The assault on Nijmegen occurred during the War of the Spanish Succession, on 10 and 11 June 1702 involving French troops under the Duc de Boufflers against the small garrison and some citizens of the city of Nijmegen and an Anglo-Dutch army under the Earl of Athlone.
In an attempt to save Kaiserswerth from capture by the Allies, Boufflers tried to force the numerically outnumbered army of Athlone into a battle by luring him away from his strong position, by attacking Nijmegen. The operation was a failure as the French were unable to take Nijmegen or to force Athone's army into a serious battle, despite inflicting more damage than received on the Allies during the skirmishes.
Prelude
In May 1702, the Dutch Republic, England and the Holy Roman Emperor had declared war on France and the War of the Spanish Succession had begun. French troops had taken up positions in the Spanish Netherlands and in Germany before the war and were directly threatening the Dutch border. An Allied army under the Prince of Nassau-Usingen began the siege of Kaiserswerth, in Germany, on 18 April to secure the eastern flank of the Dutch Republic.
An Anglo-Dutch corps of 27 battalions and 62 squadrons, under Earl of Athlone, was camped near Kranenburg behind a strong entrenched position, while the French under Boufflers, with 37 battalions and 59 squadrons were camped near Sonsbeck. In the beginning of June the situation in Kaiserswerth began to get desperate for the defenders. Boufflers, with the intention to do a last attempt to save Kaiserwerth planned to force the numerically outnumbered army under Athlone into a battle by luring him away from his strong position. For this purpose he ordered a surprise attack on Nijmegen on 10 June. Nijmegen, an important and strategically located Dutch city, with its recently modernised fortifications designed by Menno van Coehoorn, was garrisoned by only two infantry battalions and was ill-prepared for a French attack. If Athlone stayed behind in his strong position and left Nijmegen to fend for itself the city would have fallen in to French hands without much difficulty.
The French assault
Although the French offensive was surprising, it was not entirely unexpected for the Allies. Several rumours had already warned of such an undertaking and in the early morning of 10 June news arrived in the Anglo-Dutch camp that the French army under Boufflers and the Duke of Burgundy, the Dauphin of France, were on the march. Still, Athlone's army remained in camp at Klarenburg until 8 o'clock in the evening, after which the necessity for a retreat was finally accepted. The artillery and baggage train were sent forward towards Nijmegen after which the infantry followed via Kranenburg en Groesbeek and the cavalry via Mook. As a French attack on Grave also had to be anticipated, Athlone sent four battalions to Grave.
In the early morning of 11 June, cavalry vanguards caught sight of each other on the heath north of Mook. The French cavalry, reinforced with regiments under De Guiche was ordered to harry the Allied cavalry and to slow the retreat in anticipation of the French main force. Not long after, however, the French discovered that the entire Anglo-Dutch army was marching in battle order towards Nijmegen. The French cavalry followed at a short distance but did not dare to attack without infantry support. The latter joined the cavalry around 1 o'clock, but by then the army under Athlone had already reached the outworks of Nijmegen. The Anglo-Dutch infantry took up post in the covertway, while the cavalry took up a position on the glacis.
For some hours, the armies remained in battle order facing each other without a major battle occurring. Some cavalry skirmishes took place, and gun and artillery fire was exchanged. The latter on the French side by the field artillery that had by now arrived and on the Dutch side by cannons, which the citizens had taken from the storehouse, brought to the ramparts and operated themselves. The city was so poorly prepared for an attack that initially there were no artillery pieces in position on the ramparts, nor artillerymen, to operate them. It had also taken a long time before the artillery could be moved into position, as the keys to the storehouse could not be found. Yet the brave behaviour of the citizens later earned them much praise. The 'Kijk in de Pot' fortification to the south east of the city was taken twice by French cavalry but recaptured both times. But these fights too were nothing more than skirmishes. Boufflers and the Duke of Burgundy, now exposed to artillery fire from Nijmegen and incapable of forcing Athlone from his position decided to order a retreat around 5 o'clock in the afternoon.