page_title: Battle of Clausen
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Clausen / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff (1673-1763), Austrian and saxon diplomat and officer
context_page_description: The Battle of Clausen was fought on 20 October 1735 near the town of Klausen, which was then in the Electorate of Trier and part of the Holy Roman Empire, and is now in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. French forces under the command of Marshal François de Franquetot de Coigny were defeated in an attempt to dislodge imperial troops under the command of Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff. The battle was one of the last significant engagements between the combatants in the War of the Polish Succession.
context_section_description: Marshal Coigny ordered his troops out early on 20 October.  The troops marched north to Hetzerath, where they turned east and marched through a narrow defile to reach the Salm between Esch and Rivenich, just west of Klausen.  Their approach was observed by Seckendorff, who had also risen early and rode west on reconnaissance.  As the French forces came out of the defile and into the river valley, Coigny directed his left, 36 companies of grenadiers under Phelippes upstream toward Esch.  It was followed by Belle-Isle's troops, 33 infantry battalions and 68 cavalry squadrons, then 17 infantry battalions and 40 cavalry squadrons from Coigny's Rhine army, which bore off to the right to take the heights above Rivenich.
  Seckendorff had ordered some of his Hungarian cavalry to engage the French vanguard when he first spotted them.  This they did around 11:00 am, but were driven back.  As it became clear that the bulk of the French army was coming, he sent 10 companies of grenadiers to hold the bridge at Rivenich, also sending 20 cavalry squadrons from the right to support the left.  As these movements were taking place, the support infantry began to arrive on the heights above Klausen.
  Around 2:00 pm the French columns arrived on the heights above Esch and Rivenich.  Coigny ordered Brigadier Rieux, commanding the right, to secure the bridge at Rivenich, and ordered Phelippes, on his left, to secure Esch.  The outnumbered imperial forces holding the bridge at Rivenich gave way, and the French gained control of the bridge but did not immediately begin crossing in force.  Seckendorff ordered 5 companies of grenadiers to reinforce those already on his left.  The French troops moving toward Esch were slowed by difficult terrain.  Seckendorff deployed two cannon to the south of Esch, further complicating the French advance on that front.  With most of his forces arrived by 4:00 pm, Seckendorff decided to retake the bridge at Rivenich, while the two army centers engaged in an artillery battle across the Salm.
  For the taking of the crossing, Seckendorff sent 6 more grenadier companies, 3 battalions of Danish infantry, 1 Pomeranian battalion, and some Hungarian cavalry down toward Rivenich.  Coigny, observing that his right would be outnumbered by this force, withdrew his troops from the bridge and abandoned Rivenich.  Seckendorff seized the momentum, and sent his force across the river to attack Coigny's flank, while also sending several companies of cavalry across the river near Esch to attack the French left.  The French infantry fired volleys of musket fire against the oncoming cavalry, and then began to fall back toward the center.  It soon became dark, and the combatants disengaged.
caption: Reichsgraf Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff
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