Battle of Piacenza
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Piacenza was a pitched battle between a Franco-Spanish army and Austrian
army near Piacenza
on June 16, 1746. It formed part of later operations in the War of the Austrian Succession
. The result was a victory for the Austrian forces, led by Prince Josef Wenzel
Prince Franz Josef I and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
are among notable combatants.
of Liechtenstein retired before the Spanish advance lest he commit his undermaned army to destruction. Milan submitted peacefully and by the end of the year most of Lombardy
was in Spanish hands.
The situation facing Austria in early 1746 was this. The Bourbon armies occupied all of Lombardy save Mantua
and approximately 1/5 of Charles Emmanuels realm of Piedmont-Sardinia. The French court now began negotiations with Charles Emmanuel in the hope of detaching Piedmont from its alliance with Austria whilst at the same time Marshal Maillebois was pressing the siege of Alessandria
. By all reckoning the Infant Philip
was now master of his new realm and the Bourbons had been triumphant in Spain.
signed between Prussia
and Austria on December 25, 1745 had as much impact for the fighting in Italy as it did for central Europe. Charles Emmanuel and his advisors saw this clearly. Evidently Austria, now freed from a war in Germany, would transfer the bulk of its army to Italy and since the position of France and Spain had not altered the King realised that they would not be able to match Austria's military build up in the peninsular.
Although still negotiating with France the King realised that keeping his alliance with Austria was the more profitable gamble. Charles Emmanuel was no fool however and realised that he needed to buy himself time until Austria had completed her concentration in Italy. The easiest way to obtain this was to string out the negotiations for as long as possible until it was time to act. Consequently he gave the French court until the end of February to reach an agreement otherwise there would be a resumption of hostilities. He also requested that the French raise the siege of Alessandria
and in an extraordinay act of good faith the French complied on the 17th February 1746.
With the first of March however with the deadline now passed and the Austrian concentration complete Charles Emmanual realised that the time had come to resume the war. The Piedmontese Army slowly began to move towards the French garrison at Asti and Alessandria. Having successfully disguised their intentions Charles Emmanuel re-opened the war in Italy on 5 March 1746 with an attack on Asti
. Three days later the garrison had surrendered and 5,000 prisoners fell into Piedmontese hands.
. Unfortunately the Austrian command made the decision for them. By skilful manoeuvering the Austrians chased The Infant from Milan
to Pavia
. By April Parma
, Reggio
and Guastalla
had fallen to Austria. In order to concentrate their dispersed forces the Spanish asked Marshal Maillebois to bring his French army westwards to join with the other Bourbon troops falling back on Piacenza from various directions.
Marshal Maillebois however was reluctant to abandon his lines of communication through Genoa and consequently only sent 10 battalions forward to Piacenza. The Spanish King Philip V and His wife Elizabeth Farnese however ordered De Gages to remain at Piacenza and Louis XV, wishing to confirm Bourbon solidarity and ready to be obliging to his Spanish uncle, ordered Maillebois to place his troops under Spanish command. Reluctantly agreeing the Marshal ordered his troops to Piacenza and by June 15 the Franco-Spanish army was joined together.
Consequently, with the Piedmontese only a day's march away the French Marshall urged that an immediate attack should be launched against the Austrians. This of course meant a change in the original plan. Instead of the original plan the Spanish commander would now hold his centre lightly whilst concentrating on the flanks. The attack on the Austrian left would entail pushing it back towards the Austian centre and in ean even more un-orthodox move De Gages asked Maillebois to take his troops beyond the extreme right of the line, encircle the Austrian right flank and fall on its rear. The battle was set to begin at sunrise on the 16th.
The Austrians had spent the last few month's emplacing their artillery, seizing Bourbon outposts and gathering in food supplies. The increasing mood in the Austrian camp was one of confident victory. The Austrian plan was much more simple than the Bourbon plan. They would let Gages waste his troops against his positions before counter-attacking once the attack had run out of steam and on the morning of the 15th they began to deploy their forces to the north of Piacenza. Unfortunately for the French, Count Browne realised what Maillebois was up to and moved his units to block the French advance. The Marquis of Botta d'Adorno commanded the Austrian right and simply went to the expedient of putting his troops on the alert on the evening of the 15th. The Austrians now only had to wait for the Franco-Spanish attack.
On the other flank Gages had been able to advance his men right up to the Austrian lines and his troops were slowly pushing the Austrians back in what seemed to be a much more even battle. However Count Bärenklau finally managed to engage the Austrian cavalry into the fight and the Spanish line finally broke under the pressure. With the Spanish hurrying back towards Piacenza the Austrians were able to give chase. By 2pm the battle was over and so were the Bourbon hopes in Italy.
being one of them. Following the battle the Bourbons evacuated Piacenza on 27th of June and were sheppherded eastwards by the Austro-Piedmontese armies into the republic of Genoa.
