Siege of Turin (1640)
| date | May 22 to September 20, 1640 |
|---|---|
| place | before Turin , today's Italy |
| output | Franco-Piedmontese victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
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| Commander | |
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| Troop strength | |
| 9,500 French 3,500 Piedmontese |
16,000 Spaniards Piedmontese unknown |
| losses | |
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unknown |
unknown |
Les Avins - Leuven - Tornavento - Guetaria - Fontarrabie - Corbie - Diedenhofen 1639 - Turin - Aire-sur-la-Lys - Honnecourt - Barcelona - Cartagena - Diedenhofen 1643 - Rocroi - Orbetello - Fort Mardyck - Dunkirk - Rethel - Bordeaux - Lens - Arras - Valenciennes - Battle of the Dunes
The siege of Turin of 1640 ( May 22 to September 20, 1640 ) was a military conflict in the context of two different wars: the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) and the Piedmontese Civil War. When Prince Thomas Franz von Savoyen-Carignan and his Piedmontese retinue took Turin , the French garrison, which was supporting Princess Christina of France , withdrew to the citadel and offered constant resistance. A French-Piedmontese army under Henri de Lorraine, comte d'Harcourt and Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount de Turenne besieged the troops under Thomas Franz in the city. Later a Spanish army arrived, led by Diego de Guzmán, Marqués de Leganés , which in turn surrounded the French besiegers. In this bizarre triple siege, the Spanish army included the French army, which in turn surrounded Thomas Franz's Piedmontese, who in turn besieged the citadel. Ultimately, the French won the upper hand, Thomas Franz surrendered under certain conditions and was allowed to withdraw with his troops and leave Turin under French supervision.
background
When Thomas Franz's brother , Viktor Amadeus I , died in 1637, he and his older brother, Moritz von Savoyen , fought with the widow Christina of France for the throne of Piedmont. The civil war broke out in which Christina used French help, the brothers Spanish. Thomas Franz and his supporters had conquered Turin in the course of this civil war in 1639, but French troops who followed the regent Christina of France were able to hold the citadel . Under normal circumstances it would not have been possible to hold a city against an enemy-occupied citadel at that time, but anti-French resistance could erect barricades that forced the French to remain in the citadel. The winter of 1639/40 was thus passed under an unsteady armistice. On May 10, 1640, a French army under the Count of Harcourt and Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne , supported by Christina's troops, began the siege of Turin in order to rush to the aid of the enclosed garrison. Thus began one of the most famous and complicated military actions of the 17th century. The French numbered 6,000 foot soldiers and 3,500 cavalrymen. Then there were the 3,500 Piedmontese Christinas.
Double siege
After most of the defenders' outposts were overrun and the usual defensive trenches dug, the besiegers opened fire on the city on May 22nd. On May 31, a Spanish army under the governor of Milan, the Marqués de Leganés , arrived for relief . However, despite his numerical superiority, he did not dare to carry out an all-encompassing frontal attack on Harcourt's defensive position, and so began, in turn, to entrench himself for the siege of the French. This was the prelude to weeks of smaller skirmishes, which, despite the influence of Thomas Franz, only led to an open battle in mid-July (on July 14th to Saluzzo, on July 11th to Hanotaux and Bérenger), in which the French took their position but could hold it completely and throw back the Spaniards. The situation was made even more difficult by the fact that Thomas Franz, who was trapped in Turin, maintained several outposts outside the city for weeks in order to be able to stay in contact with the Spaniards and coordinate the supplies. The last of these posts fell into the hands of Harcourt at the end of July, which resulted in supply bottlenecks for the population and the garrison. The feed for the horses was the first to run out. Thomas Franz made two sorties, on July 23rd and 31st to allow his cavalry to escape, but failed both times. Leganés, however, could never completely cut off Harcourt from his line of communication, so that an exchange with the garrison could take place. The event had developed into a four-tier siege: French troops in the citadel were attacked by Thomas Franz, who was in the city, who was besieged by the French outside the city under Harcourt, who in turn were besieged by the Spanish under Leganés. It is sometimes suggested that Leganés tried to shoot supplies into the city from across the French camp. But this is probably just a legend, which can be traced back to the fact that the Spanish kept letter contact with Thomas Franz by placing messages in cannonballs, which they then shot over the French heads.
Surrender
Ultimately, Turin had to surrender and Thomas Franz, who had already had sporadic discussions with the French and the regent during the siege, entered into negotiations with Harcourt. He concluded an agreement that ran counter to his orders. According to the French historian Hanotaux, he was unaware of the orders that were en route from Paris that he should accept nothing from Thomas Franz but his unconditional surrender and his capture or entry into French service. After Saluzzo, Harcourt knew that Cardinal Richelieu's agent Jules Mazarin was on the way with the orders, but did not want to share the glory of victory with anyone, so he hurried to reach an agreement before Mazarin's arrival. Whatever the reason for his actions, on September 16, both parties agreed an armistice and Thomas Franz was permitted to withdraw with honor. The terms of surrender were signed on September 20th and on September 24th Thomas Franz left Turin with his troops to retreat to Ivrea.
literature
- Saluzzo, Alessandro di. Histoire militaire du Piémont . Turin, 1859 (4th edition, pages 121-141)
- Hanotaux, Gabriel. Histoire du cardinal de Richelieu . Paris, 1933–1947 (6th edition, pages 43–45)
- Berenger, Jean. Turenne. Paris, 1987 (pp. 159-160)