Battle of Valenciennes
Siege ring around Valenciennes
| date | until July 16, 1656 |
|---|---|
| place |
Valenciennes 
|
| output | Spanish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne-Bouillon |
Juan José de Austria |
| Troop strength | |
| 20,000 men | 25,000 men + 2,000 men in the fortress |
| losses | |
|
4,000 dead and wounded, 1,200 prisoners |
500 dead and wounded |
.svg){kind=small}
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 Battle of Valenciennes took place on July 16, 1656 during the Franco-Spanish War and ended in a victory for the Spanish. It was about the breaking up of the French siege of Valenciennes by a Spanish relief army, which had been going on since May 18 .
It was one of the last great Spanish victories of the 17th century over a French army and one of Turenne's few defeats .
Course of events
On May 18, 1656, French troops, commanded by Turenne, began the siege of the strategically important city of Valenciennes, which was defended by a Spanish garrison under the command of Francisco de Meneses.
Turenne had divided his force, the Maréchal La Ferté stood with a smaller contingent on the Mont Azin hill west of the city, while Turenne formed a semicircle in the east. Of his troops, the Duc de Navailles with the royal guard and the Lorraine contingent were on the hill of Mont d'Ouy, Turenne himself joined the plain in the north. The enclosure reached here as far as the monastery of Saint-Saulve on the Scheldt .
Louis de Bourbon-Condé had the areas to the south and north of the city flooded by the Scheldt - in the south between the Scheldt and the Mont d'Ouy, in the north between the Scheldt and the Little Scheldt. The two siege troops established in the south and west of the city were thus separated by a body of water. The only connection in the south was a boat ferry across the Scheldt, the flooded water surface could only be crossed on a narrow Faschinendamm . In the north, the area between the Scheldt and the Little Scheldt was impassable.
The well-prepared and executed siege gradually weakened the fortress garrison. The Marquis de Trélon Albert de Merode was so badly wounded on a scouting ride that he died from it. He was buried in the Saint-Paul church, and his body was rediscovered during archaeological excavations in 1990.
At the end of June, Juan José de Austria , the new governor of the Spanish Netherlands , decided to intervene and send a relief army as the situation in Valenciennes was starting to get critical. On July 15th, shortly before the fortress had to give up, the Spaniards appeared on the scene.
On the night of July 15-16, Bourbon-Condé attacked the section of La Ferté from behind with such force that the French resistance collapsed immediately.
Juan José de Austria attacked the Turenne camp with a troop of 4,000 horsemen . Although he was able to repel the attack, the attempt to come to La Ferté's aid failed. Forced by the numerical superiority of the enemy, he had to withdraw towards Quesnoy and thus give up the siege.
The Spaniards captured 77 French officers from Turenne's armed forces, including the Maréchal La Ferté, 1,200 soldiers, all luggage and supplies as well as 50 siege cannons and all accessories.
2,000 men from La Ferté's division escaped after throwing away their weapons and fleeing.
literature
- Joël Cornette: Chronique du règne de Louis XIV. Chapter Année 1655. Cdu Sedes, Paris 1997, ISBN 978-2-7181-9011-2 , pp. 55-56. Review: Ruggiu François-Joseph: Joël Cornette, Chronique du règne de Louis XIV. In: Histoire, économie et société. No. 17-2, 1998, p. 326 (on Persée ).
- Trevor N. Dupuy , Curt Johnson, David Bongard: The Harper Encyclopedia of military biography. Castle Books, Edison, NJ 1995, ISBN 978-0-7858-0437-6 .
References and footnotes
- ↑ fr .: Petit Escaut Rivière - silted up today
- ^ Anne Blanchard: Louis Nicolas de Clerville. In: Vauban et ses successeurs dans les ports du Ponant et du Levant, Brest et Toulon. Ed .: Association Vauban. Paris 2000, pp. 123–124 ( limited preview in Google Book search). Simultaneously published in: Histoire et Défense. Les Cahiers de Montpellier. No. 38, 1998, Chapter II. Ed .: Center d'histoire militaire et d'études de défense nationale, Université Paul-Valéry-Montpellier.
- ^ La Ferté-Senneterre was ransomed by Louis XIV.