Fontenoy

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The Battle
Battlefield Today
Pragmatic Army:
French Army
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The Battlefield Today

Anyone whishing to explore the battlefield of Fontenoy today would be well advised to take a car. I walked almost the whole length and breadth of the battlefield and covered a leg shattering 22 miles, from 9am in the morning until 5.30pm in the afternoon with only two breaks for refreshment. The problem is that the whole site is now bisected by a motorway (A16), and much of the area around Antoing and Fontenoy has been given over to new housing estates and factory units. Likewise much of the ground over which the British and Hanoverians advanced has been built upon, and their deployment area east of Verzon cut-up by feeder roads to the motorway. However there are still a few good spots to visit that give a reasonable impression of what the ground was like at the time of the battle.

When arriving at the battlefield on the N7 road from Tournai the visitor’s first destination should be the village of Ramecroix. From here you can walk or drive to the church at Les Wiots, about one mile distant. Around this area the Irish Brigade were stationed and the French King, Louise XV had his vantage point to view the battle. Past the church at Les Wiots the road leads to a dead-end after about another mile near the connecting links to the A16 motorway and the N52 national route. It was here, or possibly on land now covered by the motorway in the immediate vicinity that the Redoubt D’Eu was situated, and this point marks the south-eastern tip of the Bois de Bary (now sadly no longer here). Photograph 1 shows the view looking back towards Ramecroix and the flat nature of the land upon which de Saxe drew up part of his cavalry.

Retracing your steps go back to Les Wiots and take the feeder road onto the N52. This will take the visitor towards Antoing and the exit road to Fontenoy. When arriving at Fontenoy village turn left at the main crossroad for about 200 metres until the Celtic Monument is reached on the left hand side of the road. Possibly the only marker to the battle, this stone Celtic cross was erected as a memorial to all the Irish on both sides who were killed in the battle. Ironically the Irish and Belgium Post Offices issued a single common design stamp to commemorate the battle on its 250^th anniversary in 1995 depicting the cross-flanked by two soldiers of the Irish Brigade. I cannot recall any similar commemorative actions being taken by the British Post Office or the British Army, which is very sad considering the loss of so many of our own soldiers in this great battle. Photograph 2 shows the Celtic cross and the building to the rear, which dates back to the time of the battle.

Returning to the crossroad in Fontenoy take the road to Vezon on the left. Just before the bridge under the motorway take the small road on the left and climb the slight rise of ground leading to a motorway works exit. The visitor is now at the spot where the left flank of the British and Hanoverian column climbed out of the valley and came under fire from the French batteries around Fontenoy. Photograph 3 shows part of the old sunken road in the foreground, while the sugar beet factory on the left of the picture marks the spot of some of the outlying batteries of French artillery defending Fontenoy.

Retracing your steps return to the road leading to Vezon passing under the motorway bridge. From here one can obtain a good view across the countryside looking towards Vezon village and the ground across which the British cavalry deployed, and from where the “Infernal Column” began its advance. I was told that a number of cannon balls had been found around this area but no one could say what had happened to them.

Do not continue along the road to Vezon but instead turn left following the cross-country road in the direction of La Louviere. Once again the ground rises to the plateau along which ran the French front line and the sunken road. It does not take much imagination to picture the scene that presented itself to the French infantry and artillery manning this line. The whole valley would have been one mass of moving colour as the British cavalry regiments deployed to allow the passage of the infantry and light artillery through their ranks. To the French the natural glacis-like slope rising from the valley below them to their position on the crest of the plateau must have appeared an ideal killing ground. Photograph 4 shows the ground looking from the French position along the sunken road down the almost imperceptible slope over which the British and Hanoverian infantry advanced. From this position one can also obtain a clear idea of the extent of the French line running across the plateau. The ground here has not been subjected to any great upheavals and the line of the sunken road is easily traced following the contour line along the edge of the plateau as it crosses between Fontenoy and the modern wood of Bois Notre-Dame near the outskirts of the village of La Muche.

Continuing on the road to La Louviere and take the small rough track off to the right approximately half way between the turn off from Vezon and La Louviere itself. Proceed along it for about 300 meters. The visitor is now on the other side of the motorway (N52) at the spot where the Bois de Bary formed a tongue of woodland at the tip of which stood the French Redoubt D’Eu. It was the concentrated fire from this point, as well as the destructive enfilading fire from Fontenoy that caused the British and Hanoverian regiments to draw-in their lines, thus making movement and normal battlefield deployment almost impossible. Photograph 5 shows the site of the French centre between Gueronde and the Bois de Bary. On this ground the Allied column was assailed by the massed squadrons of the French and, a little further to the right, by the Irish regiments of the “Wild Geese”.

The possible reason for the Allied column not being able to wheel to the right or left may have been the fact that it was so constricted and so harassed by the continued attacks of the French squadrons, attacks which were met not in square formation but by a constant roll of musket fire, that all that could be done was to hold onto the ground won thus far and hope that the flank attacks against Antoing and Fontenoy would take effect. As for the Allied cavalry there was just no room for it to be used in the assistance of the infantry. Cumberland was no Duke of Marlborough and did not even contemplate a wide outflanking manoeuvre with his mounted troops around the Bois de Bary; a manoeuvre which even if unsuccessful would at least have taken some of the pressure of his central advance and caused de Saxe to deploy part of his reserve to meet the threat.

Before returning to Fontenoy take time to visit the village of Vezon. Here one can still obtain a splendid panorama of the French position by looking from the shallow valley bottom where the Allied columns began to deploy for the attack back towards the plateau between Fontenoy and the Bois de Bary. Photograph 6 shows the view from midway between Vezon and the more modern village of La Muche towards the French main position on the crest of the ridge in the background. Over this ground the infantry advanced, passing through the lines of their cavalry in the middle distance before ascending the plateau.

Taking the road back to Fontenoy from Vezon take the first turning to the right before entering Fontenoy itself and climb the dirt track that runs behind the row of houses on that side. At the top of the ridge one has a good view of the French line running across the edge of the plateau. The high ground where the visitor now stands was the site of a number of French batteries, which caused much damage to the Allied column as it advanced. Photograph 7 shows the French position just to the rear of their main line along the sunken road, and just to the left rear of the French artillery batteries near Fontenoy.

The part of the battlefield between Antoing and Fontenoy has changed beyond all recognition with the exception of the ground around Bourgeon. Here the Dutch and Austrians moved forward to attack both of the villages mentioned above, and the three strong redoubts that connected them within the French main position. I did not have time to cover the whole field in this area but was told that there is (or was) a private collection of battlefield relics to be seen in the home of one of the patrons of a small bar either in Bourgeon itself or in the village of Vezoncheau, about one mile further south. There is a strange feeling of a cover-up when talking to the locals about the battlefield and the relics, or lack of, which have been found and suddenly disappeared without trace. When the motorway and its various connecting roads were being constructed sometime in the mid nineteen seventies or early nineteen eighties I was told that many relics of the battle were unearthed, including a number of skeletons and other fragments of human remains. When I asked what had become of these no one seemed to know. Likewise a collection of battlefield relics once on public display up until the nineteen fifties had also gone missing, and I was told that they had included a British ceremonial sword, several dozen cannon and musket balls and a cavalry cuirass. I will endeavour to pursue the matter further by contacting the Army Museum in Brussels and will keep members informed on my progress.

Members can obtain battlefield maps and details of all the regiments engaged on both sides, together with a guide to watering holes and feeding stalls for the footsore traveller by sending me a cheque or postal order for £1.50.