Tommaso Caracciolo

Tommaso Caracciolo (German: Thomas Caracciolo ) (born March 10, 1572 in Naples , Italy ; † December 5, 1631 ibid), Duke of Roccarainola , was an Italian troop leader who also served as field marshal under Tilly and general in the Catholic League in the Thirty Years War served. He was mainly active in Italian theaters of war.

Life

His parents were Tristano Caracciolo (1532-1590) and Cornelia d'Azzia. He married Aurelia Brancia on June 28, 1609 and they have four children.

Rank

infantryman

His military career began as a simple infantryman under Carafa during the siege of Bricherasio against the French.

Capitano

On August 25, 1600 he was appointed Capitano by his relative Camillo Caracciolo (1563-1617), Prince of Avellino, and a Terzio was entrusted to him. On September 5, 1601 he was promoted to Sergeant Major of his Terzios.

On September 9, 1618, Viceroy Pedro Tellez Giron Count of Osuna appointed him Capitano in Val di Noto (Sicily) .

Colonel

In the “Lista Kayserlicher War Armada” from the end of 1620 Caracciolo is not mentioned as a field marshal, at that time he was apparently a Spanish colonel.

Field Marshal

He had been field marshal since July 13, 1621 at the latest, according to other sources since September 20, 1619. "After Buqoy's death, the new commander of the imperial armies, Tommaso Caracciolo, received his appointment decree with the signatures of Ferdinand II and Onates"

Military service

Flanders

With Terzio, entrusted on August 25, 1600, he was supposed to support the siege of Ostend . On January 7, 1602, he was wounded in the head and arm in Flanders. He was involved in the defense of 's-Hertogenbosch , as well as in the siege of Wachtendonk.

Naples

Back in Naples he was obliged to visit the fortresses .

Piedmont

As Maestro de campo of his Terzios he served during the war for Montferrat (1614-1617). The rank is mentioned in the Battle of Maro on January 1, 1615, in the Battle of Colinas de Asti on May 24, 1615, in the Battle of Lucedio Monastery and in the siege and capture of the city of Vercelli on July 25, 1617.

Sicily

His Terzio was sent to Sicily when a Turkish attack on the peninsula was suspected. Viceroy Count ( Duc ) of Osuna appointed him Capitano ( captain of war ) in Val di Noto on September 9, 1618 . On January 2, 1619 he received permission to leave Sicily and returned to Naples, where he participated as an adventurer without military employment in Carlo Spinelli's expedition to Bohemia.

Bohemian-Palatinate War

Between March and June 1619, at the instigation of the Spanish ambassador Onate, Spanish core troops were ordered from Naples and Milan via Tyrol and Austria to Bohemia. Don Tommaso Caracciolo could also have been among them.

On August 28, 1620, Colonel Tommaso Caracciolo was sent by Count Bucquoy to the Duke of Bavaria for the purpose of certain agreements. On August 30, 1620, he arrived in Weitra to find out more about the meeting of the two armies (league and imperial). There the formation of the army, the supply of provisions, the advance on Pilsen and the manner of its advance via Freistadt to Bohemia were discussed.

In a letter of November 23, 1620 to the Spanish King Philip III. the Colonel is mentioned. At Drosendorf , Colonel Caracciolo was sent to help the imperial family in October 1620. On October 26th, both armies reached Kralowitz .

In March 1621 the colonel was sent to Madrid with a letter from the emperor and the ambassador Onate. In a letter dated July 13, 1621 from Cardinal Dietrichstein to the Spanish ambassador Count Onate, the Cardinal wrote that Carlo Spinelli did not want to serve under TC. In the answer, Field Marshal Caracciolo is mentioned again. Before that, after the death of Karl Bucquoy , Caracciolo took over the Spanish infantry of the deceased, but gave them to Caraffa in 1622.

On July 21, 1621, Caracciolo moved from Brno to Nikolsburg, apparently met with Wallenstein and returned with messages that he passed on to Cardinal Dietrichstein. On the 26th, the Caracciolo group was probably in Olomouc , where Wallenstein went to “support everything that was necessary”. On the 29th, Cardinal Dietrichstein “no longer knew where to turn because of worries”. He thought it best and necessary to entrust Tommaso Caracciolo and Albrecht von Wallenstein with the conduct of the war . On August 2, 1621, Spinelli reported about the concerns about his further service under Tommaso Caracciolo, which he will present to the emperor.

