Battle of Villafranca (1744)

Last updated
Battle of Villafranca
Part of the War of the Austrian Succession
Date20 April 1744
Location Villafranca Marittima, Sardinia
(present-day France)
Result Franco-Spanish victory [1]
Belligerents
Bandera de Espana 1701-1748.svg Kingdom of Spain
Royal Standard of the King of France.svg  Kingdom of France
Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia.svg  Kingdom of Sardinia
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Bandera de Espana 1701-1748.svg Infante Philip
Royal Standard of the King of France.svg Prince of Conti
Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia.svg Vittorio Francesco Filippo of Savoy   (POW)
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Thomas Mathews
Strength
30,000 8,000
Casualties and losses
2,820 casualties 1,500 dead or wounded
1,830 captured

The Battle of Villafranca unfolded on 20 April 1744, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The armies of Spain and France, advancing into Kingdom of Sardinia, unsuccessfully attacked entrenched positions at the pass of Villafranca, defended by Anglo-Sardinian forces. Because of the high losses incurred, the defenders were forced to leave the harbour of Villafranca two days after the battle (22 April 1744).

War of the Austrian Succession Dynastic war in Austro-Hungary

The War of the Austrian Succession involved most of the powers of Europe over the issue of Archduchess Maria Theresa's succession to the Habsburg Monarchy. The war included peripheral events such as King George's War in British America, the War of Jenkins' Ear, the First Carnatic War in India, the Jacobite rising of 1745 in Scotland, and the First and Second Silesian Wars.

Spain Kingdom in Southwest Europe

Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands and a peninsula bordering Morocco in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with British dependency Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.

France Republic with mainland in Europe and numerous oversea territories

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

Contents

Situation in Italy

1744 had opened bleakly for the Spaniards in Italy. To the south the Austrians were steadily driving back General Montemar's army. Naples was threatened. Britain, boasting naval superiority in the Mediterranean, intervened on the side of Austria, and the Royal Navy everywhere harassed Spain's allies and frustrated Spanish war shipping. Genoa was blocked off by a British squadron, and Switzerland kept her borders closed to the passage of troops. Marching overland through allied France, the Infante Philip had easily conquered Savoy, but, starved of supplies, had been unable to advance against the Sardinians in the Alps.

José Carrillo de Albornoz, 1st Duke of Montemar Spanish nobleman and military leader

José Carrillo de Albornoz y Montiel, 1st Duke of Montemar, 3rd Count of Montemar, GE, KOGF, KOS was a Spanish nobleman and military leader, who conquered the Two Sicilies, Oran and Mazalquivir. He was a member of the Carrillo family, a Spanish noble house, and was Viceroy of Sicily from 1734 to 1737.

Naples Comune in Campania, Italy

Naples is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy after Rome and Milan. In 2017, around 967,069 people lived within the city's administrative limits while its province-level municipality has a population of 3,115,320 residents. Its continuously built-up metropolitan area is the second or third largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the most densely populated cities in Europe.

Royal Navy Maritime warfare branch of the United Kingdoms military

The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.

On 22 February, the Bourbon navies defeated the British off the coast of Toulon. The retreat of Admiral Matthews' fleet left the sea lanes temporarily under French and Spanish control. Supplies poured into Philip's camp. 20,000 Frenchmen under Louis François I, Prince of Conti were then dispatched to combine with Philip's 20,000 Spaniards, their goal being to force a passage into Lombardy and to unite with the Spanish army in the south.

House of Bourbon European royal house of French origin

The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have monarchs of the House of Bourbon.

Battle of Toulon (1744) 1744 naval battle between a British and a Franco-Spanish fleet

The naval Battle of Toulon or Battle of Cape Sicié took place on 22–23 February 1744 (NS) in the Mediterranean off the French coast near Toulon. A combined Franco-Spanish fleet fought off Britain's Mediterranean Fleet. The French fleet, not officially at war with Great Britain, only joined the fighting late, when it was clear that the greatly outnumbered Spanish fleet had gained the advantage over its foe. With the French intervention, the British fleet was forced to withdraw.

Thomas Mathews British officer of the Royal Navy from Wales

Thomas Mathews was a British officer of the Royal Navy, who rose to the rank of admiral.

On 1 April, the allies crossed the Var and advanced into Nice, which fell without a fight. Villafranca lay before them.

Nice Prefecture and commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Nice is the seventh most populous urban area in France and the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes département. The metropolitan area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of about 1 million on an area of 721 km2 (278 sq mi). Located in the French Riviera, on the south east coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, at the foot of the Alps, Nice is the second-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast and the second-largest city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region after Marseille. Nice is approximately 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the principality of Monaco and 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the French-Italian border. Nice's airport serves as a gateway to the region.

