Battle of Steenkerque
The Battle of Steenkerque, also known as Steenkerke, Steenkirk, Steynkirk[5] or Steinkirk was fought on 3 August 1692, during the Nine Years' War, near Steenkerque, then part of the Spanish Netherlands but now in modern Belgium A French force under Marshal François-Henri de Montmorency, duc de Luxembourg, repulsed a surprise attack by an Allied army led by William of Orange. After several hours of heavy fighting the Allies were forced to retreat, although a French counterattack proved fruitless.
Aftermath[edit]
Both sides could claim victory: the French for repelling the Allied attack, holding their ground and possibly foiling an attack on Namur, and the Allies for bloodying the noses of the French and perhaps preventing them from advancing towards Liège. After the battle, the two armies continued to oppose each other for the rest of the summer, but nothing significant happened before they went to winter quarters.[2]
During the battle, the Allies had held the advantage of greater firepower. The Allies fought with the new flintlock muskets while the French had still fought with the old muskets. When Louis XIV heard from his generals that they would have lost had the Allied attack been better coordinated, Louis immediately demanded that his infantry be rearmed with the new musket. However, due to problems with manufacturers and resistance within the French officer corps, it took several years before every infantryman was equipped with the new weapons.[13]
Following the battle, some English politicians claimed their heavy losses were caused not through incompetence, but a deliberate act by Solms, and demanded his removal. These allegations were primarily driven by anti-Dutch sentiment and opposition to the war within Parliament, and cannot be substantiated.[14] Presented with these claims when he returned to London in October, William simply agreed to consider it.[4] Solms died of wounds received at Landen the following year.
Steenkirk cravat[edit]
An article of dress was named after the battle. A "steenkirk" (also Steinquerque or Stinquerque in the mémoirs of Abbé de Choisy) was a lace cravat loosely or negligently worn, with long lace ends. According to Voltaire's L'Âge de Louis XIV, it was in fashion after the Battle of Steenkerque, where the French gentlemen had to fight with disarranged cravats on account of the surprise sprung by the Allies.
The Steenkirk cravat was a popular article in both men's and women's fashion in France for years later. It spread from France to England, where it also was worn by both women and men.[15]
In popular culture[edit]
A French-language novel by the Belgian journalist and author René Henoumont was published in 1979 under the title La maison dans le frêne (The House in the Ash Tree), with the explanatory subtitle ou la bataille de Steenkerque (or the Battle of Steenkerque). The work is organised into 12 parts, corresponding with the months of the year. Each part contains between 2 and 4 chapters. The narrator and author tells the reader about his (mostly autobiographical) life in the village of Steenkerque as he ponders life, nature, gardening and wars. In his silent dialogue with the nature around, the trees become the men who once waged war in the Belgian village.
