The combat at Assche August 12th 1745

An meine deutschen Leser: dieser Beitrag erscheint wieder nicht auf Deutsch, da ich mit all den zweisprachigen Blogeinträgen einfach nicht hinterher käme mit meiner 275-Jahr-Serie. Es sind dafür auch noch ein paar zweisprachige Beiträge in der Vorbereitung und erscheinen Ende August oder im September, die dann größere Ereignisse wie die Schlacht bei Bassignana 1745 betreffen.

My dear readers,

I want to continue my series about the 275th anniversaries of the War of the Austrian Succession. As in my Melle-report[1] I will write a small account of the combat with some notes on the campaign and show a selection of photos from our wargaming-experience to illustrate the event. I don’t include a map, because I just have too little information on the subject to make a map seriously.

 

Supported by horse the French infantry moves to their future engagement.

The campaign

After the fall of Gent the maréchal de Saxe continued his campaign overrunning the Austrian Netherlands. In August 1745 he had achieved a lot of his goals. He had detached some troops to besiege Dendermonde, Ostende and Nieuwport. These three important towns fell one after the other – Dendermonde on August 13^th[2],  Ostende on August 23^th[3] Nieuport on September 5^th[4] .

Both sides had some problems. The Pragmatic army suffered under their different opinions about the continuation of the campaign. The British felt nervous after the fall of Gent and wanted to at least ensure their communication with Antwerp. On the other side the Dutch wanted to cover Maastricht and the Austrians naturally were focused on the defence of the capital of their province – Brussels. The Pragmatic forces were outnumbered by the French already and could not detach too many troops to defend all those places effectively.

However de Saxe had different problems. He didn’t want to attack the allies in their fortified position near Brussels. Every bold advance seemed risky because the light troops of his opponents were very much superior then his own. De Saxe knew that the numbers of his critics were growing if he stayed in his position opposing the allies and hoped that he at least could do so as long as he still besieged Dendermonde. He could send some raiding parties towards the channel, which covered the Pragmatic army under Cumberland’s command.

Some smaller encounters occurred as a result of this decision of which the combat at Assche was one of the larger ones and with a greater effect then the others.

The combat at Assche[5]

On August 12^th the French had send two larger detachments – 2.000 men strong – from their wings along the Scheldt to Assche. The prince of Waldeck, commander in chief of the Dutch forces within the Pragmatic army, personally led 800 men to react on this enterprise.

 

The French are entering Assche with their infantry in our game.

Von le Beau and von Hödl[6] don’t mention the composition of the French forces for this action although they tell us about cavalry and infantry involved. I assumed that at least some light troops are highly probable; although in later engagements the composition of the French detachments for such Kleinkrieg combats were very uncommon as at Grimbergen on August 22^nd 1745[7] and Ramillies in 1746[8].

The Pragmatic forces were a mix of light and regular troops. The sources don’t specify the name of the light units and the organization. Waldeck had 400 cavalry and 400 infantry and a free company (so called vrij compagnien[9]) as Hödl/Beau tell us.

At least we know that the infantry of Waldeck’s rearguard under the lieutenant colonel included the grenadiers of the Dutch guards and a piquet of the 2^nd battalion of Waldeck’s own regiment of infantry[10]. Waldeck’s vanguard included hussars only. These hussars maybe were lend by the Austrians, as the Dutch incorporated Bavarian hussars not until 1746 (regiments Ferrari and Frangipani with a strength of 642 and 511 troopers[11]). An Order of Battle of the allied army in Flanders from 13^th of June 1745 shows 5 squadrons of Austrian hussars under the command of GM Forgách[12].

 

In our game the French had 4 battalions - here still passing through the town.

The prince of Waldeck learned about the French occupation of Assche when he passed through Brussels[13]. He ordered his hussars to advance for reconnaissance.

His infantry took position 2 kilometres from Assche. He used the rest of his cavalry and his light infantry to continue his forward movement. The prince managed to drive out a strong French outpost from the nearby road.

The first fightings from a French perspective. The French cavalry is attacking Waldeck's vanguard of some hussars (2 small units in our game). Meanwhile the light infantry of both sides are fighting each other with little effect. Waldeck however hopes to deal with the French on the road first and turn then towards the arriving infantry column.

Meanwhile the French main force noticed Waldeck’s arrival and started attacking him after getting some reinforcements. However they could not force Waldeck’s advance troops to retreat behind his infantry until the French cavalry could put Waldeck’s flank into danger.

Waldeck decided to launch an attack with his cavalry, when the French tried to fight his infantry.  He defeated his opponents. The French infantry became disorganized and fled behind the city of Assche.

Using the cover of his strong rearguard und lieutenant colonel Cornabé, which was composed out of a piquet of Dutch infantry, Dutch grenadiers and 30 horsemen, Waldeck could retreat towards Brussels in good order.

