Siege of Bergen op Zoom (1747)

For other uses, see Siege of Bergen op Zoom (disambiguation).
Siege of Bergen op Zoom
Part of the War of the Austrian Succession

The assault on Bergen op Zoom
DateJuly – September 1747
Location
Bergen op Zoom, Dutch Republic
Result French victory
Belligerents
  France
Commanders and leaders
 Count Löwendal
Strength
~10,000 ~30,000-35,000 (by rotation)[1]
Casualties and losses
5,000[2]-6,000[3]
292 pieces of cannon and 17 supply ships captured[4]		 10,000[5]–20,000[3]

The siege of Bergen op Zoom took place during the Austrian War of Succession, when a French army, under the command of Count Löwendal and the overall direction of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, laid siege and captured the strategic Dutch border fortress of Bergen op Zoom on the border of Brabant and Zeeland in 1747.[6] The fortress was defended by Dutch, Austrians, British, Hanoverians and Hessians that supported the Pragmatic Sanction.

Bergen op Zoom in 1747

After seven years of brutal war, both sides in this conflict were suffering from weariness of the war. Although tentative peace initiatives had been put forward, neither side was yet willing to make meaningful concessions.[7] The capture of Bergen op Zoom would be a signal defeat for the Dutch and would open the door for an invasion of the Dutch Netherlands. The siege was the center of attention in Europe and news of it followed eagerly in numerous reports with the Pragmatic Allies confident that the fortress would withstand the French and the French determined it should fall.[8]

  1. ^ Bodart 1908, p. 212.
  2. ^ Skrine, p. 337
  3. ^ a b Van Nimwegen 2002, p. 329.
  4. ^ Vie du maréchal Löwendal. Paris: Bachelin-Deflorenne. 1868. p. 111-112.
  5. ^ Van Alphen et al. 2019, p. 112.
  6. ^ Lodge p. 271.
  7. ^ Browning. Austrian Succession, pp. 317–319.
  8. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 17, London, 1747. pp. 328–329, 401–402, 409–412, 464–465. Cust: Annals, V.II, p. 121, "The fate of Bergen-op-Zoom, on which the eyes of all Europe were fixed...".