Battle of Fontenoy
1745 CE.
Shown on the map at 50.569°, 3.475°.
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745, took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, in Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by the Duke of Cumberland. By 1745, France was close to bankruptcy, and seeking an end to the war. The Austrian Netherlands offered the best opportunity for a decisive victory, and in April, Saxe besieged Tournai, a key strategic town on the upper Scheldt, compelling the main Allied army to march to its relief. Leaving 22,000 men to continue the siege, Saxe placed his main force about 8 kilometres (5 mi) away in the villages of Antoing, Vezon and Fontenoy, along a naturally strong feature strengthened with defensive works. After several unsuccessful flank assaults, an Allied infantry column of 15,000 attacked the French centre, before being repulsed. Covered by their cavalry, they retreated toward Brussels, abandoning Tournai which fell shortly afterwards. Despite this, fighting continued until November 1748, when the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ended the war.
Text from the Wikipedia article Battle of Fontenoy, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.