It seems to me, that Waldeck had fulfilled his intention to show that his troops had no fears facing a larger French force, although we don’t know if he could prevent the French from fouraging in Assche. Maybe he could rely on better troops for such a skirmish. We read more often about the Pragmatic army using the famous pandours or croats for these engagements. But Trenck’s corps had not arrived in Flanders already but served under Minsky against the French army at the river Rhine[14].

I hope that you enjoyed my reflections about the small combat at Assche[15] and will continue the series soon.

The Austrian hussars are no match for the French horse and are routed soon. At least halve of the French cavalry has to retreat.

 

Influenced by earlier success the French commander orders his leading battalion and his remaining cavalry to charge.

The French infantry is routed. However not all is lost, because Waldeck prefers to save his skirmishers and the cavalry under his personal command.  The French charging cavalry will have to rally.

The prince of Waldeck is convinced that he needs more time and orders a charge by his Dutch cavalry under his own command towards one French battalion which had a chance to outflank the Dutch free Company. The whole deccission is a great success. The attacked French infantry has to fall back towards Assche to rally. Meanwhile the French infantry facing Waldeck's largest line of infantry is suffering badly under Dutch volleys. The French firing is too old School to really have some effect. 

Cornabé shows no mercy. His Grenadiers are attacking the rallying French fusiliers and are routing them immediately. The French commander has lost 2 battalions now but could hope that his now rallied cavalry could compensate the disaster of his foot units.

Caution obviously is not one of the talents of the French commander, who ordered his last line infantry which is ready to charge the opponent. They are defeated and have to retreat. At the same moment the French horse clash with the allied cavalry nearby.  



The French horse has a similar fait. One unit can rout Waldeck's last hussars. But the other suffer too heavy under crossing fire. The frustrated French commander is captured now.

The extremely motivated Dutch battalion now charged itself overrunning both French battallions, because the routed first line brought too much confusion in the second line.

The French cavalry has no chance but to get the same result isolated and cut of from any support.

The French have lost all units except their light infantry still Shooting at the Dutch freecompany. The French detachment cease to exist. But the Dutch force under Waldeck is broken too, runnig back to Brussels.
(In HoW-terms however the French had -2,5 Points and the allies 0 Points left.)

Text: André Hanselmann

Photos: Cecilia Hanselmann

---

[1] https://wackershofenannodomini.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-battle-of-melle-july-9th-1745.html

[2] For more details about the siege: Aurel von le Beau, Rudolf von Hödl: "OESTERREICHISCHER ERBFOLGE-KRIEG 1740-1748. Nach den Feld -Acten und anderen authentischen Quellen bearbeitet in der kriegsgeschichtlichen Abtheilung des k. und k. Krieg s - Archivs" Band 9, Seidel & Sohn, Wien, 1914, p.164-168

[3] Beau/Hödl p. 168-171

[4] Beau/Hödl p. 172-173

[5] I’m using the old spelling of the town. Today the town is called Asse.

[6] Beau/Hödl p. 175-176

[7] More about  it in a future post.

[8] Beau/Hödl p. 347-349

[9] I recommend looking for Marc Geerdink-Schaftenaar’s work of research about Dutch troops from this period. He shows and discusses a lot of his finds on the internet.

[10] The regiment had 2 battalions in the army, while others had only one. Check the link below.

[11] Relying on the „Haupt-Standtabelle“ in March 1745. Source: Friedrich Münich: “Geschichte der bayerischen Armee seit zwei Jahrhunderten” Lindauer, Munich, 1864, p. 71

[12] Anonyumus author: « Ordre de Battaille de l'Armée Alliée en Flandres le 13.me Juin Anno 1745. / [under the command of] S.A.R. Le Duc de Cumberland » Royal Collection In. 729118 (https://militarymaps.rct.uk/war-of-the-austrian-succession-1740-8/order-of-battle-of-the-allied-army-in-1 )

[13] The following account relies completely on Beau/Hödl p. 176

[14] Anonymus Author: « Ordre de Battaille de l'Armée des hauts alliés commandée par son Altesse Royalle Le grand Ducde Toscane 1745. » Royal Collection In. 729122

[15] Assche was a fortified town on the main road from Brussels to Alost. The map by Rouge gives a fine example. Georges-Louis le Rouge (1740-1780) "Carte contenant le Pais entre Nieuport l'Ecluse Anvers Ypres et Bruxelles" out of ""Carte de Pais Bas: Contenant la Flandre, le Brabant, Pais de Liege, et de Namin, le Boulonnois, le Haynaut. et Partie de la Picardie" Chez l'Auteur rue des Augustins, Paris, 1744, Today online on the Moll-collection.

  

Historiker von nebenan mit Lukas Fischer - historians alongside with Lukas Fischer

Da wir derzeit durch die Corona-Problematik keine Veranstaltungen haben werden, will ich im August meine Reihe zu Historikern und anderen Weggefährten fortsetzen.

