| Siege of Mons (1691) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theNine Years' War | |||||||
 Louis XIV Accepting the Surrender of Mons | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Spain Dutch Republic Holy Roman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| King Louis XIVMarquis de VaubanDuc de BoufflersDauphin Louis | Prince of GrimberghenMarquis of Gastañaga | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 92,000[1] 90 guns | ~4,800[2] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| No data | No data | ||||||
Thesiege of Mons, 15 March – 10 April 1691, was a major operation fought during theNine Years' War, and was the main French objective for the 1691 campaign in theSpanish Netherlands. The city was besieged and captured before the normal commencement of the campaigning season with minimal losses. The outcome was not in doubt, but in a conflict dominated by siege warfare, neither the French army of KingLouis XIV, nor the forces of theGrand Alliance under KingWilliam III, could bring about a decisive battle. After the siege theduc de Boufflers bombarded the neutral city ofLiège, whilst theduc de Luxembourg capturedHalle, and scored a minor victory against thePrince of Waldeck at theBattle of Leuze in September. Strategically, however, little had changed in the war, and both combatants returned to winter quarters at the end of the campaigning season.
French forces had secured considerable success in 1690. In July Luxembourg fought and won his tactical masterpiece at theBattle of Fleurus, nullifying any Allied hopes of invading France, whilst at sea, AdmiralTourville defeated an Anglo-Dutch fleet offBeachy Head. In AugustCatinat had triumphed at theBattle of Staffarda in northern Italy (although his force was too small to gain any strategic advantage). The only bright spot for the Grand Alliance in 1690 was King William's victory overJames II in Ireland at theBattle of the Boyne.[3] Yet despite the battlefield successes, French forces in 1690 had failed to break the coalition ranged against the ambitions of King Louis.
In 1691 the French had planned for a double strike:Nice in northern Italy, andMons in theSpanish Netherlands. The Netherlands were again where France would concentrate its main war effort, and was a theatre where Louis’ war minister,Louvois, had striven to bring together an even larger army than had been assembled the year before.[4] These attacks on Nice and Mons were planned for very early in the campaign season, illustratingVauban’s dictum that "It is a very favourable circumstance to be able to attack before the enemy takes the field in strength … "[5]
Meanwhile, in Ireland the war continued into 1691, but William now felt secure enough on his new throne in the British Isles to return to the war on the Continent. William enteredThe Hague on 5 February to organise his army for the coming campaign. After securing forces totalling 220,000 men, the Stadtholder-King retired to his country home. In mid-March, surrounded by representatives of the Grand Alliance, he received news that Mons was under siege.[6]
Louvois engineered the considerable preparations for the siege throughout the preceding winter: stores were filled with supplies inNamur,Philippeville,Dinant andGivet, and no less than 21,000 labourers were gathered for the construction of the lines ofcircumvallation.[7]
Louis, accompanied by members of his court, joined his army in the Spanish Netherlands to take control of the armies in theatre, arriving at the front on 21 March. The King's besieging army of 46,000 (under the direction of his great engineer, Vauban) surrounded the town and its garrison of some 4,800 men. The Allies had formed an army of 38,000 under William to relieve the city, but Luxembourg's army of observation, also 46,000 strong, denied the Allies any possibility of disrupting the operation.[8]
Marshal Boufflers began the investment on 15 March; the trenches were opened ten days later. In one of the most intense attacks of all King Louis’ wars, twobatteries, each consisting of 12mortars, bombarded the city in preparation for the assault; by 30 March, the French had fired 7,000 cannonballs and 3,000 mortar shells.[9] Inevitably, at 17:00 on 8 April, the besieged inhabitants beat thechamade; conditions were settled, and the remaining men of the garrison marched out two days later.[9]
The siege had begun and ended before the normal commencement of campaigning. Louis returned toVersailles on 12 April, whilst William, after distributing his troops to various garrisons, returned to The Hague.[9] The French now prepared for the rest of the 1691 campaign season with the creation of five large armies bound for five major fronts: Flanders, theMoselle, theRhine,Piedmont, andRoussillon. The largest of these forces, 49 battalions and 140 squadrons under the command Luxembourg, took station in Flanders,[9] but little was accomplished after the siege by either the French or the Grand Alliance. Luxembourg devastatedHalle at the end of May, whilst Boufflers bombarded neutralLiège in early June, but these aggressive acts had no political results.[10] Louis’ personal military advisor and expert in the art of war, theMarquis de Chamlay, argued that these victories should be followed by a field battle that would destroy the Allied army and force a conclusion to the conflict. Louvois, however, suggested a bombardment of Brussels would force the issue, but was opposed by Luxembourg and Vauban.[10]
William, meanwhile, arrived atAnderlecht on 2 June to take command of the Allied army of 63 battalions and 180 squadrons, totalling 56,000 men.[9] Luxembourg successfully manoeuvred to prevent William besieging Dinant, but subsequent manoeuvres produced little action. After William left his troops in the command of thePrince of Waldeck, Luxembourg's cavalry routed part of the Allied army atLeuze on 18 September, before all combatants returned to winter quarters.
50°27′00″N3°57′00″E / 50.4500°N 3.9500°E /50.4500; 3.9500