John William Friso

John William Friso (; 14 August 1687 – 14 July 1711) became the (titular) Prince of Orange in 1702. He was the Stadtholder of Friesland and Groningen in the Dutch Republic. He also served in the Dutch States Army during the War of the Spanish Succession until his death by accidental drowning in the Hollands Diep in 1711.

Background

Born on 14 August 1687 in Dessau, Anhalt, Friso was the son of Henry Casimir II, Prince of Nassau-Dietz, and Princess Henriëtte Amalia of Anhalt-Dessau who were both first cousins of William III. He was also a member of the House of Nassau (the branch of Nassau-Dietz), and through the testamentary dispositions of William III became the progenitor of the new line of the House of Orange-Nassau. He was educated under Jean Lemonon, professor at the University of Franeker.

Succession

With the death of William III of Orange, the legitimate male line of William the Silent (the second House of Orange) became extinct. John William Friso, the senior agnatic descendant of William the Silent's brother and a cognatic descendant of Frederick Henry, grandfather of William III, claimed the succession as stadtholder in all provinces held by William III. This was denied to him by the republican faction in the Netherlands.State, P. F. (2008). ''A Brief History of the Netherlands''. New York: Facts on File.

The five provinces over which William III ruled – Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel – all suspended the office of stadtholder after William III's death. The remaining two provinces – Friesland and Groningen – were never governed by William III, and continued to retain a separate stadtholder, John William Friso. He established the third House of Orange, which became extinct in the male line in 1890. His son, William IV of Orange, later became stadtholder of all seven provinces.

Under William III's will, Friso stood to inherit the Principality of Orange, but due to the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, Johan Willem Friso was unable to assert his claims to the principality and other possessions of William III. His inheritance was contested by his cousin, Frederick I of Prussia, as well as by his Catholic relative from Nassau-Siegen and various descendants of the old House of Chalon in France. Additionally, King Louis XIV sought to take control of the principality, which had long been a Protestant enclave. He temporarily supported the claims of the Prince of Conti, who was recognized by the French council as the rightful heir. The Protestant population was expelled, and the Principality of Orange remained in French hands following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, with the Prince of Conti acknowledging Louis XIV's sovereignty. The inheritance of William III and the title "Prince of Orange" became the subject of a serious dispute between the Frisian branch of the House of Nassau and the Prussian royal family, a conflict that remained unresolved at the time of Johan Willem Friso's death in 1711.

Military career

Appointment and first military actions

In 1702 at the start of the War of the Spanish Succession, Friso intended to participate in his first military campaign with the Dutch States Army under the supervision of his governor, Van Heemstra, but was prevented by a fall from his horse. He eventually joined the war effort in 1703, serving under Field Marshal Hendrik van Nassau, Lord of Ouwerkerk. In 1704, after intense debate among the Dutch provinces, he was designated the position of General of Infantry. Although only nominally, as he was just 17 years old. Efforts to appoint him as a member of the Council of State in 1705 were blocked by Holland and Utrecht, and later, in 1707, by Zeeland and Overijssel.

When Johan Willem Friso came of age in 1707, he formally assumed his titles in the northern provinces, though in Groningen this did not occur until 1708 and was subject to restrictions. He quickly earned distinction as a general. Although he had previously been present at several engagements without holding an official command—such as the siege of Ostend and the siege of Menin—his first significant action as an active participant was at the Battle of Oudenaarde. At Oudenaarde he led the flank attack of 10,000 Dutch infantrymen that would decide the battle in favour of the Allies, for which he would receive much praise in and outside the Republic.

Following that battle he joined Eugene of Savoy in his Siege of Lille and was in overal command of the Anglo-Dutch troops at the siege. He positioned his headquarters in the village of Lamberfart, dangerously close to the city's cannons. On August 18, a cannonball struck his quarters while he was getting dressed. The shot narrowly missed him, passing just inches from his face, but killed his chamberlain, Du Cerceau, who was standing nearby. Blood and brain matter splattered across the room, but the prince remained remarkably composed, showing more concern for the loss of his loyal servant than for his own close brush with death. Following this incident, senior officials urged him to relocate his headquarters, and he eventually moved to the safer Castle of Holbeek. Lille fell after several bloody months and the campaign was concluded with the Siege of Gent and capture of Brugge in which Friso also played his part.

In June of 1709, as the allies marched on Tournai Friso was tasked with capturing Mortange and Saint-Amand, to safeguard the siege operations against French attacks from the side of Valenciennes. The primary objective was Fort l'Escarpe, which controlled the crossing of the Scheldt. Friso was fortunate when, after about a dozen shots from his accompanying field guns, the drawbridge unexpectedly fell without being destroyed. Taking advantage of this, his troops swiftly stormed the fort, met little resistance, and captured the garrison.