Diesmal habe ich Lukas Fischer interviewt. Schon während seiner ersten Ausbildung hat sich Lukas mit historischer Bausubstanz beschäftigen dürfen. Dann hat er noch eine Ausbildung zum Grabungstechniker in Münster oben drauf gesetzt. Über mehrere Jahre hat er als Grabungstechniker an verschiedenen Orten in Deutschland gearbeitet. Heute entwickelt Lukas Fischer beispielsweise 3D-Gesichtsrekonstruktionen und arbeitet teils freiberuflich für die Erstellung von Ausstellungen. Daneben ist er in der Living-History-Szene sehr vielfältig aktiv. Vor mehr als zehn Jahren bin ich ihm auf einer Veranstaltung im Freilichtmuseum Roscheider Hof[1] erstmals begegnet. Vor allem seine intensive Recherche für seine Rollen aber auch für seine heutige berufliche Tätigkeit hat mir immer sehr imponiert.

Lukas Fischer (rechts) macht Musik zusammen mit Leonard Dorn auf unserer Anno Domini Veranstaltung 2011 - Lukas Fischer is making Music (on the right) together with Leonard Dorn on our Anno Domini Event in 2011. (Photo: Michael Paulick)

As we don’t have any events due to the corona-crisis, I want to continue my series about historians and other companions in August.

For this time I have talked with Lukas Fischer. Even during his first apprenticeship he could occupy himself with historical buildings. Then he had added training to the qualification as an excavation technician in Munster. He worked as an excavation technician for years at different places in Germany. Today Lukas Fischer is developing for example 3d-facial reconstructions and works partly as a freelancer for the creation of exhibitions. Besides he is active within the living-history-society in diverse ways. I met him more than ten years ago on an event in the open air museum Roscheider Hof. I’m especially impressed by his intensive research for his roles and by his today professional work.

(English translation of the interview below!)

1. Hallo Lukas. Wir sind uns ja schon – wenn ich mich recht entsinne – in mindestens vier verschiedenen Zeiten über den Weg gelaufen[2]. Ich weiß aber auch, dass Du noch viel mehr über die Jahre gemacht hast. Ich erinnere mich, dass Du mal sagtest, dass die Darstellung von ottonenzeitlichen Deutschen eher ungewöhnlich ist. Kannst Du kurz umreißen wieviele verschiedene Zeitepochen Du als Darsteller schon erlebt hast und was Du eventuell nicht mehr machst?

Hallo André!

Es hat mir immer sehr viel Spaß gemacht in neue Themen einzutauchen. Daher habe ich viele Darstellungen begonnen und an unterschiedlichsten Veranstaltungen teilgenommen. Hier ein chronologischer Ausschnitt:

Das früheste war die Schlacht gegen Varus‘ Legionen um 9 n. Chr. In der Merowingerzeit war ich auf der Funkenburg und in der Ottonenzeit in verschiedenen Heerlagern. In Trelleborg habe ich mit Harald Blauzahn gegen seinen verräterischen Sohn Sven Gabelbart gefochten. Ende des 13. Jahrhunderts habe ich an der Belagerung der Brandenburg teilgenommen. 1356 ging es dann als flämischer Söldner in die Schlacht von Casorate (Morimondo), 1618 habe ich in Wackershofen feinstes Westerwälder Steinzeug verkauft, 1759 war ich Fähnrich des Regiment Itzenplitz in der Schlacht bei Minden. An der Völkerschlacht 1813 habe ich als Gast der 22er teilgenommen[3] und ins spätere 19. Jahrhundert habe ich, nur das Tanzbein statt dem Degen schwingend, mal an einem Ball teilgenommen.

Auf einer Veranstaltung im 1. Jh. - on an Event in the first century AD.

2. Viele von unseren Darstellern in Wackershofen sind ja Historiker. Aber ich glaube, keiner von ihnen beschäftigt sich so beruflich vielseitig mit Geschichte wie Du. Gibt es einen beruflichen Zugang zur Geschichte, den Du besonders toll fandest?

Wahrscheinlich ist mein größter Traum tatsächlich durch die Zeit reisen zu können. Kleine „Zeitreiseerlebnisse“ hatte ich im Reenactment immer wieder. Aber auch in der Archäologie und in meinem aktuellen Beruf, beim Visualisieren der Vergangenheit ging es mir um das Erleben anderer Zeiten. Auch bei der 3D-Rekonstruktion taucht man in andere Epochen ein. Insbesondere die VR-Erlebnisse, die wir bei TimeRide[4] in mittlerweile 5 großen Städten in Deutschland anbieten, machen mir großen Spaß. Dort bin ich mittlerweile Teamleiter für die historische Recherche und darf an der Konzeption unserer Zeitreisen mitwirken. Das spannende ist - ganz ähnlich wie im Reenactment, dass man viele Alltagsfragen der Vergangenheit überhaupt erst stellt und sich dadurch stark in die Epochen einfühlen kann. Das macht mir wahnsinnig viel Spaß!

