The Battle of Villinghausen (or Vellinghausen, also known as the Battle of Kirchdenkern) was a battle 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 (1754 ...

fought on the 15th and 16 July 1761 in the western area of present-day Germany, between a large French army and an Anglo-German force led by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick.

Background

Two French armies, under two Marshals,

Duc de Broglie The House of Broglie (, also ; french: Maison de Broglie, or ) is a French noble family, originally Piedmontese, who migrated to France in the year 1643. History () was the name of an old Piedmontese noble family, from which were descended ...

and

Prince de Soubise Within the French nobility, the title of "Prince of Soubise" was created in 1667 when the '' sirerie'' of Soubise, Charente-Maritime was raised to a principality for the cadet branch of the House of Rohan. The first prince was François de Rohan (1 ...

, met up in July 1761, intending to force Prince Ferdinand out of

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Ge ...

, an important town. Allied reinforcements under General Spörcken arrived bringing Ferdinand's forces up to 65,000 while the combined French armies numbered around 90,000.

Battle

The Anglo-German forces lined up along a series of hills, with their left anchored by the Lippe River (in the north), and the

Ahse River Ahse is a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows into the Lippe near Hamm. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: A * Aa, left tributary of the Möhne * Aa, left t ...

in their centre. The French army advanced on 15 July, and Broglie's troops in the north made progress against German troops under Wutginau. However, British troops under Granby just south of Wutginau held their ground and the French assault stalled. Reinforcements for both sides arrived that night and Ferdinand strengthened his left at the expense of his right. The next morning, Broglie continued his attack on the Allied left, expecting Soubise to attack the weakened Allied right. However, Soubise only ordered a few small actions against the right, due in part that both French commanders were the same rank and reluctant to take orders from the other. Allied reinforcements under

Wolff Wolff is a variant of the Wolf surname which is derived from the baptismal names Wolfgang or Wolfram. List of people surnamed Wolff A * Albert Wolff (disambiguation), several people * Alex Wolff, American actor * Alexander Wolff, American writ ...

soon arrived along the Lippe River and attacked the French flank, halting Broglie's attack and forcing his men to withdraw. By about noon, the French were in full retreat and the battle was over.

Aftermath

News of the battle provoked euphoria in Britain, and led William Pitt to take a much tougher line in the ongoing peace negotiations with France.Szabo p.353 Despite the defeat the French still had a significant superiority in numbers and continued their offensive, although the two armies split again and operated independently. Despite further attempts to push an offensive strategy in Germany, the French were pushed back and finished the war in 1762 having lost the strategic post of Cassel. The Treaty of Paris led France to evacuate the remaining German territory it had occupied during the war.

Other notable officers and regiments

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

John Manners, Marquess of Granby Lieutenant-General John Manners, Marquess of Granby, (2 January 1721 – 18 October 1770) was a British soldier and the eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland. As he did not outlive his father and inherit the dukedom, he was known by his fath ...

, 21st Regiment of (Light) Dragoons (Royal Forresters) *

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

(brevet) Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Earl Cornwallis (later 1st Marquess Cornwallis), 12th Regiment of Foot *

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

George Townshend, 4th Viscount Townshend (later 1st Marquess Townshend), possibly the 24th Regiment of Foot * Pierre-François, Marquess of Rougé, lieutenant-general, who died in action at this Battle, such as his cousin Louis-Ferdinand-Joseph de Croÿ, the 6th Duke of Croÿ-Havré ( fr).

References

Bibliography

* Szabo, Franz A.J. ''The Seven Years War in Europe, 1757-1763''. Pearson, 2008.

Sources

Military History Encyclopedia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villinghausen 1761, Battle of Battle of Villinghausen Battles of the Seven Years' War Battles involving France Battles involving Great Britain Battles involving Prussia Battles in North Rhine-Westphalia 1761 in the Holy Roman Empire