On August 3, 1621, Prince Karl von Lichtenstein received the order to march immediately with "all the war people" that he could do without in Bohemia, in order to unite in Moravia with the Caracciolo group, which was located in Kremsier .

On August 12, 1621, Dietrichstein wrote to Emperor Ferdinand II that “Field Marshal Caracciolo got along very well with Wallenstein and they complemented each other well”. He recommended that the emperor hand over the command of the imperial to Wallenstein and that of the Spanish war people to Caracciolo. In response, the emperor ordered that a large part of the imperial war people should be assigned to Caracciolo. In addition, it was ordered that Pietro Aldobrandini should accelerate his drafting of new war people in order to hand over the patterned Caracciolo. On August 22nd, Wallenstein was to unite his troops with Caracciolo.

Onate ordered Ugarte to move to Alsace with the troops of the new commander-in-chief Tommaso Caracciolo in March 1622.

In April 1622 Tommaso Caracciolo set out from Znojmo with a convoy of money , after which orders were given to unite with Cordoba on the Rhine.

On May 2nd, 1622 Caracciolo was in Kolin , on May 12th near Hirschau , on May 15th in Berngau . The planned union with the advancing supply squadron of the Bavarian army under the leadership of Count Herberstorff took place earlier than planned on May 19 in Fremdingen . The new army now comprised around 6,700 men, 800 horses and ten guns on the Spanish side. The supplies comprised around 3300 men and 1100 horses on the Bavarian side.

On May 26th, the Caracciolo group arrived in Würzburg , "where the very concerned Bishop of Würzburg" was already waiting for them. Previously there had been difficulties with Caracciolo's withdrawal, as he said that he had received orders from the Queen of Spain to unite with Cordoba , which at that time was cut off from his allies. General Commissioner Ruepp had to negotiate with the Italian for hours before he agreed to obey Tilly's orders. In Würzburg the Caracciolo group united with Würzburg troops (about 1,800 men and 400 horses) and moved north, where the invasion of Duke Christian of Braunschweig was expected. The main army under Caracciolo would be in Rannungen and Ebenhausen on the evening of May 29th . After scouting troops announced on May 30th that this was not the case, the Spaniards moved away to unite with Tilly and Córdoba . On June 5 at the latest, the Caracciolo group marched west to unite with the allied troops at Cordoba's request.

On June 4th the Caracciolo group quartered in Miltenberg , on the following day in Wörth am Main and on the 6th in Niedernberg and Großostheim . A day later, Tilly and Córdoba crossed the Main near Aschaffenburg , where they were expected before the Caracciolo river. On June 8th, the Catholic troops quartered between Hanau and Frankfurt .

During the battle for Höchst , Caracciolo crossed the Sulzbach with Walloon musketeers and took the only manned ascent without any significant difficulties. No further information is known about the course of the Caracciolo's fight.

Franco-Savoy War against Genoa

On April 12, 1625 Nicolo Rossi wrote from Venice to Count Rombaldo Collalto about the situation in Valtellina and the attacks on Genoa. There he wrote that on the orders of King Philip IV of Spain, auxiliary troops had been sent to the city of Genoa under the command of Tommaso Caracciolo.

In April Caracciolo was already in Genoa with 5,000 German and 6,000 Genoese mercenaries. Opposite them was the Savoy army with 30,000 soldiers. As early as April 1, 1625, the Savoy attackers were in sight of Genoa.

The Spanish General Feria appeared from Lombardy with Spanish and German mercenaries and drew to himself the mercenaries whom Genoa had recruited in Germany. So there were many Spanish soldiers gathered in Genoa, which parts of Caracciolo were commanded is not yet known.

His troops were beaten at Voltaggio after he was captured by the Count of Savoy on April 9, 1625. He stayed there until Philip IV paid his ransom on September 11, 1625 . The Spanish associations fought for seven hours until they were "overtaken". 1000 are said to have been "partly slain, partly severely damaged", 1200 taken prisoner and the rest of them were fleeting. The French-Savoyard troops were left with "a lot of ammunition and weapons, 6 pieces of artillery and 14 flags". Officers captured were: "Thomas Caracciolo von Neaples the Spanish General / Ludwig Quasco, Field Marshal".

