The Battle of Kloster Kampen (or Kloster Kamp, or Campen) was a tactical French victory over a British and allied army in the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. The Allied forces were driven from the field.

Prelude

During the autumn of 1760

Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

, the commander of the allied army saw the French were threatening

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

. To create a diversion he dispatched 20,000 men command by the Erbprinz of Brunswick to draw the French army away and to the west. The French commander prepared to defend the town of

Wesel Wesel () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district. Geography Wesel is situated at the confluence of the Lippe River and the Rhine. Division of the city Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighove ...

on the east bank of the

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burning the bridge over the Rhine at the mouth of the

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The ...

while Marquis de Castries hurried with extra reinforcements to relieve the garrison. The Prince of Brunswick set up a formal siege of Wesel building two pontoon bridges over the river. He resolved to meet de Castries' army round the Kloster Kampen area west of the river. Major General George Augustus Eliott commanded the approach vanguard, 2 squadrons of Prussian Hussars, the

Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalgam ...

, the

Inniskilling Dragoons The 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first raised in 1689 as Sir Albert Cunningham's Regiment of Dragoons. One of the regiment's most notable battles was the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690. It became the ...

along with the 87th and 88th Highlanders. The main attacking force comprised 2 battalions of grenadiers, the 20th Foot, the 23rd Royal Welch Fusiliers, the

25th Foot The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's Ow ...

, 2 battalions of Hanoverians and 2 battalions of Hessians. Behind the main body of the army was a force of cavalry, the

10th Dragoons 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

and 10 squadrons of Hanoverian and Hessian cavalry. A reserve force of the

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

, 33rd and 51st Foot with 5 Hessian battalions lay some miles behind the main body of the army.

Battle

The battle began in the middle of the night when the army's vanguard drove the French out of Kloster Kampen convent and took the bridge over the canal. The sounds of the guns as the French resisted the attack alerted the main body of the French army of the attack. Dawn broke as the British and German Foot regiments moved into the attack, the Highlander regiments outflanking the French army which drove the French back. The Marquis de Castries brought up his reserves and rallied the retreating regiments then launched a counter-offensive against the allied foot. The French attack broke up the formation of the British and German regiments. The French drove back the British and German regiments back across the canal. The allied reserves were brought up but due to the lengthy distance this took time and the French pressed their assault. At the western end of the canal, Eliott led the three British cavalry regiments in a charge which disrupted the French advance and enabled the retreating allied foot to regain the North bank. The reserves formed a cordon which allowed the retreating allied foot to re-form. It was at this point which the Prince of Brunswick ordered the allies to retreat over the Rhine. However, upon reaching the river he discovered that the pontoon bridge needed for his crossing had been swept away and two days were needed to effect the crossing. The French did not follow up on their success, permitting the allies to complete their retreat over the Rhine.

Aftermath

The Allied defeat caused disappointment in Britain where many had expected better news, following the large expansion of Frederick's army. It led some to question Ferdinand's leadership of the Allied army, although Ferdinand had been leading an outnumbered force during the campaign and would go on to win further victories at

Warburg Warburg (; Westphalian: ''Warberich'' or ''Warborg'') is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany on the river Diemel near the three-state point shared by Hessen, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in Höxter distri ...

, Vellinghausen, and Wilhelmsthal, successfully defending Hanover from invasion.

References

Literature

* Geschichte des Siebenjährigen Krieges in einer Reihe von Vorlesungen, mit Benutzung authentischer Quellen, bearbeitet von den Offizieren des großen Generalstabs, Vierter Theil: Der Feldzug von 1760, als Manuscript zum Gebrauche der Armee abgedruckt, Berlin 1834; p. 386ff.
online at google books S. 416ff
*

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kloster Kampen 1760, Battle Of

Battle of Kloster Kampen The Battle of Kloster Kampen (or Kloster Kamp, or Campen) was a tactical French victory over a British and allied army in the Seven Years' War. The Allied forces were driven from the field. Prelude During the autumn of 1760 Duke Ferdinand of B ...