| Battle of Staffarda | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theNine Years' War | |||||||
 Staffarda byJean Baptiste Morret | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |  Duchy of Savoy Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Nicolas Catinat | Victor Amadeus II Prince Eugène of Savoy | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000[1] | 18,000[1] 12 guns | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1,000[2] to 2,000 killed or wounded[1] | 2,800 killed or wounded 1,200 captured[1] 11 guns | ||||||
TheBattle of Staffarda took place on 18 August 1690 during theNine Years' War inPiedmont,Northern Italy. The engagement was the first major battle of theNine Years' War in Italy sinceVictor Amadeus II of Savoy joined theGrand Alliance againstLouis XIV of France earlier that year.
A French force of around 12,000 underNicolas Catinat defeated aSavoyard army of 18,000 led by Victor Amadeus and theImperial generalPrince Eugène of Savoy. Victory allowed Catinat to over-run most ofPiedmont but he was unable to take the capital ofTurin due to sickness, lack of men and supply problems.
By 1690, theNine Years' War was in its third year, with bothFrance and theAllies focusing their main effort in theSpanish Netherlands. Neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage in this theatre, or along theRhine, leavingNorthern Italy as the one area where the Allies could "open a door...into France".[3]
TheSavoyard state was split into several distinct areas: theCounty of Nice and theDuchy of Savoy, both of which are now within modernFrance, along with theDuchy of Aosta, andPrincipality of Piedmont. Like his predecessors,Louis XIV of France viewed Savoy as a French dependency, an outlook bolstered by control of two key fortresses in Piedmont. These werePinerolo in the west, annexed by France in 1631, andCasale in the east, acquired in 1681 fromFerdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat.[4]
At the beginning of 1690, Victor Amadeus had yet to openly join the war; although his small army totalled only 8,000 men,[5] Louis XIV understood that he had to retain Savoy in the French orbit. Ignoring Amadeus's own sovereign interests, the French sought guarantees and made their demands on the Duke: Amadeus was either to send 2,000 infantry and three dragoon regiments to assist French forces in the Spanish Netherlands – nearly half his army – or, he was to unite them withNicolas Catinat's forces for an attack on the Spanish-ruledDuchy of Milan; he was also to hand over to Catinat the citadel of Turin and, further down thePo River,Verrua. If he did not do so he would, inLouvois' words, "be punished in such a manner that he remembers it for the rest of his life."[6]
French demands were nothing less than an attack on Savoyard independence, and the intimidation ultimately proved counter-productive.[6] In the early summer of 1690 Amadeus realised he had to stand up to France and he began to look towards theGrand Alliance. But he had conditions. Amadeus reiterated his family claim to the Duchy of Montferrat, over which theHouse of Savoy was in perennial dispute with the Duke of Mantua, stipulating the razing of Casale as the minimum he would accept in this region; he also demanded the reacquisition of Pinerolo as thesine qua non of Savoyard entry into the war on the Allied side, and sought to take over at least one French place in Dauphiné. Amadeus's hectic preparations for war and his negotiations for financial assistance from England and Spain, were followed by a declaration of war against France on 4 June.[6]
In July Catinat took command of French forces in Piedmont, totalling some 12,000 men, while Victor Amadeus received 10,000 Spanish reinforcements from Milan, and was also promised 5,000Imperial troops led by his cousin,Prince Eugene of Savoy.[7] Additionally, Amadeus's Protestant community, theVaudois, who had previously suffered religious persecution from Louis XIV and Amadeus alike, had since become reconciled with their Duke, and took up arms in defence of their valleys. Little quarter was asked or given when fighting the French.[8]
Determined to punish Amadeus, Louis XIV had ordered Catinat to use his force to burn and tax (put under contribution) large tracts of parts of Savoy and the Plain of Piedmont – attempts by local peasants to retaliate were met by hanging anyone who was found carrying arms.[9] However, theMarquis de Feuquieres, sent by Catinat with 1,200 troops toLuserna, suffered a major setback and was forced to abandon the town with the loss of some 600 men.[2]
While Catinat's army manoeuvred on the Piedmontese plainMarquis de Saint-Ruth took most of the exposed Duchy of Savoy, routing the Savoyard forces; only the great fortress ofMontmélian, less than 60 km north ofGrenoble, remained in ducal hands. Although Savoy was far less important than Piedmont, its loss was a major setback for the Grand Alliance, making an invasion of France now much less likely.[6] In a desperate attempt to halt the destruction and intimidation Amadeus – against the advice of Eugene – insisted on engaging the French with his own and Spanish troops. Believing that Feuquieres was lost, and anxious to catch the French whilst they were weak, Amadeus left his camp atVillafranca with the intention of attacking and surrounding Catinat.[2]
Catinat left his camp atCavour and marched south with the intention of takingSaluzzo; when Amadeus moved to stop him, the result was the engagement atthe abbey of Staffarda on 18 August. Marshes and hedges impeded movement on the battlefield and sheltered the Savoyard line, but French troops eventually broke the Savoyard army.[2] Only Prince Eugene's command of the Savoyard cavalry and his conduct in retreat saved the Allied army from disaster.[9] Amadeus suffered 2,800 casualties and 1,200 prisoners; he also lost 11 of his 12 cannon. Catinat's casualties amount to between 1,000 and 2,000 troops.[1]
Catinat subsequently took Saluzzo,Savigliano andFossano,[6] levying supplies and taxes from the occupied areas; towns that refused to pay, likeCeresole and Autrive were looted.[10] When Imperial troops finally arrived in Piedmont little could be achieved, allegedly due to Spanish reluctance to support Victor Amadeus, their long-time rival for dominance in Northern Italy, with Prince Eugene claiming "they want to do absolutely nothing."[9] Instead, he confined himself to small raids carried out by his cavalry, many of whom were used to the brutality of theTurkish wars; during one such episode in September 1690, they reportedly castrated 200 French prisoners before killing them.[9]
Catinat proceeded toSusa, a vital fortress controlling communications withBriançon in the Dauphiné, opening trenches there on 11 November. The stronghold capitulated two days later, but hopes of taking Turin then capturing theAsti region and south-east Piedmont in order to link up with Casale had to be scaled back due to supply and communication problems, manning shortages, and sickness within the army.[6] Unable to live off the resources of a devastated Piedmont, the French took up winter quarters in Savoy, the Dauphiné, andProvence. The Imperial troops based themselves in Montferrat, much to the consternation of its pro-French ruler, the Duke of Mantua.[11]