Battle of La Marfée
| date | July 6, 1641 |
|---|---|
| place | La Marfée plateau above Sedan |
| output | Victory Sedans |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Frédéric-Maurice de La Tour d'Auvergne, duc de Bouillon |
|
| Troop strength | |
| 11,000 soldiers 2,000 horsemen |
4,000 soldiers Sedan's 7,000 imperial mercenaries |
| losses | |
|
3,000 dead |
unknown |
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The battle of La Marfée took place on July 6, 1641 between troops of the French crown under Gaspard de Coligny and French rebels under Frédéric-Maurice de la Tour d'Auvergnes, Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan , supported by Imperial Spanish troops under Guillaume de Lamboy , instead. The place of the dispute was the plateau of La Marfée above the city of Sedan .
prehistory
Sedan had been an independent principality since 1640, whose ruler, Frédéric-Maurice de la Tour d'Auvergne, accepted Protestant refugees from France. The prince was also involved, along with Louis de Bourbon-Condé, comte de Soissons and Henri II. De Lorraine, duc de Guise , in the conspiracy of the “Princes de la paix” to restore the privileges of the great feudal lord. The French King Louis XIII. sends an army to Sedan to put an end to the Duke's policy, who in turn requested and received support from Emperor Ferdinand III. , his personal friend.
procedure
Bad weather and muddy roads had impeded the French troops, so that they did not arrive on the Plateau de la Marfée until around 11 a.m. on July 6, 1641, where the duke's troops were already waiting for them. The first attack by the French was blocked by the Sedans. The duke managed to bypass the front with the cavalry under cover of hills, so that he could attack the royal army on the flank, which then began to disintegrate. At noon the fight was over. Among the dead was the Count of Soissons, who was shot dead by a pistol under unknown circumstances.
Result
Despite the defeat, the royal army enclosed the city of Sedan. The siege ended with the Duke's submission on August 4th. In the following year (1642) Ludwig XIII. gave him command of the French troops in Italy. A little later he was arrested in connection with the Cinq Mars conspiracy . In return for his pardon, he had to cede his sovereign principality of Sedan to France.
Others
299 years later, on May 13, 1940 , Wehrmacht troops fought their way over the Maas and extended their bridgehead to the dominant heights of Marfée two kilometers south of the river until dusk fell.
literature
- Charles Duke Yonge, John Boyd Thacher: The History of France Under the Bourbons: AD 1589-1830 , Collection (Library of Congress), Published by Tinsley Brothers, 1866.
- François-Paul-Émile Boisnormand de Bonnechose , William Robson: History of France, from the Invasion of the Franks Under Clovis, to the Accession of Louis Philippe , Published by G. Routledge, 1856. Pg. 358