Editing Battle of Ramillies (section)

===Taviers===

At 13:00 the batteries went into action; a little later two Allied columns set out from the extremities of their line and attacked the flanks of the Franco-Bavarian army.<ref name=chandlertwo31>Chandler: ''A Guide to the Battlefields of Europe'', 31</ref> To the south, 4 Dutch battalions,{{efn|2 battalions Frisian Guards and the battalions of Slangenburg and Salish}} under the command of Colonel Wertmüller, came forward with their two field guns to seize the hamlet of Franquenée. The small Swiss garrison in the village, shaken by the sudden onslaught and unsupported by the battalions to their rear, were soon compelled back towards the village of Taviers. Taviers was of particular importance to the Franco-Bavarian position: it protected the otherwise unsupported flank of General de Guiscard's cavalry on the open plain, while at the same time, it allowed the French infantry to pose a threat to the flanks of the Dutch and Danish squadrons as they came forward into position.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 57</ref> But hardly had the retreating Swiss rejoined their comrades in that village when the Dutch Guards renewed their attack. The fighting amongst the alleys and cottages soon deteriorated into a fierce bayonet and clubbing ''mêlée'', but the superiority in Dutch firepower soon told. The accomplished French officer, Colonel de la Colonie, standing on the plain nearby remembered: "This village was the opening of the engagement, and the fighting there was almost as murderous as the rest of the battle put together."<ref>La Colonie: ''The Chronicles of an old Campaigner'', 306</ref> By about 15:00 the Swiss had been pushed out of the village into the marshes beyond.
[[File:Caminade - François de Neufville de Villeroy (1644-1730) - MV 1043.jpg|thumb|left|''François de Neufville, Duke of Villeroi, Marshal of France'', (1644–1730) by [[Alexandre-François Caminade]]. The Battle of Ramillies was Villeroi's last command.]]

Villeroi's right flank fell into chaos and was now open and vulnerable.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 61</ref> Alerted to the situation de Guiscard ordered an immediate attack with 14 squadrons of French dragoons currently stationed in the rear. Two other battalions of the Greder Suisse Régiment were also sent, but the attack was poorly co-ordinated and consequently went in piecemeal. The Anglo-Dutch commanders now sent dismounted Dutch dragoons into Taviers, which, together with the Guards and their field guns, poured concentrated musketry- and canister-fire into the advancing French troops. Colonel d’Aubigni, leading his regiment, fell mortally wounded.<ref name=colonie309>La Colonie: ''The Chronicles of an old Campaigner'', 309</ref>

As the French ranks wavered, the leading squadrons of Württemberg's Danish horse{{snd}}now unhampered by enemy fire from either village{{snd}}were also sent into the attack and fell upon the exposed flank of the Franco-Swiss infantry and dragoons.<ref name=chandler175>Chandler: ''Marlborough as Military Commander'', 175</ref> De la Colonie, with his Grenadiers Rouge regiment, together with the Cologne Guards who were brigaded with them, was now ordered forward from his post south of Ramillies to support the faltering counter-attack on the village. But on his arrival, all was chaos: "Scarcely had my troops got over when the dragoons and Swiss who had preceded us, came tumbling down upon my battalions in full flight{{nbs}}... My own fellows turned about and fled along with them."<ref name=colonie309/> De La Colonie managed to rally some of his grenadiers, together with the remnants of the French dragoons and Greder Suisse battalions, but it was an entirely peripheral operation, offering only fragile support for Villeroi's right flank.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 65</ref>