Frederik Johan van Baer

Frederik Johan van Baer, Lord of Slangenburg (27 July 1645 – 15 December 1713) was a Dutch officer in the military service of the Dutch States Army. He served under William III of Orange in the Franco-Dutch War and Nine Years' War. He was to become a controversial figure for his role in the War of the Spanish Succession. While a talented general, he possessed a very difficult character. Slangenburg was often at odds with his fellow generals, especially the Allied commander-in-chief, the Duke of Marlborough. The hero status he acquired as a result of his conduct in the Battle of Ekeren couldn't prevent his eventual dismissal during the 1705 campaign. Leading writer Thomas Lediard to remark that Slangenburg: lost by his tongue what he had gained by his sword.

Family
He was the son of Herman van Baer van Slangenburg (1610–1653) and Catharina van Voorst (1620–1678). In 1665 he married Dorothea Petronella van Steenbergen, who died the same year. Frederik never remarried.

Career
He was a professed Catholic, and therefore was denied a career in government. A career in the army was the obvious choice. Overcoming the challenges posed by his faith, he had a distinguished career in the Dutch Army, participating in the Franco-Dutch War, the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. At what age he entered military service is not known. The earliest known mention of Van Baer as a state officer dates from 1668, when he was already a captain of infantry. This makes it probable that he participated in the Second Anglo-Dutch War too.

Early on he already managed to make himself one of William of Orange's favourites. From the Rampjaar of 1672 onwards, promotions followed one another in rapid succession. On 27 October 1672, he was made a major in the first Regiment of Van Stirum and less than a year later he had already been promoted to lieutenant-colonel. In 1675 he was retroactively appointed colonel of one of the Dutch-Scottish regiments on the basis of bravery shown during the Battle of Seneffe. During several battles, he personally led his regiment into battle. On 11 August 1676, he suffered a severe injury to one of his femurs during the Siege of Maastricht and had to be carried off the battlefield. His brave and skilful performance at Trois Trous in Luxembourg brought promotion to brigadier a year later. In 1678 the Dutch and French signed the Treaty of Nijmegen, which ended the Franco-Dutch War. He became major general in 1683.

In 1688 war broke out again with France. Slangenburg didn't join William III during his invasion in England, but served with the Allied army in the Spanish Netherlands. In 1689 he would play a decisive role in the Battle of Walcourt. On 7 January 1690, however, he arrived in England to complain personally to William about his bad relations with the Prince of Waldeck, under whose command he had to serve. With Waldeck he had been in constant conflict. At the same time, he applied for the lieutenant-general position. When it became clear that William III would not give him his way in this, he threatened to resign and furiously announced that both Emperor Leopold and the Elector of Bavaria were vying for his favour. Slangenburg eventually effectively resigned from the States Army in 1690, but two years later, at William III's intercession, he was retroactively appointed lieutenant general of infantry.

War of the Spanish Succession
During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713), Van Baer's military career culminated. He was among the commanders of the Dutch troops that came to fight the Franco-Spanish army in the Southern Netherlands under the allied supreme command of the Duke of Marlborough. Initially the relations between the Dutch senior officers were extremely poor due to mutual rivalries and antipathies. At the same time, the cautious Dutch senior officers were suspicious of their English commander-in-chief. They blamed Marlborough, with troops largely financed by the Dutch Republic, for pursuing a risky offensive strategy which, in the event of a French breakthrough, posed a great danger to the defence of the Republic's land provinces (Slangenburg was from one of the land provinces). Slangeburg was involved in secret consultations in The Hague as early as 1702 of 'malcontents' from various regions who did not trust Marlborough's intentions and tactics.

A moment of glory awaited Van Baer on June 30, 1703, during the Battle of Ekeren. There, he successfully averted the encirclement and destruction of a Dutch division, who Obdam had manoeuvred into a dangerous position, despite warnings from his Slangenburg and Tilly. During the battle, Obdam was forced to flee and hastily retreated to Breda with a small contingent of soldiers, after which the command fell on Slangenburg. Outnumbered by at least two to one the fierce fighting claimed the lives of over seven hundred Dutch soldiers (as well as a considerable number of French and Spanish troops), ultimately resulting in an inconclusive outcome.

