1745 05 11 Fontenoy 1245 h ‘Plugging the gap’ – Sean O’Brogain
With the French infantry shattered by British volleys, and needing to buy time and slow down the enemy advance, Saxe had only one card to play and that was to throw his cavalry brigades at the Anglo-Hanoverian column. If the troopers could break into the enemy formation it would be all well and good, but the priority was to delay the redcoats and prevent them from exploiting what was seemingly an inevitable victory. After several unsuccessful charges had been made against the Anglo-Hanoverian column, and the battered cavalrymen withdrawn, it was now the turn of the Regiment Royal de Carabiniers, the elite of the line cavalry, to take their turn in the attack. The Carabiniers were truly an elite unit, re-formed by Louis XIV in 1690, at Fontenoy; they comprised ten squadrons organized into five brigades and mounted on coal black horses, the rank and file carrying a rifled carbine and bayonet. Unlikeappointment and promotions by merit, which meant that the Carabiniers stood outside the normal purchase system. Believing that the British line was on the point of collapse, the French cavaliers charged “en fourage”, a slightly open order, intending to force a breach in red-coated ranks with pistol fire. Coming up against the Royal Scots, the senior line infantry regiment of the British Army, the result was a one-sided affair with the Frenchmen being forced to retire and re-form. Aware that they need to maintain their cohesion or face disaster, the officers of the Royal Scots push men back into line, ensuring that no gaps open in the line, that the enemy is always presented a threatening rank of bayoneted muskets. To the right of the Royal Scots, the corner of the open square is occupied by the men of the 2nd Foot Guards, who are from the Bois de Barry. It is at this point that the French cavalry will indeed break into the Allied formation, but the success will be short lived with the entire 1 st squadron of the Regiment de Noailles either becoming casualties or being taken prisoner. Eventually the sheer weight of French cavalry will force the Anglo-Hanoverians to halt and then, as fresh infantry are committed, they are forced to conduct a fighting retreat towards their starting positions around Vezon.