The Battle of Fontenoy of 11 May 1745 was a French victory over the Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian "Pragmatic Army"
in the War of Austrian Succession. It was fought near Fontenoy in the Austrian Netherlands in present day Belgium.

Preliminary maneuvers

French forces, under Marshal Maurice de Saxe had outmaneuvered the Allies by feigning an advance on the city of Mons which diverted allied forces. De Saxe then marched his main army on Tournai, defended by a Dutch garrison of 7,000 and invested it. With the French besieging Tournai, the allies were compelled to come to its relief as the city was the gateway to Flanders. An Anglo-Hanoverian, Dutch and Austrian army under the Duke of Cumberland advanced to Tournai. The allied army was known as the Pragmatic Army because it was a confederation of states that supported the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 agreements to recognize Maria-Theresa as Empress of the Holy Roman Empire.

The battle

De Saxe had deployed the French on a slight rise in a strong position designed to compensate for the somewhat lesser quality of his infantry compared to the British foot. The King of France, Louis XV, was present on the field. The French line ran at a right angle with the village of Fontenoy as its apex and fortified linchpin. To either side of Fontenoy were positions that were defensively enhanced with redoubts and field fortifications. The French right was in the village of Antoing and rested on the River Scheldt, their left on the woods, Le Bois de Barry. De Saxe chose and designed the position to channel the Allies' attack into the clear area between Fontenoy and the woods.

The Pragmatic Army obliged him with Marshall Koningseck leading the Austrian contingent against Antoing, Prince Waldeck assaulted Fontenoy with the Dutch and Cumberland, leading the main attack force of British and Hanoverians advanced into the funnel between Fontenoy and the woods with a column of some 15,000 troops and 20 cannon. Waldeck's two assaults on Fontenoy on the left of the British were thrown back and Ingoldsby on the British right flank failed to attack and take the redoubt d'Eu, leaving that flank of the British exposed to its fire.

As the British and Hanoverians deployed for the advance the French pushed forward numerous, small 3-pounder battalion guns and the fire from these was added to the bombardment from the Redoubt d'Eu. Cumberland responded by deploying 7 of the Guard's Brigade's 3-pounder battalion guns to push them back. The Duc de Grammont, of Dettingen infamy, was killed by a shot from these. As the column advanced up a slight rise, the British brought up a battery of twelve 6-pound cannon to the front of the column at such close range that the French infantry advanced to attempt to take the guns. Both sides exchanged fire at close range and the the French recoiled. It was at this time and place that the legendary and disputed exchange between the French and British Guards took place. Opposite the 1st Foot Guards were the Gardes Françaises. This French regiment had given way at the Battle of Dettingen and in their precipitate retreat had tipped up one of the bridges of boats, causing many soldiers to drown. Sir Charles Hay is reputed to have mockingly doffed his hat and bowed to the French officers saying: "We are the English Guards. We remember you from Dettingen and intend to make you swim the Scheldt as you swam the Main." The alternative story, according to Voltaire, is that Sir Charles Hay said "Gentlemen of the French Guard, fire first!", the French officer Count d'Anterroches replied: "Gentlemen, we never fire first, fire yourselves."
Against all expectation the British advance passed Fontenoy in a great, deep column, known as the 'Infernal Column' with the English on the right, led by the Foot Guard regiments and the Hanoverians on the left. The two lines of infantry became compressed into three as they funneled forward. Most of the Hanoverians of the column's left making the third line as they shifted away from Fontenoy. Initially, the superior discipline of the infantry compensated for the column's exposed flanks. However, de Saxe was prepared for this possibility. After the French and Swiss were pushed back by the assault of heavy and steady volley fire of the allies, Marshal de Saxe ordered several counter-attacks by both cavalry and infantry. The column was forced to retire back to the edge of the rise in some confusion and then dressed its ranks and advanced again.

Saxe had rallied and reorganized the Gardes Françaises and other units. Together with fresh troops from the flanks they were sent forward in coordinated attacks. These culminated in furious charges on the British Guards' right by the "Wild Geese" of the Irish Brigade. The Irish Brigade; composed of the regiments of Clare, Lally, Dillon, Berwick, Ruth and Bulkeley, as well as Fitz-James' horse; showed particular bravery in the battle, a sergeant of Bulkeley capturing an English flag, a colour from the Coldstream Guards. They drove the British back with the battle-cry, Cuimhnidh ar Luimneach agus ar feall na Sasanach!.. The Irish Brigade suffered some 500 casualties on the day while capturing 20 cannon. The Swiss Guard attacked on the Hanoverian left and French Guards to the front of the column and finally the cavalry of the Maison du Roi. The fighting was extremely close and deadly, some British regiments lost half their strength such as the Royal Welsh Fusiliers which lost 322 soldiers, over 200 killed. The French counter-attacks eventually halted and then repelled the British column, taking the field.
During the battle a regiment of Scottish Highlanders, the 42nd Regiment of Foot under Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet had distinguished themselves both skirmishing on the right flank near Redoubt d'Eu where they used "their own way of fighting", each time they received the French fire Col. Sir Robert Munro ordered his men to "clap to the ground" and while the enemy re-loaded they charged forward and later in the second attack with the Dutch on the town of Fontenoy. The 42nd formed a part of the rearguard of the retreating army and when a strong body of French horse which came galloping up behind were within a few yards of the Highlanders, they received them with fire so well directed and so effectual that nearly half of them were dismounted and the rest rode off not attacking again. One account states that the Highlanders cut off some of the enemy's horses' heads with their Claymores.

Aftermath

The victory allowed the French to successfully complete their siege of Tournai and capture numerous other Flemish towns throughout the rest of 1745. These included: Oudenarde, Bruges, Ghent, Nieuport, and Ostend, where a battalion of British Foot Guards and a garrison of 4,000 surrendered. Additionally, the triumph of de Saxe over the British inspired the second Jacobite rising, the Forty-Five, under the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles, with a small contingent of troops, returned to Scotland and invaded England. He had some reason to believe in his ultimate success as all but 6,000 British troops were away on the continent and recently defeated at Fontenoy. Charles' return to Scotland combined with a stunning victory at the Battle of Prestonpans obliged Cumberland to pull his army back to England to deal with the Jacobite invasion. The absence of the British on the continent allowed de Saxe to conduct a winter campaign in the lowlands in which more cities and fortresses such as Brussels, Antwerp, Mons, and Charleroi fell into French hands.