Battle of Guastalla

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Guastalla


caption=
partof=the War of the Polish Succession
date=September 19, 1734
place=Guastalla, present-day Italy
result=indecisive / Franco-Piedmontese victory
combatant1=flagicon|France|royal France and Piedmont
combatant2=flag|Austria|empire
commander1=Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia, de Broglie and Coigny
commander2=von Königsegg and Frederick of Württemberg (+)
strength1=49,000 men
strength2=40,000 men
casualties1=5,000 dead and wounded
casualties2=7,000 dead and wounded

The Battle of Guastalla or Battle of Luzzara was a battle fought on September 19 1734, between Franco-Piedmontese and Austrian troops as part of the War of Polish Succession.

Prelude

The Franco-Piedmontese allies had marched on Milan in 1733, and occupied Lombardy without significant losses. In June the Austrians had suffered another defeat in the Battle of San Pietro, won by the French under de Coigny and de Broglie, despite attempts by King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia to prevent further advance.Charles Emmanuel of Savoy in fact voluntarily thwarted the expedition, because any further gains like Mantua, would be assigned to their new ally Spain, his old neighbor and enemy.

Not much fighting had occurred during summer, but On September 14 von Königsegg had won a small victory near Quistello. He now decided to launch a decisive assault on the allied positions at Guastalla.

The Battle

Records of this battle are incomplete and contradictory. On September 19 1734 around 10 am. von Königsegg attacked with 40,000 men the Franco- Piedmontese positions near Guastalla from Luzzara. At first the attack was successful, the allies had to withdraw. This threatened to turn into a rout, but King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia intervened with reserves and turned around the fleeing troops.
Then the 49.000 French and Piedmontese pushed the Austrian attack back, but didn't exploit their success.

This enabled the Austrians to stabilize their lines at Luzzara and prevent an allied push on Mantua. The truth was that Charles Emmanuel never intended to conquer Mantua.

The battle ended around 7 pm.
There were a staggering 12.000 casualties, including Prince Frederick Louis of Württemberg-Winnental, who was killed

External links

* 1-72860 Guastalla 1734. Una battaglia per il trono di Polonia. 2003 by Santangelo, Andrea, ITALY, VERBA MARTIS
* [http://xoomer.alice.it/guburani/guastalla.htm Guido Burani's Website, La Battaglia di Guastalla (in Italian)]