Siege of Philippsburg (1734)
French siege plan 1734
| date | June 2, 1734 to July 18, 1734 |
|---|---|
| place | Philippsburg , Speyer Monastery |
| output | French victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 60,000-70,000 | 4200 in the fortress between 35,000 and 70,000 men relief army |
| losses | |
|
Total unknown (10-12 killed, 33 wounded in the attack on July 17th |
337 killed, 359 wounded, 321 prisoners or deserters |
The siege of Philippsburg was carried out by French troops from June 2 to July 18, 1734. It was part of the War of the Polish Succession .
The Duc de Berwick moved up the Rhine Valley with an army of 100,000 men to take the Philippsburg fortress from the Austrians. On June 1, 1734, the fortress was enclosed by 60,000 men. A relief army of 35,000 men , commanded by the 71-year-old Prince Eugene of Savoy - accompanied by the Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich - did not succeed in breaking open the siege ring. On June 12, the Márechal de Berwick was killed by a cannonball while inspecting a trench.
Command of the operation passed to Generals Bidal d'Asfeld and Adrien-Maurice de Noailles . One month later the fortress surrendered and the garrison received an honorable withdrawal to Mainz.
After the achievements in this campaign became known, General Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld was promoted to Marshal of France. Likewise, the commander of the Philippsburg Fortress, Gottfried Ernst von Wuttgenau , was promoted to field marshal lieutenant for his honorable behavior during the siege.
background
After the death of the Polish king August II on February 1, 1733 the throne was passed to his son, who later became August III. and the former King Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , the father-in-law of Louis XV. , claimed.
In the autumn of 1733 a French army crossed the Rhine, besieged and conquered the fortress of Kehl opposite Strasbourg . After that, the French withdrew their main force across the Rhine and went to winter quarters in December. During the winter, Prince Eugene began setting up an army to counterattack near Heilbronn. However, this army was numerically inferior to the 70,000 French men. Baron Gottfried Ernst von Wuttgenau was given command of the Philippsburg Fortress by Prince Eugene in December 1733.
The fortress was in a neglected condition, the trenches had partially been filled in or collapsed in extremely endangered places. When taking over the command, Wuttgenau set priorities with regard to the condition of the trenches and commissioned his engineer Gerhard Cornelius von Walrave with the repair of the eastern section in particular. The attacks had always been directed against this in the past. In the spring, the work was almost completed, but the garrison was insufficiently equipped with ammunition. The fortress crew were:
- the Franconian District Infantry Regiment No. 1 - Johann Sebastian Haller von Hallerstein
- the Franconian District Infantry Regiment No. 2 - Heinrich Philipp Höltzl von Stermstein
- the Franconian District Infantry Regiment No. 3 - Hellmuth Otto von Bassewitz
- a battalion of the Walsegg regiment
- One company each from the regiments "Württemberg", "Maximilian Hessen", "Müffling", "Ketteler", "Sachsen-Gotha", "Wolfenbüttel" and "Bevern".
In addition there were smaller detachments of artillery and engineers.
The siege
At the end of May the French had closed the siege ring around Philippsburg. A total of 46 battalions were involved, 14 of them on the left bank of the Rhine, in order to cut off any supplies. Half of the troops gathered on the right bank of the Rhine were used for the siege, while the other half had to repel an attempt at liberation by a relief army. On May 26th, the French sappers began to fill in the outer trenches. Preparations went on without interruption until June 12, when the commander, the Maréchal de Berwick, was killed by a cannonball while inspecting one of the front trenches. General Claude François Bidal d'Asfeld then took command. On June 19, Prince Eugene had assembled with his relief army on the orders of the Emperor and reached Bruchsal on June 27 .
The Général d'Asfeld then ordered the construction of two pontoon bridges to enable his cavalry, located on the left bank of the Rhine, to cross over and thus be used against the relief army. He also included the cavalry in the siege ring, which in the meantime had been secured from the outside with earth walls and trenches in front of it. With the heavy rains from July 5th, the situation worsened for the French as the trenches and mines filled with water. In the meantime, Prince Eugene and his army had advanced to the outer fortifications of the French. Despite the difficulties they were in, he was unable to take advantage of them. After several unsuccessful attacks on the siege ring, he withdrew.
On July 17th, the French managed to cut a breach in the ramparts and advance to the citadel . Wuttgenau, who no longer believed in relief, offered the Général d'Asfeld to surrender on the morning of July 18 .
losses
The French casualties are unknown, there are sources that speak of up to 30,000 men killed and wounded.
Remarks
- ↑ Travaux de l'Académie nationale de Reims - Volumes 101 à 102 - p. 404.)
- ↑ as since the spelling reform of 1996 Field Marshal Lieutenant referred
- ^ Units of the Swiss in French service
- ↑ the sources speak of 12,000 men here, which is probably an exaggeration
literature
- Galeries historiques du palais de Versailles, Musée national de Versailles, 1842, p. 401
- Edward Cust: Annals of the Wars of the Eighteenth Century. [1]
- Thomas Henry Dyer: Modern Europe from the Fall of Constantinople to the Establishment of the German Empire, AD 1453-1871. [2]
- Campaigns of Prince Eugene of Savoy. Austrian Military History Archive 1891 section 212 [3] |
- Military History of Austria. [4]
- John L. Sutton: The King's honor & the King's Cardinal - The war of the Polish succession. University Press of Kentucky 1980 ISBN 978-0-8131-1417-0
Web links
- Gustav Friedrich Riecke: Presentation of the line u. Inondation from Bruchsahl to Ketsch, where the inondation in the Rhine flows and also from there to Manheim along with the regions and the campem. the Kayserl. u Reichs Armée 1735. Same from the Attaque Philippsburg, together with the Fortificat made there. wack what was done during the siege . [Nuremberg] [approx. 1735], digital copy of BLB Karlsruhe urn : nbn: de: bsz: 31-64592