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Siege of Besançon

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Siege of Besançon
Part of the Franco-Dutch War
Adam Frans van der Meulen (1631-1632-1690) (studio of) - Siege of Besançon by Condé in 1674 - 132 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg
Overview of the siege of Besançon; on the right, smoke from the cannons installed on Chaudanne by Vauban.
Date26 April to 22 May 1674
Location
Besançon, modern Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France  Spain
 Holy Roman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of France Louis XIV
Kingdom of France Duc d'Enghien
Kingdom of France Vauban
Kingdom of France De Revel		 Spain Saint-Mauris
Holy Roman Empire Vaudémont
Strength
15,000–20,000 3,300 regulars
1,500 city militia
Casualties and losses
700–1,000 Minimal

The siege of Besançon took place from 25 April to 22 May 1674 during the Franco-Dutch War, when French forces nominally led by Louis XIV of France invaded Franche-Comté, then part of the Spanish Empire.

Siege works were supervised by the duc d'Enghien, eldest son of le Grand Condé, and French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban. The defenders were commanded by Vaudémont but the town's isolated position meant they could only delay capture. The bulk of French casualties were caused by a botched assault, allegedly launched to impress Louis, before the garrison surrendered and were allowed free passage to the Spanish Netherlands.

Under the 1678 Treaties of Nijmegen, the province was annexed by France and Besançon replaced Dole as the regional capital.

Discover more about Siege of Besançon related topics

Franco-Dutch War

Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War, was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. In its early stages, France was allied with Münster and Cologne, as well as England. The 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and 1675 to 1679 Scanian War are considered related conflicts.

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône and the Territoire de Belfort. In 2016, its population was 1,180,397.

Spanish Empire

Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire, also known as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predecessor states between 1492 and 1976. One of the largest empires in history, it was, in conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, the first to usher the European Age of Discovery and achieve a global scale, controlling vast portions of the Americas, Africa, various islands in Asia and Oceania, as well as territory in other parts of Europe. It was one of the most powerful empires of the early modern period, becoming known as "the empire on which the sun never sets". It reached its maximum extent in the 18th century.

Henri Jules, Prince of Condé

Henri Jules, Prince of Condé

Henri Jules de Bourbon was prince de Condé, from 1686 to his death. At the end of his life he suffered from clinical lycanthropy and was considered insane.

Louis, Grand Condé

Louis, Grand Condé

Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, known as the Great Condé for his military exploits, was a French general and the most illustrious representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. He was one of Louis XIV's pre-eminent generals.

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban, later Marquis de Vauban, commonly referred to as Vauban, was a French military engineer who worked under Louis XIV. He is generally considered the greatest engineer of his time, and one of the most important in European military history.

Charles Henri, Prince of Commercy

Charles Henri, Prince of Commercy

Charles Henri of Lorraine was the legitimated son of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, and Béatrix de Cusance. He was given the Principality of Commercy in 1708 by his cousin Leopold, Duke of Lorraine. He was also the Count of Falkenstein.

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries held in personal union by the Spanish Crown. This region comprised most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the southern Netherlands, and western Germany with the capital being Brussels. The Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.

Treaties of Nijmegen

Treaties of Nijmegen

The Treaties of Peace of Nijmegen were a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Nijmegen between August 1678 and October 1679. The treaties ended various interconnected wars among France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Brandenburg, Sweden, Denmark-Norway, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, and the Holy Roman Empire. The most significant of the treaties was the first, which established peace between France and the Dutch Republic and placed the northern border of France very near its modern position.

Dole, Jura

Dole, Jura

Dole is a commune in the Jura department, of which it is a subprefecture (sous-préfecture), in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, in Eastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 23,711.

Background

In the 1667–1668 War of Devolution, France captured most of the Spanish Netherlands and Franche-Comté before a Dutch-led coalition forced Louis XIV to return most of their gains in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668) and Louis began plans to attack the Republic directly.[1]

In May 1672, French forces invaded the Dutch Republic and initially seemed to have achieved an overwhelming victory but by late July, the Dutch position had stabilised. Concern at French gains led to the August 1673 Treaty of the Hague between the Republic, Brandenburg-Prussia, Emperor Leopold and Charles II of Spain; in early 1674, Denmark joined the Alliance, while England and the Dutch made peace in the Treaty of Westminster.[2]

Forced into another war of attrition and with new fronts opening in Spain, Sicily and the Rhineland, French troops withdrew from the Dutch Republic by the end of 1673, retaining only Grave and Maastricht.[3] Instead, Louis focused on Franche-Comté, capturing Gray and Vesoul in February 1674. François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French Minister of War, planned to attack Salins-les-Bains then Dole next, but the French military engineer Vauban persuaded him to take Besançon first.[4]

Discover more about Background related topics

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries held in personal union by the Spanish Crown. This region comprised most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the southern Netherlands, and western Germany with the capital being Brussels. The Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté

Franche-Comté is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône and the Territoire de Belfort. In 2016, its population was 1,180,397.

