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Battle of Orbetello

Coordinates: 42°26′00″N 11°13′00″E / 42.43333°N 11.21667°E / 42.43333; 11.21667
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Battle of Orbetello
Part of the Franco-Spanish War (1635)

The blockade of Orbetello, engraving by Matthäus Merian.
Date14 – 16 June 1646
Location
Off Orbetello (present-day Tuscany, central Italy)
Result Spanish victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 France  Spain
Commanders and leaders
Marquis of Brézé † Count of Linhares
Strength
24 sailing ships
20 galleys
8 fireships
4 fluyts		 22 sailing ships
30 galleys
5 fireships[3]
Casualties and losses
1 galley sunk[4]
1 galley captured[4]
1 fireship exploded[5]
1 fireship captured[4]		 1 frigate scuttled[5]
1 galley sunk[4]

The Battle of Orbetello (also known as the Battle of Isola del Giglio)[6] was a major naval engagement of the Franco-Spanish War of 1635, fought on 14 June 1646 off the Spanish-ruled town of Orbetello, on the coast of Tuscany, Italy, between a French fleet led by Admiral Armand de Maillé, Marquis of Brézé, and a Spanish fleet commanded by Count of Linhares sent to break the blockade of Orbetello and relieve the town, besieged since 12 May by a French army under the command of Prince Thomas of Savoy. The Battle of Orbetello was tactically very unusual, since it was fought by sailing ships towed by galleys in a light breeze.[7][8]

After a hard but inconclusive fight during which Admiral Brézé was killed, the French fleet withdrew to Toulon leaving the sea to the Spanish,[9] who decided not to pursue them to relief Orbetello.[4] The land forces disembarked by Count of Linhares few days later, however, failed to dislodge the French lines, and the siege could be undertaken until 24 July, when another Spanish army led by Marquis of Torrecuso and Duke of Arcos which had come from the Kingdom of Naples across the Papal States, defeated the besieging troops forcing them to retreat with heavy losses.

Background

Map of Grand Duchy of Tuscany and State of Presidi from Adolphus William Ward's Cambridge Modern History Atlas, 1912.

In 1646, after several naval successes against Spain along the Mediterranean, Cardinal Mazarin planned a naval expedition to attack the Spanish puppet State of Presidi with the aim of interrupting Spanish communications with the Kingdom of Naples,[10] threatening the initial stage of the Spanish Road,[11] and also to scare the pope Innocent X, whose Spanish sympathies displeased him.[11] For this purpose was gathered in Toulon a fleet commanded by the young Admiral Marquis of Brézé composed, in accordance to Spanish sources, of 36 galleons, 20 galleys, and a large complement of minor vessels. This fleet carryed aboard an army of 8,000 infantry and 800 cavalry and its baggage under Thomas of Carignan, shortly before a Spanish general.[12]

The town of Orbetello was erected in a spit between two inner bays of a big lagoon.[13] Various fortified positions made it a strong defensive position: Porto Ercole at the east, San Stefano at the west, and the fort San Filippo in the Monte Argentario island, linked to the mainland by a narrow isthmus.[13] In the end, the French army landed at Talamone, where Brézé left to the Prince a half-dozen of vessels and galleys to bombard the forts of the town. Meanwhile, he went to Porto San Stefano with 5 sailing ships and 4 galleys and bombarded the fort till obtain its surrender.[13] Once taken the forts of both wings, Don Carlo de la Gatta, the castillan of Orbetello, retreated to the hermitage of Cristo. The isthmus was occupied thanks to a battery mounted aboard the French galleys, and soon the lagoon was filled of armed boats gathered by Jean-Paul de Saumeur, Chevalier Paul.[14] Don Carlo de la Gatta, supported by just 200 Spanish and Italian soldiers, had very few opportunities to resist without help.[12] An early relief force of 35 boats and 5 escort galleys sent from Naples with munitions and supplies was beaten, so a major fleet action was expected.

