 Fontenoy is
a legendary battle that figures in the story of the "Wild Geese" or "Exiles of Hope" -- approximately 12000 Irish warriors under General Patrick Sarsfield who despaired of their own, and Ireland's
future in the aftermath of the Elizabethan conquest of Ulster.
From the late 16th century onward, Irish soldiers found that they could sell their services profitably to the Catholic monarchs of Europe, particularly Spain with its far-flung empire. By 1691, there were 30000 Irish soldiers in the French army of King Louis, 10000 in Spain's army, and
another 10000 in the Austrian army.
At that time, Austria and Spain were fighting France. Sarsfield and his army were "hired" by the French. Forty years later, when the battle of Fontenoy took place, the
War of Austrian Succession was still going.
A Celtic Cross was erected during 1907 as a monument on the battlefield
of Fontenoy (War of Austrian Succession) in Belgium to mark the spot where, in 1745, an Irish brigade of about 4,000
men suffered heavy casualties in a charge that swept that battlefield.
King Louis XIV was beseiging Tournay in Flanders and his army numbered
75000. The Duke of Cumberland (son of George II) headed to lift the seige with his army of 55000. The French general left 18000 men in front of Tournay and took 45000 to meet Cumberland near the village of Fontenoy. The French established a defensive line atop a hill near Fontenoy. Cumberland assaulted this line all day without success and then sent a column of 6000 Englishmen to pierce it -- once in back of the enemy line they were to deploy and attack. The English column punched through the French line and, just when King Louis was ready to hightail it out of there, Marshal
Saxe told him there was no need to run.
He called up Lord Clare and the Irish Brigade, telling them to "Clear the way."
They did.
"And famed Fontenoy would have been a Waterloo,
Were not these exiles ready then, fresh, vehement, and true . . .
Like lions leaping at a fold, when mad with hunger's pang,
Right up against the English line the Irish exiles sprang:
Bright was their steel, 'tis bloody now;
their guns are filled with gore;
Through shattered ranks, and severed files,
and trampled flags they tore.
The English strove with desperate strength;
paused, rallied, staggered, fled --
The green hillside is matted close with dying and with dead.
Across the plain, and far away passed on that hideous wrack,
While cavalier and fantassin dash in upon their track.
On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, like eagles in the sun,
With bloody plumes the Irish stand -- the field is fought and won!"
Hence, the Irish battle cry "Remember Ireland and Fontenoy!"
---Submitted by Ben Maryniak (Chaplain Philos G. Cook), President
of the Buffalo Civil War Round Table.
* Painting by Rick Reeves
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