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| Plan der Belagerung von Brüssel, 1746G. de Dubuy, 1746(Hessischen Staatsarchiv Marburg) |
By October of 1745 the majority of Britain's
22,000 troops in Flanders were back in England fighting the Jacobite Rebellion
of 1745. The remaining part of the Confederate army was too weak to oppose the French army under Marshal de Saxe in a
field. On a night 7-8 February 1746 French invested Brussels, the key point of
Austrian Flanders. It was held by a strong garrison of 18 batts & 8
squadrons totaled about 13,000 under Governor Wenzel Anton, Prince of
Kaunitz-Rietberg. French army under de Saxe composed of 42 batts & 102
squadrons totaled about 22,000. French made two breaches in the walls & on
20 of February the garrison asked for a capitulation. French entered in the city
on 28th. They took 52 colours & 3 standards as trophies.
Allied garrison:
Infantry (18 Dutch battalions): 1st Bataillon de gardes hollandaise,
Cronstrom Foot (10 coys), Smissaert Foot (10 coys), Constant Foot (Swiss, 3
batts), Sturler Foot (Swiss, 3 batts), Planta Foot (Grissons, 3 batts), Elias Foot
(10 coys), Guÿ Foot (10 coys), Dibbetz Foot (10 coys), Aÿlva Foot (10 coys), Waldeck
Foot (10 coys).
Cavalry: Nassau (5 sqns, Dutch), Carabiniers (5 coys,
Dutch), Ligne Dragoons (3 sqns, Austrian)
Also there were Frangipani Cavalry (Dutch)
& detachments of Austrian hussars at the outbreak of the siege, but they
escaped from the city. During the siege there were 16 Austrian senior generals
in Brussels:
Feldmarschall Francisco de los Rios y de la
Tour, Marqués de Los Rios de Gutierrez;
General der Kavallerie Prince Ferdinand de
Ligne;
Feldzeugmeisters (2) Prince Claude de
Ligne & Karl Urban Graf v. Chanclos;
Feldmarschall-Leutnants (5) Maximilian
Joseph Graf v. Lalaing, Johann Dominik Graf v. Maldeghem, Wolfgang Wilhelm
v. Bournonville, Heinrich Graf v. Kallemberg & Baron de Kiseghem;
Generalfeldwachtmeisters (7) Jakob Gibson, Heinrich
Karl v. Wild, Daniel O’Conor, Georg v. Tundefelt, Robert Joseph Graf
de La Cerda de Villalonga & Machugno
