Battle of Jarnac
Battle of Jarnac | |||||||
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Battle of Jarnac. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Catholics |
Huguenots | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Henry, Duke of Anjou Louis, Duke of Montpensier | |||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2-300 | 4-800 |
The Battle of Jarnac on 13 March 1569 was an encounter during the
Prelude
In late 1568 the Huguenot and Royal armies both circled Loudun seeking to find good ground to attack the other, but terrible weather scuppered these attempts.[1] The Royal army broke off towards Chinon to make camp, whilst the Huguenot forces tried and failed to take Saumur before likewise settling into camp.[1] Hearing the Huguenot forces intended to break south towards Cognac, Marshal Gaspard de Tavannes, superior in cavalry, crossed the Charente by the bridge at Châteauneuf on the night of 12 March.[2] With him were 27000 men for this surprise attack on the rearguard of the Huguenot army.[2]
Battle
The Huguenot forces left by
Around 11:00 a.m., the Catholic vanguard under
Coligny launched fresh cavalry at Montpensier’s now somewhat disorganised units and drove them back to the Guirlande.
Tavannes sensed that the forward elements of his army were becoming extended and brought forward 2,500 mercenary reiters to support them. They were able to halt Coligny’s cavalry, who were forced to retreat. When the Catholics resumed their attack on the village of Bassac, the defenders were likewise forced to fall back to the Huguenot position forming around Triac.[4]
The southern end of this position, next to the Charente, was covered by a large pond and a narrow valley. It was covered by a force of Coligny’s arquebusiers. The difficulty of negotiating these obstacles temporarily deterred the Catholic advance.
Having received the Admiral’s request for assistance, Condé marched towards the battle. He gathered up his cavalry as he did so and arrived by Tirac at 1:00 p.m
By this time the Henry, Duke of Anjou had come up with the main battle and Tavannes realised that the ground north of the pond was suitable to resume the advance. Montpensier’s vanguard cavalry moved first. They were followed by the battle. The southern end of this formation, nearest the Charente, consisted of the Catholic reiters. The Catholic guns fired a couple of salvoes before the cavalry moved forward to attack at about 2:00 p.m.
The Huguenots countered by attacking with both the left and right wings of cavalry, but these jaded horsemen gave way before Montpensier’s more numerous cavalry. At this point the Prince threw himself and his followers into the midst of the Catholic forces, turning back the vanguard cavalry and driving into Anjou’s own horsemen. But gallant though the charge was, it was doomed to failure. The scattered Huguenot horsemen could make no impression on the Catholic foot.[5]
The Catholic reiters managed to force their way past the infantry guarding the road that linked Brassac to Tirac. From this position, they were able to fall on Condé’s flank. Condé was dismounted, many Huguenot gentlemen falling around him. Despite being unarmed and under guard, the Prince was executed, possibly by a Gascon named Montesquiou, and his corpse was paraded in Jarnac to the jeers of the local populace.[2]
Minor participants on the Huguenot side were the English volunteer Walter Raleigh and Louis of Nassau.
Aftermath
Under the leadership of
On 25 June, the two armies met again at the Battle of La Roche-l'Abeille, resulting in a victory for Coligny.[6] The Battle of Moncontour in October of the same year would provide the Catholics with a more definitive victory .
References
Sources
- Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). "March 13, 1569: Western Europe: France: Wars of Religion: Battle of Jarnac". A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Vol. Two. ABC-CLIO.
- van Tol, Jonas (2019). Germany and the French Wars of Religion, 1560-1572. Brill.
- Wood, James (1996). The King's Army: Warfare, Soldiers and Society during the Wars of Religion in France 1562-1576. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521525136.
- O'Brien de Clare, T J (2021). One Faith, One Law, One King: French Armies of the Wars of Religion 1562 - 1598. Helion. ISBN 978-1-914059-70-4.