A battle in the War of the Austrian Succession, fought at Fontenoy, a village in Hainault in south-west Belgium: it saw a major victory for the French over Austria and her allies. Saxe, the French commander, had overrun the Austrian Netherlands. The British general, the Duke of Cumberland, was advancing to the relief of Tournai with a British, Austrian, and Dutch force; he found a gap in the French line of fortifications but was driven back.