Battle of Melle

Battle of Melle
	Part of the War of the Austrian Succession
Date	9 July 1745
Location	Melle, Austrian Netherlands
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France	Austria; Great Britain; Hanover; Dutch Republic
Commanders and leaders
Nicholas Joseph Balthazar de l'Anglade, Vicomte du Chayla	Philipp Freiherr von Moltke
Strength
6,000 to 8,000	4,000 to 6,000
Casualties and losses
200 killed or wounded	500 killed or wounded; 1,500 captured

The Battle of Melle was an encounter battle fought on 9 July 1745, during the War of the Austrian Succession, between forces of the Pragmatic Allies and the French. After their defeat at Fontenoy in May, the Duke of Cumberland, Allied commander in Flanders, was under pressure from the Austrians to defend Brussels. He also wanted to protect the key port of Ghent, a major supply depot threatened by the French advance into West Flanders.^[10]

Cumberland compromised by employing his main force to cover Brussels, while sending 4,000 men under the Hanoverian general Moltke to reinforce Ghent. On the way, it ran into a French detachment under General du Chai, positioned near the town of Melle to prevent such an attempt; the Allies were driven off with heavy losses and Ghent surrendered on 13 July.^[10]

^
- "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis..." (Ripley & Dana 1879, p. 250).
- On the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)" (Vinkhuijzen collection 2011).
- "The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour" (Chisholm 1911, p. 460).
^
- "The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire . The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black" (Chisholm 1911, p. 461)
- "The imperial banner was a golden yellow cloth...bearing a black eagle...The double-headed eagle was finally established by Sigismund as regent..." (Smith 1975, pp. 114–119)
^ Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire ...., Volume 1, Paris, MDCCLXX, p. 275.
^ Screen, J.O.E., The Action at Melle 9 July 1745, Society for Army Historical Research. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research..., Volume 77, Issues 309–312, London, 1999, p. 89, gives 7,500: 4,500 infantry in two brigades and 3 brigades of cavalry, 24 squadrons totaling 3,000. Similarly, Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, gives 4,500 infantry in two brigades and 3,000 cavalry in 24 squadrons.
^ Skrine and Smollet give 4,000. Their numbers are mostly drawn from reports from the field such as Abercromby's and Bligh's. These reports normally state rank and file which technically excludes: officers, ensigns, NCOs etc. usually another 10% see: Beatson, Robert. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783, London, 1804, Appendix p. 176 which shows the differentiation between 'rank and file' and others in a regiment in the Louisburg expedition.
^ Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, Saxe gives the allies 6,000 at Alost. Essay on the art of war..., London, MDCCLXI, p. 391 gives 6,000. This seems to be the absolute upper limit, given the units known to be there.
^ Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, gives 200.
^ Chrystin, Jean-Baptiste. Les délices des Pays-Bas, Paris, MDCCLXXXVI, Vol. II., p. 323
^ Skrine, Francis Henry. Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741–48. London, Edinburgh, 1906, p. 229
^ ^a ^b Atkinson, CT (1933). "Names, numbers and errors; Tongres and Melle: Two Stories Amended". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 12 (45): 36. JSTOR 44219500.

[1] 
"...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis..." (Ripley & Dana 1879, p. 250).

On the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)" (Vinkhuijzen collection 2011).

"The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour" (Chisholm 1911, p. 460).

[2] "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis..." (Ripley & Dana 1879, p. 250).

[3] On the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)" (Vinkhuijzen collection 2011).

[4] "The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour" (Chisholm 1911, p. 460).

[2] 
"The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire . The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black" (Chisholm 1911, p. 461)

"The imperial banner was a golden yellow cloth...bearing a black eagle...The double-headed eagle was finally established by Sigismund as regent..." (Smith 1975, pp. 114–119)

[6] "The Austrian imperial standard has, on a yellow ground, the black double-headed eagle, on the breast and wings of which are imposed shields bearing the arms of the provinces of the empire . The flag is bordered all round, the border being composed of equal-sided triangles with their apices alternately inwards and outwards, those with their apices pointing inwards being alternately yellow and white, the others alternately scarlet and black" (Chisholm 1911, p. 461)

[7] "The imperial banner was a golden yellow cloth...bearing a black eagle...The double-headed eagle was finally established by Sigismund as regent..." (Smith 1975, pp. 114–119)

[3] Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire ...., Volume 1, Paris, MDCCLXX, p. 275.

[4] Screen, J.O.E., The Action at Melle 9 July 1745, Society for Army Historical Research. Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research..., Volume 77, Issues 309–312, London, 1999, p. 89, gives 7,500: 4,500 infantry in two brigades and 3 brigades of cavalry, 24 squadrons totaling 3,000. Similarly, Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, gives 4,500 infantry in two brigades and 3,000 cavalry in 24 squadrons.

[5] Skrine and Smollet give 4,000. Their numbers are mostly drawn from reports from the field such as Abercromby's and Bligh's. These reports normally state rank and file which technically excludes: officers, ensigns, NCOs etc. usually another 10% see: Beatson, Robert. Naval and Military Memoirs of Great Britain, from 1727 to 1783, London, 1804, Appendix p. 176 which shows the differentiation between 'rank and file' and others in a regiment in the Louisburg expedition.

[6] Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, Saxe gives the allies 6,000 at Alost. Essay on the art of war..., London, MDCCLXI, p. 391 gives 6,000. This seems to be the absolute upper limit, given the units known to be there.

[7] Pichat, H. La campagne du maréchal de. Saxe dans les Flandres; de Fontenoy. (mai 1745) à la prise de Bruxelles (février 1746) suivi d'une correspondance inédite de Maurice de Saxe pendant cette campagne, Paris 1909, gives 200.

[8] Chrystin, Jean-Baptiste. Les délices des Pays-Bas, Paris, MDCCLXXXVI, Vol. II., p. 323

[9] Skrine, Francis Henry. Fontenoy and Great Britain's Share in the War of the Austrian Succession 1741–48. London, Edinburgh, 1906, p. 229

[a36-10] Atkinson, CT (1933). "Names, numbers and errors; Tongres and Melle: Two Stories Amended". Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research. 12 (45): 36. JSTOR 44219500.

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