Milan and Naples

After two years in Milan , he returned to Naples on August 3, 1625, where he was appointed "Commissario e Supraintendente generale delle fortificazioni". For his military service the Spanish king bestowed on him the title of Count of Roccarainola.

family

children

On June 28, 1606, he married Aurelia Branca, daughter of Camillo di Branca and Camilla Recco, with whom he had four children. Giacomo (1610–1667), Maria, Vittoria and Tristano (1619–1642). The latter was a knight of the Order of Santiago who died young at the siege of Tortona .

Relatives and their descendants in Germany

His nephew, "the famous ensign from Naples" Don Bartholomeo Caracciolo and Carlo Andrea Caracciolo Marchese de Torrecuso (approx. 1583–1646), were also sent to Germany with troops around 1631. Bartholomeo died in Ehrenbreitstein in 1685 as "Landhauptmann and Oberwachtmeister zu Ehrenbreitstein". His most famous descendant is the racing driver Rudolf Caracciola .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Imperial and Imperial and Royal Generals (1618–1815), 2006, Antonio Schmidt-Brentano (Munich)
2. ↑ - so far unchecked!
3. ↑ http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tommaso-caracciolo_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} www.tercio.org ( Memento of the original from January 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tommaso-caracciolo_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/
6. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 14.
7. ↑ http://www.genmarenostrum.com/pagine-lettere/letterac/Caracciolo/Caracciolo-Bartolomeo.htm - so far unchecked!
8. ↑ Ulrich Nagel: Between dynasty and reasons of state: The Habsburg ambassadors in Vienna . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2018, ISBN 978-3-525-31057-1 , p. 380 .
9. ↑ http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tommaso-caracciolo_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/
10. ↑ http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/tommaso-caracciolo_%28Dizionario_Biografico%29/
11. ↑ http://www.genmarenostrum.com/pagine-lettere/letterac/Caracciolo/Caracciolo-Bartolomeo.htm - so far unchecked!
12. ^ The battle on White Mountain near Prague, Julius Krebs, p. 17.
13. ^ The battle on the White Mountain near Prague, Julius Krebs, pp. 37/38.
14. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus II, p. 237.
15. ^ The battle on White Mountain near Prague, Julius Krebs, p. 48.
16. ^ Letters and files on the history of the Thirty Years' War in the times [...], Hugo Altmann, p. 507.
17. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 62.
18. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 14.
19. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, pp. 69-71.
20. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 73.
21. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 74.
22. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, pp. 76/78.
23. ↑ Ulrich Nagel: Between dynasty and reasons of state: The Habsburg ambassadors in Vienna . S. 395 .
24. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 120.
25. ^ The Bavarian Lower Palatinate in the Thirty Years' War [...], Franz Maier, p. 30/31.
26. ↑ The great Halberstadt Duke Christian of Braunschweig in the Palatinate War, Volume 2, p. 470.
27. ↑ Documenta Bohemica Bellum Tricennale Illustrantia, Tomus III, p. 256.
28. ^ Genoa and the Sea: Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, p. 100.
29. ↑ General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts edited in alphabetical order by the writers mentioned […], 1854, p. 455.
30. ↑ Theatrum Europaeum, or detailed and detailed description of all [...], 1635, page 981

literature

• The great Halberstadt Duke Christian von Braunschweig in the Palatinate War Volume 2 1621 - 1622, Hans Wertheim, 1929, approx. 620 p.
• Italian immigration and economic activity in cities in the Rhineland of the 17th and 18th centuries, Dr. Johannes Augel, 1971, 482 pp.
• The Battle of the White Mountains near Prague: (November 8, 1620) in context, Karl Julius Krebs, 1879.
• The reports on the battle on the White Mountain near Prague, Anton Gindely, 1877, 179 pp.
• The struggle of the House of Habsburg against the Netherlands and their allies, Milos Kouril, 1976, 309 pp.
• Genoa and the Sea: Policy and Power in an Early Modern Maritime Republic, Thomas Allison Kirk, 2005, 296 pp.
• The Bavarian Lower Palatinate in the Thirty Years War - Occupation, administration and recatholization of the Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine by Bavaria from 1621 to 1649, Franz Maier, 1990, 585 pp.
• The Battle of the White Mountain near Prague, Julius Krebs.
• Gino Benzoni:  Caracciolo, Tommaso. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 19:  Cappi-Cardona. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1976.