Battle of San Pietro

The battles of San Pietro took place the June 29th 1734 between the troops free-Sardinians and the Austrian forces near the town of Parma to the place says Crocetta. The keen battle lasted all the day and finishes by the departure of the Austrian troops which were to undergo the loss of 4 generals and the marshal Claude Florimond de Mercy. This battle was not regarded as a frank French victory and a new battle confronted the two armies on September 19th, 1734 with Guastalla.

Command

For the French, forwarding was ordered by the marshal of Villars which was to die on June 17th, 1734 at the 81 years age. They are thus the marshals of Broglie and of Coigny which assumed the command of the troops whereas the Sardinian troops were ordered by Charles-Emmanuel III of Sardinia. This one left its troops because his wife Polissena (Polyxène Christine de Hesse-Rheinfels-Rotenbourg) was sick and the French marshals had undertaken not to begin the hostilities in its absence, it will be absent from battle.

For the Austrians, the imperial ones, forwarding was ordered by the marshal Claude Florimond de Mercy assisted of the prince Frederic-Charles of Wurtemberg. The preparations of forwarding were very long and caused important dissensions between the two senior officers what was not without consequence on the continuation of the events.

Why this battle

The armies free-Sardinians adapted almost all the Austrian possessions in Italy of north except for Mantoue because of their thin garrisons. February 3rd, 1734, the castle of Tortona fell in the last, whereas the major part of the troops had dispersed in their winter quarters.

At the beginning of spring, military operations moved left with the right-hand side of the Po because the Austrians took the offensive by aiming Parma. It belonged to Charles Emmanuel III and his army always anxious to see threatening reconquered Lombardy, to defend this area since the departure of Charles Ier Bourbon, duke of Parma.

May

Between the first and on May 2nd, the Austrians, with two improvised bridges with Portole and Assembles di San Benedetto, made pass the major part of their troops. The French troops distributed along Po to prevent this movement realized some only when it was carried out and withdrew themselves in disorder and the imperial ones could occupy without opposition all the ground to the river Enza.

The events which led to the battle of Parma summarize as follows: the cavalry free-Sardinian of the Po located at height of Secca, where had been implemented their bridges, advanced by their line towards Parma. The Austrians tried to break this line with Colorno, and not succeeding, they sailed round Parma by the south; the allies went to their meeting and the battle took place, two months later.

Two months of waiting

The marshal of Mercy suffered from apoplexy which removed to him for some time the sight and the word. He was to thus leave for this length of time the command to prince de Wurtemberg. Thus to each period of disease of the general-in-chief, corresponded one period of deceleration of the operations. During June, were alternated changes of command and attacks of villages which gave place has the confusions sometimes slowed down by counter-offensives of the free-Sardinians.

The battle

June 29th at three o'clock in the morning, the army free-Sardinian had been started. The infantry made up of 52 pomegranate companies took the road of Colorno from Parma, with at the head the marshal of Broglie whereas the riders and the dragons took a narrow road passing by the way of the wood of Cornocchio. The column of infantry made on the glacis of Parma around seven hours, skirted the walls of the city and taken the road of Pleasure and made halt with the inn of Crocetta. As the remainder of the infantry arrived, the troops were lines in battle order in the meadow of Cornocchio on three lines, the Piedmontese infantry forming the fourth line.

The count de Mercy made pass the channel of the Taro to the avant-garde: behind the other troops followed which engaged by small ways between the fields. The pomegranates of the imperial ones which formed the avant-garde showed over the 10 hours and made fire on the advanced station of the four French pomegranate companies which then were withdrawn through fields and fire ceased. Mercy ordered to prince de Wurtemberg, who ordered the first troops to attack without delaying: the prince objected that it was initially to align the troops, Mercy ends up putting itself at the head few troops and it was thrown in the battle.

At one hour of after midday, the French troops were pushed back. It is during this engagement that Mercy was killed, it followed a great confusion before the imperial troops are not seized again and resist the troops free-Sardinians valiantly.

Fire was on both sides keen, it lasted nine hours, was very sharp of midday up to 7 p.m. and strong idle since 7 p.m. up to 9 p.m.

The guns ceased drawing and the imperial army started to be withdrawn by the way of Valera, of large detachments which they had placed behind the hedges halfway between the road of Pleasure and the way of the Medium maintained fire up to 10 a.m. the evening, which allowed the retirement of imperial which gave up their casualties and their deaths on the battle field. It is at midnight that the battle was regarded as finished.

The Austrian troops took refuge in the current province of Reggio Emilia, prince de Wurtenberg finding refuge in the castle of Montechiarugolo where it wrote the report of the battle for the emperor.

losses

The Imperial ones fled leaving 6.172 dead and wounded. In addition to the marshal of Mercy, died four generals and five were wounded and from these five, two were made prisoners who died in Parma. There were very many deserters who by band presented themselves to the allied camp.

the French had 104 died officers, 452 wounded officers, 1.141 dead soldiers, 2.305 wounded soldiers. The Piedmontese one according to a document of the royal library of Turin had, between the official troops and the partisans, 324 wounded and 75 died, among those 12 dead officers and 41 wounded.

Consequences of the battle

The allies took again the ground lost until the Secchia and they seized Guastalla, of Reggio and Modena, on July 20th, Renaud d' Este, duke of Modena, being taken refuge with its court with Bologna.

Pilot Goldini of the battle

Present in Parma the day of the battle, Goldoni tells the feeling of the inhabitants of the town of Parma in its work Mémoires . On arrival of the Austrian troops, the population surrounding Parma took refuge in the town of fear of the exactions which the Austrians could make. The arrival of the troops free-Sardinians comforted the population which attended the battle since the enclosing walls of the city.

Committed troops

In the French camp, the French infantry:

the battalions of Picardy ordered by colonel Charles de Rohan, prince de Montauban (1693-1768) which says to the liaison officer of the regiment of Provence come to prepare the changing: “One does not raise Picardy”, this became the currency of the regiment.
the battalions Provence
the battalions Champagne
the battalions Dauphin
the battalions Reine
the battalions Anjou
the battalions Maine
the battalions Souvré
the battalions Orleans
the battalions Condé
the battalions Bourbons
the battalion Rochechouart
the battalion the Saar
the battalion Royal Roussillon
the battalion Saint Simon
the battalion Médoc
the battalion Tessé
the battalion Montconseil
the battalion Foix
the battalion Quercy
the battalion Chartres
the battalion Flanders
the battalion Béarn
the battalion Drill
the battalion Nivernois
the battalion Luxembourg
the battalion Bassigny

The Piedmontese infantry:

2 battalions Shoulembourg
the battalion Tarentaise
the battalion Turin
the battalion Casal
2 battalions Guards
2 battalions Montferrat
2 battalions Savoy
2 battalions Saluces
2 battalions Fusiliers
2 battalions of the Doors
2 battalions Rietman

Sources

the battaglia di Parma Atti del Congresso Internazionale di Scienze Storiche, of Prof Dott. Ludovico Oberziner (1906)
Parma Edition Quaderni Parmensi, of Gianfranco Stella (1988)
Parma E Vienna Edition Artegrafica Silva - Parma, of Adele Vittoria Marchi (1988)
the battaglia di San Pietro Edition Aurea Parma, of Giancarlo Gonizzi (2004)

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