Retreat
Frederick the Great would have to contend with a rude awakening. Already in the month prior he had faced perturbation from the defeat of Ferdinand of Brunswick at Crefeld. Yet he remained confident in his continued Siege of Olmütz, the prospects of the Austrian relief army lifting the siege seeming grim. However, the army of
Count Leopold von Daun would succeed in crossing the Morawa River undetected on July 1, in a particularly cunning manoeuvre. The siege had thus been effectively relieved without a battle. Having been confident that Daun would have to face the King on his terms, the Austrian Marshal had effected a role reversal.
Even more damning yet was the ambush carried out by
Ernst Gideon von Laudon on Prussia’s supply convoy heading to Olmütz. Of the supplies heading to relieve the besieging Prussian Army, 100 wagons would reach them. Nearly 3,000 had fallen into Austrian hands, alongside 3,000 Prussian casualties for a modest 600 Austrians.
[1] The setbacks left Frederick with few more options than to withdraw. Daun’s Army would follow behind. Daun has been much criticised, both at the time and subsequently by historians, for his lackadaisical pursuit of the Prussians. His defenders pointed out the devastating results brought about by rash offensive action taken in the year prior, so for now operational decisions were left to his discretion.
Ernst Gideon von Laudon, later remembered as one of Frederick’s most successful opponents
Frederick’s retreat in Bohemia was simultaneously occurring with the French Campaigns in Western Germany. The aftermath of Crefeld had instilled confidence in Belle-Isle, who was now quick to action. The window for France to capitalise off of their victory was closing, and on July 3 the news of Clermont’s relief from command would reach the Westphalian Army encamped at Moers. His replacement, the Marquis of Contades, was an unknown, and a compromise candidate as Belle-Isle and Bernis had desired the return of Marshal D’Estrées, who had refused citing health reasons.
[2] It would fall to this upstart to push Ferdinand back into Hanover, though a decision had already been made in Versailles that would ease his task considerably.
A force of roughly 30,000 led by the Prince of Soubise was on its way to Bohemia to reinforce France’s Austrian and Imperial allies. Soubise’s order to march to Bohemia was countermanded on the eve of Crefeld and then reaffirmed shortly thereafter. Both Bernis and Belle-Isle questioned the feasibility of the operation, and would finally manage to convince King
Louis XV in the wake of Crefeld. The auxiliary force led by Soubise, rather than continue on their march to Bohemia, would instead be given the directive to march north into Hesse-Cassel. From there, the Army of Observation could be trapped and destroyed by concerted action between Contades and Soubise. On July 7, Soubise’s Auxilliary Corps would reach its rendezvous at Hanau, where it was joined by 6,000 Württembergers. While it had not reached its projected manpower, Soubise’s Corps totalled about a sizable force of 24,000 men. The next day, Soubise would break camp and begin the march into Hesse. Contades would arrive at Rheinhausen on the 9th.
Ferdinand had been placed in a particularly difficult position. News of reinforcements to the Westphalian Army highlighted a bleak reality to the commander. Ferdinand had decided to retreat across the Rhine, crossing on Allied bridges at Rees which were destroyed thereafter.
[A] On July 12, the Army of Westphalia would begin their march in pursuit of the Army of Observation. Meanwhile, Soubise was making quick work of any resistance that the Hessians could muster. Hesse-Cassel was one of the few states in the Holy Roman Empire to be allied with the Prussians, and its total defensive forces amounted to just around 6,000 men. Hessian towns fell like dominoes. Marburg on the 13th, Cassel on the 23rd.
Prince Johann Kasimir of Isenburg-Bündingen, commander of the Hessian army, would choose to stop retreating and instead make a stand at Sandershausen, where his troops would face an advance guard of 7,000 led by
Victor-François, Duke of Broglie. What followed was a brief, but bitterly contested, engagement. Broglie began the assault on Isenburg's position with an infantry advance that was turned back by the Hessian cavalry. They in turn were forced to retreat by the French cavalry, who in turn were stopped by the Hessian infantry. Waves of alternating infantry and cavalry almost gave the Hessians the advantage until their inexperienced militia battalions broke. Isenburg was forced to abandon the fight. The French lost over 1,400 men in the engagement, the Hessians around 2,400, of whom nearly 2,200 were prisoners.
