Siege of Ath (1697) 1697
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 22 May 1697 – 5 June 1697 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1697 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Belgium | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Nine Years' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Holy Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.6167, 3.7667 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Ath (15 May 1697 – 5 June 1697) was a siege of the Nine Years' War. The French stockpiled 266,000 French pounds of gunpowder for the siege and used less than half of it. Consumption of other material amounted to 34,000 pounds of lead, 27,050 cannonballs, 3,400 mortar bombs, 950 grenades and 12,000 sandbags. The financial costs were 89,250 French livres. After the garrison's capitulation, 6,000 peasant workers filled up the trenches. Of the 62 French engineers present, two were killed and seven seriously wounded. This demonstration of French military potency, combined with the successful storming of Barcelona the same year, convinced the Allies to come to terms with France in the treaty of Ryswick, thus ending the war.
The siege was hailed by contemporaries as Vauban's masterpiece and the most efficient siege ever conducted, owing to its speed, low costs and the modernity of the eight-bastion fortress, which had been designed by Vauban himself 25 years earlier.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Ath (1697) (revision 1370739049), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Jemappes 1792 · 20 km
- Battle of Mons 1914 · 20 km
- Battle of Steenkerque 1692 · 21 km
- Battle of Fontenoy 1745 · 21 km
- Siege of Mons (1746) 1746 · 22 km
Other battles of the Nine Years' War
- Battle of Torroella 1694
- Siege of Huy (1694) 1694
- Capitulation of Diksmuide 1695
- Siege of Namur (1695) 1695
- Battle of Dogger Bank (1696) 1696
- Battle of Hudson's Bay 1697
- Raid on Cartagena de Indias (1697) 1697
- Siege of Barcelona (1697) 1697
All 41 battles of the Nine Years' War →
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