3. Ich kann mich an all die vielen Museen von denen Du mir schon Fotos gezeigt hast ganz grob erinnern. Hast Du da einen Favoriten?

Ich nehme an, es geht um Freilichtmuseen? Es gibt viele schöne Freilichtmuseen in Deutschland. Mich hat das Museum in Bärnau[5] besonders beeindruckt. Dort wurde mit sehr viel Liebe zum Detail und einem sehr guten wissenschaftlichen Konzept eine kleine mittelalterliche Welt aus dem Boden gestampft. Soweit ich weiß, können dort Mittelaltergruppen Hauspaten werden. Während andere Museen eher baukundliche Sammlungen mit ein wenig Heimatgeschichte sind, hat es Bärnau irgendwie geschafft ein lebendiges Dorf zu werden.

4. Du hast ja viel als Darsteller wie beruflich mit Museen zu tun gehabt. Kannst Du Dir vorstellen mal in einem Museum zu arbeiten? Manchmal träumt man ja davon, sowas wie in den USA als angestellte Darsteller wäre auch in Deutschland möglich…

Ja, ich bin immer sehr offen für solche Gedankenexperimente und verfolge auch die spannenden Konzepte beispielsweise Colonial Williamsbourgh oder Jamestown. Ich frage mich immer wieder, warum unsere Museen in Deutschland oft unbewohnt wirken. Manche sind zugestellt mit modernen Tafeln und Vitrinen. Keine Multimediastation ist so gut wie ein Mensch, der eine Rolle verkörpert. Wenn das beherzigt würde, könnten die Besucher, die bisher noch lieber in einen Freizeitpark gehen, auch bald zu Museumsfans werden.

5. Du bist ja auch auf archäologischen Ausgrabungen immer wieder auf spannende Funde gestoßen. Konntest Du da auch was an Inspiration für die Hobby-Darstellung entnehmen?

In meiner Zeit als Grabungstechniker habe ich immer wieder auf spannenden Ausgrabungen gearbeitet. Mein größtes Highlight war die Ausgrabung eines alten Flussarms der Emscher bei Castrop-Rauxel. Dort war im 4. Jh. eine Bootsanlegestelle neben einer einheimischen Siedlung. Wir fanden dort erhaltene Holzpfähle, Metallfunde und viele römische Exportgüter, die es nach Germania Magna geschafft hatten. Es ist ein unbeschreibliches Herzklopfen, wenn man einen besonderen Gegenstand findet. Mein erster solcher Fund war ein reich verzierter Knochenkamm. Kaum vorstellbar, dass jemand seinen Luxuskamm hier vor 1600 Jahren im Schlamm verloren hat. Diese Handwerkskunst in den Händen zu halten, hat mich stark inspiriert alle möglichen Handwerke auszuprobieren.

 

Auf einer mittelalterlichen Veranstaltung im 14. Jahrhunderd - on a medieval Event in the 14th century.

6. Ich weiß, dass Du auch früher immer sehr strukturiert für Deine Kleidung als Darsteller recherchiert hast. Aber auch, wenn Du eine neue Darstellung wie ein Handwerk angefangen hast, kam mir das immer sehr professionell vor. Kommt das auch ein bisschen daher, da Du beruflich mit wissenschaftlicher Vorgehensweise vertraut gewesen bist?

Bevor ich in der Denkmalpflege gearbeitet habe, war es sehr mühevoll herauszufinden, wie man an das nötige Wissen gelangt. Ebenso schwierig kann es auch mit Handwerkerwissen sein, das vielleicht auch einem Wissenschaftler fehlen kann. An beides muss man sich als Laie herantasten. Dabei habe ich immer unheimlich viele Fehler und Kompromisse gemacht. Mehr als die wissenschaftliche Vorgehensweise hat es mir geholfen Experten zu fragen. Da ich selbst stundenlang beispielsweise über die Unterwäsche des 14. Jahrhunderts referieren könnte, weiß ich, dass es vielen Spezialisten genau so geht. Ich habe immer gerne die Menschen, die etwas besonderes können oder wissen, angesprochen oder angeschrieben und es wurde immer herzlich darauf reagiert. Man sollte keine Scheu haben, sich gegenseitig zu helfen. Und auch wenn da auf dem Mittelaltermarkt jemand eine Klamotten aus fünf verschiedenen Jahrhunderten trägt. Vielleicht kann er mir etwas spannendes über Metallbearbeitung erzählen und ich kann ihm im Gegenzug etwas über mittelalterliche Mode mit auf den Weg geben.

The battle of Melle July 9th 1745

Some thoughts on the encounter:

My dear readers, I want to continue my series about the 275th anniversaries of the battles of the Austrian succession. I noticed that most of my readers of the series are speaking English and therefore I decided to do without a German version. I assume that no Germans will argue about that and promise to write in German again for the postings about reenactment in Germany or something like the dancing series.

