Battle of Turckheim

Battle of Turckheim
	Part of Franco-Dutch War
	; Battle of Turckheim by Emile Lemaitre
Date	5 January 1675
Location	Turckheim (now in Alsace, France)
Result	French victory
Belligerents
France	Holy Roman Empire; Brandenburg-Prussia
Commanders and leaders
Vicomte of Turenne	Alexander von Bournonville; Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Strength
30,000	30,000-50,000
Casualties and losses
1,100	3,400; 900 killed or wounded, 2,500 captured

The Battle of Turckheim took place during the

Viscount of Turenne, defeated the armies of Austria and Brandenburg, led by Alexander von Bournonville and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

.

Prelude

The aggressive campaign of

Marshal Turenne, French commander in that sector, failed to prevent the invasion of Alsace by a part of the Imperial Army. With the arrival of year's end in 1674, the Imperials went into their winter quarters in the region of Colmar,^[6] a few miles south of the French winter barracks, situated in Haguenau.^[7]

According to the conventions of war at the time, the military operations should have been halted during the winter until the return of the spring.

Turenne, however, decided not to follow this custom. Using the Vosges mountains as protection, he moved west and then south, reappearing in Belfort, south of his opponent, on 27 December 1674. Finding no resistance, he reached Mulhouse on the 29th. The surprised Imperials^[6] hastily fell back on Turckheim

.

Battle

Turenne and his 30,000 troops

Turenne captured the small village of Turckheim. Frederick William attempted to retake the town, but he was defeated by heavy fire from French guns and an infantry charge. Turenne then fell on the extreme right of the enemy. The speed of the attack (which was not preceded by artillery fire) and the numerical superiority at this spot disrupted and demoralized the defenders, putting them to flight after suffering 3,400 casualties.^[2]^[11]

Aftermath

With their winter quarters now threatened, Frederick William's army was forced to leave

Rhine River, back onto the right bank into present-day Germany.^[11]

This brief but famous winter campaign by Marshal Turenne is considered one of the brightest of the 17th century. Through two indirect maneuvers (one strategic and one tactical), he had saved France from invasion, suffering only negligible casualties.[6]

Notes

^ Périni, batailles françaises 6e série, p. 136
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bodart 1916, p. 28.
^ ^a ^b Longueville 1907, p. 362.
^ Bodart 1908, p. 96.
^ Eggenberger 1985, p. 449.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lynn 1999, p. 133.
^ Lynn 1999, p. 132.
^ Souza 2009, p. 120.
^ Périni, batailles françaises 6e série, p. 136
^ Lynn 1999, pp. 133–135.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Lynn 1999, p. 135.
^ Périni, batailles françaises 6e série, p. 136

References

Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618–1905). Retrieved 20 August 2022.
Bodart, Gaston (1916). Losses of Life in Modern Wars, Austria-Hungary; France.
ISBN 978-1371465520
.

Eggenberger, David (1985), An Encyclopedia of Battles, New York: Dover Publications

Lynn, John A. (1999). The Wars of Louis XIV: 1667–1714. Harlow, England: Longman Publishing.
Souza, Marcos da Cunha; et al. (2009), História Militar Geral I, Palhoça: UnisulVirtual
Longueville, Thomas (1907). Marshal Turenne. Robarts – University of Toronto. London: Longmans, Green.

Prelude

Battle

Aftermath

Notes

References

Further reading