Battle of Assietta

Battle of Assietta
Part of the War of the Austrian Succession
The death of the Chevalier de Belle-Isle
Date 19 July 1747 Location Colle dell'Assietta, Savoy Result Decisive Piedmontese/Sardinian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of France	Kingdom of Sardinia
Commanders and leaders
Louis Fouquet †	Count of Bricherasio
Strength
32 Battalions - 40,000 men	13 Battalions - 7,000 men
Casualties and losses
c. 5,000	77

The Battle of Assietta was fought in the Italian campaign of the War of the Austrian Succession on 19 July 1747. It resulted in a defeat for France against the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Background

In the late phase of the War of the Austrian Succession, France had decided to eliminate the Savoy-Piedmontese army, considered dangerous due to its strong strategic position. King Louis XV had already tried to penetrate into Piedmont, besieging Cuneo and fighting at Madonna dell'Olmo and Bassignana.

This time he advanced with a huge army comprising 150 infantry regiments, 75 cavalry squadrons and 2 artillery brigades, under the command of Marshal Charles Louis Auguste, duke of Belle-Isle, and Marquis De La Mina. The two commanders had different views on the lead of the campaign: Belle-Isle favoured a direct menace to Turin by crossing the Alps, while his Spanish colleague preferred to send troops to relieve the Austro-Piedmontese siege of Genoa.

Belle-Isle's ideas prevailed and the French troops occupied Antibes as well as the county of Nice. However, they were halted by the strong Piedmontese defence of the southern Alpine passes. Belle-Isle's brother, the Chevalier de Belle-Isle, led an army of 50 infantry battalions, 15 cavalry squadrons and numerous cannon advanced towards the northern passes.

The army was divided into two corps: one descended from the Moncenisio towards Exilles while the other advanced towards Fenestrelle from the Assietta Pass. The latter is a bare plateau at more than 2,500 meters of altitude. Having predicted that the French would move through it, Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy had fortified the area with 13 infantry battalions: 9 Piedmontese, the remaining were Austrian and Swiss taken from the troops that had unsuccessfully besieged Genoa.

French intelligence notified the marshals that the Piedmontese were fortifying the pass, and a decision to attack immediately was taken.

The forces involved amounted to 32 French battalions against 13 Piedmontese battalions. The French troops were divided into three columns. The attack began at about 16:30. Despite the desperate effort of the soldiers and the personal show of valour of the French marshals, all the attacks were repulsed by the Piedmontese with heavy losses. After five hours of battle, the French retreated. The French commander, Chevalier de Belle-Isle, was killed in the fray.

Casualties amounted to 5,000, including 7 generals, for the French; while only 77 Piedmontese were killed and 50 wounded.

The beaten French troops returned to France. Frederick II of Prussia, after hearing of news of the Piedmontese defence at Assietta, declared that, if he had had such valorous troops, he could easily become King of Italy.

Sources

• Dabormida, Vittorio (1891). La battaglia dell'Assietta : studio storico. Voghera. 
• Alberti, Adriano (1902). La battaglia dell'Assietta (19 di luglio del 1747): note e documenti. Francesco Casanova. 
• Rodolico, Niccolò (July–August 1947). "Il Centenario della Battaglia dell'Assietta". L'Universo (Istituto Geografico Militare) (4.XXVII).