Battle of Stekene facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Stekene
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession
Date 27 June 1703 Location Stekene, Spanish Netherlands, present-day Belgium Result Dutch victory
Belligerents
Dutch Republic	France Bourbon Spain
Commanders and leaders
Karel Willem Sparre	Count de la Mothe
Strength
7,000	French soldiers: 2,500 Local farmers: 1,500-6,000
Casualties and losses
900–1,300 killed or wounded	700 killed or wounded 330 captured

The Battle of Stekene happened on June 27, 1703. It was a fight during the War of the Spanish Succession. A Dutch army of 7,000 soldiers, led by Karel Willem Sparre, attacked the French and Spanish defenses. These defenses stretched from Ostend to Antwerp.

At Stekene, about 2,500 French soldiers, led by La Mothe, defended the lines. They were joined by 1,500 to 6,000 local farmers. After three hours of fighting, the French left their positions. This allowed the Dutch to take over the defenses. The Dutch then attacked the village of Stekene itself. The local farmers fought very bravely there.

What Led to the Battle

The War of the Spanish Succession started in the Netherlands in 1702. The Allies captured the city of Kaiserswerth. The French army also tried to attack Nijmegen, but they failed.

Marlborough was a very important Allied commander. He had a large army of 60,000 men. He decided to attack the Spanish Netherlands. His army captured fortresses along the Meuse River. These included Venlo, Stevensweert, Roermond, and Liège.

The French commanders mostly watched these sieges. Their main goal was to protect the region of Brabant. They built a long line of trenches and defenses. This line went from Antwerp to Huy.

In 1703, the fighting began with the siege of Bonn. Menno van Coehoorn's army captured Bonn in May. After this, Marlborough and Coehoorn's armies joined forces. They met with Ouwerkerk's army near Maastricht. They wanted to stop the French from helping Bonn. For a while, nothing major happened. Then, Marlborough decided to break through the French defensive lines.

Marlborough wanted to attack Ostend and Huy. He hoped this would make the French move their troops away from Antwerp. But the Dutch leaders did not agree with his plan. So, Marlborough decided to break through the lines near Diest. He would lead the main army of 55,000 men with Ouwerkerk.

At the same time, another group would attack the lines near Dutch Flanders. This group was led by generals Coehoorn and Karel Willem Sparre [nl]. A third group, led by Count Wassenaer Obdam, would try to surround Antwerp. They would move towards the village of Ekeren.

The Attack on the Lines

On June 27, Coehoorn and Sparre began their attack on the French lines. Coehoorn attacked near Kallo. His soldiers easily captured a small fort and broke through the defenses. They did not lose many men.

While Coehoorn was fighting near the Scheldt River, Sparre made a clever move. He marched his troops between Sluis and Sas van Gent. This was meant to trick the French commander, Count de la Motte. Sparre started marching towards Bruges in the morning. This made it look like he would attack there.

But in the evening, Sparre suddenly changed direction. He led his army towards the Land of Waas. This brought them close to the enemy's defenses at Stekene. About seven battalions of foot soldiers and a few thousand farmers were guarding the lines there. Sparre decided this was the best place to attack, even with so many defenders.

Around four in the morning, the Dutch cannons started firing. They mainly aimed at destroying the wooden fences called palisades. The cannons probably did not do much damage to the earth defenses or scare the defenders. Sparre got his troops ready and gave them a speech. Between six and seven in the morning, the Dutch attacked the French lines.

These defenses had a small river in front of them instead of a moat. The grenadiers and pioneers went first. They filled the river with bundles of sticks called fascines. They also threw hand grenades. The rest of the foot soldiers followed in three groups. Sparre led the middle group. Lauder led the right, and Vassy led the left.

Even though the enemy was shooting at them, the Dutch soldiers filled the river. This made a path for them to cross. They fought directly with the defenders. The fighting was long and hard. Finally, the defenders retreated, and the Dutch took control of the defensive line.

This battle was very costly for the Dutch. They had about 1,100 soldiers killed or wounded. Many of these losses happened when the battle was already slowing down. This was because the farmers in Stekene village fired heavily at Sparre's army from their houses. These farmers fought very stubbornly. General Sparre ordered his soldiers to fight very fiercely against anyone who kept resisting, to make sure the enemy would stop fighting quickly.

Aftermath

It is not clear why Coehoorn and Sparre did not then move west of Antwerp. They could have surrounded the city and met up with Obdam's army. Obdam's army had approached Antwerp from the other side of the Scheldt River. Instead, Coehoorn and Sparre's armies stayed in the Land of Waas after their victory.

The other Allied armies did not have much success. Marlborough and Ouwerkerk's main army started its plan too early. By the end of June, they had used up all the supplies around Maastricht and Liège. So, they had to move somewhere else. Obdam's army, near Ekeren, barely escaped being destroyed. A French group under Louis-François de Boufflers attacked them in the Battle of Ekeren.

After the battles of Stekene and Ekeren, the Allies did capture Huy, Limbourg, and Geldern. However, Marlborough could not get Villeroy's main French army to fight a big battle. Marlborough worried that if they didn't have a clear victory in the Low Countries, the Dutch would stop sending troops to Germany. The Holy Roman Emperor there was in a very difficult military situation.

Sources