Although not marking the end of the fighting in Italy the battle was decisive for not only did it end hopes for a Kingdom for the Infant Philip in Italy it also allowed the Austrians to retain control of the Duchy of Milan
for the next 50 years.
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
army near Piacenza
Piacenza
Piacenza is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza...
on June 16, 1746. It formed part of later operations in the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
. The result was a victory for the Austrian forces, led by Prince Josef Wenzel
Josef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein
Wenzel I Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1712 and 1718, 1732 and 1745, and 1748 and 1772....
Prince Franz Josef I and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War .Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service...
are among notable combatants.
The Bourbon Position
Following the battle of Bassignana and the splitting of the Austrian and Piedmontese armies the Spanish and French armies co-ordinated their plans. Spain viewed either the capture of Turin and Milan desirable but since France wished to negotiate with Charles Emmanuel this left Spain only with Milan. Therefore on 28 November 1745 De Gages began the Spanish invasion of Lombardy. The Austrian commander Prince Josef WenzelJosef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein
Wenzel I Karl, Prince of Liechtenstein was the Prince of Liechtenstein between 1712 and 1718, 1732 and 1745, and 1748 and 1772....
of Liechtenstein retired before the Spanish advance lest he commit his undermaned army to destruction. Milan submitted peacefully and by the end of the year most of Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
was in Spanish hands.
The situation facing Austria in early 1746 was this. The Bourbon armies occupied all of Lombardy save Mantua
Mantua
Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...
and approximately 1/5 of Charles Emmanuels realm of Piedmont-Sardinia. The French court now began negotiations with Charles Emmanuel in the hope of detaching Piedmont from its alliance with Austria whilst at the same time Marshal Maillebois was pressing the siege of Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
. By all reckoning the Infant Philip
Philip, Duke of Parma
Philip of Spain was Duke of Parma from 1748 to 1765. He founded the House of Bourbon-Parma , a cadet line of the Spanish branch of the dynasty...
was now master of his new realm and the Bourbons had been triumphant in Spain.
Charles Emmanual re-opens the battle for Italy
The Treaty of DresdenTreaty of Dresden
The Treaty of Dresden was signed on 25 December 1745 at the Saxon capital of Dresden between Austria, Saxony and Prussia, ending the Second Silesian War....
signed between Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Austria on December 25, 1745 had as much impact for the fighting in Italy as it did for central Europe. Charles Emmanuel and his advisors saw this clearly. Evidently Austria, now freed from a war in Germany, would transfer the bulk of its army to Italy and since the position of France and Spain had not altered the King realised that they would not be able to match Austria's military build up in the peninsular.
Although still negotiating with France the King realised that keeping his alliance with Austria was the more profitable gamble. Charles Emmanuel was no fool however and realised that he needed to buy himself time until Austria had completed her concentration in Italy. The easiest way to obtain this was to string out the negotiations for as long as possible until it was time to act. Consequently he gave the French court until the end of February to reach an agreement otherwise there would be a resumption of hostilities. He also requested that the French raise the siege of Alessandria
Alessandria
-Monuments:* The Citadel * The church of Santa Maria di Castello * The church of Santa Maria del Carmine * Palazzo Ghilini * Università del Piemonte Orientale-Museums:* The Marengo Battle Museum...
and in an extraordinay act of good faith the French complied on the 17th February 1746.
With the first of March however with the deadline now passed and the Austrian concentration complete Charles Emmanual realised that the time had come to resume the war. The Piedmontese Army slowly began to move towards the French garrison at Asti and Alessandria. Having successfully disguised their intentions Charles Emmanuel re-opened the war in Italy on 5 March 1746 with an attack on Asti
Asti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
. Three days later the garrison had surrendered and 5,000 prisoners fell into Piedmontese hands.
Bourbon retreat to Piacenza
The surrender of the garrison at Asti created major problems for the French army. Morale plummeted and by the end of March Marshal Maillebois' army had lost 15,000 men to desertion, illness or capture. De Gages Spanish army sat still at Piacenza, uncertain of what course of action to take in the face of the new danger caused by the Austrian concentration. Neither he nor the Infant Philip wished to retreat from Lombardy due to the anger that this would provoke in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Unfortunately the Austrian command made the decision for them. By skilful manoeuvering the Austrians chased The Infant from Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
to Pavia
Pavia
Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...
