"Battle of Tuttlingen. The French Rocroi" Topic

"Much has been written about the famous battle of Rocroi, fought on May 19th 1643 between the armies of Spain and France, that this battle ended the myth of the invincibility of Spanish troops, that it was the decisive battle from which the Spanish monarchy lost its hegemony over Europe at the hands of the mighty France … the bloody battle fought before the walls of this small town in northern France has become, even to many Spanish, in a landmark. However, there is something that very few know, is that just a few months after the victory of the young Duke of Enghien on the legendary Spanish troops, the armies of France had their own Rocroi.

On November 20th the French army left Rottweil to the Danube in search of a strong position where quartered before the expected arrival of the Bavarian army. Rantzau and Rosen were of the opinion that the old town of Tuttlingen offered the advantages needed to fortify while receiving constant supplies from Rottweil. Other officers such as General Montausier and Colonel Ohem, preferred the rugged region that stretched from the northern foothills of the Alps that offered, a priori, a more advantageous position. Some officers as Taupadell, Sirot, Maugiron and Roque Serviere, simply had no opinion or did not dare or did not want to give it.

The march lasted four grueling days Tuttlingen and left a trail of deserters along the way. The strong point, built on the Danube, was revealed with a few defensive qualities: the flimsy walls surrounding the town had no way round and had up to 30 gaps in different sections, many of them playable on horseback. The position was stronger at Honberg Castle, which stood on a hill separated from the town by a cemetery. Among the three sites was installed headquarters and were quartered two regiments of infantry (from the Guard and the Klug) with all the artillery and ammunition.

The bulk of the army, some 8,000 men was stationed in the village of Möhringen and its surroundings, while the advanced guard under General Rosen, composed of 8 regiments of cavalry, 2 of Dragoons and 3 of infantry, went to Mühlheim with orders to explore the campaign and to prevent a surprise attack of the imperial and Bavarian enemies. The time it tooks from the path of Möhringen to headquarters was too long: 2 hours, and is easy to judge that the distance between the barracks was too much for an effective defense.

While In Tubingen took place after the loss of Rottweil, a council of war between the nominal commander of the imperial Army, Johann von Götz, his 2nd in command and effective head of the Army, Melchior von Hatzfeld, the Duke Charles, and the veteran general of Bavarian origin Lorraine Franz von Mercy, a brave and brilliant officer. Mercy itself managed to convince the undecided Hatzfeld and Götz to approve a plan of attack, so that the coalision Army, numbering about 20,000 men, composed by the Imperial Army from Lorraine, Bavarian, the Spanish and also the Archbishop of Cologne troops, the remains of Lamboy body and other units of the Catholic League, began to march towards Tuttlingen determined to avenge the fall of Rottweil.

At dawn on November 24th the military Coalision, forming in battle with a vanguard of 1.500 riders and 600 musketeers under the command of Johann von Werth, a fierce cavalry officer of the Bavarian army, went quietly about Tuttlingen. At 3 am Werth and his troops emerged from the forest that stretched south of the population through a narrow passage and, amid heavy snow fell suddenly upon the artillery kept in the cemetery of Tuttlingen . On his way, Werth and its vanguard not encountered any French patrol or Weimar troops, so that, unseen and unheard, loaded on the few guards present and made themselves masters of the guns.

Surprised by the burden of the Imperial Cuirassiers and the Bavarian Dragoons, the latter under Colonel Wolf, the french sentries barely had time to take to their heels. The fire of musketry and the sound of their own guns turned on them suddenly awakened to the French soldiers stationed behind the walls of Tuttlingen. It was late to react, because Mercy was fencing at the time the square with the bulk of the cavalry, while Hatzfeld blocking any escape route on the opposite bank of the Danube. Overwhelmed by the virulence of the attack, the defenders of the Honberg castle surrendered after a feeble resistance.

Besieged in Tuttlingen, Rantzau was ready for the defense to allow time for the troops stationed in Möhringen and Mühlheim to come to their aid. Indeed, Rosen mobilized his men and tried to reach the besieged following at the right bank of the river, which meant free of enemies. Nothing was further from reality. Awaited him, blocking his way, Gaspard von Hatzfeld and Mercy, brother of Franz, resolutely attacked and routed his men. All the infantry perished or were taken prisoner, and the entire baggage fell to the Allies. Rosen managed to escape with some of his officers and part of the cavalry, after being chased for several hours by Colonel Spork of the Bavarian cavalry.

Meanwhile, Werth, with a large body, advanced on both banks of the river and surrounded Möhringen. The French regiments stationed there, commanded by General Baron de Vitry, tried to flee through the left side of the river, but were stopped and turned away again into the square, where they tried to defended themselves stubbornly entrenched as they could. Since the besieged were not willing to surrender, Werth set a battery on the right bank and bombed the town until dark. The next morning, November 25th the Generals and troops holding out in Tuttlingen capitulated shortly after being imitated by the troops of Möhringen. A few hours before died in Rottweil Marshal Guébriant.

The French army suffered the loss of 4,000 killed and wounded. In addition, 7,000 soldiers and officers prisioners, including the unfortunate Rantzau, 8 Generals 9 colonels, 12 ADC and 240 field officers. Whole regiments ceased to exist, and those who escaped and came to Rottweil were with their moral broke and with no baggage. Prisoners of popularity like Rantzau was in the hands of Duke Charles and was sent to Worms with other officers. The others were distributed for the Hatzfeld commanders, the brothers Mercy, Werth and Colonel Wolf. The rescue cost Rantzau 24.000 reichathalers, another 10,000 on each ADC, 1,000 for each Colonel, and 200 for each Captain…"
Oht from here.
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If you want to read more you could used for translator.
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Anybody had wargame this battle?

Hope you enjoy!.

Amicalement
Armand

Calling this a French Rocroi is stretching things a bit, based upon the disperity in numbers, but you've got to love a battle where one of the notables was Colonel Spork.

(A spork is a combination spoon/fork--my son's favorite plateside implement.)

Rob

What disparity in numbers? The two armies were of roughly equal size and the actual fighting was done by a limited part of the allied armies, roughly 4000-5000 at the most.

Tuttlingen was a fine achivement on part of Mercy & Werth, the skillfull march to approach the Franco-Weimarian army, Mercy having the decisiveness and courage to convert Werth's successfull vanguard action into a full scale attack when it succeded and the relentless pursuit of victory once the attack was underway.

The effects of the two battles were similar in that irreplaceable veteran troops were lost, Tuttlingen ruined the Weimarian part of the French army of Germany and while it was reformed around the survivors and would fight hard for Turenne in the last years of the war the Weimarians would never again show the flair and confidence that had been seen in the days of Bernhard and Guebriant.

The Bavarian army was one of the best of the war in the later period and in Mercy and Werth it had a first rate command team. Even French 'victories' like Freiburg & Allerheim were won at such a cost that the French wrecked themselves to win the field.