The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought between the forces of the Pragmatic Army – comprising mainly Dutch, British, and Hanoverian troops, as well a relatively small contingent of Austrians under the command of the Duke of Cumberland – and a French army under the titular command of King Louis XV of France, with actual field command held by Maurice de Saxe, commander of Louis XV's forces in the Low Countries.
When the two armies met on the field they were approximately equal in numbers.[1] Although there is not complete agreement among historians on the exact numbers, there is general agreement that there were about 50,000 men on each side with the French having more cavalry and the allies having more infantry. Some historians put the French as more numerous while others make the allies more numerous.[2]
Complete agreement on the order of battle, sizes of the armies, precise returns on casualties is not possible as official returns are few and made by different countries with differing criteria and not all are made at the same time so that variations and disagreements will occur even in those returns of the same army. For example, Skrine points out his book in Fontenoy and Great Britain's share in the war of the Austrian Succession that most of the British troops that were listed as missing, in initial returns, turned out to have been killed or wounded.[3] There are detailed, contemporary, official returns in various forms available for most troops in both armies except for the French cavalry for which there are some lists of officer casualties but the returns for the rank and file were apparently not made and the estimate generally accepted for their losses is the one made by Voltaire shortly after the battle. Wherever possible, names of units and numbers of casualties are given without any attempt to reconcile or synthesize the various sources.
- ^ Browning: Austrian Succession,p. 212
- ^ Browning: Austrian Succession, 212, 392 Browning states both Colin and Chandler give the allies the larger force. Strengths differ depending on source. Weigley puts Allies strength at 46,000 and the French at 50,000 in a somewhat brief and garbled account without any attribution, p.204, So too, Black p.66. Townshend, Sir Charles Vere Ferrers. The military life of Field-Marshal George first marquess Townshend, London, 1901, pp. 51-52, gives the British as 21,000. Other sources put the figure of around 52,000–53,000. Duncan, Francis. History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, London, 1879, Vol.1, p. 127, "The strength of the allies did not exceed 53,000".
- ^ Skrine, p.190.