TOURCOING
TOURCOING
BY
HILAIRE BELLOC
MCMXII
STEPHEN SWIFT AND CO., LTD.
16 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN
LONDON
CONTENTS
| PART | PAGE | ||
| I. | THE POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCE | 9 | |
| II. | THE GENERAL MILITARY SITUATION | 17 | |
| III. | THE PLAN OF THE ALLIES | 28 | |
| IV. | THE PRELIMINARIES OF THE BATTLE | 49 | |
| V. | THE TERRAIN | 57 | |
| VI. | THE ACTION | 67 |
TOURCOING
PART I
THE POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCE
The Battle of Tourcoing is one of those actions upon which Europeanhistory in general is somewhat confused, and English history, inparticular, ignorant.
That British troops formed part of those who suffered defeat, and that aBritish commander, the Duke of York, was the chief figure in the reverse,affords no explanation; for the almost exactly parallel case ofFontenoy—in which another royal duke, also the son of the reigning Kingof England, also very young, also an excellent general officer, and alsoin command was defeated—is among the most familiar of actions in thiscountry. In both battles the posture of the British troops earned them asgreat and as deserved a fame as they had acquired[Pg 10] in victory; in both waswork done by the Guards in particular, which called forth the admirationof the enemy. Yet Tourcoing remains unknown to the English general readerof history, while Fontenoy is one of the few stock names of battles whichhe can at once recall.
The reason that British historians neglect this action is not, then, asforeign and rival historians are too inclined to pretend, due to the factthat among the forces that suffered disaster were present certain Britishcontingents.
Again, as will be seen in the sequel, the overwhelming of the Duke ofYork’s forces at Tourcoing, by numbers so enormously superior to his