Battle of Luzzara

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This article is about the 1702 Battle of Luzzara. For the Battle of 1734 see the Battle of Guastalla.

Battle of Luzzara

Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Date	August 15, 1702
Location	Near Luzzara, present-day Italy
Result	Indecisive

Combatants

Image:GR 134 crop.jpg Habsburg Empire

Image:Pavillon royal de France.svg Kingdom of France

Commanders

Image:Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor (after 1400).svg Prince Eugene of Savoy

Image:Pavillon royal de France.svg Duc de Vendôme

Strength

25,000

30,000 - 36,000

Casualties

2,000

4,000

v • d • e War of the Spanish Succession
Carpi – Chiari – Cremona – Luzzara – Cádiz – Friedlingen – Vigo Bay – Ekeren – Höchstädt – Schellenberg – Blenheim – Málaga – Elixheim – Cassano – Calcinato – Ramillies – Turin – Almansa – Toulon – Oudenarde – Lille – Malplaquet – Almenara – Saragossa – Brihuega – Villaviciosa – Bouchain – Denain – Barcelona

The Battle of Luzzara was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession, which was fought on August 15, 1702 near Luzzara, Italy.

[edit] Prelude

In the summer of 1702 , after taking Guastalla, the French under Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme turned north , with the intention to besiege Borgoforte. On this road he set up camp near Luzzara on the right bank of the Po River.

When Prince Eugene of Savoy heard of this, he was besieging Mantua. He decided to give up the siege and assemble all available forces to intercept Vendome.

Arriving near Luzzara, Prince Eugene set up his headquarter a few kilometers north near the village of Riva.

[edit] The Battle

Vendome was in a favourable position, having prepared his defenses and with the Po River on his left side and the right side of the Austrians. The rest of the terrain was an open field, full of ditches, channels, fences and high bushes.

The Austrians had more experienced troops and commanders like Daun, Vaudemont, Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt and Guido Starhemberg.

On the morning of August 15, Prince Eugene waited until the rest of his units, called for urgently, had reached the battle line. Then around 5 pm. he attacked. His plan was to part the enemies from the riverside and try to surround them. He attacked several times but with no practical result, because of the strong French resistance.

The battle raged until darkness.

After this battle, the two armies laid facing each other until the French decamped first on November 4, ending the 1702 campaign.