Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly

He was born in 1648 to Jean Werner T'Serclaes Tilly Marbais and Marie Françoise de Montmorency Robecq. He was a younger brother of Albert Octave who served Philip V of Spain, which would pit them against each other during the Battle of Ekeren. The grandfather of these brothers was a younger brother of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly of the Thirty Years War. In 1667 Tilly entered Spanish service, but switched to Dutch service in 1672, even though he was a Catholic. [1]

The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers

In 1672, during the Rampjaar, he was stationed in The Hague with a number of horsemen. There he tried to stop the murder of Cornelis de Witt and Johan de Witt by an angry mob, but was ordered to retreat. An order he very reluctantly followed. "I will obey," Tilly spoke, "but now the De Witts are dead men." This controversial incident seems to indicate that the lynching was prepared by Orangists from higher up and was not a spontaneous affair.[2] Tilly would harbor anti-orangist feelings for the rest of his life. This while most of the officers and soldiers in the army were Orangists.[3]

In 1673, under the orders of de Fariaux, he took part in the defence of Maastricht against Louis XIV and was seriously wounded. In 1674, seving under William of Orange, he was again seriously wounded at Seneffe; in 1676, he took part in the Siege of Maastricht, in 1677 in the Battle of Cassel, in 1678 in the Battle of Saint-Denis; because of his bravery, he was given command of a regiment of cavalry.[4]

In the following Nine Years' War he was present at the battles of Walcourt and Fleurus.[4] In 1691 his rear-guard of cavalry, consisting of just 3,000 men, was attacked in the Battle of Leuze by a larger force under Villars and Marsilly.[5] The fight went badly for the Allied cavalry and its reputation, but reinforcements under Lord Overkirk eventually managed to push the French back.[6] In 1692 he fought at the Battle of Steenkerque.[4]

During the start of the Great Northern War, in which England and the Dutch Republic were on Sweden's side, he commanded an English contingent and had a share in breaking open the Siege of Tönning.[4]

Parade of Dutch soldiers with captured French and Bavarian banners after the Battle of Ekeren, by Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht

In the spring of 1702, at the start of the War of the Spanish Succession he was placed with a small army around the German city of Xanten. The French under Boufflers tried to ambush him there with a superior force but Tilly narrowly escaped the maneuver and united his forces with those of the Earl of Athlone. An act which earned him much praise.[7] Under Athlone the combined army was then able to prevent the fall of Nijmegen.[8]

The following year he served under Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam in Flanders and fought in the Battle of Ekeren. Their small Dutch force was surrounded by a much larger Franco-Spanish army and Obdam fled, thinking his army was destroyed. The Lord of Slangenburg and Tilly however took over command and managed to force back the Franco-Spanish troops and break the encirclement.[1][9] During this battle Tilly's older brother commanded a corps on the Franco-Spanish side.[10]

Allied battle order at Malplaquet. Tilly is mentioned as one of the supreme commanders.

In the ensuing campaigns, Tilly served under Lord Overkirk. He took part in the Battle of Ramillies and played a very important role at the Battle of Oudenarde. When field marshal Overkirk died in 1708, during Siege of Lille, Tilly became de facto supreme commander of the Dutch army in the Netherlands. The Dutch States General didn't promote him to that position officially, because that would offend the Frisians and Groningers who wanted their stadtholder, John William Friso, the Prince of Orange, in that position.[11]

Together with Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy, as head of the Dutch forces, Tilly defeated the French at Malplaquet. Tilly led the entire left wing, at least in name; for he had anti-orangist sympathies, while his officers were largely on the side of the Prince of Orange, and obeyed him more than they obeyed Tilly.[3] Tilly thus seems to have had little tactical influence throughout the battle,[12] and didn't participate in the Dutch infantry assault led by the Prince of Orange.[13] The Dutch army suffered very heavy casualties that day, with 10,000 men killed or wounded.[14] After the battle, Tilly tasked himself with finding the wounded who still lay on the battlefield and drew up a detailed list of the Dutch casualties.[15]

In 1710 he and Marlborough again commanded the Anglo-Dutch army. Combined with the army of Eugene of Savoy, it was larger than ever before, totalling 165,000 men. The campaign was accompanied by many difficulties, but the allies managed to capture Douai, Béthune, Saint-Venant and Aire. Still, success was limited. The Allies had failed to penetrate the French fortress ring despite all their efforts.[16] The following year, Eugene and most of the Imperial troops were recalled from the Spanish Netherlands. The combined Anglo-Dutch field army under Marlborough and Tilly, consisting of 100,000 men, was smaller than last year's and now only able to capture Bouchain.[17]

Tilly was rewarded the post of governor of Namur in 1713. The next year he was transferred to the same position in 's-Hertogenbosch and in 1718 he was awarded with the governorship of the fortress town of Maastricht.[18]

Tilly married Anne Antoinette d'Aspremont-Lynden countess of Reckheim. Anne often stayed with him in the field.[1] In 1723 Tilly died and was buried at the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht.[4]

• Van Nimwegen, Olaf (2020). De Veertigjarige Oorlog 1672-1712: de strijd van de Nederlanders tegen de Zonnekoning (The 40 Years War 1672-1712: the Dutch struggle against the Sun King) (in Dutch). Prometheus. ISBN 978-90-446-3871-4.
• "Claude-Frédéric T'Serclaes Count Tilly". The Spanish Succession. n.d.
• Frey, Linda S. (1995). The Treaties of the War of the Spanish Succession: An Historical and Critical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-27884-9.
• Blok, P.J.; Molhuysen, P.C. (1912). "Tilly, Claude 't Serclaes". Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 2.
• MacDowall, Simon (2020). Malplaquet 1709: Marlborough's Bloodiest Battle. Osprey. ISBN 978-1-4728-4123-0.
• Van Lennep, Jacob (1880). De geschiedenis van Nederland, aan het Nederlandsche Volk verteld [The history of the Netherlands, told to the Dutch nation] (in Dutch). Leiden; z.j.
• Wijn, J.W. (1956). Het Staatsche Leger: Deel VIII Het tijdperk van de Spaanse Successieoorlog (The Dutch States Army: Part VIII The era of the War of the Spanish Succession) (in Dutch). Martinus Nijhoff.
• De Graaf, Ronald (2021). Friso: het tragische leven van Johan Willem Friso [Friso: the tragic life of John William Friso] (in Dutch). Boom. ISBN 978-90-2443-676-7.
• Fruin, Robert (1867). "De schuld van Willem III en zijn vrienden aan den moord der gebroeders de Witt". De Gids. 31.