| Battle of Höchstädt | |||||||
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| Part of the War of the Spanish Succession | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Austria |
 [1] Kingdom of France |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Limburg Styrum Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau |
Claude de Villars |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 16,000 | 24,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 5,000 dead, wounded and (mainly) prisoners. | 1,000 dead or wounded | ||||||
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The first Battle of Höchstädt was fought on September 20, 1703, near Höchstädt in Bavaria, and resulted in a French-Bavarian victory under Marshal Villars against the Austrians under General Limburg Styrum.
Contents |
Prelude
On September 5, the main force of the Imperial Army under Louis William, Margrave of Baden-Baden had taken the free city of Augsburg, threatening Bavaria from the west. Louis of Baden had left a force of 16,000 men under Styrum north of the Danube river, which moved east and reached Höchstädt on September 19. Villars and Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria moved their army of 17,000 to intercept this force, ordering another French force of 7,000 men under d'Usson near Dillingen to attack from the rear.
The battle
This plan almost failed as d'Usson attacked too soon and his army, inferior in numbers, was pushed back by Styrum. But Villars and Maximilian Emanuel arrived just in time, falling upon the Imperial army, before it could adjust its positions. It was only thanks to the tremendous resistance of the rearguard under Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau that Styrum could save his army and reach Nordlingen.
The Austrians lost 5,000 men, mostly prisoners, 37 cannons and the entire army train. The French and Bavarians lost 1,000 men.
A year later, the Second Battle of Höchstädt was fought, known in English mainly as Battle of Blenheim.
References
- ^ George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana, The American Cyclopaedia, New York, 1874, p. 250, "...the standard of France was white, sprinkled with golden fleur de lis...". *[1]The original Banner of France was strewn with fleurs-de-lis. *[2]:on the reverse of this plate it says: "Le pavillon royal était véritablement le drapeau national au dix-huitième siecle...Vue du chateau d'arrière d'un vaisseau de guerre de haut rang portant le pavillon royal (blanc, avec les armes de France)."[3] from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica: "The oriflamme and the Chape de St Martin were succeeded at the end of the 16th century, when Henry III., the last of the house of Valois, came to the throne, by the white standard powdered with fleurs-de-lis. This in turn gave place to the famous tricolour."
External links
- Maps of the battle (German)
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