The battle

The Sardinians led by Vittorio Francesco Filippo di Savoia, Marquis of Susa, the brother of the King Charles Emmanuel III, entrenched themselves along the heights of Villafranca. Their natural defences were formidable: the attackers, hemmed in by cliffs and precipices, faced a difficult climb up over rocks and boulders, in plain sight of Sardinian guns. The fortified camp was equipped with more than 80 guns of all calibres, landed from English ships stationed in the harbor, which were arranged in eleven batteries. Sardinian forces counted fourteen battalions of infantry.

Admiral Matthews, meanwhile, had returned to the area and landed a contingent of British regulars, marines, and artillery specialists to bolster the Sardinian defence. This force joined the Sardinians on the heights, their guns bearing down on the French against whom they had only recently declared war (Britain had been fighting a war against Spain since 1739). Voltaire would later quip, "even in the Alps we could still find Englishmen to fight us."

War of Jenkins Ear conflict between Great Britain and Spain

The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Britain and Spain lasting from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, refers to an ear severed from Robert Jenkins, a captain of a British merchant ship. There is no evidence that supports the stories that the severed ear was exhibited before the British Parliament.

Voltaire French writer, historian, and philosopher

François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plumeVoltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his criticism of Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state.

Conti's first attack was launched the 14 April, but was suspended because of a storm. Finally Conti gave the assault on the fortified camp of Villafranca on the night of 19 to 20 April 1744. In the early stages of the battle the French and the Spaniards were able to immediately gain the position of the collet de Villefranche, capturing or destroying five Sardinian battalions. Even the commander in chief, the Marquis of Susa, was taken prisoner and he had to be replaced by the Knight of Cinzano. The French and Spanish forces moved to conquer the positions of Mont Gros, Mont Rouge and Mont Leuze, the keys of the defensive perimeter of Villafranca. However, led by their new commander, the defenders were able to contain the attack. In particular, the regiment Kalbermatten, a Swiss unit in Sardinian service, was able to develop a magnificent defensive action to hold the position of Mont Leuze. At four in the afternoon the situation was restored and Conti had now exhausted all the forces at his disposal. The Cinzano had the opportunity to launch an assault on the collective Villefranche and reoccupy the position, which is crucial as it allowed the transit of the road to Nice. This operation, conducted by principally by companies of grenadiers, achieved a complete success. In the evening the Sardinians were again deployed on the positions of the morning.

Aftermath

The defenders had suffered heavy losses. There were over 1,000 dead and wounded and 1,500 prisoners, compared to less than 3,000 losses of Spaniards and French, who counted among their ranks 433 men held captive. With only 5,000 men fit to fight, Cinzano preferred to abandon the fortified camp of Villafranca with the help of the British navy. On the evening of 21 April, in the dock of Villafranca, the garrison was shipped aboard 33 ships escorted by four British warships. At the dawn of the 22 April the fleet left the port. The fort of Montalbano had been abandoned, but Cinzano had left a garrison of 340 soldiers in the Citadel of Villafranca, who surrendered on April 27. The Prince de Conti realized that the conquest of the Ligurian Riviera would cost several months of combat. He then preferred to attack the Alps in July, an action that allowed the breakthrough of the Italian front and the siege of the city of Cuneo.

Notes

  1. A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East, Vol. II, ed. Spencer C. Tucker, (ABC-CLIO, 2010), 743.

Related Research Articles

Cottian Alps mountain range in the South-Western part of the Alps

The Cottian Alps ; are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Modane and Susa are important transportation arteries between France and Italy (Turin).

Briançon Subprefecture and commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Briançon is a commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.

Villefranche-sur-Mer Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Villefranche-sur-Mer is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located near the French~Italian border next to the Principality of Monaco.

Second Italian War of Independence war of national liberation, Italy 1859

The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Franco-Austrian War, Austro-Sardinian War or Italian War of 1859, was fought by the French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire in 1859 and played a crucial part in the process of Italian unification.

Mont Cenis mountain pass in Alps

Mont Cenis is a massif and pass in Savoie (France), which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.

Annibale Santorre di Rossi de Pomarolo, Count of Santarosa Italian noble

Santorre Annibale De Rossi di Pomerolo, Count of Santa Rosa was an Italian insurgent and leader in the revival (Risorgimento) of Italy.

The Battle of Casteldelfino was a military engagement in July 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo or Battle of Cuneo was fought on the outskirts of Cuneo on 30 September 1744, in the War of the Austrian Succession. The battle ended in a victory for the armies of Spain and France over the Kingdom of Sardinia but it did not advance the victors' campaign.

