Battle of Villaviciosa

Battle of Villaviciosa

Part of: War of the Spanish Succession

Vendôme and Philipp at Villaviciosa

date	December 10, 1710
place	Villaviciosa 86 km northeast of Madrid
output	Allied defeat

Parties to the conflict
Spain (supporter of Philipp von Anjous) , France	Portugal , Netherlands , Great Britain , Spain (supporter of Charles III) , Holy Roman Empire
Commander
Philip V , Vendôme	Guido von Starhemberg
Troop strength
30 infantry battalions, 72 cavalry squadrons, 72 guns, a total of 21,000 men	27 battalions of infantry, 29 squadrons of cavalry, 20 artillery pieces, 2 mortars, a total of 13,600 men
losses
4,000 men dead or wounded	3,000 men dead or wounded, 2,000 men captured

The information on troop strength and losses differ significantly in the literature. The information for the Brihuega meeting was not taken into account here

The Battle of Villaviciosa on December 10, 1710 was the decisive battle of the War of the Spanish Succession in the Spanish theater of war. It was preceded by the Brihuega meeting . The supporters of the Bourbon won over those of the Habsburg pretender to the throne. As a result, the Allies were put on the defensive.

prehistory

In the first half of 1710 the armies won several battles against the troops of Philip of Anjou (Philip V), the French heir to the throne, on the side of the Habsburg pretender Archduke Charles (as King Charles III of Spain ). This even forced Philip of Anjou to leave Madrid . Essentially only the northern part of the country was still under his control. He asked Louis XIV for military help and an experienced general. The French king sent Vendôme . He succeeded in reorganizing the Spanish army , which had been severely weakened and demoralized after the Battle of Saragossa . It was increased to 30,000 men by French units. France also supplied cannons and other material.

Vendôme managed to prevent the Portuguese army from marching on Madrid. In various smaller skirmishes and meetings, Philip's army mostly remained victorious. In contrast, the Allied army fell on the defensive and suffered from a lack of supplies. The problem got worse when a French army invaded Spain and threatened Girona . This forced the commander of Karl Guido von Starhemberg's troops to split up his army. Against this background, Madrid could no longer be held and Karl ordered a retreat to Aragon and Catalonia.

Meeting of Brihuega

Philip and Vendôme followed the enemy and united their troops at Guadalarara . They arrived at Brihuega on December 9th . There they met the rearguard of the allied army. This consisted of the 6,000 strong British troops under James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope . These were in the city to rest and to cover the baggage cars. The troops of Philip and Vendômes surrounded the city and began bombardment after Stanhope refused to surrender. The attackers managed to gain access to the city with the help of a mine. There followed a fierce battle for the city. Stanhope finally had to give up and let the gates open.

Starhemberg, who had learned of the distressed situation of the British contingent, turned back with his troops of only about 13,000 men. It made slow progress, but eventually came near the embattled city. Without knowing anything about the surrender, he announced the arrival with cannon shots. During the night he stopped at the position he had reached only a mile from the position of the enemy.

Course of the battle

Although the situation of the French and Spaniards was difficult, not least because of the guarding of the captured British, a council of war decided to offer Starhemberg a battle the next day. The prisoners were taken away and the cavalry was ordered to bypass the enemy in order to attack him from behind. The main army was divided into two meetings. The right wing was commanded by Philip and the left wing by Vendôme. The terrain was uneven and a wall prevented the advance. Despite various warnings, Starhemberg was ready to accept the battle. He set up his troops in battle order. This resembled a hook bent backwards. The top and middle consisted mainly of infantry, the two wings and the second meeting mainly of cavalry. Starhemberg himself was in command on the right wing. The best units were also located there. In the middle were mainly Portuguese troops.

The battle began with an artillery battle. Thereupon the cavalry of the right Spanish wing went on the attack. This quickly defeated the opposing cavalry. However, this was able to gather and start a counterattack reinforced by other units. This attack failed and also created disorder among the Allied left wing infantry. As a result, that wing was completely beaten. Under the impression of this success, Vendôme also ordered the advance and let his elite units attack a large square formed by the enemy . The first attack was repulsed by the Allies. Although Vendôme temporarily sat at the head of his troops, it was also unsuccessful in various other attacks from all sides to smash the square. At times the Starhemberg troops even gained ground. The Portuguese in the middle were also able to hold their own. Vendôme managed to stop the Portuguese with the help of reinforcements from the second meeting. With the help of Walloon elite troops it was also possible to stop the advance of the German units. The intervention of the cavalry under Philip did nothing to change the undecided situation. The battle ended at nightfall.

consequences

In view of the weakening of his troops, it was clear to Starhemberg that it would be pointless to renew the battle the next morning. During the night he managed to withdraw - unnoticed by the enemy, also favored by fog. Other reports say that both armies spent the night on the battlefield and Starhemberg did not retreat until the next day. The German and Portuguese units separated.

Starhemberg lost numerous guns in the battle, lost almost the entire baggage and numerous soldiers. The battle was the real turning point in the Spanish theater of war. Karl was now finally on the defensive and had to retreat to Barcelona . A year later he had to vacate the city and in 1713 the imperial family also left Catalonia .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ here was used: Gaston Bodart: Militär-Historisches Kriegs-Lexikon, (1618–1905). Vienna, 1908 p. 164
2. ↑ Handbook of European History. Vol. 4: Europe in the age of absolutism and the enlightenment. Stuttgart 1976, p. 558.

literature

• Military Conversation Lexicon, Vol. 8 Adorf, 1841 pp. 514-518