Siege of Barcelona (1705)

Siege of Barcelona

Part of: War of the Spanish Succession

date	September 13, 1705 to October 4, 1705
place	Barcelona
output	Allied victory

Parties to the conflict
Great Britain United Netherlands Austria	Spain
Commander
Army: Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough , Georg von Hessen-Darmstadt † ; Fleet: Cloudesley Shovell , Philipp van Almonde	Francisco Antonio Fernández de Velasco y Tovar
Troop strength
Approx. 8,000 regular troops, 3,000 militias, 52 ship cannons, 40 heavy siege guns	5000 infantry, 800 cavalry
losses
unknown	unknown

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

The siege of Barcelona took place during the War of the Spanish Succession essentially from September 13, 1705 to October 4, 1705. It ended with the city being captured. Through them, the Habsburg throne pretender Archduke Charles gained a power base in Spain.

prehistory

Under the leadership of Georg von Hessen-Darmstadt, the Allies occupied Gibraltar in 1704 and held it against attacks. It also seemed necessary to conquer a base on the east coast of Spain in order to be able to advance towards Madrid from there . The Allies hoped for the support of the people of Catalonia and other eastern provinces.

On August 5th, an allied Anglo-Dutch fleet, including 48 ships of the line, left Gibraltar from Portugal. On board one of the ships was the Habsburg throne pretender Archduke Karl , who presented himself as King Charles III of Spain. called. The fleet anchored in Altea Bay on August 11th . Karl opposed the plan to advance directly to Madrid from there. The troops that had already landed were embarked again and the fleet sailed on towards Barcelona. On August 16, she arrived outside Barcelona.

The city was protected primarily by the mountain fortress of Montjuïc . The city was also surrounded by extensive fortifications. Only small ships could enter the port, so that the city was also protected from the sea side. A proper enclosure and siege would have required 30,000 men. A siege had failed a year earlier.

The Allied troops were led by Georg von Hessen-Darmstadt and Charles Mordaunt, 3rd Earl of Peterborough . They comprised 8,000 infantry and 200 dragoons and other marines. They were reinforced by so-called Miquelets , a pro-Austrian guerrilla force of several thousand men from Catalonia. The occupation of the city was commanded by Francisco Antonio Fernández de Velasco y Tovar. He had 5,000 tried and tested soldiers. The besieged also had sufficient supplies.

course

The troops landed without any problems and took a protected position. Even so, the English army had reservations about a siege, while the admirals stood behind Karl. A first allied war council on August 16 in the presence of Archduke Karl was marked by the tensions between the representatives of the various countries. There were also disagreements between officers in the Royal Navy and the British Army. It was not until August 24 that the English army officers agreed to attempt a siege. On August 28, a council of war again spoke out against the project. The following days also passed under internal tension.

The attack began on September 14 in the south on the Montjuïc fortress. Only five soldiers died, including Georg von Hessen-Darmstadt, 16 were injured. However, about 200 men were taken prisoner. An outworks and a demilunette were occupied. A lucky strike was achieved with the mortars brought in, the powder magazine of the fortress exploded, the commandant, many officers and 50 soldiers died. On September 17th, the garrison handed the fortress over to the Allies, giving them a strong position. On September 20, the actual siege of the city began with the opening of the trenches, some of which were up to 300 paces from the moat. Four artillery batteries were placed near the fortress on Montjuïc Mountain. The besiegers had two camps. On September 25th, the city was enclosed. From September 27th, 30 heavy siege guns fired at the St. Antonius bastion. Within a few days they created a breach.

On October 5th, the crew offered to surrender. Archduke Karl intervened in the negotiations, who did not want to leave the transfer to Petersborough alone and hoped to be able to take part of the garrison into his service. The handover was delayed and should take place on October 15th. But this did not happen. The day before, fugitive prisoners, the irregular fighters on the side of the Allies and peasants who had penetrated the city through the breach, attacked the Bourbon soldiers. Peterborough sent troops to the city to protect the French soldiers and restore order. When this was done, the Allies left Barcelona and waited for the opponents to leave before taking possession of the city.

consequences

Archduke Karl moved into the city on October 15th. Already during the siege almost all parts of Catalonia had placed themselves behind him and Karl began to rule his sphere of influence from here. Barcelona became its capital, while the Bourbon pretender Philip V resided in Madrid. From Barcelona, ​​the Allies managed to expand their sphere of influence. However, Barcelona was by no means safe for Karl at first, as it was already under siege by the opposing allies in the spring of 1706.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ here was used: Gaston Bodart: Militär-Historisches Kriegs-Lexikon, (1618–1905). Vienna, 1908, p. 143.
2. ↑ Theatrum Europaeum, Vol. 17, p. 273. de Quincy, Historie militaire de Louis le Grand, Vol. 4, 1726, speaks of 800 fallen Allies.

literature

• Hans Eggert Willibald von der Lühe: Militair-Conversations-Lexikon Vol . 1 . Leipzig 1833 p. 403f. Digitization at Munich digitization center
• Heinrich Kuenzel: The life and the correspondence of the Landgrave Georg of Hessen-Darmstadt. Friedberg, London 1859.
• Johann Rechberger von Reichkron: Spanish Successions War. Campaign 1705 . Vienna 1881, pp. 507-513.
• Tony Jaques: Dictionary of battles and sieges. Vol. 1-A-E. Westport 2007, p. 108.
• David Eggenberger: An encyclopedia of battles: accounts of over 1,560 battles from 1479 BC to the present. New York 1985, p. 44.