Battle of Walcourt The Battle of Walcourt was fought on 25 August 1689 during the Nine Years ' War . The action took place near the ancient walled town of Walcourt near Charleroi in the Spanish Netherlands , and brought to a close a summer of uneventful marching , manoeuvring , and foraging . The battle was a success for the Grand Alliance – the only significant engagement in the theatre during the campaign of 1689 . The Allied army was commanded by the Prince of Waldeck ; the French army by the duc de Humières . The battle incurred some 2 , 000 French casualties against the Allied losses of less than 300 . The Allied victory had been an auspicious opening of the war for King William III and the Alliance , but for Humières , his military reputation received a fatal blow ; in the following campaign of 1690 , Humières was replaced by the duc de Luxembourg . Background . In September 1688 , King Louis XIV ’ s forces invaded the Rhineland and besieged the German town of Philippsburg . Louis had hoped to compel the powerful German princes , and their Holy Roman Emperor , Leopold I , into converting the 1684 Truce of Ratisbon into a permanent peace , thus confirming Louis ' territorial gains of the ‘ Reunions ’ . Other German towns fell in quick succession , including Oppenheim , Kaiserslautern , Heidelberg , and the key fortress of Mainz , but instead of cowering under French aggression , the German princes united against Louis ’ forces . What was supposed to be a campaign lasting only months , evolved into the Nine Years ' War . By moving into the Rhineland , Louis dispelled fears in the Dutch Republic of a possible attack upon them , thus facilitating Prince William of Orange ’ s invasion of England in November . William ’ s success in the subsequent ‘ Glorious Revolution ’ – leading to his accession to the English throne in February 1689 ( reigning jointly with his wife Mary ) – enabled him to bring the full commercial and military power of England into the war against France , and rapidly led to the formation of the coalition he had long desired . On 12 May 1689 , the Dutch and Emperor Leopold I signed the Grand Alliance , the aims of which were no less than to force France back to her borders as they were at the end of the Thirty Years War , and the Franco - Spanish War , thus depriving Louis of all his gains since his assumption of power . The Spanish Netherlands would later become the main theatre of the war , but during the conflict ’ s early stages in 1689 , it was considered only a secondary front . This quiescence was because the main protagonists were busy elsewhere : King William was occupied with political matters in England and a Jacobite rebellion in Scotland , whilst King Louis was busy along the Rhine where the powerful German princes were preparing their forces to push the French army back towards the Rhine , and reverse all their earlier setbacks . Prelude . On 14 May 1689 , Humières assembled his army for the new campaign in the Spanish Netherlands near Boussières on the river Sambre , where he marshalled 24 battalions and 75 squadrons , totalling 24 , 000 men . William entrusted overall command of his 35 , 000 troops in the theatre to the 69 - year - old Prince of Waldeck . The English contingent of 8 , 000 men was commanded by the Earl of Marlborough , but William remained sceptical about the quality of the English troops ; compared to the Dutch troops of the period , the English lacked organisation , field administration , and a commissariat . However , Waldeck watched with interest as Marlborough sought to bring order and organisation to his command , later writing that he hoped the English " … were as disciplined as they were brave " – although by September Waldeck was still lamenting their " … temperament , nonchalance , wretched clothing and the worst of shoes . " Administrative problems and the late arrival of contingents delayed the opening of the Allied offensive in the region until late June . Waldeck moved from near Tienen and headed towards Fleurus ; the two armies spent the next two months marching and counter - marching in an attempt to gain a strategic advantage . By 24 August Waldeck had crossed the Sambre and had camped near the small ancient town of Walcourt where he was satisfied to live upon enemy territory . Battle . On 25 August , Allied foragers , escorted by 600 English troops of Colonel Hodges ’ Regiment ( 16th Foot , later the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment ) were sent out to the surrounding countryside . Humières , in an effort to expel the intruders , fell upon the foraging parties and allied outposts about 2 miles ( ~ 3 km ) south of Walcourt . The foragers were recalled and the Allied camp made readiness for action . For nearly two hours Hodges ’ regiment was able to prevent the development of the French vanguard , and covered the retreat of the surprised foragers before retiring his troops to a nearby mill ( " see map " ) . By 11 : 00 , Marlborough had arrived within sight of the engagement . Noticing Hodges was under attack by several French batteries , the English commander ordered the embattled colonel to withdraw to a hill east of Walcourt , behind which the main Allied force was forming . Waldeck later commented to William – " [ Hodges ] and the English , who are with him , have accomplished miracles , and I could never have believed that so many of the English would show such a " joie de combattre " . " Despite his troop ’ s failure to overcome Hodges ’ small force , Humières decided to attack Walcourt itself , which had since been occupied by 600 men . The ground was not favourable to the French – although the defences of the town were antiquated , it stood on a hill partly covered by a river . Nevertheless , several attacks were pressed home , but the French suffered heavy casualties from the Allied enfilading guns . Despite the losses Humières persisted , and sent a party of " Gardes Françaises " to try to set alight Walcourt ’ s gates . The attempt failed , and the safety of the garrison was assured after Brigadier - General Thomas Tollemache brought the Coldstream Guards and a German Battalion into the town around 14 : 00 . Humières saw himself forced to widen the battle and now flung his men in an improvised attack against the right wing of the main Allied line beyond the town . However , at about 18 : 00 , Waldeck launched a double counterattack against the tiring French ; General Slangenburg ' s Dutch against their left , and Marlborough , at the head of the Life Guards and the Blues ( supported by two regiments of foot ) , against their right . The French reeled back in disarray but valuable service by the French cavalry , commanded by Colonel Villars , prevented the retreat from becoming a rout , allowing Humières to extricate his men from the field . Humières had been humiliated , but due to administrative problems , Waldeck made little attempt to follow up his success . For a few days the two armies remained face to face , cannonading one another at intervals , but no further fighting occurred . Humières returned to the region of the Scheldt fortresses , and Waldeck to Brussels . Among the Scottish Regiments taking part in the battle were the Scots Guards , The Royal Scots , and the Royal Scots Fusiliers . Aftermath . The battle ( the only notable incident in the whole campaign ) , was sharp and bloody ; there had within living memory been no equally serious encounter between the English and French . French losses are estimated between 600 and 2 , 000 , and six guns ; Allied casualties numbered between 100 – 300 . Prince of Waldeck commended the 39 - year - old Marlborough to William who " … in spite of his youth " had shown great military aptitude ; on 5 September ( 26 August O . S ) , in recognition of his endeavours , William awarded Marlborough the lucrative colonelcy of the 7th Foot ( later the Royal Fusiliers ) . The victory at Walcourt had bolstered Allied confidence ; but Humières , dubbed " le maréchal sans lumière " by his colleagues , found himself disgraced . Before Humières went into winter quarters , he detached four battalions of Gardes françaises to march to the Rhineland , where in 1689 Louis ' outnumbered forces faced their greatest challenge . But by 1690 , the main seat of action of the war returned to Flanders . For this campaign , however , King Louis entrusted command of the theatre to the duc de Luxembourg , who , on 1 July , fought his tactical masterpiece at the Battle of Fleurus .