Who, at Dettingen in 1743, became the last King of England to lead his troops in battle?
Battle of Dettingen Battle of Dettingen The Battle of Dettingen () took place on 27 June 1743 at Dettingen on the River Main, Germany, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The British forces, in alliance with those of Hanover and Hesse, defeated a French army under the duc de Noailles. George II commanded his troops in the battle, and this marked the last time a British monarch personally led his troops on the field. The battle straddled the river about 18 miles east of Frankfurt, with guns on the Hessian bank but most of the combat on the flat Bavarian bank. The
Battle of Dettingen of this victory, Handel composed his "Dettingen Te Deum" and "Dettingen Anthem." The two parties had agreed before the battle that the sick and wounded who fell into the hands of the enemy would be cared for and not considered prisoners of war. When the allies retreated they left behind most of their wounded, and the French respected the agreement, a precursor of the Geneva Convention. "Dettingen" has since 1947 been the name of one of the training companies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. In recent years it has been the training unit for short courses (for example the