Siege of Mons | |||||||
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Part of the War of the Spanish Succession | |||||||
A plan of the siege of Mons in 1709 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Bourbon Spain France | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Marquis de Grimaldi[1] | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
21,000[3] | 3,800–4,280[3][1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,450–2,200[3][4] | 700[5] |
The siege of Mons took place between 19 September and 23 October 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[6] It saw a Franco-Spanish garrison in the fortified town of Mons, then in the Spanish Netherlands, besieged by a force of the Duke of Marlborough's Grand Alliance army under the command of the Prince of Orange.[7]
The attempt of the French Duke of Villars to relieve the siege resulted in the costly Allied victory at the Battle of Malplaquet on 11 September 1709.[8] Following the battle, greater numbers of Allied soldiers under Eugene of Savoy joined the besieging army from late September. The Franco-Spanish garrison capitulated the following month. Owing to high Allied and French losses at Malplaquet, the capture of Mons was the final significant engagement of the campaign of 1709.