Battle of Lauffeld

Overview

The Battle of Lauffeld took place on 2 July 1747, during the War of the Austrian Succession. Fought between the towns of Tongeren in modern Belgium, and the Dutch city of Maastricht, a French army of 136,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of 100,000, led by the Duke of Cumberland.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Lauffeld, fought on 2 July 1747 between Tongeren and Maastricht, was a significant engagement in the closing stage of the War of the Austrian Succession. Marshal Saxe's French army of 136,000 defeated the Duke of Cumberland's Pragmatic Army of 100,000, extending French dominance in the Austrian Netherlands that Saxe had established through earlier victories in the campaign. The engagement demonstrated France's continued ability to concentrate superior force and impose its will on the Allied coalition in the Low Countries theater. With the war concluding the following year at the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, Lauffeld stood among the final major field actions of the conflict, reinforcing the French military position in the region and contributing to the diplomatic leverage France brought to the peace negotiations.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (10)