I asked myself for a long time, if I should try my Melle-scenario again or to avoid it. We will see the reasons after a close look on the event itself. If you didn’t read it already I would recommend looking into my first posting about the battle of Fontenoy[1]. The defeat at Fontenoy was not less than a decisive blow for the young commander of the Pragmatic army the duke of Cumberland. He had to retreat and the maréchal de Saxe meanwhile managed to capture Tournai. The complete French plan of invading the Low Countries as shown in McNally’s book was ambitious[2]. Cumberland realized that he had to hold such key positions like Ghent, if he wanted to defend the Austrian Netherlands. While he decided to defend Brussells with his main army, he decided to send at least some reinforcements towards Ghent.

The distance from Tournai to Ghent is remarkable comparing de Saxe’s move with more cautious or over cautious decisions of contemporary military leaders. In early July de Saxe had chosen du Chayla – a more prominent French commander during the campaigns in Flanders – to lead a force for reconnaissance in the area of Aalst and Melle. 

The pragmatic force under the young Philip baron of Moltke was really a mixed group, including British, Hanoverian, Austrian and Dutch units[3]. However such a mix is appearing strange to us today and although we would think over huge problems regarding different languages, tactics etcetera, such a method was quiet common during the 18^th century. We wonder how this all did work anyway. Moltke himself was in fact in charge over the Austrian forces at Fontenoy 2 months earlier, when his supervisor the old fieldmarshal Königsegg acted more as an advisor to the duke of Cumberland.

Although meeting du Chayla’s outposts near Aalst, Moltke didn’t change his plans. I would suppose that he was just confident in the quality of his troops, which is not really surprising when we look into the results of many Austrian skirmishes during the 1744 campaign, when they defeated numerical superior French forces repeatedly[4].  Du Chayla however could rely on some Arquebusiers de Grassin, which had performed very well at Fontenoy. Although I would doubt Berry’s praising designation as “an elite light regiment”[5] as they didn’t had much of experience at this time or special armament. The unit was “levé par ordonnance du premier Janvier 1744”[6] maybe responding on the demand of de Noailles, when the old marshal noticed the large superiority of Austrian light troops during the disastrous French campaign in Germany.

Lieutenant général du Chayla missed to rank his troops properly although he was alarmed by his light infantry outposts. The spearhead of Moltke’s column crossed the stream near the Prieure de Melle in the early morning of that fatal July 9^th[7]. The unawareness of du Chayla becomes even more obvious, when we are reading about the chance for the British to capture a lot of French artillery at this moment of the battle[8]. But when the French infantry came into action, the baron von Moltke surely realized his personal danger and took some of his British and Hanoverian cavalry to leave the battlefield breaking through the French positions towards Ghent. When the French managed to strike earnestly Moltke could only save half of his troops under his personal command. He already had left the field, when brigadier Bligh finally arrived with his infantry and some cavalry. Bligh noticed that he had a considerable force in front of him. Differently from Moltke now Bligh formed a formidable battle line and had to deal with a French counter attack. Besides the terrain was not suitable for cavalry and the passage over the Grontrode Brook was not favoring a long line of infantry as well. Perhaps therefore the French could not profit as much as we would assume on a better terrain from their numerical advantage in infantry. Although defending himself very well, Bligh had to realize, that he had no chance to win this encounter, especially when du Chayla brought artillery in the fighting and the arquebusiers de Grassin turned up in Bligh’s back, capturing his baggage[9]. It’s noticeable that the contemporary painting by Lenfant in the collection of Versailles doesn’t show the terrain and focus on the French infantry attacking in masses with a village in the background[10]. 2 hours after Moltke’s first real trouble with the French near the small town of Melle, Bligh had to retreat after suffering heavy losses.

Within days the city of Ghent fell to the army under the comte de Lowendahl and the British units, which had managed to break through du Chayla’s lose line at the start of the battle of Melle were captured.

I can’t see that von Moltke cared about the destiny of most of his force as he left the battlefield before Bligh arrived. However that fact seemingly had no impact on his career as he was rising to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall through his career before dying in 1780. However maybe the family Moltke was too important to not be recognized by the empress later on. 8 members of the Moltke family served in the 13^th regiment Moltke during her reign[11]. 

Researching about the campaign and especially about the battle of Melle, I had felt myself confirmed in my former observation, that small encounters often have bigger consequences then famous and large battles. We see the same at the battle of Simbach, when some quick decisions by the commander in chief over the Bavarian forces smashed the whole allied plans for the ensuing campaign of 1743[12]. The allied losses at Melle were significant although not such a way as Minuzzi’s in 1743. Both commanders underestimated their counterparts and lost the ability to react properly on the opponent, even abandoning many of their own forces.

