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Battle of Hanover

The Allied West German army, consisting of English, Hanover, Schaumburg-Lippe, and Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel troops and Led by the Duke of Brunswick and John Manner the Marquee of Granby; along with several hundred unorganized Hanoverian militia had stripped the lands bare of anything useful and harried the advance of the French-West German army led by Duc de Broglie toward Hanover. It only slowed de Broglie’s progress though not stopped it, as he had maintained a well-protected supply line for this second invasion into the heart of Hanover.

On March 15th, Brunswick had to make a stand outside Hanover to at least make an attempt to defeat the 71,000 strong French-German army with his combined 37,000 strong defending force. A victory would prevent the French from putting the city of Hanover to siege.

Though being outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, a victory was not to be. After a hard fought battle of several hours, Brunswick was forced into a well ordered retreat, as he could not risk a worse defeat and still hope for later victories. De Broglie, needing to get as early a start to a siege of the city could not pursue Brunswick at length.

Battle Results:
French-West German Forces: ~8000 casualties
Allied-West German Forces: ~2000 casualties

French Victory

While de Broglie settled into a siege of the capital city, Brunswick retreated northwest then veered toward allied Schumberg-Lippe to position himself strike hard at French supplies lines over and along the Weser river. If he could not defeat de Broglie openly he would have to bleed their army over a tortuous campaign.

Battle of Stathagen

Leaving a force to continue the siege of Hanover, De Broglie took 50,000 to take the city of Stathagen in Schumburg-Lippe which Brunswick was using to conduct raids in French supply lines. Brunswick was again forced to fight outnumbered against the French with his 35,000 strong army. While Brunswick tried to elude and maneuver as best he could, the forces finally clashed on May 19th.

Battle Results:
French-West German Forces: ~5000 casualties
Allied-West German Forces: ~3000 casualties, some guns captured.

French Victory

In another bloody battle that was mostly a draw; the Duke of Brunswick was again forced to retreat or face losing a battle of attrition against the French. Brunswick retreated northward to Verden with his army intact and send out orders for preparing new defenses along the lower Wesser and the Aller rivers.

Siege of Hanover

As soon as the Battle of Hanover was over Broglie had put the city to siege right away the next day on March 16th. The city was very well defended, and well supplied, and would prove difficult to take. Its defense was led by Count Nikolaus Luckner. Multiple rings of earth works had to be battered by artillery or stormed. It took a month of assault and maneuver though trenches to during which the French took an additional ~2000 casualties to properly surround the city with cannon in place for the long haul. All the while Brunswick made harrying attacks disrupting much needed supplies, especially of much needed shot and powder.

With victory at Stathagen, Broglie could refocus on taking the critical city of Hanover. The King and Choiseul believed it was vitally necessary for the Electorate of Hanover to fall for France to have a dominant position against Britain in peace talks. However the city, despite being battered all summer, proved extremely stubborn and well supplied. Even after Broglie had mopped up opposition and put the Counties of Schumburg-Lippe and the Hesse-Kessel county of Schaumberg under French control by the end of the summer, the city had still not fallen. Continuing skirmishes with English and Hanover forces as they withdrew northwards induced additional casualties and they destroyed or removed all foragable supplies as they left. Delays in resupply, the loss of much power and shot during Brunswick’s earlier raids, and resisting civilian militias significantly hampered the progress of the siege. As Broglie grew more desperate to take the city before winter, skirmishes happened occurred block by block.

A severely weakened Hanover garrison finally succumbed to an assault on November 18th and Luckner surrendered to the French and was taken prisoner, ending the siege.

Battle Results:
French-West German Forces: ~3000 casualties
Hanover Garrison: ~1000 casualties, 3000 captured. Count Nikolaus Luckner taken prisoner.
Civilians: at least ~2000 casualties of ‘civilian militia’ (as claimed by French records, though the number and combatant status is debated)

French Victory

While victorious, the battles to secure only the southern half of Hanover were far too costly. Broglie began the 1761 campaign in Hanover with 71,000 men, and ended it with only 55,000 men still in fighting condition. The Duke of Brunswick and his army though were still intact, and had shrunken from 41,000 to only 31,000.

Also disappointing Broglie was the refusal of the Hanover government to capitulate despite the loss of their capitol, under the stubborn orders of George II, and the fact that they had evacuated safely well before the fighting for the year had begun. Nor was William, the Count of Shaumberg-Lippe, who fought alongside the Duke of Brunswick, willing to concede or allow his remaining Shaumburg-Lippe forces to leave the service of the English and Hanover army despite the fact that their home county was presently under French occupation.

As winter set in over north Germany, it was clear it would require another campaign the next year to fully decide the fate of Hanover.