Battle of Saint-Denis

The Battle of Saint-Denis was fought on August 14-15 1678 between a French army commanded by the Marshal Luxembourg and a Dutch army under William III near Saint-Denis, a village outside Mons, then part of the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium). It was the last battle of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), fought after the peace was signed between France and the Netherlands in the Treaty of Nijmegen on August 10. The treaty between France and Spain ... more

The Battle of Saint-Denis was fought on August 14-15 1678 between a French army commanded by the Marshal Luxembourg and a Dutch army under William III near Saint-Denis, a village outside Mons, then part of the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium). It was the last battle of the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678), fought after the peace was signed between France and the Netherlands in the Treaty of Nijmegen on August 10. The treaty between France and Spain was not yet signed, and it was the intention of the French to make further pretexts for delay, in the hope that Mons meanwhile would fall. The report of the conclusion of peace reached the stadholder in his camp on August 13, but unofficially. On the morning of August 14 D’Estrades came personally to bring the news to Luxemburg; and the French marshal was on the point of forwarding the message to the Dutch camp, when he heard that Orange was advancing with his army to attack him, and he felt that honour compelled him to accept the challenge. A... less