Battle of Staffarda

Battle of Staffarda

Part of: War of the Palatinate Succession

Victory of Staffarda (after Jean Baptiste Morret)

date	August 18, 1690
place	Staffarda Monastery in Northern Italy
output	French victory
consequences	French occupation of Savoy

Parties to the conflict
France	Savoy
Commander
Nicolas de Catinat	Viktor Amadeus II
Troop strength
7,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, 12,000 men in total	11,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry, altogether 18,000 men
losses
2,000 men dead or wounded	2,800 men dead or wounded, 1,200 captured

The information on troop strength and losses can differ significantly in the literature.

The Battle of Staffarda took place as part of the Palatinate War of Succession on August 18, 1690 between French troops under Nicolas de Catinat and the Allies under Viktor Amadeus II of Savoy . The battle ended with a clear French victory, and almost the entire Duchy of Savoy was occupied.

prehistory

Savoy had joined the Augsburg Alliance in 1687 and the great alliance against France two years later . Louis XIV appointed Nicolas de Catinat commander of the French army in northern Italy. This consisted of only about 12,000 men. However, these were experienced troops. This army marched through Pignerol into the plains of Piedmont . They devastated the area as far as the Turin area .

Duke Viktor Amadeus II had an army of around 18,000 men. This consisted of 8,000 Spanish, 3,000 Swiss and 7,000 Italian soldiers. An Austrian auxiliary force of 7,000 men under Eugene of Savoy was on the march .

Without waiting for their arrival, the Duke marched out of Turin and holed up at Villa Franca . Catinat backed away to Cavore . Eugene of Savoy hurried ahead of the Austrian troops and arrived at the camp near Villa Franca in early August 1690. He tried in vain to keep the Duke from his plan to give the French a battle.

For his part, Catinat tried to mislead the opponent into making mistakes through various maneuvers. So Saluzzo was taken, in which large stocks of the ducal troops were stored. When the French received news of the enemy approaching, all the troops were led back across the Po and placed in battle order. Deceived by a misinterpretation of the opposing positions, the duke ended the advance and withdrew to a defensive position at the Staffarda monastery . The right flank was protected by marshes and other natural barriers. On the left wing there was an old dam, in front of which a swamp stretched to the Po. In front of his troops, the Duke raised his twelve guns.

course

On the morning of August 18, the French pushed back the enemy outposts with dragoons . The dragoons, supported by an infantry regiment, advanced further and noticed that the swamp on the right flank of the enemy was quite passable, and reported this to Catinat.

The first meeting of the French meanwhile attacked the enemy. On the left wing of the Allies, the swamp turned out to be too great an obstacle and the advance stuck. The attack on the opposing right wing met fierce resistance, especially from a Spanish unit. In the middle, the artillery in particular ensured that the allies had to retreat. Meanwhile Catinat reinforced the troops, and the French infantry attacked the right wing of the opposing bayonet, the opposing cavalry was defeated by the French cavalry. With more infantry units and cavalry, Catinat had the attack intensified. The allies then had to withdraw. The withdrawal was covered by troops under the command of Eugene of Savoy.

consequences

As a result, a large part of the duchy, but not Turin, was occupied by the French. However, the victory was not decisive for the war. The main focus of the war was in the Netherlands, and the war also continued in Italy.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Here was related: Gaston Bodart: Military-historical War Lexicon , (1618-1905). Vienna 1908, p. 113.

literature

• Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe (ed.): Military Conversations Lexicon. Vol. 7 , Leipzig 1839, pp. 758-761.
• David Eggenberger: An encyclopedia of battles. New York 1985, p. 416.