Battle of Étampes

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The Battle of Étampes took place during the Fronde on May 4, 1652. The royal troops, commanded by the Viscount de Turenne , fought against the “army of the princes” on the side of the Fronde, which had evaded the open battle and had withdrawn into the city. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the time. She was part of the "Fronde des princes" (1650-1652), as a conflict between the royal court and the prince de Condé, who had hoped for the place of the deposed ruling minister Cardinal Mazarin .

The nominal commanders of the forces of the Fronde

They were no longer present in the battle.

Etampes

Étampes is located in the Paris catchment area on the road to Orléans and was then 15 Lieues (60 kilometers) from the city limits. The city was surrounded by walls that were flanked by small round towers. The stream "Rivière de Prés" ran along its foot. The Juine , which flows into the Seine near Corbeil-Essonnes, flowed some distance from the city wall . Coming from Châtre , the city and the suburbs are overlooked by a small hill, on top of which was the castle of Étampes , from whose donjon the surroundings could be seen far.

The battle

The "Army of the Princes", coming from Châtillon-Coligny on the way to Paris, initially stopped in Étampes for a long time because there were large stocks of grain here. This army was commanded by Louis II. De Bourbon, prince de Condé , César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme , and Charles-Amédée de Savoie-Nemours , who went from here immediately to Paris and took command of the baron's troops de Clinchamp, Lieutenant-general of the troops in the Netherlands, ceding to the Comte de Tavannes Jacques de Saulx , Lieutenant-general of the troops of the Prince de Condé, and the Comte de Valon, Maréchal de camp in the troops of the duc d'Orléans.

The residents had opened the gate of Faubourg Saint-Pierre because they believed they were facing the king's troops. They had not recognized the Marquis de la Boulaye at the head of the column, who had come to Étampes as early as 1649 on behalf of the Fronde to confiscate cattle and other provisions and bring them to Paris.

This army consisted of nine infantry regiments, including the Régiment de Condé , the Régiment de Conti and the Régiment de Bourgogne (not identical to the "Régiment de Bourgogne" of 1668). There were also auxiliary troops from the Netherlands, which consisted mainly of Germans and Spaniards and who occupied the Faubourg Saint-Martin. The "Régiment de Brouc", the "Régiment de Vitemberg" and 500 cavalry men lay on the area of ​​the Petit Saint-Mars.

After the "Régiment de Condé" interrupted the road to Paris, the Viscount de Turenne had a barricade built at Châtre (today: Arpajon ). On the night of May 4th, he marched with his army before Étampes and saw the enemy army assembled on the plain in front of him the next morning. When the soldiers of the Fronde of the royalist troops caught sight of the royalist troops, they hurriedly retreated into the city, being pursued by Turenne.

The infantry of the Marquis d'Hocquincourt immediately attacked on the right wing along the creek. Since the enemy fire was very strong at this point and the creek could not be easily crossed because of the depth of the water, the department withdrew to a higher mill.

On the left wing, the lines of the Fronde were broken by the cavalry of Charles-Félix de Galéan , duc de Gadagne, without encountering great resistance . The mass of infantry and cavalry of the Marquis d'Hocquincourt penetrated the city and put the defenders in great distress. After finding a way across the stream, the Régiment de Picardie invaded the city ​​after overcoming heavy resistance from the city wall. The defenders could then be pushed back into a nearby church, where they holed up.

On the other hand, the Turenne troops with the Régiment d'Huxelles and the Régiment de Carignan crossed the town and met resistance from the Régiment de Bourgogne , which could be pushed back to the city wall, where it took up a defensive position. The royalists took advantage of a short break in the fighting to climb the wall and throw stones at the defenders stuck underneath.

This position quickly became untenable for the defenders, as the attackers put them under constant fire. They finally also retreated to the church, where some of the troops cornered by the Régiment de Picardie had already sought refuge. After realizing that further resistance was futile, they offered to surrender if their lives were spared. That was accepted.

The Fronde cavalry went to safety, leaving Comte de Gaspard de Chavagnac's infantry behind. However, he noted in his memoirs "that she had returned with the troops of the Duke of Lorraine to reoccupy Étamps [sic!]".

Due to the lack of ammunition and food, Turenne could not think of keeping the city occupied and exposing herself to a possible siege. He had to leave on May 6th.

losses

  • Fronde: 900 fallen, including the Baron de Briole and the Comte de Fürstenberg, as well as 1,700 prisoners
  • Royalists: 500 killed and a large number of wounded, including the Comte de Quincé and the Comte Francesco-Maria di Broglia

Footnotes

  1. ↑ not to be confused with the army of emigrants from the time of the revolution, which was also called the “army of princes”
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Mémoires de Jacques II (= Collection de mémoires relatifs à la révolution d'Angleterre. Volume 22). Pichon-Béchet, Paris / Rouen 1827 ( full text version in the Google book search).
  3. ↑ a b c Maxime Furcheux de Mont-Rond: Essais historiques sur la ville d'Étampes (Seine-et-Oise), avec des notes, des pièces justificatives et une statistique historique de villes, bourgs et châteaux de l'arrondissement. Volume 2. Fortin, Étampes / Paris 1836/37, pp. 111–128 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  4. ↑ Mémoires de Jacques de Saulx, comte de Tavannes. Reviewed and annotated by Célestin Moreau. P. Jannet, Paris 1858, pp. 131-147 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  5. ↑ Mémoires de Melle de Montpensier. With biographical and historical notes by Adolphe Chéruel. Charpentier, Paris 1858 ( full text version in the Google book search).
  6. ^ A b c René Hémard: La Guerre d'Étampes en 1652. With notes by Paul Pinson. Champion, Paris 1884.
  7. ↑ Gustave Saige: Journal des Guerres Civiles de Dubuisson-Aubenay 1648-1652. Champion, Paris 1883 ( digitized on Gallica ).
  8. ↑ a b Mémoires du comte Gaspard de Chavagnac. Reviewed, corrected and with comments by Jean de Villeurs. Ernest Flammarion, Paris 1900 ( full text version in the Google book search).
  9. ^ Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne: Lettres relatives au siège d'Étampes avril – may 1652. In: Le Corpus Étampois (see letters to M. Le Tellier, secrétaire d'État au département de la Guerre).

literature

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