August 3rd, 1692 - The Battle of Steenkerque

Conflict: Nine Years' War

Combatants: Allies vs. French

Location: Belgium

Outcome: French victory

On August 3rd of 1692, William of Orange with English, Danish and Scottish allies marched over night to attack the French army of the Duc de Luxembourg and his Swiss allies at Steenkerque. William's 15,000 troops initially met with some success against the Swiss contingent but were thrown back by French counterattacks. By midday, William's allied army was in retreat having suffered some 8,000 casualties.

Bataille de Steinkerque by unknown artist

Points of Interest:

• About 4,000 of the 8,000 Allied casualties at Steenkerque were British and included two generals.

• The British losses at Steenkerque constituted half of all that nation's forces in continental Europe at the time.

François II de Montmorency, Duc de Luxembourg by Hyacinthe Rigaud

William III of Orange by Peter Lely

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.