Isenburg would retreat into Hanover. He was not pursued, as the French had now accomplished their objective of occupying Hesse. With Soubise now the master of Hesse, Hanover would be under threat once more. The main body of Soubise’s army would arrive in Cassel on July 25. Here he would remain idle in his camp at Zwehren for two weeks, for as long as Contades did not cross the Lippe, Soubise's Army wouldn’t be able to advance in Hanover beyond the Werra River.
As Soubise continued to wait for his colleague, his troops would participate in the soldier’s favourite pastime, looting and plundering. The French were in control of virtually the entire principality and quickly made good the mandate to live off the land. Bitter local resentment led to peasants shooting at French soldiers, which in turn made Soubise resort to draconian measures. Peasants were hanged and villages burned to the ground. Prominent officials were taken hostage and there was merciless extortion of contributions in cash and kind. Cassel would be thoroughly looted in the two weeks or so it had been occupied. By the time Soubise departed Cassel to begin his campaign in Hanover, an estimated 6.5 million Austrian Gulden’s worth of extortions and loot had been taken from Hesse.
[3]
On July 18, Contades army had completed its crossing of the Rhine via the construction of bridges at the town of Xanten. On July 20, the Westphalian Army would establish quarters on the outskirts of the town of Hamminkeln, where he stood at odds with the Army of Observation, which had established defensive positions at the Bocholt. As Clermont’s replacement, Contades suffered from a similar affliction of indecisiveness. One of his subordinates, Lieutenant-General
François de Chevert, would urge Contades to attack Ferdinand on July 21 as France had both numerical superiority and stronger positions.
(B) Contades would dismiss his urges, telling Chevert that they would go to battle the day after. That night, Ferdinand had intended to attack the Westphalian Army. However, he would find the French position too strong and his too weak. He had then decided to retreat in a north-easterly direction towards the town of Coesfeld, where some Allied troops were stationed. As Contades prepared to give battle, he would come to realise that Ferdinand’s Army had already retired.
Slightly delayed by sporadic rainfall, the Army of Observation would reach Coesfeld on July 28. Ferdinand would be closely shadowed by Contades, who had left Hamminkeln on the 23rd, and on the 29th established his camp at Recklinghausen some 22 miles south of Coesfeld.
[C] On the night of July 31, Contades would march north to offer Ferdinand battle. The terrain surrounding Coesfeld was for the most part flat farmland interspersed with trees. Ferdinand’s 30,000 or so men in the Army of Observation had established positions in Barns and Farmhouses at the hamlet of Flamschen. Ferdinand had intended to refrain from combat with the French until the arrival of the British contingent that had set sailing on July 19 under Charles Spencer, Duke of Marlborough. Yet, Contades had placed his army in a rather weak position, and with his confident goading, Ferdinand would duly accept battle. On August 1, Ferdinand ordered his batteries to fire on the French.
The Battle of Coesfeld would be a bloody affair. Ferdinand’s bombardment had created numerous openings along Contades’ forward positions, with the initial bombardment alone killing around 200 Frenchmen. Contades had positioned the entire Westphalian Army in an open position across the plain, with no geographical features nor manmade structures to defend themselves. With the French lines battered, the Hanoverian infantry would march forth. The first infantry charge would be indecisive, with the amount of bloodshed being about equal on both sides. Contades’ troops’ morale was faltering, and his position was weak. Realising the danger, he would make the call to retreat against a stretch of trees, whilst ordering his battery to reply to the Hanoverians’ fire. Though it seemed that the scales were tipping towards Ferdinand, Contades would manage to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. With the Hanoverian line weakened, Contades would order some battalions of grenadiers and infantry to capture the barn houses from the Hanoverians. The combat over the barns would be an hours-long back and forth between French and Hanoverian troops, though the French would ultimately prevail. With the barn houses now in French hands, Contades would order his cavalry to begin charging.
The charge of the French Cavalry would prove disastrous for the Hanoverians. The now-exposed Army of Observation would be sent reeling across the plains. Already weak as a result of their long retreat across the Rhine, this charge would shatter the Hanoverians’ esprit de corps. The Hanoverian Army of Observation would begin to rout. French Cavalry would continue pursuing the fleeing Hanoverians, further cutting down their numbers. Ferdinand, along with the remnants of the Army of Observation, would flee to Münster. The Battle of Coesfeld would see Contades and Ferdinand losing around 4,900 and 5,200 men respectively. It would appear that once again chance had granted France victory. For this achievement, otherwise, to give an unknown some profile, Contades would be awarded a marshal’s baton.