After the victory at Pfaffenhofen[13] and the following treaty of Füssen now Melle was the 3^rd significant defeat in 3 months for Maria Theresia’s cause. Frederick II. had turned the situation in Silesia to his favour, the French and Spaniards were invading Italy again and Maurice de Saxe gained the upper hand in the Low Countries. Melle was an important blow for the plans of the Pragmatic forces in the Netherlands. They not only had lost around 2.000 men killed, wounded or captured, but lost one of the most important towns of the Austrian Netherlands. However I loved Reed Browning’s sharp comparison of Hohenfriedberg and Fontenoy: “Prince Charles made many [mistakes]. Frederick made few. Since at Hohenfriedberg – and at this point the contrast with Fontenoy becomes clear – the ablest generals and the ablest troops were engaged on the same side, the outcome of the battle was dramatically one-sided.”[14] That will be a constant characteristic of the war in Flanders. The French had at least with de Saxe and Lowendahl really capable commanders, which made stunning moves. However the Pragmatic armies could rely on very good troops which could compensate the weakness in their high command.

A game using Honours of war and giving a more vivid picture of the fighting:

I had written a scenario for a table top game using Honours of War 3 years ago. The scenario excluded the action at the château de Massemen near Aalst in the early hours of the July 9^th 1745. However I tried to include the different moments of the encounter around Melle and the Prieur de Melle. Now it's time at the 275th anniversary.

OOB:

ALLIED CinC: FML Moltke (Dependable):

Initiative turn 1, can destroy the French guns on a 2-6 (halting)

1) british infantry - independent
- 1 bn. Royal Scots (superior for Shooting, large)
2) allied cavalry under direct command of Moltke
- 3 sqn.s Rich's Dragoons (superior)
- 1 sqn. han. Leibregiment (small)
- 1 sqn. han. Dragoons (small)
- austrian hussars

CinC: Brigadier Thomas Bligh (Dash.)
Arriving in A) in column in turn 3
3) 1st Group under direct command of Bligh
- 1 bn. Bligh's Regiment (superior for Shooting, large)
- 3 sqn.s dutch cavalry
4) 2nd Group under command of Col. O'Farrel ? (Dep.)
- 1 bn. Handasyde's Regiment (superior for Shooting, large)
- 3 sqns. of austrian dragoons
- 4 sqn.s of dutch cavalry (large)

FRENCH CinC: Lieut. Gén. du Chayla (Dep.)


1) Arquebusiers de Grassin - Independent
- 1 bn. (small)
Arriving in C) in turn 5
2) Col. Gabriel-Marie de Talleyrand - Brigade Normandie (Dith.)
- 4 bn.s Régiment Normandie
3) Marquis de Crillon - Brigade Crillon (Dith.)
- 4 bn.s Régiment Crillon
4) Louis de Biran ? - Brigade Berry (Dith.) From turn 2: 5-6 for first move
- 4 sqn.s Berry (inferior)
- 4 sqn.s other French horse (inferior)
5) Mestre de Camp De Castries - Brigade du Roy (Dith.) From turn 2: 5-6 for first move
- 4 sqns. du Roi (inferior)
- 4 sqn.s oher French horse (inferior)
6) Marquis de Charleval d’Auneuil - Brigade Royal Étranger (Dith.) From turn 2: 5-6 for first move
- 4 sqn.s Royal Étranger
- 4 sqn.s other French horse

7) French artillery - Independent
- 2 x light artillery
unlimbered and without Crew until turn 6

Guns could be destroyed after successfully charged on a 2-6

 
Victory conditions:

Allied minor victory 5 Units entering (B)
Allied deceisive victory: breaking the French OR 7 Units entering (B)
French minor victory stop the Allies breakthrough.
French Major victory breaking the allies.


Limit:

12 turns.

Terrain: All BUAs: light cover
Streams fordable, River not.
Streams fordable, River Schelde [Escaut in French] not

The initial battlefield. The Pragmatic forces are approaching from the left. The French troops are scattered over the whole terrain.

The siege of Freiburg in 1744 (part 6)

Some will wonder why I write again about the siege of Freiburg. However I stumbled over some interesting aspects of the fortress and siege of Freiburg in 1744 during the last months. Therefore I don’t want to miss the chance to bring some notes to the attention of my readers.

A view on the area of the commander's garden today (2020). Photo by myself.

A magnificent view from the terrace on Freiburg. Behind the more darker hills on the right are a portion of the Kaiserstuhl-mountains. The low elevation on the left is a portion of the Tuniberg. Munzingen with the Munzingen castle, where Louis XV had his headquarters is in the Tuniberg area. You can even notice the Vosges-mountains in the far distance. We can assume that the commander could recognize from this position every enemy army aproaching at the town. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

