Battle of Cremona

Coordinates: 45°08′00″N 10°02′00″E / 45.1333°N 10.0333°E / 45.1333; 10.0333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the battle between the Romans and Gauls, see Battle of Cremona (200 BC). For the battle during the Year of the Four Emperors, see Battle of Bedriacum.
Battle of Cremona
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Battle of Cremona
Date1 February 1702
Location
Cremona, (present-day Italy)
Result Inconclusive
Belligerents
 
Danish Auxiliary Corps
  Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Prince Eugene
Prince de Vaudémont
duc de Villeroi
Casualties and losses
800 killed and wounded[1]
400 captured		 1,200 killed and wounded[1]
300 captured

The Battle of Cremona took place on the night of 31 January to 1 February 1702, during the

Villeroi and an Imperial/Austrian army led by Prince Eugene of Savoy
.

Background

The Duchies of

Emperor Leopold then sent Prince Eugene to recapture them. He was an extremely capable general who easily out manoeuvred his French counterparts, winning battles at Carpi and Chieri
, after which his army took up winter quarters in the pro-French Duchy of Mantua. Lack of funds and supplies from Vienna meant Eugene had to improvise; since campaigning in the winter months was not usually done, he hoped to take the French by surprise.

Battle

Eugene had a contact inside Cremona, a priest named Cuzzoli; on the night of 31 January 1702, he admitted a party of Imperial grenadiers by means of a hidden culvert and they seized control of the St Margaret Gate.

Villeroi
captured in his quarters.

A second and larger force under

Irish Brigade
, the Régiment de Dillon and the Régiment de Bourke. The defenders now regrouped and counter-attacked; with daylight and a French relief force arriving, Prince Eugene ordered his troops to withdraw, the Austrians having suffered an estimated 1,600 casualties, the French around 1,100.

Aftermath

The two Irish units lost an estimated 350 out of 600 men engaged; their commander Major Daniel O'Mahoney was later presented to Louis XIV and knighted by the Stuart exile James III. He went on to have a distinguished career, fighting in Spain and Sicily; he ended as a Lieutenant-General and died in Ocaña, Spain in 1714.[3]

Villeroi was soon released but his capture commemorated in verse; Par la faveur de Bellone, et par un bonheur sans égal, nous avons conservé Crémone et perdu notre général. (By the favour of Bellone, and a happiness without equal, we saved Crémone and lost our general).

The battle was also commemorated as a march entitled 'The Battle of Cremona' later used in the Irish Brigade.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Bodart 1908, p. 125.
  2. ISBN 978-1856356626
    .
  3. ISBN 978-1856356626
    .
  4. ^ "The Battle of Cremona". The Traditional Tune Archive. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

References

Further reading

  • Eggenberger, David (1967). A Dictionary of Battles. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. p. 110. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

45°08′00″N 10°02′00″E / 45.1333°N 10.0333°E / 45.1333; 10.0333

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Cremona&oldid=1219815199"