[D]
An aerial view of the plains of Flamschen, where the Battle of Coesfeld was waged.
Organising the remainder of his forces at Münster, Ferdinand was unsure what to do next. Outnumbered, and with weak morale among his troops, Ferdinand decided to retreat to the fortress of Minden. As reinforcements, he would take on some couple hundred recruits taken from the country along the way, along with the Garrison of Münster, leaving the town vulnerable to French occupation. At Minden, Ferdinand’s hopes lay in achieving a junction with the British contingent, which had arrived on August 1 and would complete disembarking on August 3. With these reinforcements, Ferdinand had hoped that he could successfully fight a defensive battle to drive away Contades, the Allied army’s positions strengthened by the fortifications at Minden. Marlborough would begin marching from Emden to Minden on August 5, while Ferdinand had begun the journey from Münster two days prior.
With Ferdinand temporarily out of his way, Contades would begin the move eastwards. Münster would fall to the French on the 5th, where Contades would station a garrison of 300 troops. Though Contades would have liked to keep on moving, it became clear to him that his troops were exhausted. Thus, the Westphalian Army would spend the nights of the 5th and 6th stationed in Münster. In comparison to the French treatment of Cassel, the occupation of Münster was a much nicer affair. Looting was less rampant, with the French spending the night either celebrating their victory or mourning their dead. The amount of money raised by what was looted is unclear, though a rough estimation would place it at around 1.5 million Gulden (or 3.7 million Livres Tournois). By the morning of August 7, the Westphalian Army would be on the move once more.
By the evening of August 8, Contades would reach his target. The town of Bielefeld, where he could establish headquarters. It was also close enough for Soubise to begin campaigning into Hanover with his support. He would send off a messenger to Cassel immediately upon their arrival. The towns of Bielefeld and Cassel would be the staging grounds for the next phase of Belle-Isle’s plans. As the main body of the Westphalian Army was arriving at Bielefeld, Contades had sent a corps under the command of the
Marquis of Armentières towards Emden. Awaiting them at Emden was a British garrison of 400 who had arrived alongside Marlborough’s contingent. Once Armentières had arrived at Emden on the 10th, resistance was brief, and the port would fall into French hands once more. The port would remain in French hands for the remainder of the war, severing Prussian access to British supplies and more importantly subsidies.
[E]
Soubise would receive the news of Contades’ arrival on August 9. He would decide to embark as immediately as he could, being on the 10th. After two weeks of staying idle, Soubise’s army was once again on the offensive. Prince Isenburg had reoccupied Göttingen on the same day. While Soubise was idle in Kassel, Isenburg had been reinforced by some Hanoverian jägers and was now with a force of approximately 7,500 men. However, he would soon realise that French forces vastly outnumbered his, and would retire just the next day. Soubise would reach Göttingen with his army on the 12th, retaking possession of the town. The 12th would also mark the arrival of the British contingent at Minden, which meant that Ferdinand now held command over a considerable 38,000 troops. What is more, the arrival of the British to some extent counteracted the problem of declining morale that the arduous retreat, disastrous defeat, and news of Soubise’s successes in Hesse had occasioned.
For, the British had also arrived with news that the key French fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island in Canada had fallen in July, aptly deemed the single greatest success of the British to that point in the war. The prospect of warding off the French now seemed even more achievable than he had thought.
Footnotes
[1] The Battle of Domstadtl.
[2] This had been the case OTL as well, though some sources claim that D’Estrées was not recalled due to numerous powerful men despising him, including Duvernay.
[3] The same figure as OTL, which is around 390 million USD.
Timeline Notes
A. I believe that it's unclear whether the destruction of Allied bridges had slowed Contades’ crossing of the Rhine, or if it was the destruction of the French-constructed bridges or both.
B. Something similar had happened OTL on 14 July, when Contades had established positions at Gommershoven near Bedburg.
C. For the record, I’m not an American. You can take this how you will about the establishment of the metric system.
D. It must be noted that Contades was a rather mediocre general, with the same tendency as Clermont to be indecisive. IOTL, he was awarded a Marshal’s baton for completing the crossing of the Rhine.
E. It was for this reason that Frederick so desperately demanded reinforcements to the garrison at Emden.
