Siege of Zoutleeuw

1705 siege at Zoutleeuw during the War of the Spanish Succession

Siege of Zoutleeuw

Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Town hall and cloth hall of Zoutleeuw in 2005.

Date	Investment: 29 August – 5 September 1705 (1 week) Siege: 31 August – 5 September 1705 (5 days)
Location	Zoutleeuw, Flemish Brabant, Belgium 50°49′59″N 5°06′14″E / 50.833°N 5.104°E / 50.833; 5.104
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

Allies:

Dutch Republic

England

Scotland

Holy Roman Empire

France

Commanders and leaders

Lieutenant general Dedem

Brigadier general Dumont

Strength

10,000 men^[1]
16 artillery pieces

400 men
18 guns
2 mortars

Casualties and losses

Light

400 men captured or killed
20 guns and mortars captured

War of the
Spanish Succession
Europe

Low Countries and Upper France

1st Fort Isabella
Middelburg
Saint Donas
Nijmegen
Venlo
Stevensweert
Roermond
1st Liége
Hulst
Groesbeek
Tongeren
Stekene
Ekeren
1st Huy
Limburg
2nd Fort Isabella
2nd Huy
2nd Liége
3rd Huy
Elixheim
Zoutleeuw
Zandvliet
Diest
Ramillies
Antwerp
Ostend
Menin
Dendermonde
Ath
Oudenarde
Wijnendale
Leffinghe
Hondschoote
Saint Ghislain
Brussels
Lille
Ghent
Tournai
Malplaquet
Mons
1st Douai
Béthune
Saint-Venant
Aire
1st Bouchain
Arras
1st Le Quesnoy
Landrécies
Grovestins' Cavalry Raid
Denain
Marchiennes
2nd Douai
2nd Le Quesnoy
2nd Bouchain
Knocke

Germany and Upper Rhine

Kaiserswerth
1st Landau
Friedlingen
Rheinberg
1st Trarbach
Andernach
Neubourg
Geldern
Kehl
Sigharting
Bonn
Munderkingen
Breisach
Höchstädt
Speyerbach
2nd Landau
Augsburg
Schellenberg
Rain
Villingen
Ingolstadt
Blenheim
Ulm
3rd Landau
2nd Trarbach
Wissembourg
Lauterbourg
Homburg
1st Haguenau
Drusenheim
2nd Haguenau
Bavaria
- Sendling
Aidenbach
3rd Hagenau
Stollhofen
Rumersheim
4th Landau
Freiburg

Italy and Southern France

Carpi
Chiari
Cremona
1st Castiglione
Santa Vittoria
Luzzara
Borgoforte
Guastalla
Governolo
Nago
Arco
Castelnuovo Bormida
1st Susa
Vercelli
Ivrea
Verrua
Chivasso
Mirandola
Cassano
Nice
Calcinato
Turin
2nd Castiglione
Pavia
Alessandria
Pizzigetone
Casale
Milan
Toulon
2nd Susa
Gaeta
Exilles
Fenestrelles
Cesana
Syracuse

Iberian Peninsula

Cádiz
Castello de Vide
1st Barcelona
Portalegre
1st Gibraltar
Ceuta
2nd Gibraltar
Valencia de Alcántara
Albuquerque
Montjuïc
2nd Barcelona
Badajoz
San Mateo
3rd Barcelona
Alcántara
1st Ciudad Rodrigo
1st Madrid
Murcia
El Albujón
1st Majorca
Cuenca
Elche
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Castellón
Villena
Almansa
Xàtiva
2nd Ciudad Rodrigo
Lleida
Morella
Tortosa
Minorca
Denia
Alicante
La Gudiña
Almenar
Zaragoza
2nd Madrid
Brihuega
Villaviciosa
1st Girona
Aren Fort
Venasque
Tortosa
Cardona
2nd Girona
4th Barcelona
2nd Majorca

Hungary

Eisenstadt
Schmöllnitz
Raab
Páta
Nagyszombat
Zsibó
Saint Gotthard
Trenčín
Kölesd
Kassa
Nagymajtény

Naval battles

The siege of Zoutleeuw or the siege of Léau (29 August 1705 – 5 September 1705) was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession. Allied troops with 16 artillery pieces under the command of the English Captain general the Duke of Marlborough, besieged and captured the small French-held Brabantine fortified town of Zoutleeuw in the Spanish Netherlands.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Prelude

After piercing the French fortified lines Lines of Brabant at Elixheim on 18 July 1705, the Duke of Marlborough found his plans to bring the French army under Duc de Villeroi to a decisive battle frustrated by the French refusal to engage, their extensive use of field fortifications and the unwillingness of the Dutch Field Deputies to submit to his plans.^[2] The Allies contented themselves by widening the breach in the lines of Brabant by capturing Zoutleeuw to the north of Eliksem on 5 September. Zoutleeuw had been hastily abandoned by the French troops of the Duke of Berwick in July, after the Allied capture of Huy, with gaps being blown up in the walls.

Siege

Zoutleeuw, surrounded by swamps, was taken by a small detachment of 15 battalions and 15 squadron's with 16 artillery pieces under the command of lieutenant general Dedem. The town was invested on 29 August and trenches were opened on 31 August. The Allied siege train arrived from Maastricht on 3 September. That same night, the besiegers attacked and captured a redoubt with little opposition. The infantry battalions carried the trenches within 100 yards of the town, the siege artillery quickly following them.^[2]

Before the Allied artillery batteries could open fire, the French governor brigadier general Dumont decided to surrender on 4 September after Dedem threatened to kill the entire garrison of 400 men if they continued to resist. The town and citadel were occupied by 200 Allied troops on 5 September. The garrison marched out on 7 September to become prisoners of war in Maastricht, the officers being allowed to retain their swords and baggage.

Aftermath

The Allies took 10 bronze guns, eight iron guns, two bronze mortars, 10,000 grenades, 200 barrels of gunpowder, 6,000 tools, 2,000 muskets, 100 barrels of musket balls and 18,000 sacks of flour.

The siege was the last major Allied operation near the Meuse river as the strong French fortresses of Namur and Charleroi and more tempting targets in Brabant discouraged them from moving upriver. Marlborough had the Lines of Brabant levelled and the town of Tirlemont dismantled.^[2]

Citations

^ Nimwegen 1995, p. 101.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ostwald 2006, p. 99.
^ Ostwald 2006, p. 342.
^ Ostwald 2006, p. 368.

Sources

Ostwald, J. (2006). Vauban Under Siege: Engineering Efficiency and Martial Vigor in the War of the Spanish Succession. Brill. ISBN 978-9004154896.
Nimwegen, Olaf van (1995). De subsistentie van het leger: Logistiek en strategie van het Geallieerde en met name het Staatse leger tijdens de Spaanse Successieoorlog in de Nederlanden en het Heilige Roomse Rijk (1701-1712) [The subsistence of the Allied and especially the Dutch army during the War of the Spanish Succession] (Thesis) (in Dutch). Universiteit Utrecht.