page_title: Battle of Lauffeld
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Lauffeld / Battle
caption_attribution_description: Bastion of English: Fort Liefkenshoek, a fortification on the left bank of the Scheldt near Antwerp. Nederlands: Bastion van het fort Liefkenshoek, een militaire vesting op de linkeroever van de Schelde bij Antwerpen nabij het voormalige gehucht Liefkenshoek (nu een deelgemeente van Beveren).
context_page_description: The Battle of Lauffeld, variously known as Lafelt, Laffeld, Lawfeld, Lawfeldt, Maastricht, or Val, took place on 2 July 1747, between Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht. Part of War of the Austrian Succession, a French army force of 80,000 under Marshal Saxe faced a Pragmatic army of 60,000, led by the Duke of Cumberland.
  Under Saxe, arguably the most talented general of his generation, the French had conquered much of the Austrian Netherlands between 1744 to 1746. In the spring of 1747, Cumberland intended to retake Antwerp, but Saxe threatened to cut him off from his key supply base at Maastricht, forcing him to defend it.
  Saxe exploited a series of mistakes by Cumberland, and only counterattacks by the Allied cavalry enabled the bulk of his army to withdraw in good order. Defeat ended Allied hopes of regaining lost ground, and the French captured Bergen op Zoom in September, then Maastricht in May 1748.
  However, the cost of the war meant France's financial system was on the verge of collapse, while the British naval blockade caused severe food shortages.
context_section_description: By taking troops from other areas, Saxe was able to assemble a field army of 120,000 men for the 1747 campaign. The defeat of the Jacobite Rising allowed Cumberland to transfer troops back to Flanders, and prepare an offensive. He hoped to capture Antwerp in February, but bad weather, lack of transport, and war weariness meant the Allies were not ready to take the field until early May.
  During this delay, Contades captured Fort Liefkenhock, making Antwerp too strong to attack. Simultaneously, Löwendahl seized Sas van Gent, IJzenijke and Eekels, threatening Cumberland's supply lines with Maastricht. The latter inspired an Orangist Coup in Zeeland, which eventually led to William IV being appointed first hereditary Stadtholder of all seven Dutch provinces. 
  To protect Maastricht, Cumberland sent von Daun to secure Tongeren, then held by Clermont-Tonnerre. The Allied cavalry under Ligonier were ordered to occupy the Tongeren-Maastricht road, which ran along a ridge parallel to the River Meuse. Finding the French already in possession, they halted for the night, with the infantry billeted in the villages of Vlytingen and Lauffeld. As at Rocoux, the Austrians were on the right, holding the villages of Grote and Kleine Spouwen, which are now part of the Belgian town of Bilzen. A steep ravine immediately in front protected them from a direct assault.
  The next day was overcast, and heavy rain made movement slow and difficult. An exchange of artillery fire began at 6:00 am, which continued until 8:30. The British and German infantry left the villages where they had spent the night, having first set them on fire to prevent their use by the French, and formed up on open ground. Based on his experience at Fontenoy, Ligonier urged they be used as fortified positions; after some hesitation, Cumberland agreed. Saxe assumed the Allies were retreating across the Meuse, and around 10:30 sent troops into what he assumed were now empty villages. 
  While true of Vlytingen, Lauffeld had been re-occupied by troops under Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, and the next four hours developed into a fierce struggle. The French finally captured Lauffeld around 12:30 pm, after taking heavy casualties in a series of frontal assaults. Cumberland ordered a counter-attack but as the infantry formed up, a Dutch cavalry unit to their front was routed by the French and fled, throwing those behind them into disorder and exposing the Allied centre. 
  Meanwhile, 150 squadrons of French cavalry had assembled around Wilre, preparing to attack Cumberland's flank; unaware the Allies were falling back on Maastricht, Ligonier and 60 squadrons charged, taking them by surprise. One of the best known cavalry charges in British military history, Saxe later claimed only this prevented him destroying the Allied army. The French Irish Brigade suffered more than 1,400 casualties; at one point, the short-sighted Cumberland mistook the red-coated Irish for his own troops, and barely escaped being taken prisoner.
  To cover the retreating infantry, Ligonier obtained permission for another charge, this time with only three regiments. He was taken prisoner, while the Scots Greys, one of the units involved, lost nearly 40% of their strength. This action allowed time for Karl Josef Batthyány and his Austrians to cover the Allied withdrawal.
caption: Fort Liefkenshoek, near Antwerp (background); its capture by the French in April forced the Allies to abandon plans to retake the port
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