Battle of Luzzara

Battle of Luzzara
This article is about the 1702 battle. For the 1734 battle, see
Battle of Guastalla.
show Battle of Luzzara
Part of War of the Spanish Succession
War of the
Spanish
Succession
Europe
Low Countries
and Upper France
Battle of Luzzara, engraving by Jan van Huchtenburg
1st Fort
Isabella
MiddelburgDate 15 August 1702
Saint Donas
NijmegenLocation Luzzara, Lombardy, Italy
Venlo
Result Inconclusive
Stevensweert
Roermond
1st Liége Belligerents
Hulst
Steckene
Ekeren France
1st Huy
Holy Roman Empire
Limburg
2nd Fort Savoy
Isabella Commanders and leaders
2nd Huy
2nd Liége
3rd Huy
Prince Eugene Vendôme
Elixheim
Zoutleeuw
Prince Vaudémont
Zandvliet Philip V
Diest
Ramillies
Visconti Duke of Mantua
Antwerp
Ostend
Menin Prince Commerci † Victor Amadeus
Dendermonde
Ath Strength
Beachy Head
26,000 30,000 – 35,000
Lizard Point
Oudenarde Casualties and losses
Wijnendale[1]
2,000 4,000 [1]
Leffinghe
Hondschoote
Saint Ghislain
Brussels
Lille
Ghent
Tournai
Malplaquet
Mons
1st Douai
Béthune
Saint-Venant
Aire
1st Bouchain
1st Le
Quesnoy
Landrécies
Denain
Marchiennes
2nd Douai
2nd Le
Quesnoy
2nd Bouchain
Germany and
Upper Rhine
Kaiserswerth
1st Landau
Friedlingen
Rheinberg
1st Trarbach
Andernach
Neubourg
Geldern
Kehl
Sigharting
Bonn
Munderkingen
Breisach
Höchstädt
Speyerbach
2nd Landau
Augsburg
Schellenberg
Rain
Villingen
Ingolstadt
Blenheim
Ulm
3rd Landau
2nd Trarbach
Wissembourg
Lauterbourg
Homburg
1st Haguenau
Drusenheim
2nd
Haguenau
Sendling
Aidenbach
3rd Hagenau
Stollhofen
Rumersheim
4th Landau
Freiburg
Italy and
Southern France
Carpi
Chiari
Cremona
1st
Castiglione
Santa Vittoria
Luzzara
Borgoforte
Guastalla
Governolo
Nago
Arco
Castelnuovo
Bormida
1st Susa
Vercelli
Ivrea
Verrua
Chivasso
Mirandola
Cassano
Nice
Calcinato
Turin
2nd
Castiglione
Pavia
Alessandria
Pizzigetone
Casale
Milan
Toulon
2nd Susa
Gaeta
Exilles
Fenestrelles
Cesana
Syracuse
Spain and
Portugal
Cádiz
Vigo Bay
Cap de la
Roque
Castello de
Vide
1st Barcelona
Portalegre
1st Gibraltar
Ceuta
Málaga
2nd Gibraltar
Cabrita Point
Valencia de
Alcántara
Albuquerque
Montjuïc
2nd Barcelona
Badajoz
San Mateo
3rd Barcelona
Alcántara
1st Ciudad
Rodrigo
1st Madrid
Murcia
El Albujón
1st Majorca
Cuenca
Elche
Cartagena
Santa Cruz de
Tenerife
Castellón
Villena
Almansa
Xàtiva
2nd Ciudad
Rodrigo
Lleida
Morella
Tortosa
Minorca
Denia
Alicante
La Gudiña
Almenar
Zaragoza
2nd Madrid
Brihuega
Villaviciosa
1st Girona
Aren Fort
Venasque
Tortosa
Cardona
2nd Girona
4th Barcelona
2nd Majorca
Hungary
Eisenstadt
Schmöllnitz
Raab
Páta
Nagyszombat
Zsibó
Saint
Gotthard
Trenčín
Kölesd
Kassa
Nagymajtény
The Battle of Luzzara took place in Lombardy on 15 August

1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession, between a
combined French and Savoyard army under Louis Joseph,
duc de Vendôme, and an Imperial force under Prince
Eugene.
Conflict in Northern Italy centred around the Spanish-held

