Background:
The Battle of Oudenarde (or Oudenaarde) was a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 11 July 1708 between the forces of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire on the one side and those of France on the other. It took place at Oudenaarde (now in Belgium) and was a great victory for the allies.
Marlborough made one of the most inspired forced marches in history, taking the city on 10 July. This forced the French commanders to attempt simply to march across the Scheldt and thereby take the city of Oudenaarde.
Cadogan, a superb Irish cavalry commander, ordered some dragoons, under Danish General Jørgen Rantzau, to take prisoners from the French advance guard. Many of those troops escaped and alerted Lieutenant General Charles-Armand de Gontaut, duc de Biron, who commanded the vanguard, of the presence of Allied troops on the west bank.
When de Biron advanced, he was disagreeably surprised by the large number of Allied cavalry already across the river, along with the approaching Allied infantry. Although he was ordered to attack by Vendôme, he hesitated upon seeing the reinforced line of 20 battalions (including the four that had been left to guard the pontoon bridges). Biron’s own forces comprised only 7 battalions and 20 squadrons. He had been given reliable advice that cavalry could not negotiate the marshy terrain in the area and decided not to attempt a crossing. At this time, Eugène, along with 20 squadrons of Prussian cavalry, moved across the river and occupied crucial positions.
While Biron’s troops were manoeuvring, the leading British infantry brigade had arrived, under the inexperienced but gifted John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll. Cadogan, with authority from Marlborough, attacked Biron’s 7 battalions (of Swiss mercenaries) with his soldiers (mainly cavalry). The isolated Swiss mercenaries were immediately pushed back and the Allied force destroyed Biron’s squadrons, until they reached a large mass of French cavalry, at which point they were forced to retire, outnumbered. The force which performed this action was Rantzau’s cavalry, with the future King George II of England among them.
Burgundy, making another mistake, decided to attack (over protests by Vendôme). The French right wing began to attack the Allied positions near Eine, while the left wing (for an unknown reason) remained stationary near Huise. A very strong position was held by the Allied left wing. 28 cavalry squadrons protected the right flank of Cadogan’s infantry, which would receive the attack (which proceeded at about 4:00 p.m.).
Burgundy ordered the assault, which landed on Prussian cavalry squadrons under Dubislav Gneomar von Natzmer. Although hard fighting ensued, the attack was dispersed. Then, Vendôme made a dubious decision and led an attack of twelve regiments, fighting hand-to-hand with a half-pike. This meant that while one commander (Burgundy) was in his headquarters, with no view of the battle, the other was fighting, with no possibility of control.
Again Marlborough ordered a forced march. This time, though, he ordered 11,000 troops to hold the main crossing point across the Scheldt, under the command of his Quartermaster General, William Cadogan. Cadogan’s force built 5 additional pontoon bridges to allow Marlborough to get his 80,000-strong army across the river, until French foragers discovered the allied presence around 09:00 AM.
Marlborough moved his headquarters to the left flank, giving Eugène command of the right flank (which still checked the left wing of the French army). While the right was under pressure, Marlborough made a brilliant command decision: he placed 18 newly arrived Hessian and Hanoverian battalions in the left flank, while replacing 20 of Prussian General Carl von Lottum’s battalions, moving them to Eugène’s support. This moved fresh troops to the critical left, while reinforcing the right flank (and resting Lottum’s troops). Marlborough then began formulating a new plan of double encirclement. He had the entire Dutch Army, under Field Marshal Count Hendrik Overkirk, an experienced military officer. His force was unable to cross the collapsed pontoon bridges near Oudenaarde, forcing him to use the stone bridges in the city, delaying him for an hour. Marlborough went ahead with his plan, having Eugène’s cavalry charge towards Burgundy’s headquarters. The French Household Cavalry, the Maison du Roi, were able to turn them back and Marlborough, with only the 18 Hessian and Hanoverian battalions, was unable to do much other than keep the French right in check. At about 20:30, Overkirk’s troops had arrived and flanked the French right wing. This was in conjunction with a dual attack by Marlborough and Eugène. Overkirk’s manoeuvre was successful, with much of the French army being routed or captured but there was not enough daylight to complete the manoeuvre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Oudenarde
The Game:
The Battle of Oudenarde was a rare encounter battle in the War of Spanish Succession, with both armies crossing to the left bank of the Scheldt River and meeting in rolling, open terrain outside the fortress city of Oudenarde. Quartermaster General Cadogan led the Confederation advanced guard, making a 15 mile night march and erecting five pontoon bridges over the river (off table). Facing Cadogan’s force near the village of Eyne was French General Biron’s advanced guard of Swiss infantry and French dragoons. These forces comprised only about 10% of their respective armies — all the remaining forces entered the table as reinforcements, over the next eight hours (16 game turns).
