Refighting The Battle Of Dettingen

THE Battle of Dettingen was fought during the War of the Austrian Succession in June 1743 - the exact date depends on whether you were using the new Gregorian calendar (much of Europe was) or the much older Julian calendar (Britain was still clinging to it).
A Pragmatic army composed of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops was ordered by their commander, George II of Britain, who was also Prince-Elector of Hanover, to occupy the north bank of the River Main between Frankfurt and its junction with the Rhine at Mainz.
The army, under the direct command of the Scottish Earl of Stair, consisted of between 35,000 and 50,000 troops, almost equally divided between the three national contingents.
Shadowing them on the south bank of the Main - pronounced 'mine', to rhyme with Rhine - was a French army under the Duke of Noailles, who had with him his nephew the Duke of Gramont (a significant factor, as we shall see later).
The French consisted of between 45,000 and 70,000 men - a total varying dramatically, like that for the Pragmatic army, depending on the source.
Fortunately, the exact numbers do not matter as the sources agree the French outnumbered the allies by a ratio of about 3:2.
I have a tenuous connection with this battle in that I have walked the Main from Mainz to Frankfurt, and I can report one thing is for sure - there is no question of fording the river.
King George joined his forces in June while they were camped between the town of Aschaffenburg and the village of Kleinostheim, just over 40 miles from Mainz.

Setting the scene … the River Main runs west to east, with the foothills of the tree-covered Spessart mountains to the north. The nearest built-up area is Dettingen, with Kleinostheim and Aschaffenburg further east

My reconstruction of the terrain is based on the contemporaneous maps of John Fawkes and Andreas Reinhard, both of which are easily available online (although the latter needs to be rotated 180 degrees to get the orientation north-to-south).
Note that although Aschaffenburg today straddles both sides of the Main, it seems to have been located only on the north bank in the mid-18th century, while still having a bridge to the south bank.
This is important because bridges across the Main were far from common, although both Aschaffenburg and Dettingen had bridges across tributaries running into the Main.
The Pragmatic army's supply route had been cut by the French, and the army was in danger of starving if it did not withdraw to its original base in Flanders, a predicament which King George apparently blamed on Stair.
After several conflabs with his Hanoverian generals, the king decided a withdrawal to Flanders was indeed necessary, but there was no need to rush, it was agreed, as the French were not in a position to cross the Main.
However, unknown to the allies, Noailles had been busy erecting pontoon bridges west of Dettingen. He sent his nephew, Gramont, with roughly half of the French forces to occupy Dettingen and the tributary to its north which arose from marshy land south of the Spessarts.

Close-up … Dettingen with marshy land and the wooded Spessart foothills to the north

At about the same time, as the allies headed west towards Dettingen, Noailles sent another large part of his forces to cross the Main behind the allies at Aschaffenburg.

Double-up … Aschaffenburg, with its two crossing points, formed the rear of what became known as the Dettingen mousetrap

Noailles kept the rest of his army with himself on the south bank of the Main, with artillery placed on a small hill commanding the approach to Dettingen.
It soon dawned on King George and his commanders that they were in dire straits. To the north the Spessarts were impassable, at least for an army; to the south the Main was also impassable; to the west lay Gramont with a force which, while smaller than the whole allied army, was in a strong, unflankable position; to the east Aschaffenburg was being occupied by French troops who would pose a serious danger to the Pragmatic rear if it were held up at Dettingen.

Blocking the way … in Dettingen, lining the stream and marsh, are (left to right) battalions of Normandie, Alsace and Navarre Foot, and an 8pdr gun; behind them are the Grenadiers de France with the Duke of Gramont, and behind them are the Cuirassiers du Roi (left) and the Orléans Dragoons. On the south bank are the Bercheny Hussars, the Duke of Noailles, an 8pdr gun and a battalion of Piémont Foot

Behind you … Aschaffenburg is occupied by the Poitou Foot with the Bretagne Cavalerie to the north, while crossing the bridge over the Main is the Champagne foot with the Touraine foot and the Colonel-Général Cavalerie not far behind

(to be continued)