Battle of Landen - Aftermath

Aftermath

It is during this battle that, seeing the French determination to gain the high ground in spite of the murderous Allied volleys, William exclaimed, "Oh! That insolent nation!"

Marshal Luxembourg had won his greatest victory, thanks in no small measure to Feuquières' exploit; but had the assaults on Neerwinden been made as Napoleon would have done, with one-half or two-thirds of his forces instead of one-third, the victory would have been decisive and Feuquières would have won his laurels not for forcing the decision at the cost of using up his cavalry, but for annihilating the remnants of the Allied army in the pursuit.

The material results of the battle were 19,000 Allied troops killed, wounded or taken prisoner, as opposed to 9,000 French casualties. Eighty guns and a great number of standards and colours were also taken by the French.

Among the casualties on the French side were

• Patrick Sarsfield, the Jacobite Earl of Lucan, who was in command of the remnants of the Jacobite Irish army after the surrender at Limerick. He was struck by a bullet in the chest and taken to the town of Huy, about 20 miles away, where he died three days later. "Oh, that this were for Ireland," he said as he expired.
• The Duke of Berwick was taken prisoner in the first assault.
• Prince Conti and Marshal Joyeuse were lightly wounded.
• Both sons of Marshal Luxembourg present at that battle were also wounded. His oldest son (the Duke of Montmorency) was just lightly wounded, but the other (the Count of Luxembourg) nearly lost his leg and would never fully recover from his wounds.

Among the casualties on the Allied side were

• Count Solms, who was killed.
• The Duke of Ormonde, who was saved by the large diamond on his finger. On seeing this jewel, the French soldier who was about to kill him changed his mind, deciding that this man could be worth more alive than dead.
• The Earl of Galway was wounded and taken prisoner. However, using the fact that he was French, he managed to escape in the confusion.

William followed with a silver medal struck to commemorate his "victory". It was designed by Jan Boskem and featured a Roman bust of William crowned with a laurel and an aerial battle between a falcon and a stork.

The French commander, Marshal Luxembourg, captured so many flags that he could make a "tapestry" with them inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris. For this reason he was nicknamed le Tapissier de Notre-Dame.