Battle of Mondovì battle

The Battle of Mondovì was fought on 21 April 1796 between the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte and the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi. The French victory meant that they had put the Ligurian Alps behind them, while the plains of Piedmont lay before them. A week later, King Victor Amadeus III sued for peace, taking his kingdom out of the First Coalition. The defeat of their Sardinian ally wrecked Austrian Habsburg strategy and led to the loss of northwest Italy to the First French Republic.

Siege of Cuneo (1691)

The Siege of Cuneo was fought on 28 June 1691 during Nine Years' War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The siege was part of French King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, who had sided with the Grand Alliance the previous year. The siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinat's army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders – and a timely arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster, resulting in the loss of between 700 and 800 men. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat’s small, ill-equipped army was forced onto the defensive. Louis XIV subsequently offered Amadeus generous peace terms but the Duke, who had by now received substantial Imperial reinforcements from the Empire, considered himself strong enough to continue hostilities.

Battle of Assietta battle

The Battle of Assietta was fought in the Italian campaign of the War of the Austrian Succession on 19 July 1747. It resulted in a defeat for France against the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

In the Battle of Ceva on 16 April 1796, troops of the First French Republic under Pierre Augereau fought against part of the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont led by General Giuseppe Felice, Count Vital. Augereau assaulted the strong defensive position without success. At the direction of the Sardinian army commander, Feldmarschal-Leutnant Michelangelo Colli, Vital withdrew on the 17th in order to avoid being trapped by a second French division.

Battle of Loano occurred on 23-24 November 1795 during the War of the First Coalition

The Battle of Loano occurred on 23–24 November 1795 during the War of the First Coalition. The French Army of Italy led by Barthélemy Schérer defeated the combined Austrian and Sardinian forces under Olivier, Count of Wallis.

Montenotte Campaign

The Montenotte Campaign began on 10 April 1796 with an action at Voltri and ended with the Armistice of Cherasco on 28 April. In his first army command, Napoleon Bonaparte's French army separated the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont under Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi from the allied Austrian army led by Johann Peter Beaulieu. The French defeated both Austrian and Sardinian armies and forced Sardinia to quit the First Coalition. The campaign formed part of the Wars of the French Revolution. Montenotte Superiore is located at the junction of Strada Provinciale 12 and 41 in the Liguria region of northwest Italy, 15 kilometres (9 mi) northeast of Carcare municipality. However, the fighting occurred in an area from Genoa on the east to Cuneo on the west.

The Segusini were a Gaulish tribe whose territory largely corresponded with the ancient Roman province of Alpes Cottiae, in the Cottian Alps.

Battle of the Baztan Valley

The Battle of the Baztan Valley was fought between 23 July and 1 August 1794 during the French Revolutionary War, between a French force from the Army of the Western Pyrenees commanded by Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey and the Spanish forces led by Don Ventura Caro. The French army drove the Spanish from their defenses, then followed the valley northward to the Atlantic coast. The Spanish forces holding the coastal defenses were compelled to surrender or flee.

Battle of Saorgio

The Battle of Saorgio was fought from 24 to 28 April 1794 between a French First Republic army commanded by Pierre Jadart Dumerbion and the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and the Habsburg Monarchy led by Joseph Nikolaus De Vins. It was part of a successful French offensive designed to capture strategic positions in the Maritime Alps and Ligurian Alps, and on the Mediterranean coast. Tactical control of the battle was exercised by André Masséna for the French and Michelangelo Alessandro Colli-Marchi for the Coalition. Saorge is located in France, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northeast of Nice. At the time of the battle, the town was named Saorgio and belonged to Piedmont.

Battle of Saorgio (1793)

The First Battle of Saorgio saw a Republican French army commanded by Gaspard Jean-Baptiste Brunet attack the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and Habsburg Austria led by Joseph Nikolaus De Vins. The local Sardinian commander in the Maritime Alps was Charles-François Thaon, Count of Saint-André. Though the French were initially successful in this War of the First Coalition action, their main assaults against the strong defensive positions on the Massif de l'Authion and the Col de Raus failed with serious losses. Saorge is now located in France about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northeast of Nice, but in 1793 Saorgio belonged to Piedmont. In April 1794 the French seized the positions from the Austro-Sardinians in the Second Battle of Saorgio.

Second Battle of the Alps

The Second Battle of the Alps was a military campaign fought between combined German and Italian Social Republic forces, and the re-established French Republic led by Charles de Gaulle.

References