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Edinburgh Wargames

Belgian Battlefields

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Here are a few holiday snaps. To the uninitiated they might just look like a selection of muddy fields. However, to the military history geek, they're where it all happened.

I've pretty much tramped over a lot of Belgian battlefields in the past, so this little selection are a little more obscure than most. If anyone genuinely wants more shots from one of these battlefields, then just drop me an e-mail, and I'll see what I can rustle up.

I only had one spare day, so I concentrated on three main periods - The War of the Grand Alliance (1688-97), the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), and the French Revolutionary War (1792-1802).

I've actually visited all of the Hundred Days battlefields before - Waterloo, Ligny, Quatre Bras and Wavre (all 1815), so I gave them a miss. I've also toured all the main Marlburian ones (Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet), plus a few smaller ones from the same period (Walcourt and Wynendael). Similarly I've "done" the First World War sites, including Mons, Ypres and Passchendaele, so I didn't bother with those again this time. The trouble is, you can pretty much stay in southern Belgium for a month, and still not manage to tour everything. You really have to pick your muddy fields wisely! I really concentrated on three battlefields, with another passing glance at Ramillies as I drove past.

Left: the Malplaquet Monument

Neerwinden (1693) - also (1793)!

Looted from Charles S. Grant's From Pike to Shot, 1685-1720 - thanks Charles!

Above: Between Elissem & Laer, looking east (Area where Scots were deployed)

Between Neerwinden & Runsdorf, looking north (view from Allied line)

Above Left: North of Rumsdorf & West of Neerlanden, looking south. Above Right: The Little Geete at Neerhespen

What struck me about this battlefield was how gentle the slopes were - everything was very rolling, but just enough to protect William's troops behind Neerwinden from artillery fire. Otherwise everything looked very open - very difficult terrain to replicate faithfully on a wargames table!

Ramillies (1706)

Above: Between Autre Eglise and Offus, looking south (The direction Orkney attacked from)

Above: Between Ramillies and Franquenee, looking west (the site of the major cavalry action)

I've visited Ramillies before, so this was a very cursory revisit. Still, its an excellent battlefield to visit, because the terrain varies so much. The open plain south of Ramillies is completely different from the rolling area of wooded streams and lanes to the north and east. It also hasn't changed much.

Fleurus (1690), (1794) & - as Ligny - (1815)!

Fleurus, 1690, from David Lynn's The Wars of Louis XIV

I didn't have much time, and three battlefields in one to tour, so I pretty much ignored Ligny (1815), and only paid lip-service to touring the 1690 battlefield, even though it overlay the 1794 one. my main focus was on the climactic battle of the French Revolutionary War.

Left: : St. Amant, viewed from the south

Map from Fleurus, 26 Juin 1794, by Alain Arcq (excellent guide, but Fench text, available from Caliver Books). I cut out the bit on the left, where the Prince of Orange's Dutch army was fought to a standstill.

A farm on the north-western side of Wagnalee

Entrance to the Ferme Chassart, a French stronghold during the battle

Road between Mellet and Fleurus, looking north - the direction the Austrians attacked from. This is where Lefebvre slowed the Austrian advance towards Heppignies, then where Jourdan launched his counter-attack.

Malplaquet (1709)

Left: The site of the most westerly of the redoubts, guarding the French centre. This sector was defended by the Rgt. de Champagne. view from about 500 yards north-north-east of Camp Perdu, with ther emains of the Bois de Sars on the left, looking north.

Above: The copse-like remains of the Bois de Sars, viewed from the road leading north from Malplaquet (where the Malplaquet monument now stands). This was the ground crossed (from right to left) by Orkney during the final stages of the battle. Lottum's attack was launched from here, towards the woods in the distance.

Above Left: The ground south of the Wood of Tiry and Blairon Farm, across which the Dutch launched two near-suicidal attacks against the French right. Above Right: Plaque to the Swiss Infantry in French & Dutch service, on the roadside south of Blairon farm - site of the failed counter-attack by the Swiss Guards.

Left: All that remains of the Bois de Sars is a few scattered copses of trees. This is where Marlborough's troops battered their way through the defences on the French left. View from the angle in the French lines north of Camp Perdu, looking north. This was close to where the French deployed a massed battery of 20 guns, targeted to sweep the frontal approaches to their main line.

One thing this day's tour did for me was to encourage me to revisit my Grand Alliance and French Revolutionary collections. We've also got a large-scale refight of Malplaquet planned for September next year, so my Williamites will also be doing service as Marlburian troops for the day! After touring the battlefield I really have to tip my hat to the Allied troops, who managed to fight their way through such formidable French defences in a real meat-grinder of a battle. Just standing at the re-entrant south of Blairon Farm where the French hid a massed 20 gun battery and scoured the advancing Dutch is enough to give you the historical shivers! Of course, that's one of the really great things about "walking the ground"...

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or, if these might tempt you into a new period, try jumping to:

The War of the Grand Alliance The Age of Bonaparte