. By April Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
, Reggio
Reggio Emilia
Reggio Emilia is an affluent city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 170,000 inhabitants and is the main comune of the Province of Reggio Emilia....
and Guastalla
Guastalla
Guastalla is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.-Geography:Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River...
had fallen to Austria. In order to concentrate their dispersed forces the Spanish asked Marshal Maillebois to bring his French army westwards to join with the other Bourbon troops falling back on Piacenza from various directions.
Marshal Maillebois however was reluctant to abandon his lines of communication through Genoa and consequently only sent 10 battalions forward to Piacenza. The Spanish King Philip V and His wife Elizabeth Farnese however ordered De Gages to remain at Piacenza and Louis XV, wishing to confirm Bourbon solidarity and ready to be obliging to his Spanish uncle, ordered Maillebois to place his troops under Spanish command. Reluctantly agreeing the Marshal ordered his troops to Piacenza and by June 15 the Franco-Spanish army was joined together.
Opposing Plans
Since the Austrian army outnumbered his own by some 15,000 men De Gages worked out a plan which would be make an Austrian assault costly and invite a Spanish counterstoke which would very well win the battle. Rejecting a stand in the crumbling town of Piacenza Gages ordered ditches and artillery emplacements to be dug which would become a defensive line that the Austrians would have to attack. De Gages also ordered his troops to scout the area's to the north of Piacenza. Maillebois arrival gave the Spanish general a combined strength of 40,000 but this had already began to put a severe strain on the food supplies in the area and also approaching from the west was a Piedmontese army of 10,000 men which would firmly tip the balance in numbers in favour of the Austrians.Consequently, with the Piedmontese only a day's march away the French Marshall urged that an immediate attack should be launched against the Austrians. This of course meant a change in the original plan. Instead of the original plan the Spanish commander would now hold his centre lightly whilst concentrating on the flanks. The attack on the Austrian left would entail pushing it back towards the Austian centre and in ean even more un-orthodox move De Gages asked Maillebois to take his troops beyond the extreme right of the line, encircle the Austrian right flank and fall on its rear. The battle was set to begin at sunrise on the 16th.
The Austrians had spent the last few month's emplacing their artillery, seizing Bourbon outposts and gathering in food supplies. The increasing mood in the Austrian camp was one of confident victory. The Austrian plan was much more simple than the Bourbon plan. They would let Gages waste his troops against his positions before counter-attacking once the attack had run out of steam and on the morning of the 15th they began to deploy their forces to the north of Piacenza. Unfortunately for the French, Count Browne realised what Maillebois was up to and moved his units to block the French advance. The Marquis of Botta d'Adorno commanded the Austrian right and simply went to the expedient of putting his troops on the alert on the evening of the 15th. The Austrians now only had to wait for the Franco-Spanish attack.
The battle
On the morning of the 16th the Austrian artillery began to open fire on the Bourbon camp opposite. At the same time the Franco-Spanish army began its assault upon the Austrian lines. Marshall Maillebois' plan became unstuck in the very few minutes of his assault. Instead of a clear decent upon the Austrian rear the Marshall was unerved to see Brownes troops drawn up in front of him behind a canal. To compound the problems the French force had emerged from the wrong place. The narrow valley they had gone down providied a bottleneck and as soon as they emerged they were mown down by the Austrians'. The Marshall tried to bring more troops into the action but his men were never to get near the Austrians due to the intensity of the Austrian fire. Finally Browne advanced his troop over the canal and the assault collapsed, many Frenchmen being cut to pieces in the narrow gully.On the other flank Gages had been able to advance his men right up to the Austrian lines and his troops were slowly pushing the Austrians back in what seemed to be a much more even battle. However Count Bärenklau finally managed to engage the Austrian cavalry into the fight and the Spanish line finally broke under the pressure. With the Spanish hurrying back towards Piacenza the Austrians were able to give chase. By 2pm the battle was over and so were the Bourbon hopes in Italy.
The aftermath
The casualties in this battle tell the whole story. Austria suffered c.3,400 casualties with about 700 dead. The Spanish army suffered c.9,000 casualties and the French added c.4000 to this total. Of these 4,500 were killed and 4,800 made prisoner, Louis-Joseph de MontcalmLouis-Joseph de Montcalm
Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis de Saint-Veran was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War .Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service...
being one of them. Following the battle the Bourbons evacuated Piacenza on 27th of June and were sheppherded eastwards by the Austro-Piedmontese armies into the republic of Genoa.
Although not marking the end of the fighting in Italy the battle was decisive for not only did it end hopes for a Kingdom for the Infant Philip in Italy it also allowed the Austrians to retain control of the Duchy of Milan
Duchy of Milan
The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...
for the next 50 years.