Battle near Sandershausen
| date | July 23, 1758 |
|---|---|
| place | Sandershausen |
| output | French victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 4,000 infantrymen, 1,205 horsemen, 10 cannons | 5,600 infantrymen, 1,200 horsemen, 28 cannons |
| losses | |
|
1,500 dead, wounded and prisoners, 7 cannons |
600 killed, 1,400 wounded |
Western theater of war
Hastenbeck - Krefeld - Sandershausen - Lutterberg 1758 - Bergen - Minden - Gohfeld - Fulda - Korbach - Emsdorf - Warburg - Rhadern - Kampen Monastery - Langensalza - Saalfeld - Vellinghausen - Arnsberg - Wilhelmsthal - Lutterberg 1762
The battle near Sandershausen was an episode of the Seven Years' War . It took place on July 23, 1758 near the Hessian community of Sandershausen . On the French side, the commanders were the Maréchal de France Victor-François de Broglie and on the Hessian side, Lieutenant General Johann Casimir von Isenburg-Birstein .
prehistory
On the day of the Battle of Krefeld , the Prince de Soubise received the order to conquer the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel . For this purpose he sent an army corps with a strength of 20,000 men under the command of the Duc de Broglie with the task of forcing the present Hessian troops into a battle. The Count of Isenburg with its not very battle-worthy troops from inexperienced forced conscripts, and to a large extent of disability consisting preferred to be behind the Eder after Fritzlar withdraw. On July 22nd, he crossed the Fulda above Kassel .
The battle
On July 23, de Broglie and his vanguard began the advance on Sandershausen, where the Hessians had begun to take quarters. At 11 o'clock in the morning he crossed the Fulda with his infantry, followed by the cavalry.
The Hessian outposts near Sandershausen were thrown back immediately, but the French were then stopped by massive gunfire from two covered positions. De Broglie then brought his artillery into position in order to eliminate the opposing forces, whereupon the Hessians first retreated in order to then line up in battle order. They positioned their cannons in the center to the left and right of the road to Hann. Münden . The right wing stood on the wooded slopes facing the Fulda; the left wing to the Ellenbach farm was formed by the cavalry, while the invalids took the second line.
De Broglie and his troops, which had marched for 16 hours, formed three pillars of attack, the third of which consisted only of the 10 cannons. The cavalry covered the flanks.
The column on the right wing advanced on the Ellenbach farm, which de Broglie had massively bombarded with artillery and then sent his grenadiers forward. However, Isenburg previously ordered his cavalry to counterattack the French right wing cavalry. There was a cavalry battle that swayed to and fro.
The battle became increasingly confusing until a bayonet attack by the French at 6:30 p.m. was able to repel the right wing of the Hessian infantry. Covered by their cavalry, the French hunters sealed off the valley of the Ellenbach. The Hessians surrendered and withdrew. Because of the exhaustion of his own troops, de Broglie refrained from pursuing the enemy.
Effects
The French occupied Marburg and Kassel, where they temporarily appointed new mayors. The Battle of Lutterberg followed when the Hessians and Hanoverians tried to interrupt the French supply lines.
literature
- Franz von Kausler: Atlas des plus mémorables batailles, combats et sièges des temps anciens, du moyen age et de l'age modern. Herder'sche Kunst- und Buchhandlung, Karlsruhe / Freiburg 1831 ( full text in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek ; full text in the Google book search; full text in the Internet Archive ).
Web links
- Bataille de Sandershausen. Gagnée par l'avant-garde de l'armée du Maréchal de Soubise, aux ordres de Mr. Broglio, sur l'armée des Hessois, commandée par Mr. le prince d'Isenbourg. Le 23. Juillet 1758. In: Plans of Two and Forty Main Battles, Meetings and Sieges of the Seven Years War. Johann Christian Jaeger, Frankfurt 1790, digitized version of the Saxon State Library - Dresden State and University Library (SLUB).