Battle of Malplaquet

Following the capture of Tournai on 3 September the French and Allied armies met at the Battle of Malplaquet. Here he commanded the infantry on the Allied left together with François Nicolas Fagel. Overall control was exercised by Count Tilly, who had succeeded Ouwerkerk as senior Dutch commander. In reality, Tilly's anti- Orangist sympathies meant his largely pro-Orangist senior officers allegedly took their orders from Friso.

The Duke of Marlborough, the Allied commander in overal control, tasked the 30 Dutch infantry battalions Dutch on left with attacking the French rightwing. This was a hopeless task. The French right wing, commanded by the seasoned military leader Louis-François de Boufflers, was shielded by a forest and a strong line of entrenchments. Additionally, Boufflers commanded twice as many troops as Friso. His forces included the ''régiment de Picardie'' and the French and Swiss Guards, some of the best infantry regiments of the French army. The Dutch initially expected to be reinforced by 21 battalions under Henry Withers, which were still advancing from Tournai. However, with the plans having changed, the left flank's forces were now insufficient to execute the operation successfully.

Half an hour after the Allied right wing had engaged the enemy, Friso ordered his troops to join the fray. His Dutch forces, which included Scottish and Swiss regiments, were the finest in Europe. They launched three determined assaults on the French positions, but despite their tenacity and the ground they managed to seize, they were repelled each time with heavy casualties. Many Dutch infantry officers lost their lives or were severely wounded during the battle, but Friso, remarkably, remained completely unharmed. Throughout the brutal combat, the prince fought courageously, and had his horse shot out from under him twice. At one point, Friso even seized a banner from the Swiss Mey Regiment, planted it on a redoubt, and cried out to his troops: 'Follow me, my friends, here is your post!'

It was only when Frederik Sirtema van Grovestins and his cavalry approached the French fortifications from behind, and the French retreated, that Friso was able to capture them. The Dutch forces paid a heavy price at Malplaquet, suffering around 10,000 dead and wounded. Yet, Friso's assaults were not in vain. These fierce attacks made it impossible for Boufflers to reinforce the vulnerable French center, where the Allies ultimately broke through. Nonetheless, he faced significant criticism from the Republic where he was blamed for youthful recklessness and the unnecessary sacrifice of lives. Some British historians, notably Winston Churchill, have later suggested that he turned a feigned attack into a real one in pursuit of glory. However, there is no evidence for this claim. The Dutch had been ordered to drive the enemy from their positions and advance onto the Malplaquet plateau—orders consistent with Marlborough's usual strategy of mounting multiple attacks to unbalance the enemy, and Marlborough never blamed the prince for the heavy Dutch losses. Instead, it seems more likely that both he and Orange had underestimated the strength and resilience of the French defence.

Last military actions and Death

After Malplaquet the Allies marched on Mons and Friso was tasked with leading all operations at the siege. In 1710 he led the Siege of Douai together with the Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. Dessau commanded the right, while Orange led the left. During the siege, the left side made significantly more progress than the right. Years later, Hertel, the Dutch engineer who had served under Dessau, confessed to Vegelin van Claerbergen that he had sabotaged the right-wing's efforts, as the Prince of Orange had requested him - privately - that the progress be delayed there. Later that year he managed to capture Saint Vernant. The prestige that he acquired from his military service should have favored his eventual elevation as stadtholder in the remaining five provinces. However, in 1711, when traveling from the front in Flanders to meet the King of Prussia in The Hague in connection with his suit in the succession dispute, he drowned on 14 July when the ferry boat on the Moerdyk was overturned in heavy weather. His son was born six weeks after his death.

Marriage and issue

On 26 April 1709, Friso married Princess Maria Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1688–1765), daughter of Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and granddaughter of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland. They had two children.

Royal descendants

Legacy

* Monuments in Moerdijk and Strijensas, on both sides of the historic ferry crossing across the Hollands Diep, commemorate the drowning of Johan Willem Friso.
* The Regiment Infantry Prins Johan Willem Friso (RI PJWF) is named in his honour.
* Central Royal Military Band of the Netherlands Army "Johan Willem Friso" is named in his honour.
* He is the most recent ancestor of all the monarchs reigned since World War II.

Ancestry

See also

* Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken – Became the most recent common ancestors of all reigning hereditary European monarchs in 2022 when Elizabeth II died and her son, Charles, became king.
* Christian IX of Denmark and Louise of Hesse-Kassel – Common ancestors of many reigning hereditary European monarchs
** Descendants of Christian IX of Denmark

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:John William Friso, Prince of Orange
1687 births
1711 deaths
People from Dessau-Roßlau
Princes of Orange
Stadtholders in the Low Countries
House of Orange-Nassau
Lords of Breda
Deaths due to shipwreck
Counts of Nassau
Monarchy of the Netherlands
Dutch army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession
Dutch generals
18th-century Dutch military personnel
Stadtholders of Frisia
Dutch military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession