Battle of Landen

The Battle of Landen, also known as Battle of Neerwinden took place on 29 July 1693, during the Nine Years' War near Landen, then in the Spanish Netherlands, now part of Belgium. A French army under Marshal Luxembourg defeated an Allied force led by William III.

By 1693, all combatants were struggling with the financial and material costs of the conflict. Hoping to end the war with a favourable negotiated peace, Louis XIV of France decided first to improve his position by taking the offensive. Having achieved local superiority in numbers, Luxembourg attacked the main Allied army, which was holding positions around Landen.

Most of the fighting took place on the Allied right, which the French assaulted three times before finally breaking through. Although forced to abandon their guns, most of the Allied army retreated in good order as the French were too exhausted to initiate a pursuit.

Although the French forced the Allies from the field, as with the Battle of Steenkerque the previous year, both sides suffered heavy casualties and Louis failed to achieve the decisive result that would force the Allies to negotiate peace. William quickly replaced his losses and in 1694 achieved numerical superiority in Flanders for the first time in the war.

Since the outbreak of the Nine Years' War in 1689, the French generally held the advantage in the Spanish Netherlands, but failed to achieve a decisive victory or divide the Grand Alliance. By 1693, the strategic situation seemed to be moving in favour of the Allies. However, all sides were now struggling with the cost of the war and catastrophic famine caused by the Little Ice Age. These factors made military operations more problematic, especially due to an increase in the average size of armies from 25,000 in 1648 to over 100,000 by 1697, levels unsustainable for pre-industrial economies.

Fighting a multi-front war on his own, Louis XIV of France was keen to reach a negotiated peace, but sought to improve his position before doing so. When the 1693 campaigning season began, Louis took the offensive in the Rhineland, Flanders and Catalonia. When the attack in Germany proved unexpectedly successful, in early June Luxembourg was ordered to reinforce it with 28,000 of his own troops and prevent the Allies doing the same. He was also ordered to capture Liège, the capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.

Luxembourg increased his field force to 116,000 by stripping garrisons from towns throughout Maritime Flanders, including Dunkirk and Ypres. On 9 June, he embarked on a series of marches, simultaneously threatening Liège, Huy and Charleroi. Maximilian of Bavaria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, insisted on covering all three, forcing the Allies to divide their forces. However, despite his numerical superiority, Luxembourg was not strong enough to besiege Liège and keep the main Allied force at bay. To further stretch French resources, William sent 15,000 men under Ferdinand Willem of Wurttemberg into Artois, and on 18 July, the latter broke through the lines of the Scheldt near Dottignies.

In response, Luxembourg ordered Villeroy to take Huy, which surrendered on 23 July. William increased the Liège garrison to 17,000, while his remaining troops established a line running in a rough semicircle from Eliksem on the right, to Neerwinden on the left. This position provided flexibility of response, but their ability to manoeuvre was restricted by the Little Geete River, three kilometres to the rear.