Siege of Philippsburg (1688)
The siege of Philippsburg in 1688 was the first major military action in the Palatinate War of Succession . The siege began on September 27, 1688 with the encirclement of the Philippsburg fortress by French troops and ended on October 30 with the surrender of the occupation.
March
The first major combat operations of the war began on September 27, 1688 with the enclosure of the Philippsburg fortress , which was defended by Count Maximilian von Starhemberg . He was subordinate to only one regiment with a little over 2,000 men, at the beginning only 1,600 men were fit for battle because of illnesses. There were 17 pieces of battery and 90 small cannons of guns . There were enough provisions and ammunition available, but there was a lack of wine and soldiers and NCOs with combat experience: only 8 officers were in the fortress, including the Count's nephew, Lieutenant Colonel Reichard von Starhemberg, and only 20 men with combat experience served in the regiment. The French army under the command of the Dauphin Louis of France comprised 30,000 - 40,000 men with 52 guns of the heaviest caliber and 24 mortars . The French Marshal Marquis de Vauban was entrusted with the management of the siege. He took part in 53 sieges and 140 battles during his lifetime, was involved in the construction or expansion of a total of 160 fortifications and is considered one of the best fortress builders and siege tacticians of his time.
Course of the fighting
On October 1, the French began to destroy the “ flying bridge ” by shooting with cannons , the only connection between the main fortress and the Rheinschanze, a smaller fortification on the other bank of the Rhine. After Starhemberg had noticed that the French were building a battery against the previously unmanned plant and dug trenches, he occupied the Rheinschanze with 50 men and thereby held the enemy off for six days. When the French began firing on October 4 and opened their trenches, the defenders were brought to safety in ships across the Rhine unnoticed.
However, the loss of the Rheinschanze was disadvantageous for the defenders. Because Philippsburg was poorly secured against the Rhine, the French now took the works and bastions of the fortress quite unhindered under fire from there with their artillery . On October 6th, Marshal Vauban drafted the plan of attack. He planned to separate the already weak units of the defenders by three attacks at different points at the same time in order to conquer the bastions of the fortress more easily.
He was taken out a short time later. Under the protection of the side attacks, the sapper units made good progress despite heavy fire from the imperial army. Since there was still a lack of suitable siege material, work on the main attack point was not yet started. The French continued the side attacks until October 9th, and the French sappers worked their way up to the trenches of the bastions.
Thereupon one paused, because one wanted to wait for the completion of the gun batteries first. At dawn on October 10th, the main trenches were opened and the storm on Philippsburg began.
Meanwhile, the fortress and fortifications were under constant mortar fire, which destroyed all the buildings and filled the wells. The walls were so badly demolished during the days that you could no longer walk on them. During the nights, 200 men of the defense lawyers filled the holes again so that they could be walked halfway the next morning.
The main attack stalled due to heavy counterfire and high French casualties. Until October 12th, the sappers continued to dig at the trenches, most of which already reached the trenches of the fortress. The next day they stormed a small advanced fortress. On October 14th, the defenders decided to make a sortie, penetrated into the enemy trenches against the main attack and began to tear down the siege work. Only when the French under Lieutenant-général Catinat began a counterattack, the troop had to withdraw again with heavy losses. Another outage against a side attack was less successful and bloody repulsed.
Since the defenders suffered great losses, they sought a truce in order to be able to rescue and care for the wounded. Catinat agreed to him on the condition that only French soldiers should carry the wounded. His request was not unselfish, because he sent two pioneer officers disguised as soldiers as stretcher carriers to spy on the condition of the fortifications and the surrounding area. They brought back useful information. Among other things, that a trench was only 2 feet deep and that a dam several meters wide ran through the swamp in front of the fortress, which was previously considered to be almost impenetrable.
During the next few days the besiegers continued digging in the pouring rain and built new batteries. On October 17th the besieged undertook a renewed attack against the work of the attack, the French suffered great losses, but the work of the sappers was only slightly damaged. During the next night the French began to drain the water from the moat. On October 18, the besieged were able to celebrate another small victory, because they had succeeded in destroying a cannon and blowing up a powder chamber.
On the night of October 19-20, the French began to fill in the moat in front of the right wing of the hornworks; under the strong fire of the defenders they suffered great losses. After a strong previous bombardment of the Hornwerk, the French launched a major attack on this factory on October 20th. His guards had taken cover during the bombardment and did not even notice the attack. The French were able to move large units over the already dry trench and stab the defenders in the rear. The guards then panicked and fled.
Captain Count Archo tried to save the situation with 60 men. Despite his brave resistance, in which he fell in battle, the Hornwerk was conquered and only a few of the 140 defenders were able to save themselves. A reconquest was out of the question as the morale of the defenders had hit a new low. Wine was practically no longer available and the only way to quench your thirst was with swamp water. In addition, a general uprising by the troops and the civilian population was to be feared due to the uninterrupted exertion.
Until October 26th, the French continued with the sapper work and the securing of the conquered works and bastions, repeatedly disturbed by minor defenders. Marshal Vauban was now sure that only an early winter or relief could prevent a victory. The onset of winter was more likely because the Kaiser lacked the means to raise another army for relief.
On the same day, Vauban had the central bastion of the Kronwerk bombarded with 18 guns of the heaviest caliber for two days. On the 28th it was only a ruin, but was still defended. The following night two volunteers spied on the destroyed central bastion of the Kronwerk and the crews, after which Marshal Vauban thought it was ripe for storming.
The major attack began just as Count Maximilian von Starhemberg was discussing a surrender with his officers. For days all the officers had been of the opinion that one should surrender, Count Maximilian von Starhemberg had previously contradicted. The French were able to establish themselves at the Kronwerk, whereupon Maximilian ordered a counterattack again. But he couldn't get the team to do it. When Vauban noticed this hesitation, he blew the general storm. After a brief resistance, the imperial family had to withdraw in the Kronwerk so as not to be overrun by the overwhelming forces. At the end of the day the crown factory was lost and only the main fortress was defended. With the troops severely weakened and discouraged, it was impossible to repel another storm.
Surrender and aftermath
On October 30th the fortress surrendered after 32 days of siege. The besieged were given free retreat and safe conduct to Ulm. On November 1st, Starhemberg left the fortress with around 1,500 men, 100 wagons and 6 guns. After the French occupied it, they found, among other things, 150,000 pounds of powder, 22,000 bullets, 1,600 sacks of grain and 124 artillery pieces of all caliber. According to their own statements, the French mourned 587 dead and 1,013 wounded during the siege, while the Imperial had lost around 600 men. When he arrived in Ulm , Count Maximilian von Starhemberg was summoned to Vienna , where he had to answer to a military commission for the handover of Philippsburg. The commission acquitted him completely.
literature
- Georg Ortenburg (Ed.), Siegfried Fiedler: Warfare and Warfare in the Age of Cabinet Wars , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Augsburg 1986, ISBN 3-7637-5478-4
- Max Plassmann: War and Defension on the Upper Rhine. The front imperial circles and Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden (1693-1706) , Berlin 2000.
