Siege of Bergen Op Zoom (1747)

Siege Of Bergen Op Zoom (1747)

The Siege of Bergen op Zoom (Dutch, Beleg van Bergen op Zoom) took place during the Austrian War of Succession, when a French army, under the command of Lowendal and the overall direction of Marshal Maurice de Saxe, laid siege and captured the strategic Dutch border fortress of Bergen op Zoom on the border of Brabant and Zealand in 1747. Bergen op Zoom was defended by allies, consisting of: the Dutch, Austrians, British, Hanoverians and Hessians, that supported the Pragmatic Sanction. After seven years of brutal war, both sides in this conflict were suffering from weariness of the war. Although tentative peace initiatives had been put forward, neither side was yet willing to make meaningful concessions. The capture of Bergen op Zoom would be a signal defeat for the Dutch and would open the door for an invasion of the Dutch Netherlands. The siege was the center of attention in Europe and news of it followed eagerly in numerous reports with the Pragmatic allies confident that the fortress would withstand the French and the French determined it should fall.