders.

They fell back slowly and steadily, defying pursuit, and the British Coldstream Guards even captured a color. But at this crisis the initiative of a subordinate general, the famous military writer Feuquires (q.v.), converted the hard-won local success into a brilliant victory. William had begun to move troops from his centre and left to the right in order to meet the great assault on Neerwinden, and Feuquires, observing this, led the cavalry of the French centre once again straight at the entrenchments. This time the French squadrons, surprising the Allies in the act of maneuvering, rode over every body of troops they met, and nothing remained for the Allies but a hurried retreat over the Geete. A stubborn rearguard of British troops led by William himself alone saved the Allied army, of which all but the left wing was fought out and in disorder. Luxembourg had won his greatest victory, thanks in a measure to Feuquires' exploit; but had the assaults on Neerwinden been made as Napoleon would have made them with one-half or two-thirds of his forces instead of one-third, the victory would have been decisive, and Feuquires would have won his laurels, not in forcing the decision at the cost of using up his cavalry, but in annihilating the remnants of the Allied army in the pursuit. The material results of the battle were twelve thousand Allies (as against eight thousand French) killed, wounded and prisoners, arid eighty guns and a great number of standards and colors taken by the French. The Coldstream Guards is a regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division. ... General is a high military rank, used by nearly every country in the world. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

British Order of Battle

Cavalry

1. Royal Horse Guards
2. 1st King's Dragoon Guards
3. Prince of Wales's Dragoon Guards
4. 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards
5. The King's Carabineers
6. 4th Queen's Own Hussars

The Royal Horse Guards (RHG) was a Household Cavalry regiment of the British Army. ...

Infantry

1. 1st Battalion, 1st Foot Guards
2. 2nd Battalion, 1st Foot Guards
3. 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards
4. 1st Battalion, Scots Guards
5. 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards
6. 1st Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot
7. 2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment of Foot
8. 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Foot
9. 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment of Foot
10. 1st Battalion, 4th Regiment of Foot
11. 1st Battalion, 7th Regiment of Foot
12. 1st Battalion, 14th Regiment of Foot
13. 1st Battalion, 16th Regiment of Foot
14. 1st Battalion, 19th Regiment of Foot
15. 1st Battalion, 21st Regiment of Foot
16. 1st Battalion, 25th Regiment of Foot
17. 1st Battalion, 26th Regiment of Foot

Scotch Brigade (Dutch mercenaries)

External links

• Further information on the British order of battle
• William's medal illustrated
• Patrick Sarsfield, called Earl of Lucan