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| Battle of Villinghausen | |||||||
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| Part of theSeven Years' War | |||||||
 Bataille de Willinghausen, print, Frankfurt 1789 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Great Britain Hanover Hesse-KasselBrunswick-Wolfenbüttel  Prussia |  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick | Duc de BrogliePrince de Soubise | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~65,000 | ~90,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1,400 | 5,000 (Broglie 4,700, Soubise 300) | ||||||
TheBattle of Villinghausen (orVellinghausen, also known as the Battle of Kirchdenkern), took place during theSeven Years' War fought on the 15th and 16 July 1761 in the western area of present-day Germany, between a large French army and an Anglo-German force led byPrince Ferdinand of Brunswick.
Two French armies, under two Marshals,Duc de Broglie andPrince de Soubise, met up in July 1761, intending to forcePrince Ferdinand out ofLippstadt, an important town. Allied reinforcements underGeneral Spörcken arrived bringing Ferdinand's forces up to 65,000 while the combined French armies numbered around 90,000.[1]
The Anglo-German forces lined up along a series of hills, with their left anchored by theLippe River (in the north), and theAhse River in their centre.[2] The French army advanced on 15 July, and Broglie's troops in the north made progress against German troops under Wutginau. However, British troops underGranby just south of Wutginau held their ground and the French assault stalled. Reinforcements for both sides arrived that night and Ferdinand strengthened his left at the expense of his right.
The next morning, Broglie continued his attack on the Allied left, expecting Soubise to attack the weakened Allied right. However, Soubise only ordered a few small actions against the right, due in part that both French commanders were the same rank and reluctant to take orders from the other. Allied reinforcements underWolff soon arrived along the Lippe River and attacked the French flank, halting Broglie's attack and forcing his men to withdraw. By about noon, the French were in full retreat and the battle was over.
News of the battle provoked euphoria in Britain, and ledWilliam Pitt to take a much tougher line in the ongoing peace negotiations with France.[3] Despite the defeat the French still had a significant superiority in numbers and continued their offensive, although the two armies split again and operated independently. Despite further attempts to push an offensive strategy in Germany, the French were pushed back and finished the war in 1762 havinglost the strategic post of Cassel. TheTreaty of Paris led France to evacuate the remaining German territory it had occupied during the war.
51°39′44″N7°59′43″E / 51.66222°N 7.99528°E /51.66222; 7.99528
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