Crossing of the Somme

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Crossing of the Somme
Part of the
Franco-Spanish War (1635–59)

Crossing of the Somme, 1636. Oil on canvas by Peter Snayers.
Date5 August 1636
Location
Bray-sur-Somme, Picardy, France
Result Imperial-Spanish victory
Belligerents
 France  Spain
 Holy Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of France Louis, Count of Soissons
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand
Spain Prince of Carignano
Holy Roman Empire Ottavio Piccolomini
Strength
14,000[1] 18,000[2]–25,000[3]
Casualties and losses
700-800 soldiers killed
+ 13 captains
14 lieutenants
16 corporals		 35 killed and 50 wounded (reported)[4]

The Crossing of the Somme took place on 5 August 1636 during the

Oise river, proceeding over the following weeks to invest the important fortress of Corbie, located two leagues upriver of Amiens, which caused a spread of panic among the population of Paris
.

Background

Shortly after France declared the war on Spain in May 1635, a French army under the

Count-Duke of Olivares continued determined to concentrate the war effort against the Dutch.[7]

After suffering further defeats against the armies of the Duke

Charles de La Porte de La Meilleraye, soon became an absolute priority to the Cardinal Richelieu.[3] The Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, whose position in Germany had strengthened since the Peace of Prague, meanwhile, projected an invasion of the eastern France under Matthias Gallas, but as logistical and financial problems diminished his force, he proposed a joint invasion to the Cardinal-Infante.[9] Philip IV of Spain and Olivares rapidly agreed.[2]

A lightly equipped army ranging from 10,000–12,000 infantry and 13,000 cavalry soldiers[3] to 18,000 soldiers of both types, including an imperialist contingent under Ottavio Piccolomini was gathered at Mons during June.[2] On the 2nd of July the Cardinal-Infante crossed the frontier via Avesnes and took the fortresses of Le Catelet and La Capelle.[10] Though having large garrisons, La Capelle surrendered after only six days of siege and Le Catelet, one of the strongest fortresses of France, after three days thanks to the exploding shells used by the Spanish army, a recent innovation yet unfamiliar to the French.[10] The alarming advance of the Cardinal-Infante forced Louis XIII to return to Paris from Fontainebleau.[10] By then Ferdinand was in Cambrai and had left the command of his army to the Prince Thomas Francis of Carignano, the commander of the Army of Flanders.[11]

Battle

The Prince of Carignano took over the army and headed to

Pontoons and boats were dispatched from Cambrai for this purpose.[12]

The Prince put on alert his

Régiment des Gardes.[13]

The Prince ordered his Tercios of Spaniards march to the village of Cerisy, located a league south of Bray, and cross there the river.[12] A pontoon bridge was promptly tended from one bank to the opposite, and large amounts of faggots previously prepared were spread on the marshy land to facilitate the crossing of the soldiers.[14] Only the Régiment de Piedmont was in that place to confront the Spaniards.[13] These formed in squadron at the riverside and became involved in a stubborn fight that lasted for three hours.[15] The Régiment de Piedmont, reinforced by a company of the Régiment des Gardes, tried to expel them from the pontoons and the road of faggots with great fierceness,[13] but thanks to the presence of the Prince, who took the command of the attack, the Spaniards managed to cross the river and drove off the Régiment de Piemont from the riverside.[15]

The Maestro de Campo Alonso Pérez de Vivero y Menchaca, Count of Fuensaldaña, put then his soldiers to work in the digging of trenches to cover them from a possible counterattack.[16] The Spanish artillery and some musketeers riddled the forest where the Régiment de Piedmont had sought coverage and forced the few surviving troops to retreat leaving behind about 700-800 corpses.[17] The Prince lost that day around 35 soldiers killed and 50 wounded.[4] The French losses could have been higher if the Spanish cavalry had crossed the river in time to pursue them, but this did not happen and Soissons was able to withdraw his troops in good order.[4]

Aftermath

The Prince of Carignano, searching the destruction of the retreating French army, dispatched Ottavio Piccolomini in command of his cavalry and

Oise river.[4] The harassment of the German and Spanish cavalry diminished the strength of the French army, finding the Imperial-Spanish troops abandoned corpses and weapons at his advance.[4] Piccolomini's persecution of the retreating French army lead him to Roye, which he captured and from where he reached Compiègne and advanced further into French territory, which caused consternation in Paris.[10] Meanwhile, Soissons retreated to Noyon pursued by Johann von Werth. The Bavarian general destroyed 5 French cavalry regiments near the town, but he had not enough forces to attempt its capture.[18]

On 7 August the Prince of Carignano, by orders of the Cardinal-Infante, surrounded the vital fortress of

Prince of Condé ordering him to abandon the siege of Dôle and to withdraw from the Franche-Comté to help defend Paris.[10] At the French court it was believed that after Corbie the Spanish would advance further into France.[19] Piccolomini, who wanted to do so, tried to persuade the Cardinal-Infante. The Cardinal-Infante felt that more ambitious operations could risk his army and resolved to retreat.[19] He was back in Cambrai in early September, before Matthias Gallas' invasion of France had begun, and the French armies regained most of the lost ground over the following months.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ Vincart, p. 18
  2. ^ a b c Israel, p. 75
  3. ^ a b c Parrott, p. 119
  4. ^ a b c d e Vincart, p. 28
  5. ^ a b Israel, p. 69
  6. ^ Israel, p. 70–71
  7. ^ Israel, p. 72
  8. ^ Parrott, p. 118
  9. ^ Israel, p. 74
  10. ^ a b c d e f Israel, p. 76
  11. ^ a b c Vincart, p. 24
  12. ^ a b c d e Vincart, p. 25
  13. ^ a b c d e Michaud/Poujoulat, p. 254
  14. ^ Vincart, p. 25–26
  15. ^ a b Vincart, p. 26
  16. ^ Vincart, p. 26–27
  17. ^ Vincart, p. 27
  18. ^ Vincart, p. 29
  19. ^ a b Israel, p. 77
  20. ^ Israel, p. 78

References

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