Atlas of Battles

battle, major, early modern

Battle of Fontenoy

Battle of Fontenoy was a battle fought on 11 May 1745 at Tournai, in what is now Belgium. It was part of the War of the Austrian Succession, which ran from 1740 to 1748. The recorded result: French victory.

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The Battle of Fontenoy, 11th May 1745.
The Battle of Fontenoy, 11th May 1745.. Horace Vernet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought11 May 1745
WhereTournai, Belgium50.569N, 3.475E
OutcomeFrench victory
BelligerentsKingdom of FranceagainstKingdom of Great Britain; Dutch Republic; Electorate of Hanover; Holy Roman Empire
Part ofWar of the Austrian Succession1740 to 1748

Where it sits in the War of the Austrian Succession

Battle of Mollwitz, 1741Siege of Brieg, 1741Siege of Prague, 1742Siege of Brno, 1742Battle of Chotusitz, 1742Battle of Sahay, 1742Action of 14 June 1742, 1742Siege of Mirandola, 1742Battle of Campo Santo, 1743Battle of Dettingen, 1743Battle of Toulon, 1744Battle of Villafranca, 1744Battle of Velletri, 1744Battle of Casteldelfino, 1744Siege of Prague, 1744Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo, 1744Battle of Pfaffenhofen, 1745Siege of Tournai, 1745Battle of Fontenoy, 1745Siege of Louisbourg, 1745Battle of Anguilla, 1745Fall of Ghent, 1745Battle of Melle, 1745Siege of Ath, 1745Battle of Bassignano, 1745Battle of Soor, 1745Battle of Hennersdorf, 1745Siege of Brussels, 1746Siege of Genoa, 1746Battle of Piacenza, 1746Action of 6 July 1746, 1746Siege of Namur, 1746Battle of Madras, 1746Raid on Lorient, 1746Battle of Rocoux, 1746Battle of Adyar, 1746Siege of Antibes, 1746Siege of Genoa, 1747First Battle of Cape Finisterre, 1747Siege of Bergen op Zoom, 1747Battle of Lauffeld, 1747Battle of Assietta, 1747Second Battle of Cape Finisterre, 1747Battle of Saint-Louis-du-Sud, 1748Siege of Maastricht, 1748Siege of Cuddalore, 174817411748Battle of Fontenoy, 1745
46 placed engagements of the War of the Austrian Succession in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date11 May 1745
PlaceTournai, Belgium
50.569N, 3.475E
KindBattle, early modern
Battle of FontenoyBattle of FontenoySiege of TournaiBattle of TournaySiege of TournaiSiege of TournaiSiege of TournaiSiege of TournaiBrusselsAntwerpenRouenCharleroiBruggeAmiensCalaisDieppe100 km50.569N, 3.475E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Fontenoy
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Fontenoy today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-08-12. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 49 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -139 to 120 m, 258 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 31% tree cover, 29% cropland, 19% built-up.

tree cover: 31%cropland: 29%built-up: 19%grassland: 17%water: 3%tree cover 31%cropland 29%built-up 19%grassland 17%water 3%
west to east, 10.0 km3 to 71 mnorth to south, 10.0 km-134 to 65 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1745

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: BR ALLIED ARMYDefender: FR ARMY
Strength50,00060,000
Casualties12,000 (24.0%)6,000 (10.0%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1048
Outcomedefender won
Duration1 day
Front width2.8 km4 km
Attacker advanced0 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 58), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Fontenoy is one of 2,009 engagements of the 18th century in the atlas and one of 243 in present-day Belgium.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q569953, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Fontenoy, revision 1382120601, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.