Duchies of Milan and Mantua, which controlled access to the
southern borders of both France and Austria. When the war
began in 1701, Savoy allied with France; despite being out
numbered, by February 1702 the Imperialists held the
strategic initiative.
Vendôme took the offensive, taking Modena and Reggio in

July, followed by Luzzara in August, a vital crossing point
over the River Po. Threatened with being cut off from his
supply base at Mirandola, Prince Eugene launched a series
of attacks on the French positions at Luzzara.
Fighting continued until midnight, when the Imperialists

ended their attack, having failed to break through; they
suffered 2,000 casualties, the French lost around 4,000.
While this ended Vendôme's offensive for the year, the
French-Savoyard army had recovered nearly all the ground
lost in 1701.
Contents
1 Background
2 Battle
3 Aftermath
4 References
5 Sources
Background
The War of the Spanish Succession was triggered by the
death in November 1700 of the childless Charles II of Spain.
He named his heir as Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV
of France, and on 16 November 1700, he became king of the
Spanish Empire. In addition to mainland Spain, this included
the Spanish Netherlands, large parts of Italy, and much of
Central and South America. In 1701, disputes over territorial
and commercial rights led to war between France, Spain, and
the Grand Alliance, whose candidate was Charles, younger
son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.[2]
The war in Northern Italy centred on the Spanish-held

Duchies of Milan and Mantua, which were considered
essential to the security of Austria's southern borders. In
March 1701, French troops occupied both cities; Victor
Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, allied with France, in return for
which his daughter Maria Luisa married Philip V.[3]
Milan
Mantua
Luzzara
Guastalla
Borgoforte
Cremona
Mirandola
Modena
Northern Italy; key locations
Over the next 12 months, Imperial general Prince Eugene of

Savoy won a series of victories over French commander
Villeroi, forcing him to withdraw behind the Adda river.[4] He
was unable to fully exploit this success as Leopold diverted
resources from Italy to deal with problems elsewhere.
Instead, he improvised, and in a surprise winter campaign,
captured Villeroi at Cremona in February 1702, before laying
siege to Modena. Determined to retain control of this region,
Louis sent Vendôme to replace Villeroi, along with
substantial reinforcements.[1]
On 12 July, Vendôme was joined by Philip V, who had been

visiting Spanish possessions in Italy, including Naples, Sicily,
and Milan. This brought their combined army up to 30,000 –
35,000, including 10,000 Savoyards and five regiments of
the Irish Brigade. In July, Vendôme captured Modena, then
turned north to take Guastalla; on 26 July, he clashed with
Imperial cavalry under Visconti at Santa Vittoria.[5]
In early August, a detachment under Vendôme besieged

Luzzara, a small town held by an Austrian garrison of 500,
that controlled a bridge over the Po River.[6] Prince Eugene
now faced being cut off from his supply base at Mirandola;
he abandoned his blockade of Mantua, and marched on
Luzzara, telling its governor to hold on until he arrived.[7]
Many of his troops were tied up in garrisons at Mirandola,

Bersello and Borgoforte, leaving him with a field army of
26,000. On 14 August, he reached Riva, a village north of
Luzzara; here he learned the town had already surrendered,
and the rest of Vendôme's army was moving into a camp just
outside.[7]
Battle
Between Luzzara and the Po
River, there were two earth
embankments, built to prevent
the river flooding the
countryside; a high one just
outside the town, and a smaller
one close to the river (see Map).
Prince Eugene planned to
Battle Map; Imperial top (red),
French-Savoyard bottom (blue) conceal his troops behind
these, and take the French-
Savoyard army by surprise; since their first task would be to
collect forage, and water the horses, he hoped to take them
unarmed. He split his forces into two lines, the left under
Visconti and the Prince de Commerci, the right under
Vaudémont, while he commanded the centre.[8]
During the morning and early afternoon of 15 August, the

