The Battle of Minden—or Tho(r)nhausen—is a decisive engagement during the Seven Years' War, fought on August 1, 1759.

An Anglo-German army under the overall command of Field Marshal Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats a French army commanded by Marshal of France, Marquis de Contades.

Two years prior, the French had launched a successful invasion of Hanover and attempted to impose an unpopular treaty of peace upon the allied nations of Britain, Hanover and Prussia.

After a Prussian victory at Rossbach, and under pressure from Frederick the Great and William Pitt, King George II had disavowed the treaty.

In 1758, the Allies had launched a counter-offensive against the French forces and had driven them back across the Rhine.

After the Allies fail to defeat the French before reinforcements swell their retreating army, the French launch a fresh offensive, capturing the fortress of Minden on July 10.

Believing Ferdinand's forces to be over-extended, Contades abandons his strong positions around the Weser and advances to meet the Allied forces in battle.

The decisive action of the battle comes when six regiments of British and two of Hanoverian infantry, in line formation, repel repeated French cavalry attacks; contrary to all fears that the regiments would be broken.

The Allied line advances in the wake of the failed cavalry attack, sending the French army reeling from the field, ending all French designs upon Hanover for the remainder of the year.

In Britain, the victory is considered to constitute the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.