“Siege of Maastricht (1673)”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Siege of Maastricht on 15 - 30 June 1673 took place during the Franco-Dutch War of 1672–1678, when a Dutch garrison surrendered to a French army nominally commanded by Louis XIV. The siege is now chiefly remembered for the introduction of the 'siege parallel' by French military engineer Vauban, a concept that remained in use until the mid 20th century.

Prelude

In the 1667-1668 War of Devolution, France captured most of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté but was forced to relinquish the bulk of these gains in the 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle with the Triple Alliance of the Dutch Republic, England and Sweden. Before making another attempt, Louis XIV strengthened his diplomatic position by paying Sweden to remain neutral, while England agreed an alliance against the Dutch in the 1670 Treaty of Dover.^[1]

When the French invaded the Dutch Republic in May 1672, they initially seemed to have achieved an overwhelming victory, quickly capturing the major Dutch fortresses of Nijmegen and Fort Crèvecœur near 's-Hertogenbosch. However, by late July, the Dutch position stabilised and concern at French gains brought them support from Brandenburg-Prussia, Emperor Leopold and Charles II of Spain. This forced Louis to divide his forces; in August 1672, he sent his best general Turenne with 50,000 troops to the Rhineland.^[2]

Maastricht is located on the extreme edge of what contemporaries referred to as Flanders, a compact area 160 kilometres wide, the highest point only 100 metres above sea level, and dominated by canals and rivers, most of which run east to west. Until the advent of railways in the 19th century, goods and supplies were primarily transported by water and campaigns fought over the control of rivers such as the Lys, Sambre and Meuse.^[3]

The town was especially important due to its location on both banks of the Meuse and one of the few garrisoned in peacetime; Dutch engineer Menno van Coehoorn began his career there in 1657, as a young Lieutenant in his father's company.^[4] The French avoided a direct assault in 1672, instead occupying the satellite forts of Tongeren, Maaseik and Valkenburg; its capture was made the primary objective for the 1673 campaign in Flanders and the siege began on 15 June.^[5]

Siege

Maastricht was the first siege where French engineer Vauban directed operations, rather than being a technical advisor. He was not a military commander and according to the custom of the time, subordinate to the senior officer present, in this case Louis XIV.^[6]

Although commonly remembered for the fortifications he built, Vauban's greatest innovations were in the field of offensive operations. The 'siege parallel' had been in development since the mid-16th century but Maastricht saw him bring the idea to practical fulfilment.^[7] Three parallel trenches were dug in front of the walls, the earth thus excavated being used to create embankments screening the attackers from defensive fire, while bringing them as close to the assault point as possible (see Diagram). Artillery was moved into the trenches, allowing them to target the base of the walls at close range, with the defenders unable to depress their own guns enough to counter this; once a breach had been made, it was then stormed. This remained the standard for offensive operations until the early 20th century.^[8]

Vauban was unusually sympathetic to the impact of war on the poor, on one occasion requesting compensation be paid a man with eight children whose land was taken to build one of his forts.^[9] However, his siege works required large numbers of unpaid workers, with severe punishments for those who tried to evade service; 20,000 were conscripted to dig his trenches at Maastricht.^[10]

The Treaty of Dover included an agreement by Charles II to supply a brigade of 6,000 English and Scottish troops for the French army.^[11] It also contained secret provisions, not revealed until 1771, one being the payment to Charles of £230,000 per year for these troops.^[12] While Charles was anxious to ensure Louis felt he was getting value for money, there were considerable doubts as to the Brigade's reliability if asked to fight the Protestant Dutch on behalf of the Catholic French. As a result, it formed part of Turenne's force in the Rhineland but several officers, including the Duke of Monmouth and John Churchill, future Duke of Marlborough were present at Maastricht as volunteers and given prominent positions by Louis to gratify his English ally.^[13]

The garrison was commanded by Jacques de Fariaux, an experienced French Huguenot exile in Dutch service. By 24 June, the French were ready to storm the town and the assault force was divided into three separate parts. The Marquis de Montbrun commanded the main effort against the Brussels gate, with two diversionary attacks, one on the right, led by de Montal. The Duke of Monmouth commanded that on the left, which included some 50 English volunteers and a company of Musquetiers du roi under Captain-Lieutenant D'Artagnan.^[14]