When news of the siege reached Spain, Philip IV gave orders of preparing his fleets for the relief. It was necessary purchase second-hand stores in the Netherlands and made extraordinary levies across the country.[15] The command of the expedition was entrusted to the Portuguese loyalist Miguel de Noronha, Count of Linhares, who was Captain General of the Galleys of the Mediterranean, and therefore supreme commander of the Spanish naval forces of this sea. He received orders of sailing to Orbetello in command of 22 men-of-war of the Plate fleet and the Dunkirk squadron; the llater providing 8 frigates[16]. At least 3,300 soldiers were brought aboard this ships for the relief.[12] Linhares' second in command was Admiral General Francisco Díaz de Pimienta, who displeased by his always secondary role, had recently resigned claiming ill health.[15] While Pimienta would be in charge of the sailing ships, Linhares would do so with the galleys. Once at sea, the Spanish fleet was joined off the Sardinian Cape Carbonara by 18 galleys of the squadrons of Naples, Sardinia, Genoa, and Sicily, which drove up its strength to 22 galleons and frigates and 30 galleys. Brézé, in the meantime, could be reinforced by the divisions of Montade and Saint-Tropez, and was able to oppose Linhares and Pimienta with 24 sailing ships and 20 galleys.[17]

Battle

Jean Armand de Maillé-Brézé (Palace of Versailles)

At dawn on 14 June the Spanish fleet beared down off the Giglio Island in a line astern with the galleons and the galleys at the forefront and 8 lagging vessels closing the formation.[3] Admiral Brézé formed his fleet in a line shortly after, alternating galleons and galleys, and sailed westward in a gentle breeze, closed with Linhares' ships.[3] At 9:00 PM. Brézé had approached four miles to the Spanish, when, due to the lightness of the wind, the galleons of the two fleets had to be towed by the galleys while awaiting to be at windward.[3] Brézé, aboard his flagship Gramd Saint-Louis, stood in front of the line flanqued by Vice-admiral Louis Foucald Du Gagnon's la Lune and Counter-admiral Jules de Montigny's le Soleil.[18] His ship was in tow of Lieutenant-General Vinguerre's Patrone galley. 15 other vessels composed the French line of battle, each one towed by a galley. Montade's 6-ship division was left in reserve.[18] Both fleets sailed along each other until Linhares, thanks to the superior number of galleys that he had, gained the windward and was able to move towards the French line, attempting to overrun its line to catch it between two fires.[3] Linhares had in tow Pimienta's flag galleon Santiago; don Álvaro de Bazán del Viso, general of the Neapolitan galleys, the galleon Trinidad, flagship of Admiral Pablo de Contreras; and Enrique de Benavides, general of the Silian galleys, other large Spanish galleons.[19]

The French admiral, unable to use his fireships against the Spanish, as he had done at the battles of Cádiz, Barcelona and Cartagena, ordered the withdrawal.[5] The Spanish fleet broke then its formation and began a pursuit of the French, whose rear was quickly intercepted.[5] The persecution, however, had to be suddenly stopped as Pimienta's flagship Santiago fortuitously lost its main-mast, struck by a gunshot.[5] Linhares and Admiral Pablo de Contreras succored Pimienta fearing an attack from the French fireships or the French galleys boarded it.[5] The remaining ships engaged Brézé in an inconclusive action which lasted when both fleets separated at dusk. The Spanish lost the frigate Santa Catalina, burnt by its own crew to avoid capture.[5] The galleon Testa de Oro received heavy damage, while a French fireship blew up.[5] Two of their galleons were also badly damaged.[5] A more considerable loss was Admiral Brézé, cut in half by a cannonball which hit the stern of his flagship Grand Saint Louis.[20]

The following morning the Spanish and French fleets were 12 miles distant.[4] Comte Du Daugnon, Brézé's successor, decided set sail to Porto Ercole to made repairs.[4] He was chased by Linhares during all the 15th and part of the 16th.[4] The Spanish fleet finally abandoned the pursuit to relieve Orbetello, where Carlo della Gatta was under siege. It proved to be impossible do it for a storm dispersed most of the ships during the night. Some of them took refuge in Sardinia; others at Giglio and Montecristo.[4] The galley Santa Bárbara sank off Giglio, with the death of 46 rowers.[4] The French also suffered from the storm. One of their galleys sank near Piombino, although its crew and artillery taken aboard the Spanish fleet, and another lagged behind along with a fireship and was captured.[4]

Aftermath

The vessel Grand Saint-Louis, which has killed Maillé-Brézé during the battle.