I adapted the Age of Honour scenario for our game. The original scenario can be found at: 77560781 Battle of Oudenarde | Cavalry | Flanking Maneuver
To fit our table at our ground scale (1 inch = 75 yards) I left the river and marshes shown on the southern side of the map off the table, and also left off the western part of the map beyond Oudenarde.
I used the scenario’s order of battle, with 360 men to an infantry base and 180 men to a cavalry base, and converted it to our ratio of 500 men per infantry base and 250 men per cavalry base.
I used the scenario time scale of 1/2 hour per turn, and used the arrival schedule for reinforcements as written, which meant the reinforcements reached our table a bit faster owing to our cutting off the southern side of the map — the effect of this was roughly equal for both sides. I extended the game for four more turns (22 total) because civil twilight in Holland lasts until 10:40 PM on 11 July (using the modern calendar), so the two sides could have seen well enough to fight at least two hours longer than the scenario states. This also gave Overkirk’s flank attack enough time to have an effect in the game. I also used the commander’s names as written, even though my other sources give different names in many cases
In the game, Cadogan’s front line brigades engaged the Swiss with musket fire across the Diepenbeck Stream, and forced the Swiss to back away. Rather than continuing to advance across the steam, Cadogan’s force, now under the senior command of Eugene of Savoy, halted at the stream and watched as several columns of French infantry and cavalry entered the table. This flank of the battlefield would remain inactive the rest of the day, occupied by the majority of the French infantry including the elite French and Swiss guards.
Bulow’s division of Dutch and Hanoverian cavalry extended Cadogan’s line to the left, and was faced in the center of the table by the dismounted dragoons of Biron’s force, who were serving as a screening force along the stream. Lumley’s division of elite British cavalry swung further to the left, and was met by the cavalry of the French right wing on the heights of the Boser Couter. After an initial setback, the British cavalry, overseen by Marlborough himself, gained the upper hand, winning a succession of charges, and pushed the French cavalry away from the high ground. This enabled Dutch Field Marshal Overkirk to march his wing of the army unseen up to and beyond the Boser Couter to outflank the French army.
Meanwhile, Marshal Vendome and the Duke of Burgundy, in joint command of the French army, funneled most of their brigades into the center of the battlefield as they arrived, where they were packed so tightly it was difficult to deploy them all. At one point, the French in the center were deployed ten lines deep. Late in the battle, Argyle’s British infantry division, supported by Lottum’s Dutch and Prussian division, engaged the French infantry in the center, causing greater casualties to the French, although Webb’s brigade was forced to retreat after being charged frontally by a French brigade and in the flank by the Cologne Guards.
At about 8:00 in the evening, Overkirk’s flank attack, led by Wurtemberg’s large division of Dutch and Danish cavalry and Tilly’s Danish infantry brigades, entered the table behind the French right wing. The only French force opposing them was a thin line of cavalry, most of which was inferior mounted dragoons. At this point we called the game, as Overkirk was in a superior position and the French army was forced to retreat. It would have been interesting to play the last four turns of the game to see how well the French could have managed the retreat, but it had already been a long day of gaming.
At the end of the game, the Confederation army led by Marlborough, Eugene, and Overkirk controlled the majority of the table, and caused 34 victory points of casualties to the French, while only suffering 12 points of casualties, and thus fulfilled the victory conditions of the scenario. In the historic battle, Marlborough’s army suffered 3,000 casualties while inflicting 6,000 killed and wounded on the French and taking 9,000 prisoners. Had the final four turns of the game been played, the Confederation players would have come close to achieving the historic five-to-one ratio.
Battle honors on the British side were awarded to Pentz’s brigade of Hanoverian horse, which charged four times in the center and defeated the elite French Maison du Roi and Gendarmes cavalry, leaving them spent. Ross’ large brigade of elite British dragoons was also honored for charging repeatedly and defeating several French cavalry brigades on the Boser Couter. Honors for the French went to the Cologne Guards, whose flank attack achieved the only victory over British infantry on the day. French General Demagnac was also covered with glory for personally leading a successful cavalry charge against Palmes’ brigade of elite British cavalry, and Demagnac further distinguished himself by continuing to command the French right wing cavalry despite being wounded in action.
In the game, the Confederation army had 111 infantry bases and 110 cavalry bases, representing 83,000 men in 12 divisions and 46 brigades. The French army had 113 infantry bases and 122 cavalry bases, representing 87,000 men in 10 divisions and 56 brigades. Both armies used roughly 1,000 15mm figures.
- Sammler Jacoby