All three units achieved their objectives but Monmouth's force went further, seizing a ravelin near the Brussels gate and repulsing several counter-attacks during the night. As they were being relieved at daybreak, the Dutch attacked again; after a period of confused fighting, they were driven back but D'Artagnan and several English officers were killed and others wounded, including Churchill.^[15] The town surrendered on 30 June and the garrison given free passage to the nearest Dutch territory; they included Van Coehoorn, who was wounded during the siege.^[16]

Aftermath

Shortly after the fall of Maastricht, the Dutch agreed the August 1673 Treaty of the Hague with Prussia, Emperor Leopold and Spain and William of Orange recaptured Naarden; with the war expanding into the Rhineland and Spain, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.^[17]

The alliance between England and Catholic France had been unpopular from the start and although the real terms of the Treaty of Dover remained secret, many suspected them.^[18] In early 1674, Denmark joined the Alliance, while England and the Dutch made peace in the Treaty of Westminster.^[19] Maastricht was returned to the Dutch when the Treaty of Nijmegen ended the war in 1678.

References

1. ^{{cite book |last1=Lynn |first1=John |title=The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714 (Modern Wars In Perspective) |date=1996 |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0582056299 |pages=109–110}}
2. ^ Lynn 1999, p. 117.
3. ^{{cite book|last1=Childs|first1=John|title=The Nine Years' War and the British Army, 1688-1697: The Operations in the Low Countries|date=1991|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0719089961|pages=32–33|edition=2013}}
4. ^{{cite book |last1=Duffy |first1=Christopher |title=Siege Warfare: The Fortress in the Early Modern World 1494-1660 |date=1995 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415146494 |page=63}}
5. ^ Lynn 1999, p. 113
6. ^{{cite book |last1=LePage |first1=Jean-Denis |title=Vauban and the French Military Under Louis XIV: An Illustrated History of Fortifications and Sieges |date=2009 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0786444014 |page=57}}
7. ^ Duffy, Christopher p. 10
8. ^{{cite book |last1=Vesilind |first1=P Aame |title=Engineering Peace and Justice: The Responsibility of Engineers to Society |date=2010 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1447158226 |page=23}}
9. ^{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Richard |title=Vauban, Marshal Sebastien le Prestre de (1633–1707) |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198606963.001.0001 |year=2001 |isbn=9780198606963 }}
10. ^LePage, Jean-Denis p. 56
11. ^ Lynn, John pp. 109-110
12. ^{{cite book|last=Kenyon|first=JP| title=The History Men; the Historical Profession in England since the Renaissance|date=1993|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|isbn=978-0297782544 |pages= 67–68}}
13. ^{{cite book |last1=Childs |first1=John |title=General Percy Kirke and the Later Stuart Army |date=2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1474255141 |page=16 |edition=2015}}
14. ^ Childs, John p. 16
15. ^ Childs, John p. 17
16. ^{{cite web|author=Eysten|title=Coehoorn, Menno baron van, in: P.J. Blok, P.C. Molhuysen (eds)., Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek. Deel 1|date=1911|pages=620–622|language=nl|website=Digitale Bibliotheek der Nederlandse Letteren|url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu01_01/molh003nieu01_01_1037.php|access-date=January 10, 2019}}
17. ^{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=William |title=International Politics and Warfare in the Age of Louis XIV and Peter the Great |date=2004 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-0595329922 |page=132}}
18. ^{{cite journal |last1=Boxer |first1=CR |title=Some Second Thoughts on the Third Anglo-Dutch War, 1672-1674 |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |date=1969 |volume=19 |pages=74–75 |doi=10.2307/3678740 |jstor=3678740 }}
19. ^{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/europeantreaties02daveuoft |page=238|title=European Treaties bearing on the History of the United States and its Dependencies|year=1917|authorlink=Frances Gardiner Davenport|first=Frances|last=Davenport|accessdate=7 October 2018|publisher=Washington, D.C. Carnegie Institution of Washington}}

Prelude

Siege

Aftermath

References

Sources

External links