Battle of Minden
A British and Hanoverian force beat a much larger French army at Minden on 1 August 1759, and the British infantry advanced against cavalry by mistake. The battle was fought in Westphalia during the Seven Years' War. Ferdinand of Brunswick commanded an allied army of about 41,000 protecting Hanover; the French under Contades had roughly 51,000 and held a strong position with the town and the Weser behind them. Ferdinand drew them out by leaving a detachment apparently exposed at Minden, and Contades came out to take it. The French deployed with their cavalry massed in the centre and their infantry on the wings, which is the reverse of the usual arrangement and was intended to use their numerical advantage in horse. Six British and three Hanoverian battalions on the allied left received an order to advance when the drums beat, or to advance with the drums beating — the ambiguity has never been resolved — and moved forward against the centre. Infantry in line advancing on cavalry was, by the doctrine of the age, suicide. They broke three successive charges by holding their fire to about ten paces, and then kept walking. The French centre collapsed and the army retreated in disorder, losing some 7,000 men. Lord George Sackville, commanding the allied cavalry, refused repeated orders to charge and complete the destruction, was court-martialled, and was declared unfit to serve. The regiments that made the advance still wear roses on the anniversary, picked, by tradition, from gardens they passed on the way.
- Year: 1759 CE
- Category: Military