The first topic is a more peaceful one. During the Corona-crisis I had the chance to find out more about the fortress, visiting some sights together with my kids. We often walked over the Schlossberg (the mountain of the former fortress of Freiburg). The “Kommandantengarten” was one of my son’s favourite places there, caused by the fact that you have a magnificent view from there on the landscape of the Breisgau towards the Kaiserstuhl mountain massif. After 1706 a garden terrace was erected in the French style under the “Ober Schloss” (fort Saint Pierre). Some paths connected the garden with the commander’s lodgings (the fort Carré) and the castle’s road leading to the main gate of the fortress. The garden was changed for several times, most prominently by colonel Melchior August de la Venerie, who was responsible for the fortification and strengthening of Freiburg’s fortress from 1707 to his death in 1739. De la Venerie planed a small “Maison de plaisance” for the garden. Although it seems that only a portion of the building was executed. Nevertheless we can today get some sort of an impression of a more different aspect of the life in a garrison there. It’s no doubt that this place was chosen for relaxation and a more gentlemen’s life for the commander of the fortress. Many clay pipes were found in the area of the commander’s garden indicating more about the common leisure activities of officers and soldiers[1]. We can imagine how the commander sit their together with his officers or other people of nobility discussing over contemporary topics and relaxing from the daily service.

A look in the area of the former commander's garden. Notice the significantly rising evalation at the right. Such aspects however often were integrated in 18th century gardens. (Photo: André Hanselmann, 2020)

The local plate shows a 18th century picture of the place. The steepness of the hillside is obvious. Please note the different paths from the garden to the main gate at the left and to the fort Carré at the right. There is a very tiny building too.(Photo: André Hanselmann)

The Elevation is still visible now after the large destruction of the fortress in 1744. A view from the garden up towards the fort Carré. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

A picture of de la Venerie's japanese-chinese style pavillion from the plate. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

The French siege had caused many troubles to the town. These destructions began before Coigny’s and Noaille’s army arrived. The Dreikönigshaus was one of the taverns outside the city’s fortifications before the war and was burned in 1744. In 1748 the destroyed building was replaced by a new one[2]. Halve of the tavern was effectively demolished by arson in 2015. The very nice architectural testimony of the building’s façade is visible even today. I had to remember Jeff Berry’s remarks about the French actions before the battle of Fontenoy destroying the civilian dwellings at Bourgeon and Peronne laying fire within the houses for getting a clear field of firing for his artillery and preventing places to cover for the approaching enemy[3].

A modern view on the tavern from the streetcorner Untere Scharzwaldstraße/Schwarzwaldstraße. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

I really much love nice tavern signs and this is a very good example. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

A good example for fine architectural components on profane 18th century buildings. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

A detail of the baroque door frame with the date 1749. It would be interesting to know if the owner of the tavern got any compensation for the destruction of his house and how he could rebuilt it in 4 years. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

Even places of worship were not saved from destruction by the battle. I found an example on a plate at the Anna-church (today officialy “St. Cyriak und Perpetua”) in Freiburg-Wiehre. The whole area often was demolished by the repeated attacks on Freiburg over the centuries. The Adelhausen monastery therefore was moved from the area of the Adelhausen village to a place within the city’s walls. But now I will include a translation of the text on the stone plate on the said church:

“In the year 1744 I was brought to the ground for a third time and to the honour of god, Maria and to the holy Cyriaciu and Perpetua erected again in the year 1753.”

The upper portion of the church. It was difficult for me to get a better picture from the side, where the stone plate was brought in. There are some exceptional old buildings around the church looking much like 18th century relicts. The place is very close and nice with high trees etc.. Please notice the impressive sculptures too. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

The plate itself, which kept my attention on the topic. There is a very nice baroque interior of the church, although closed today during the Corona-crisis. (Photo: André Hanselmann)

The French had shot 280.000 canon shots, 52.000 bombs and thrown 7.360 stone baskets on Freiburg during the siege, which was leading to massive destruction within the city[4]. During these days there are some relicts of the fortress and some glass handgrenades found by archaeologists, which are on show in the exhibition “freiburg.archäologie – 900 Jahre Leben in der Stadt”[5]. Dr. R. Johanna Regnath held a lecture about the important superior Euphemia Dorer talking about the stress suffered by the Usurlins not only during the siege, when they hold out within the town, but afterwards too, because the destruction of the city’s fortifications next to the Schwarzes Kloster (black monastery) led to heavy damage on their monastery[6].

The black monastery today. The area of the street today was occupied by the city's walls in 1744. (Photo: André Hanselmann, 2020)

A more detailed view on the monastery. The small Tower is part of the church St. Ursula. (Photo: André Hanselmann, 2020)

Besides a deep impact on the dwellings of the inhabitants of Freiburg, the distress by the terror of bombardment and some side effects like the plundering of civilian houses by the Austrian light troops during the siege[7], the siege had a huge consequence for the town’s economy too. Freiburg had a widely known reputation for gem work. Waldkirch and Freiburg got the monopoly on the import and processing of garnet from Bohemia since 1601[8]. The siege of Freiburg in 1714 had a great effect on the business. In 1718 only 28 masters were working, although there were 119 in 1606 and 40 in 1706. The rebuilt grinding mills were burned down during the explosion of the city’s fortifications by the French after the siege. The local administration had to invest a lot to erect again the mills at the “Gewerbekanal”. In 1753 1.400 people lived again from the boring and polishing of the garnets[9].

