| Battle of le Quesnoy (1568) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theEighty Years' War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Dutch rebels |  Habsburg Netherlands | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| William of Orange | Sancho d'Avila | ||||||
TheBattle of Le Quesnoy (Le Quesnoy,Hainault, 12 November 1568) was fought between a mostly German army supporting the Dutch rebels and theSpanishHabsburg army.
In October 1568,William of Orange had invaded the Spanish Netherlands with a considerable army. Despite capturing some fortified towns, he did not manage to face the Spanish Army under theDuke of Alva in a decisive battle. Manoeuvering to meet up with a French Huguenot army, Orange lost his rear-guard at theBattle of Jodoigne.[citation needed]
On 23 or 24 October, nearWavre,Orange's army met the ProtestantHuguenot force fromFrance led byFrancois de Hangest Sieur de Genlis & d'Abbecourt. It was small, about 2,000 infantry and 500 cavalry (estimates of the total vary between 2,000 and a probably exaggerated 5,800).[2] The French were commanded byFrancois de Hagest, Genlis himself, and Sieur de Morvilliers, assisted by the Barons of Ranty, Mouy, Autricourt, Desternay, Requires, and la Personne. The commander of the French infantry was Capitain Poyet.[3]
Orange's army was mostly from Germany, and with winter developing, they needed to get home. The river Meuse had swollen to winter proportions, so it could only be crossed at a bridge, and all the bridges were in cities controlled either byAlva or by thePrince-Bishop of Liège,Gerard van Groesbeeck.[citation needed]
On 3 November 1568,Orange set up camp outsideLiège.[4] ThePrince-Bishop of Liège,Gerard van Groesbeeck, neither yielded to demands nor would he permit passage through his state.[5]Orange's army ransacked some monasteries.[6] The Prince Bishop of Liege, Groesbeck, appealed toAlva for help and initiallyAlva reinforcedLiège andHuy (Dutch: Hoei; Walloon: Hu) with companies of Walloons.Orange, hoping to gain submission of the city and passage for his troops, demonstrated an assault onLiège during the night of 4–5 December, but hearing thatAlva’s main army was approaching he abandoned the siege on the morning of 5 December.[4]
The only option forOrange was to march south-west intoHainault (or Dutch: Henegouwen; German: Hennegau).Alva, with his army, of course followed.[citation needed]
OutsideLe Quesnoy (or between le Quesnoy andCambrai) on 12 November 1568,Orange 's army finally had a good opportunity to fight some of the Spanish army, including 10 German companies of infantry, 8 Spanish companies of infantry, and 3 cornets of cavalry.[7]
The Spanish were defeated. The Spanish commanderSancho d'Avila, along with his officers Francois de Tolede and Ruy de Lopez were wounded[7] and the son of theDuke of Alva, Don Rufille Henriques, died in the action.[1] The fortified town ofLe Quesnoy yielded toOrange, to be relieved a few days later by the Spanish.[8] Nearby the fortified town ofLe Cateau-Cambrésis put up a fight killing some ofOrange 's troops[5] but was also defeated.[9]
Genlis and other French officers proposed thatOrange should change focus to support the French Protestants orHuguenots. However, most ofOrange's army, who had signed on to fight the more lucrative Spanish enemy, would not do that.[citation needed]
On 17 November,Alva's army enteredLe Cateau-Cambrésis andOrange's army moved away intoFrance, marched throughPicardy,Champagne, andLorraine, toStrasbourg.[1]
In that city,Orange disbanded most of his army, yet retained his reputation, by paying the troops, even at the cost of selling the army cannons, his own silverware, and mortgaging rights to his lands. With that reputation,Orange would return to the Netherlands in later years to continue theDutch Revolt.[citation needed]
The next step forOrange was to take the rump of his army, some 1,200 cavalry, to joinCount Palatine Wolfgang of Zweibrücken who was heading to support theHuguenots in theThird French War of Religion.[10]