Siege of Zoutleeuw

Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Town hall and cloth hall of Zoutleeuw in 2005.

Date	Investment: 29 August – 5 September 1705 (1 week) Siege: 31 August – 5 September 1705 (5 days)
Location	Zoutleeuw, Flemish Brabant, Belgium
Result	Allied victory

Belligerents

Allies:

Dutch Republic

England

Scotland

Holy Roman Empire

France

Commanders and leaders

Lieutenant general Dedem

Brigadier general Dumont

Strength

2 battalions
16 artillery pieces

400 men
18 guns
2 mortars

Casualties and losses

Light

400 men captured or killed
20 guns and mortars captured

The Siege of Zoutleeuw or the Siege of Léau (29 August 1705 – 5 September 1705) was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession. Allied troops with 16 artillery pieces under the command of the English Captain general the Duke of Marlborough, besieged and captured the small French-held Flemish fortified town of Zoutleeuw in the Spanish Netherlands.

After piercing the French fortified lines Lines of Brabant at Elixheim on 18 July 1705, the Duke of Marlborough found his plans to bring the French army under Duc de Villeroi to a decisive battle frustrated by the French refusal to engage, their extensive use of field fortifications and the unwillingness of the Dutch Field Deputies to submit to his plans. The Allies contented themselves by widening the breach in the lines of Brabant by capturing Zoutleeuw to the north of Eliksem on 5 September. Zoutleeuw had been hastily abandoned by the French troops of the Duke of Berwick in July, after the Allied capture of Huy, with gaps being blown up in the walls.

Zoutleeuw, surrounded by swamps, was taken by a small detachment of two battalions troops with 16 artillery pieces under the command of lieutenant general Dedem. The town was invested on 29 August and trenches were opened on 31 August. The Allied siege train arrived from Maastricht on 3 September. That same night, the besiegers attacked and captured a redoubt with little opposition. The infantry battalions carried the trenches within 100 yards of the town, the siege artillery quickly following them.

...
Wikipedia