Battle of Bergen (1759)

Battle of Bergen
Part of the Seven Years' War
Battle of Bergen 1759
Date 13 April 1759 Location Bergen, Hesse Result French victory
Belligerents
Great Britain Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)  Brunswick Hanover	France
Commanders and leaders
Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick	Victor-François, 2nd duc de Broglie
Strength
ca 35,000 men	ca 28,000 men
Casualties and losses
415 dead, 1,770 wounded, 188 missing	500 dead, 1,300 wounded

The Battle of Bergen on 13 April 1759 saw the French army under de Broglie withstand an allied British, Hanoverian, Hessian, Brunswick army under Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick near Frankfurt-am-Main during the Seven Years' War.

As the campaigning season of 1759 opened, Prince Ferdinand stole a march on the French by moving out of winter quarters in late March. His destination was Frankfurt, where the French had a base on the Main River. The intent was to drive the French out of Westphalia and seize the initiative for the allies. By the end of the month, his army comprised some 27,000 men grouped into three divisions. One was commanded by Ferdinand himself, one by Prince Isenburg, and the third by the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

Operations commenced with the seizing of Fulda and Meiningen from troops of the Imperial army under Field Marshal von Zweibrücken. As the Imperial army retreated into Bohemia, Ferdinand moved into Hesse hoping to fall upon Broglie's corps before it could be reinforced.

Broglie, however, was able to reinforce his corps with a contingent of Saxons under the General von Dyhrn (Dyherrn) along with other French regiments that he was able to assemble. He placed his small army at the fortified town of Bergen and awaited developments.

The battlefield lent itself to a defensive stance. The walled town of Bergen was on the right atop a bluff overlooking the floodplain of the Main River and thus could not be flanked on that side. Northwest of the town was the "Berger-Warte", a low hill that dominated the center and atop of which stood (and still stands) an old tower. Left of that was the town of Vilbel, located on the Nidda River, whose floodplain was covered by an expanse of woods.

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Wikipedia