On 23 June the Spanish fleet anchored at Porto Longone, where was decided in a war council relieve Orbetello after made the essential repairs.[21] Two days later several frigates of Spanish Flemish fleet were dispatched to force Talamone's port mouth, and 8 ships arrived from Naples to Porto Santo Stefano with the same pourpose, destroying or capturing about 70 tartanes and barges with the supplies of Thomas of Savoy's army during the operation.[21] Du Daugnon, meanwhile, had returned to Toulon. Despite his failure, reinforcements could be later carried to Talamone aboard five ships, and Linhares' attempts to force Thomas of Savoy to dislodge the French lines were unsuccessful.[21] The siege was not lifted until an army under Duke of Arcos and Marquis of Torrecuso stormed the besieger camp a month later killing or capturing over 7,000 men and all the artillery and the baggage, making failed to whole French campaign.[10][22] The Spanish fleet returned then to Spain.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the naval battle, King Philip IV, who expected the French fleet had been destroyed, thus restoring the honour of his navy,[22] relieved of their duties and imprisoned Count of Linhares and Admiral Pimienta, among other officers, accusing them of mismanagement and abandonement of their forces.[22] He also appointed his 17 years old illegitimate son Juan José de Austria as Governor General of all the maritime forces, giving them widespread orders and great powers in order to end with the misrule of the Navy.[22] The victory of the Spanish fleet off Orbetello, nevertheless, contributed greatly to reduce the French pressure in Italy.[23] 6,000 Neapolitan soldiers could be consequently carried to Valencia to fight against the French armies in Catalonia,[23] where Count of Harcourt was defeated at the Battle of Lleida.

Notes

  1. ^ Hassall. Mazarin. p. 17.
  2. ^ Martín Sanz. La política internacional de Felipe IV. p. 263.
  3. ^ a b c d e Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 362.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 364.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 363.
  6. ^ Jaques. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. p. 477.
  7. ^ Glete. Warfare at sea, 1500-1650: maritime conflicts and the transformation of Europe. p. 184.
  8. ^ Black. European warfare, 1494-1660. p. 190.
  9. ^ Rainsford James. The life and times of Louis the Fourteenth. p. 99.
  10. ^ a b Treasure. Mazarin: the crisis of absolutism in France. p. 99.
  11. ^ a b Bercé. The birth of absolutism: a history of France, 1598-1661. p. 184.
  12. ^ a b c Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 361.
  13. ^ a b c La Roncière. Histoire de la marine française. p. 112.
  14. ^ La Roncière. Histoire de la marine française. p. 113.
  15. ^ a b Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 360.
  16. ^ Stradling. The Armada of Flanders: Spanish Maritime Policy and European War, 1568-1668. p. 127.
  17. ^ La Roncière. Histoire de la marine française. p. 114.
  18. ^ a b La Roncière. Histoire de la marine française. p. 115.
  19. ^ La Roncière. Histoire de la marine française. p. 115.
  20. ^ Thion. French Armies of the Thirty years War. p. 32.
  21. ^ a b c Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 365.
  22. ^ a b c d Fernández Duro. Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. p. 376.
  23. ^ a b Stradling. Spain's struggle for Europe, 1598-1668. p. 255.

References

  • Bercé, Yves Marie (1996). The birth of absolutism: a history of France, 1598-1661. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9780312158071. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Black, Jeremy (2002). European warfare, 1494-1660. Routledge. ISBN 9780415275323. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1898). Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León. Vol. IV. Madrid: Est. tipográfico Sucesores de Rivadeneyra.
  • Glete, Jan (2002). Warfare at sea, 1500-1650: maritime conflicts and the transformation of Europe. Routledge. ISBN 9780203024560. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Hassall, Arthur (2009). Mazarin. BiblioBazaar, LLC. ISBN 9781110510092. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Jaques, Tony (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. Vol. 2. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313335389. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Sanz, Fernando Martín (2003). La política internacional de Felipe IV. Fernando Martín Sanz. ISBN 9789875610392. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Stradling, R. A. (2004). The Armada of Flanders: Spanish Maritime Policy and European War, 1568-1668. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521525121. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Stradling, R. A. (1994). Spain's struggle for Europe, 1598-1668. Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 9781852850890. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Thion, Stéphane (2008). French Armies of the Thirty years War. LRT Editions. ISBN 9782917747018. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Treasure, Geoffrey (1997). Mazarin: the crisis of absolutism in France. Routledge. ISBN 9780415162111. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Rainsford James, George Payne (1851). The life and times of Louis the Fourteenth. Vol. I. London, UK: H. G. Bohn. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

42°26′00″N 11°13′00″E / 42.43333°N 11.21667°E / 42.43333; 11.21667

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