In order to keep his supply route open, Stair tried to secure key posts along the River Main and camped his army between Aschaffenburg and Kleinostheim, waiting for the King to arrive.īy noon, both armies had taken their positions opposite each other, with two lines of infantry in the centre, flanked by cavalry.
Instead, he ordered Stair to march the Pragmatic Army from the Austrian Netherlands towards Germany, in order to threaten the French in Bavaria and to pressurise several German states to side with them.įrom February until June, both the French and the Pragmatic Army were moving eastwards, trying to gain a positional advantage, but not committing to battle. Stair proposed an allied invasion of France from the Low Countries to strike at the heart of the enemy. The name 'Pragmatic Army' emphasised that it acted only to defend the 1713 Sanction, rather than having any alternative aggressive intentions. An experienced veteran, Field Marshal John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, was appointed commander of the Pragmatic Army, an allied force of British, Hanoverian and Austrian troops in support of Maria Theresa.
