On 2 July 1747, Cumberland, at the head of the allied army, met French forces under the Marshal de Saxe at Laffeldt, near Maastricht. Cumberland’s aim was to prevent a French invasion of Dutch territory. The battle was a decisive French victory and Sir John Ligonier, a senior British officer, was captured after a series of heroic cavalry charges to protect Hanoverian lines. French forces were subsequently able to invade Dutch territory, taking Bergen-op-Zoom shortly afterwards. King’s Military Map Collection Cat. 52