Battle of Melle 1745
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 9 July 1745 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1745 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Belgium | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Austrian Succession | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 51.0000, 3.8075 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Melle was an encounter battle fought on 9 July 1745, during the War of the Austrian Succession, between forces of the Pragmatic Allies and the French. After their defeat at Fontenoy in May, the Duke of Cumberland, Allied commander in Flanders, was under pressure from the Austrians to defend Brussels. He also wanted to protect the key port of Ghent, a major supply depot threatened by the French advance into West Flanders.
Cumberland compromised by employing his main force to cover Brussels, while sending 4,000 men under Austrian general Freiherr Philipp Ludwig von Moltke to reinforce Ghent. On the way, it ran into a French detachment under General Nicolas Joseph Balthazar de l'Anglade, vicomte du Chayla, positioned near the town of Melle to prevent such an attempt; the Allies were driven off with heavy losses and Ghent surrendered on 13 July.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Melle (revision 1380848757), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of the Lys (1940) 1940 · 8 km
- Fall of Ghent 1745 · 8 km
- Siege of Ghent (1583–1584) 1583 · 8 km
- Siege of Ghent (1708) 1708 · 8 km
- Battle of Gavere 1453 · 13 km
- Battle of the Lys and the Escaut 1918 · 22 km
Other battles of the War of the Austrian Succession
- Siege of Prague (1742) 1742
- Battle of Campo Santo 1743
- Battle of Dettingen 1743
- Battle of Toulon (1744) 1744
- Battle of Velletri 1744
- Battle of Anguilla 1745
- Battle of Fontenoy 1745
- Battle of Hennersdorf 1745
- Battle of Soor 1745
- Fall of Ghent 1745
All 32 battles of the War of the Austrian Succession →
Browse more: battles in Belgium · Europe · Early modern battles