page_title: Battle of Saint-Denis (1678)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Saint-Denis (1678) / Background
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Relief Positionskarte von Belgien English: Physical location map of Belgium, for geo-location purposes. Français&#160;: Carte physique vierge de la Belgique, destinée à la géolocalisation. Scales: Topography: 1:1,180,000 (precision: 295 m) Bathymetry: 1:3,716,000 (precision: 929 m) Equirectangular projection, WGS84 datum Standard meridian: 004° 33' E Central parallel: 50° 30' N Geographic limits of the map: Top: 51° 48' N Bottom: 49° 12' N Left: 002° 12' E Right: 006° 54' E
context_page_description: The Battle of Saint-Denis on 14 August 1678 was the last major action of the Franco-Dutch War, fought four days after France and the Dutch Republic signed the Treaty of Nijmegen on 10 August. The battle is generally viewed as inconclusive.
  It took place around the villages of Saint-Denis and Casteau, just outside Mons, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now modern Belgium. A French army of 40,000 under Marshal Luxembourg was attacked by an Allied Dutch-Spanish army of 45,000 led by William of Orange.
  The French successfully repulsed a series of allied assaults and after six hours of fighting, William ordered a retreat. But the next morning, Luxembourg abandoned the siege and withdrew back to France. William did not secure a victory on the field but his action had nonetheless achieved the allied objective of preventing the capture of Mons, which Spain retained in the treaty agreed with France on 17 September.
context_section_description: In the 1667-1668 War of Devolution, France captured most of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté but relinquished most of these gains in the 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle with the Triple Alliance of the Dutch Republic, England and Sweden. Before making another attempt, Louis XIV strengthened his diplomatic position by paying Sweden to remain neutral, while England agreed an alliance against the Dutch in the 1670 Treaty of Dover.
  In May 1672, French forces invaded the Dutch Republic and initially seemed to have achieved an overwhelming victory but by late July, the Dutch position had stabilised. Concern at French gains led to the August 1673 Treaty of the Hague between the Republic, Brandenburg-Prussia, Emperor Leopold and Charles II of Spain; in early 1674, Denmark joined the Alliance, while England and the Dutch made peace in the Treaty of Westminster.
  Forced into another war of attrition and with new fronts opening in Spain, Sicily and the Rhineland, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic by the end of 1673, retaining only Grave and Maastricht. Louis now focused on recapturing Franche-Comté, which was completed by the end of June 1674 and French troops transferred to Condé's army in the Spanish Netherlands. The Battle of Seneffe on 11 August was a French victory but both sides suffered heavy losses and it confirmed Louis' preference for positional warfare, with siege and manoeuvre dominating in this theatre thereafter.
  The peace talks that began at Nijmegen in 1676 were given a greater sense of urgency in November 1677 when William of Orange married his cousin Mary, Charles II of England's niece. An Anglo-Dutch defensive alliance followed in March 1678, although English troops did not arrive in significant numbers until late May. This allowed Louis to improve his negotiating position by capturing Ypres and Ghent in early March, before signing a peace treaty with the Dutch on 10 August.
caption: The Spanish Netherlands and Northern France in 1678; key locations
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