Imperialists crossed the Po and moved into position, but
were discovered by a French patrol.[8] They quickly formed
up, and around 5:00 pm, Prince Eugene ordered a general
assault. His right wing was repulsed four times, with heavy
losses on both sides, particularly among the Irish units and
Albemarle's Regiment holding the French left.[9] The
struggle on the other wing was equally bloody; Commerci
and his Danish infantry nearly broke through on several
occasions, although he and several senior commanders
were killed.[10]
The broken ground meant cavalry played little part in the
battle, which meant casualties were even higher as a
proportion of the numbers actually engaged. The French
managed to hold their lines until exhaustion and darkness
ended the fighting round midnight, and neither army was
able to resume the attack in the morning. Since Prince
Eugene remained in possession of the battlefield, he claimed
it as a victory, according to the practice of the time.[11]
Aftermath
Although Vendôme suffered 4,000 casualties compared to
Imperial losses of 2,000, most analysts consider the battle a
draw, although it ended the French offensive; the two armies
remained facing each other for the next month, occasionally
bombarding each other.[12] This allowed Prince Eugene to
hold on until the two sides went into winter quarters, but the
French-Savoyard forces regained all the ground lost in the
previous twelve months.[1]
Two days after the battle, Philip returned to Madrid; in

January 1703, Prince Eugene was recalled to Vienna to take
over as head of the Imperial War Council, and was replaced
as commander in Italy by Starhemberg. The Italian theatre
remained quiet in 1703; Starhemberg was badly
outnumbered, while Vendôme spent most of it supporting a
futile offensive through the Tyrol by Maximilian of Bavaria. In
October 1703, Victor Amadeus II defected to the Alliance;
over the next two years, Vendôme gradually conquered most
of Lombardy.[13]
In 1708, Prince Eugene commissioned a series of paintings

recording his victories from Dutch artist Jan van
Huchtenburg, one being Luzzara.[14]
References
1. ^ a b c d Lynn 1999, p. 276.
2. Somerset 2012, p. 168.
3. Dhondt 2015, pp. 16–17.
4. Lynn 1999, pp. 270–271.
5. Bancks 1745, p. 142.
6. Bancks 1745, p. 143.
7. ^ a b Bancks 1745, p. 144.
8. ^ a b Belsham 1836, pp. 167–168.
9. MacSweeney 1930, pp. 84–90.
10. Savoy 1811, p. 78.
11. Savoy 1811, p. 79.
12. Bancks 1745, p. 150.
13. Lynn 1999, pp. 284–285.
14. The Battle of Luzzara, 1702.
Sources
Bancks, John (1745). The history of Francis-Eugene
Prince of Savoy (2010 ed.). Gale ECCO.
ISBN 1170621236.
Belsham, William (1836). History of Great Britain, From
the Revolution, 1688, to the Conclusion of the Treaty of
Amiens, 1802 (2017 ed.). Forgotten Books.
ISBN 133076840X.
Dhondt, Frederik (2015). De Ruysscher, D; Capelle, K
(eds.). History in Legal Doctrine; Vattel and Réal De
Curban on the Spanish Succession; the War of the
Spanish Succession in Legal history; moving in new
directions. Maklu. ISBN 9789046607589.
Lynn, John (1999). The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667–1714
(Modern Wars In Perspective). Longman. ISBN 978-
0582056299.
MacSweeney, Marquis of (1930). "The Casualty List of
the Infantry Regiment of Albemarle at the Battle of
Luzzara, 15th August, 1702". The Journal of the Royal
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. 20 (1): 84–90.
JSTOR 25513547.
Savoy, Prince Eugene of (1811). Memoirs of Prince
Eugene of Savoy. Ezra Sargeant.
Somerset, Anne (2012). Queen Anne; the Politics of
Passion. Harper. ISBN 978-0007203765.
"The Battle of Luzzara, 1702". The Royal Collection.
Retrieved 7 July 2020.

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The Battle of Luzzara took place in Lombardy on 15 August

Conflict in Northern Italy centred around the Spanish-held

Vendôme took the offensive, taking Modena and Reggio in

Fighting continued until midnight, when the Imperialists

The war in Northern Italy centred on the Spanish-held

Over the next 12 months, Imperial general Prince Eugene of

On 12 July, Vendôme was joined by Philip V, who had been

In early August, a detachment under Vendôme besieged

Many of his troops were tied up in garrisons at Mirandola,

During the morning and early afternoon of 15 August, the

Two days after the battle, Philip returned to Madrid; in

In 1708, Prince Eugene commissioned a series of paintings

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