The economy of the French Empire was just beginning to show strain from war. Vital resources such as timber mostly gathered from French Guyana where in short supply. Without this timber the navy that was blockading the British ports in the Channel would soon need to be withdrawn for fears of losing warships. Several of the ships currently patrolling the waters were in desperate need of repairs, and were withdrawn, but the shortage of resources available severely hampered an estimate for a return of the warships to active service.
With Britain unwilling to negotiate, they apparently thought that the now 100,000 strong French army could be repulsed back into the sea; France would have to divert desperately needed resources to handle Britain’s allies. On June 10th, a fleet arrived off the shores of Hannover at the Helgoland Bight and began disembarking, and landed on the shore without opposition. The citizens acted surprised; perhaps Britain had lied to its allies and assured them France was no match for the Royal Navy? Whatever the promises delivered to Hannover, she would now begin feeling the weight of two corps numbering just under 60,000 soldiers. Her army of nearly one third the size of the French would eventually be forced to battle.
Turning towards the Netherlands, word had been sent from the Dutch informants who sought a better life under the rule of a member of the House of Bonaparte that an army was marching towards the French border. The Dutch army, commanded by a General John Lucas numbered close to 32,000 soldiers, a large army compared to what France was capable of sending to the border. Most of the army had been sent overseas, with only a few thousand soldiers remaining within France. Word was quickly sent to Joseph de Bourbon, commander of a 36,000 strong cavalry force stationed in southern France to make haste for Alsace-Lorraine.
With great luck and determination the cavalry arrived in Alsace-Lorraine and headed towards Spa, where word stated the Dutch were headed to. Unbeknowst to Dutch, France was now prepared to face battle. On August 23rd, 1846, the Battle of Spa would commence and prove to be the ending of the threat from Amsterdam. In the battle, the Dutch forced would lose 17,643 soldiers compared to Bourbon’s loss of 7,074. Bourbon had explicit orders from Emperor Napoleon II not to advance towards Dutch lands, which were followed though to great frustration of the general who sought additional glory like a colleague.
That colleague was Jacques Foch of the Imperial Guard; which had been dispatched to England to showcase the best of the best within the French army. On August 26th, Foch would have his first taste of British blood as Britain was forced to battle at Brighton. The British commander James Hamilton (of Battle of Plymouth fame) had been tricked into believing the Imperial Guards only marched with about 24,000 soldiers when infact the numbers were closer to nearly double. What pursued was another disaster for the British army; over ten thousand soldiers were lost along with a few artillery pieces while French loses were a meager 1,262.
For his efforts in the war and to the French nation, Emperor Napoleon II awarded Jacques Foch a promotion to marshal. Amongst the press of the nation, Jacques Foch was dubbed “favorite marshal”; the “first marshal”. Some press went as far as honorary awarding Marshal Foch with the title “the Duke of Versailles”; though no such official recognition was granted by the state except for the promotion to marshal. Even with the shortage of resources showing the strain on the economy, as what available resources were being redistributed to the war effort, public opinion of the war high.