Opposing Armies
When the two armies finally met on the field they were approximately equal in numbers. While there there is not complete agreement among historians on the exact numbers there is general agreement that there was about 50,000 on each side with the French having more cavalry and the allies having more infantry. Some historians put the French as more numerous and others the allies.
The allied army consisted of some 53,000 men in 52 battalions and 85 squadrons of which 22.000 were Dutch, 21,000 were British, 8,000 Hanoverian and 2,000 Austrians. They had 80 to 105 cannon.
The French army had some 48,000 men 32,000 infantry in 55 battalions and 14,000 cavalry in 101 squadrons and 90 to 110 cannon at least 86 of which were small 4-lb battalion guns.
The French army was commanded by one of the great captains of the age but it had fallen behind some of the other powers in tactics, training and discipline. Historian David Chandler quotes Saxe:
| “ | our infantry, though the bravest in Europe, is not fit to stand a charge in a position, where infantry less brave, but better drilled and in a better formation, can close with it. | ” |
Chandler also states that Saxe admired the superior discipline and formations of the allies and quotes from a letter that Saxe wrote to Frederick the Great in September 1746:
| “ | The French are what they were in Caesar's time, and he has described them, brave to excess but unstable ... As it is impossible for me to make them what they ought to be, I get what I can out of them and try to leave nothing of importance to chance. | ” |
In contrast, the Pragmatic army contained some of the better trained and disciplined troops of Europe in the British and Hanoverian contingents but were not blessed with a great captain to command them. The young, 26 year old Cumberland owed his position to his high rank and he had no prior experience commanding an army. He would win only one battle in his career with a very small army, Culloden, and he is described by historian Armstrong Starkey as "a very good brigadier"
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Fontenoy
Famous quotes related to opposing armies:
“The principle of majority rule is the mildest form in which the force of numbers can be exercised. It is a pacific substitute for civil war in which the opposing armies are counted and the victory is awarded to the larger before any blood is shed. Except in the sacred tests of democracy and in the incantations of the orators, we hardly take the trouble to pretend that the rule of the majority is not at bottom a rule of force.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)