Considering such aspects it is clear why Freiburg’s population greeted the end of the fortress.

The town during the time of the fortress.
1: direction of the Dreiköngshaus.
2: direction of Adelhausen village.
3: The black monastery.
Picture of the Stadtmuseum, actually shown on a wall near the Stadttheater. (Photo: André Hanselmann 2020)

Text: André Hanselmann

Photos: André Hanselmann

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[1] Text on the „Schautafel“ at the commander’s garden by the “Schloßberg Freiburg” organisation

[2] Please look on this photo for a better impression of the whole complex: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreik%C3%B6nigshaus_(Freiburg_im_Breisgau)#/media/Datei:Dreikönigshaus_(Freiburg)_jm4255.jpg

[3] Jeff Berry: „Fontenoy 1745“ – here: "Waiting for Cumberland“ http://obscurebattles.blogspot.com/2017/09/fontenoy-1745.html (checked on June 12th 2020)

[4] „Oesterrichischer Erbfolge-Krieg 1740-1748“ V. Band, Seidel & Sohn, Wien 1901, p. 591

[5] You can find more information about the exhibition on the museum’s homepage. The exhibition lasts from November 23^rd  2019 until October 4^th 2020: https://www.freiburg.de/pb/1430498.html (checked on June 12th 2020)

[6] You could find an article by Dr. Regnath in the publication of the lectures: R. Johanna Regnath (editor – with others): “Auf Jahr und Tag – Leben in Freiburg in der Neuzeit” rombach, Freiburg, 2019

[7] Porges/Rebrachta p. 549

[8] Marina Reiling: „Bevölkerung und Sozialtopographie Freiburgs i. Br. Im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert“ Stadtarchiv Freiburg, Freiburg, 1989, p. 62

[9] Marina Reiling, p. 64-65

Hochbau im 18. Jahrhundert / Building construction in the 18th century

Das Thema Hochbau im 18. Jahrhundert ist ein derart facettenreiches, dass ich in unserem Blog ähnlich wie zum Straßenbau gewissermaßen nur an der Oberfläche kratzen kann. Ich selbst bin im Rahmen des Freiwilligen Jahres in der Denkmalpflege an verschiedenen Ausbildungsstätten wie im Kloster Johannesberg bei Fulda oder der Denkmalakademie Görlitz mit historischen Bautechniken in Berührung gekommen.

The topic of the construction of buildings is such a multifaceted, that I will only scratch on the surface as I did in my posting about the road building process. I myself became contacted with historical building technics during my “Freiwilliges Jahr in der Denkmalpflege” (Voluntary year in the preservation of monuments) in different training centers such as the Johannesberg monastery near Fulda and the Denkmalakademie Gorlitz.

Für unser konkretes Beispiel, das Steigengasthaus an der Roten Steige ist vor allem das Thema Fachwerk interessant. Es gibt zur Konstruktion und dem Bau selbst zahlreiche Bücher[1][2][3].

Man muss sich vor Augen führen, dass das Gebäude, das wir heute im Freilandmuseum Wackershofen sehen nicht gänzlich mit dem übereinstimmt wie es 1749 errichtet wurde. Der Tanzsaal von um 1800 ist eine für diese Zeit typische Ergänzung. Auf einem Schlussstein über der Eingangstür des Hauses prangt die Jahreszahl 1800.

For our special example, the tavern at the red steep road the topic of half-timbering buildings is interesting. There are many books about the construction and building process [1][2][3].

It’s important to notice that the building, as it is today in the open air museum Wackershofen, is not completely the same as it was built in 1749. The dancing hall from 1800 is a complement, which is rather typical for the period. On a keystone over the main entrance we can read the date 1800.

Wichtig für uns ist aber, dass auch die zahlreichen Beweisstücke des von mir intensiv untersuchten Prozesses zwischen Schwäbisch Hall und dem Erzbistum Würzburg wiederholt von einem völligen Neubau sprechen[4]. Die finanzielle Grundlage für den Neubau muss der florierende Wirtshausbetrieb[5] und eventuell weiteren Einnahmequellen gebildet haben.

Ich will kurz auf die verschiedene Aspekte anhand des Aussehens des Hauses selbst eingehen.

Das Steigengasthaus heute, Aufnahme 2011 (Foto: Michael Paulick)

It’s important for us, that in the trial between the archbishop of Wurzburg and Schwäbisch Hall, which I researched intensively, many documents are speaking about a completely new building [4]. The financial foundation for the building was constituted by the prosperous tavern [5] and maybe more sources of income.

I want to dive in more depth according to the several aspects of the look of the house itself.

Johann Conrad Körner: "Hall in Schwaben MDCCLV", Lavierte Tuschzeichnung. Der Ausschnitt zeigt Arbeiter im Steinbruch auf der westlichen Kocherseite. Archiv. (Foto: André Hanselmann)