"The Battle of Minden 1759: The Miraculous Victory of..." Topic

… the Seven Years War.

"The fighting in Europe during the Seven Years War hung in the balance. After initial successes the Austro-French forces had been driven back across the Rhine. With the opposing sides reinforcing their armies, the campaign of 1759 was going to prove decisive. Britain and her German allies met the French at Minden in Germany. Due to a misunderstanding of orders the British infantry actually attacked and dispersed the French cavalry. That action is still commemorated on 1 August each year with the wearing of roses by the infantry and artillery regiments whose predecessors picked flowers and put them in their coats as they passed through German gardens on the way to the battle. By contrast Lord Sackville, who commanded the British cavalry, was accused of ignoring orders to charge the retreating French which could have turned defeat into rout. He was court-martialled and cashiered. The victory at Minden was just one in a number of British successes that years against French forces and overseas territories across the globe. This led to 1759 being described by the British as the Annus Mirabilis – the year of miracles."

See here
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Amicalement
Armand

Why miraculous?

@jcfrog
Perhaps this quote from the French c-in-c might help explain why it was considered a "miracle"
Contades reportedly said bitterly, "I have seen what I never thought to be possible—a single line of infantry break through three lines of cavalry, ranked in order of battle, and tumble them to ruin!"

6 battalions of British and Hanoverian infantry fought off charges by three separate lines of French cavalry and effectively won the battle, in spite of a British cavalry commander ( Sackville) repeatedly failing to advance his command. The French army probably outnumbered the Allied army by 5:4 and was in a strong position, so not surprising that some saw it as a "miracle".
Perhaps Minden is not taught in French schools, just as we ignore Formigny and Castillon!

And Sackville became Lord Germain and was appointed Secretary of State for the American Department in Lord North's cabinet just in time to help flub up the war against the American colonists (the American Revolution/American War of Independence). All of this after he was ruled " … unfit to serve his Majesty in any military capacity whatsoever."

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Jim

Certainly not teached in French schools, but I know it quite well ahing been " into 7yw for ~30 years".
One thing that I never found an answer to:
Why did this cavalry not flank them, not run them down.
Would it have to do with "Minden heath" high green stuff that would make the horses weary of seing the actual ground?

I am aware of leters in French with " miracle" a good way to explain abject failure and mishandling the whole affair. ( insurrance act of god?)

Never mind Minden is the SYW taught in the UK school system? I didn't hear of it until my own reading in adulthood.

@ clibinarium,
you may well be right, but some of us were educated in the good old days of 60 years ago😇
@jcfrog:
good for you. As for the failure of the French cavalry to flank, I suppose there may have been massive overconfidence in the first line – we can ride over these lowly infantry (a bit like Agincourt), the second line probably felt a bit shaky when they saw the pastingtheir front line got and by the time the third line went in there were British Guards and more Hanoverians to cover the flanks of the line. Your theory about the ground may be correct, but I really don't know.

The problem for the French cavalry was that the British infantry was advancing ON THEM! There was no small arms fire support, the cavalry could not retire due to the presence of the 2 nd and 3 rd lines, so,they had to attack before they were all shot out of the saddle.

Sackville gets a lot of unfair blame for Minden. Based on the terrain maps he was right not to charge. "The Coward of Minden" is well worth reading.

Never mind Minden is the SYW taught in the UK school system? I didn't hear of it until my own reading in adulthood.

It was at my Grammer School,but that was over 40 years ago old boy.