| Siege of Maastricht (1676) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFranco-Dutch War | |||||||
 1676 Siege of Maastricht | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of France | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|  William III of OrangeWaldeck Karel Florentine † LouvigniesVillahermosa | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7,000 infantry[1] | 25,000 infantry[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Several thousand[3] | ||||||
TheSiege of Maastricht (1676) took place from 6 July to 27 August 1676 during the 1672 to 1678Franco-Dutch War. A combinedDutch-Spanish army led byWilliam III of Orange unsuccessfully tried to retakeMaastricht, which the French had captured in1673. It was eventually returned to the Dutch under the terms of the 1678Treaty of Nijmegen.
In the 1667-1668War of Devolution, France captured most of theSpanish Netherlands but theTriple Alliance of theDutch Republic,England andSweden forced them to relinquish most of these gains in theTreaty of Aix-la-Chapelle.[4] In response,Louis XIV paid Sweden large subsidies in return for remaining neutral in any new war with the Dutch, whileCharles II of England agreed to support France in the 1670Secret Treaty of Dover.[5]
When France invaded the Dutch Republic in May 1672, alliances withMünster and theElectorate of Cologne allowed them to bypass border defences in theSpanish Netherlands. They seemed to have achieved an overwhelming victory, but theDutch States Army withdrew behind theDutch Water Line and opened thesluices on 22 June, flooding the land and preventing further advances. On 4 July,William of Orange was appointedStadtholder and repelled an invasion force from Münster, recapturing most of the territory lost in June.[6]
By late July, the Dutch position had stabilised, while concern at French gains brought them support fromFrederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia,Emperor Leopold andCharles II of Spain.[7] In August,Johan andCornelis de Witt, whose policies were blamed for the Dutch collapse, were lynched by anOrangist mob, leaving William in control.[8] Louis was now forced into another war of attrition around the French frontiers, with anImperial army opening a new front in theRhineland.[9]
Until the advent of railways in the 19th century, goods and supplies were largely transported by water, making rivers like theLys,Sambre andMeuse vital for trade and military operations.[10] In June 1673, the French tookMaastricht, which controlled a key access point on the Meuse but the Dutch recapturedNaarden in September 1673, while Münster and Cologne left the war in November. This was followed in early 1674 byDenmark joining the Alliance and England agreeing peace with the Dutch in theTreaty of Westminster.[11] The French were now over-extended and withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.[12]Grave was recaptured by the Dutch in 1674.[13]
In summer 1676, William III decided to attack Maastricht with a combined Dutch-Spanish army, led respectively by his deputyWaldeck andVillahermosa,Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands. On 3 July, these troops assembled nearNivelles before marching on Maastricht, which they reached three days later. Also present were troops from England,Osnabrück,Brandenburg and thePalatinate-Neuburg. The combined forces started work on theinvestment of the heavily-fortified town, building both circumvallation and contravallation lines on both sides of the riverMeuse.
The first assault was delayed until July 21, and focused on the what was considered the weakest portion of the city defences, theBossche Fronten near theBosch Gate (see Map,I). During the attacks in late July and August, the Dutch forces suffered a thousand casualties, including Karel Florentine, lieutenant general of the infantry, who died of wounds.[14] Meanwhile, the Marquis of Louvignies, commander of theArmy of Flanders, focussed his attack on the southern defenses, near the village ofSint Pieter (see map,K).
On 17 August, William was given a letter byMeinhardt Schomberg, which had been sent to the commander of the fortress, and had been intercepted. The letter was informing the commander that a French relief column was on their way to break up the siege. William met with Waldeck atTongeren, also present were thePrince-Bishop of Osnabrück, the Marquis of Louvignies, as well as military officers fromSpain andAustria. The siege continued, with the allied forces continuing to attempt to outflank the garrison through the suburb ofWyck on August 23. However, with the impending arrival of the French relief column, the siege was abandoned on August 27.
Reasons for the failure of the siege varied. Some blamed weak command skills of the Dutch, while others thought it was due to a lack of support from William's allies. Another theory was that the low water level of the riverMeuse, made the supply of water for the Dutch forces inadequate.[1]