Key Facts
- Duration
- Approximately two months (May–June 1745)
- City surrender date
- 22 May 1745
- Citadel surrender date
- 19 June 1745
- Relief battle
- Battle of Fontenoy, 11 May 1745
- Garrison nationality
- Largely Dutch
Strategic Narrative Overview
French forces under Marshal Saxe laid siege to Tournai and simultaneously positioned troops to intercept the advancing Pragmatic Army. On 11 May 1745, the Battle of Fontenoy resulted in a decisive French victory, shattering the relief attempt. With no prospect of outside aid, the largely Dutch garrison of the city was compelled to negotiate. The siege continued against the citadel, which held out separately from the city proper for several additional weeks.
01 / The Origins
Tournai was a fortified city in the Austrian Netherlands, a strategically valuable possession contested during the War of the Austrian Succession. France, under Louis XV and Marshal Saxe, sought to pressure Habsburg holdings in the Low Countries. In 1745, French forces moved to besiege Tournai as part of a broader campaign to seize the Austrian Netherlands, prompting the allied Pragmatic Army—comprising British, Dutch, Hanoverian, and Austrian troops—to march to the city's relief.
03 / The Outcome
Following Fontenoy, the city garrison surrendered to French forces on 22 May 1745. The citadel garrison, holding out longer, capitulated on 19 June 1745. France thus secured Tournai, marking one of the longest and most significant sieges of the War of the Austrian Succession. The fall of Tournai opened further French advances into the Austrian Netherlands in subsequent campaign seasons.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Marshal Maurice de Saxe.
Side B
1 belligerent
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.