Battle of Cassano (1705)
| date | August 16, 1705 |
|---|---|
| place | Cassano d'Adda , Lombardy , present-day Italy |
| output | Victory of France |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 30,000 men | 29,000 men |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
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Carpi - Chiari - Cremona - Kaiserswerth - Luzzara - Cádiz - Friedlingen - Vigo - Schmidmühlen - Ekeren - Höchstädt (1703) - Gibraltar - Speyerbach - Schellenberg - Bonn - Höchstädt (1704) - Vélez-Málaga - Cassano - Barcelona (1705) - Sendlinger Murder Christmas - Calcinato - Ramillies - Turin - Castiglione - Almansa - Toulon - Lille - Oudenaarde - Malplaquet - Almenara - Saragossa - Brihuega - Villaviciosa - Denain - Rio de Janeiro - Barcelona
During the War of the Spanish Succession , the Battle of Cassano took place on August 16, 1705 in Lombardy . Both the troops of the Great Hague Alliance and Louis XIV suffered great losses, but in the end the French left the field victorious.
The history
In 1705 the army de Vendôme under Duke Louis II Joseph de Bourbon , after receiving reinforcements from France, tried to defeat Austria's new ally, Duke Viktor Amadeus II of Savoy . The French operations were so successful that the Duke asked Emperor Joseph for help. Joseph sent his best husband Eugene of Savoy , who soon faced his brother, Louis II Philip, known as the Grand Prior . He was surprised by a first violent attack by the Savoy on the Adda River . But Eugen could not cross the water and pursue the French. He therefore decided to direct his further attacks on Cassano.
Course of the battle
Thanks to an express march, the Duke of Vendôme and his troops reached the theater of war, but this did not prevent Eugene from his plan. After a violent attack, Eugen's troops drove the French into the Adda. In a counterattack, the French, in turn, drove the Imperialists into the river. The fight rocked back and forth and lasted from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Finally the French succeeded in throwing the Austrians back, because their rifles had gotten wet when they waded through the Adda. Many imperial people drowned, so that Eugen finally ordered his troops to withdraw.
consequences
The imperial withdrew against Treviglio , the injured were brought to Palazzuolo . Among them was Prince Joseph of Lorraine, who succumbed to his injuries. Leopold I von Anhalt-Dessau, known as "The Old Dessauer", was also wounded and his Prussian contingent was greatly weakened. Eugen was also injured and went to Austria to recover . The Austrian army had to retreat to Tyrol for the winter .
Eugen's attempt to help Viktor Amadeus in the battle for Piedmont had thus failed. After all, the imperial army had taken the French pressure off Piedmont and the Duke of Savoy, who was half-hearted towards his new alliance, remained loyal to it. Indeed, on the orders of Louis XIV , France postponed the conquest of Piedmont until the following year.
Thus the battle of Cassano has no clear outcome. Despite the great loss of life, it is all but forgotten. A total of 8,000 soldiers were killed and at least 6,000 wounded. An unknown number of the fighting drowned in the Adda River.
Trivia
The Dessau March was first played after the battle, after which it became Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau's favorite song .
To commemorate the battle, the 7th and 8th companies of the Emperor Alexander Guard Grenadier Regiment No. 1 were given the so-called Cassano tassel, a tassel with leather straps, on January 13, 1842 . This tradition later passed on to other units.