Featured battle : Wynendael

Part of The War of the Spanish Succession

Date : 28 September 1708

Supply problems for the seige of Lille caused Marlborough to move significant supplies from Ostend across the front of a sizeable French force. General Webb with 6,000 men formed the escort. They were intercepted in the thickly forested area near Wynendael by Lamotte with 23,000 men. Because of the narrowness of the open ground Lamotte could not outflank the smaller force. The action began about 2.30 pm and was becoming a war of attrition when men who Webb had concealed in the woods on both flanks 'rose out of the ground'. The Allied volley fire broke the French infantry, the left collapsing inwards onto the right. Just as Lamotte ordered up his dragoons General Cadogan arrived at the battle with a column of allied cavalry. The French withdrew with considerable losses.

Battle Understanding Conflict Hastings to Helmand

Graeme Callister & Rachael Whitbread
This is a rather different sort of book in not being about a war, campaign or battle but rather about all battles. It gives the reader a framework through which to assess any particular battle or conflict. The authors make the case that every conflict has a number of contributing factors which add or subtract from the outcome. Their approach is to give each of these factors a chapter which concludes with an account of one or two battles in which the particular factor was significant. They do stress that all the factors have a part to play to a greater or lesser degree in every battle. They also point out the ever present difficulty of finding accurate information about these matters.
The aim of the book is to aid in the understanding of battles and in this it succeeds very well indeed.
We highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to understand battles of any place or period.

Pen & Sword Military, 2022