Nevertheless, a significant consequence of the battle was the enhancement of Slangenburg's reputation at the expense of Obdam's. Dubbed the 'hero of Ekeren,' Van Baer managed to send several captured standards, banners, and kettle drums to The Hague, where they were displayed as symbols of triumph in the great hall of the Binnenhof.

After his performance at Ekeren, Van Baer became even more outspoken and assertive. He not only refused to support a request for Obdam's rehabilitation but also openly clashed with other Dutch commanders and Marlborough. During the allocation of commands for subsequent operations in Flanders in 1703 and the recommendations for promotions following the campaign's conclusion, he felt overlooked in favor of officers he deemed less qualified. He nurtured ambitions of attaining the rank of field marshal. While his arguments were occasionally valid and his insights often accurate, his strong desire for recognition, lingering resentment, inflexibility, and the fervor with which he expressed his opinions increasingly irritated, especially the English ally.

On April 11, 1704, Van Baer was promoted to the rank of General of Infantry and appointed as the commander of the Allied army on the Moselle. However, by the summer of 1705, his position had become untenable. Marlborough had held him responsible for the failure of a maneuver near the Dyle River. While the Dutch general enjoyed support in the provincial regions of the Dutch Republic, he had to step down when it became apparent that Holland, particularly the city of Amsterdam, was unwilling to risk a rupture with Marlborough at any cost. Marlborough had already threatened to prematurely leave the army.

Efforts by his allies to compensate him with the governorship of Maastricht or Upper Guelders yielded no results. After a vicious smear campaign, Van Baer withdrew in bitterness to the Slangenburg estates. Shortly after his dismissal, his reputation suffered further damage when, in a fit of anger, he nearly beat to death one of his servants.

Life after service
After his dismissal Slangengburg rebuild his ancestral mansion the "Slangenburg" near Doetinchem into a considerable castle, fitting his status. His wife is memorialized in many paintings there by Gerard Hoet.

His military reputation remained high however, and in 1710 Slangburg was one of three candidates the Danish king considered for the command of his army.

Legacy
Slangenburg's legacy is controversial. Anglo-American historians have historically blamed him for obstructionism, caused by his jealousy of Marlborough. The remarks of Winston Churchill, a famous Marlborough propenent, were especially damning. He blamed Slangenburg for preventing Marlborough from attacking the French at the Dyle river and for essentially bringing down the Dutch Republic. He wrote: "... if the valiant Republic, to whom Protestant civilization owes an inestimable debt, was to be deprived of its fruition in modern times, condemned for ever to be a minor Power while rivals grew so great, this was the fatal scene. Here by the cross-roads of bodeful Waterloo, as earlier upon the heaths of Peer, the destinies of Holland turned; and upon that milestone there may well be inscribed the not otherwise noticeable name of Slangenberg."

This is nuanced by the account of Dutch historian Jan Willem Wijn, who argues that it is doubtfull that an attack would have been a success. Olaf van Nimwegen argues that Marlborough's willingness to attack the French strong positions came from desperation. Willem Jan Knoop, a critic of Marlborough, also scrutinizes Slangenburg, but reserves greater criticism for the English Duke, casting doubt on Marlborough's sincerity in his readiness to engage in battle. Despite his purported intentions, Marlborough failed to undertake the requisite measures to prepare his army for combat. Knoop writes: "Little chance of winning; great chance of suffering severe losses in defeat; - that double consideration should have deterred from engaging in battle, and we are fully convinced that Marlborough did not desire the battle. But he pretended as if he did; placed in a situation by earlier mistakes where everything he did must give rise to justifiable criticisms, he wanted to appear as if he was not free in his actions; he wanted to shift the responsibility onto others for what he himself had done wrong."