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

Frederick William was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "the Great Elector" because of his military and political achievements. Frederick William was a staunch pillar of the Calvinist faith, associated with the rising commercial class. He saw the importance of trade and promoted it vigorously. His shrewd domestic reforms gave Prussia a strong position in the post-Westphalian political order of Northern-Central Europe, setting Prussia up for elevation from duchy to kingdom, achieved under his son and successor.

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold I was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria Anna of Spain, Leopold became heir apparent in 1654 by the death of his elder brother Ferdinand IV. Elected in 1658, Leopold ruled the Holy Roman Empire until his death in 1705, becoming the second longest-ruling Habsburg emperor. He was both a composer and considerable patron of music.

Charles II of Spain

Charles II of Spain

Charles II of Spain, known as the Bewitched, was the last Habsburg ruler of the Spanish Empire. Best remembered for his physical disabilities and the War of the Spanish Succession that followed his death, Charles's reign has traditionally been viewed as one of managed decline. However, many of the issues Spain faced in this period were inherited from his predecessors and some recent historians have suggested a more balanced perspective.

Denmark–Norway

Denmark–Norway

Denmark–Norway was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real union consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway, the Duchy of Schleswig, and the Duchy of Holstein. The state also claimed sovereignty over three historical peoples: Frisians, Gutes and Wends. Denmark–Norway had several colonies, namely the Danish Gold Coast, the Nicobar Islands, Serampore, Tharangambadi, and the Danish West Indies. The union was also known as the Dano-Norwegian Realm, Twin Realms (Tvillingerigerne) or the Oldenburg Monarchy (Oldenburg-monarkiet)

Rhineland

Rhineland

The Rhineland is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.

Grave, Netherlands

Grave, Netherlands

Grave is a city and former municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The former municipality had a population of 12,483 in 2019. Grave is a member of the Dutch Association of Fortified Cities.

Maastricht

Maastricht

Maastricht is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse, at the point where the Jeker joins it. Mount Saint Peter (Sint-Pietersberg) is largely situated within the city's municipal borders. Maastricht is adjacent to the border with Belgium and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, an international metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million, which includes the nearby German and Belgian cities of Aachen, Liège and Hasselt.

Gray, Haute-Saône

Gray, Haute-Saône

Gray is a commune in the Haute-Saône department, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. It has a population of 5,553 inhabitants (2019).

François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois

François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois

François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois was the French Secretary of State for War during a significant part of the reign of Louis XIV. Together with his father, Michel le Tellier, he oversaw an increase in the numbers of the French Army, eventually reaching 340,000 soldiers – an army that would fight four wars between 1667 and 1713. He is commonly referred to as "Louvois".

Salins-les-Bains

Salins-les-Bains

Salins-les-Bains, commonly referred to simply as Salins, is a commune in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. It is located on the departmental border with Doubs, 34.8 km to the south-southwest of Besançon. In 2018, Salins-les-Bains had a population of 2,567.

The siege

BesançonDoleGrayVesoulSalins-les-BainsDijonNeversSemur-en-Auxoisclass=notpageimage| Modern department of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté; key locations in the 1674 camapign
Besançon
Besançon
Dole
Dole
Gray
Gray
Vesoul
Vesoul
Salins-les-Bains
Salins-les-Bains
Dijon
Dijon
Nevers
Nevers
Semur-en-Auxois
Semur-en-Auxois
class=notpageimage|
Modern department of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté; key locations in the 1674 camapign

After the capture of Besançon in 1667, Vauban drew up plans for strengthening the defences; when it was returned to Spain in 1668, his design was adopted by the Italian engineer Precipiano. Spanish resources were stretched by the need to rebuild the defences of Dole and Gray, which were destroyed when the French withdrew in 1668; this meant work on the outer wall and citadel were only partially complete by 1674.[5]

As was the practice, the towns' defences were split between the outer 'City,' containing the main residential and commercial quarters, and the inner 'Citadel.' The garrison was commanded by a Spanish officer, Baron Francois de Saint-Mauris but overall command was held by an Imperial general, Prince Vaudémont, since Besançon was a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire. A French army of 15,000–20,000 led by Duc d'Enghien arrived on 25 April; most of these troops were positioned outside the suburbs of Battant, Charmont and Arènes, with a secondary force under Charles Antoine de Revel stationed at Buis and Beure.[6]

Operations began on 26 April, directed by Vauban who was familiar with the defences based on his earlier work. Besançon was located on the River Doubs, which ran through the town; siege works were constructed next to the Porte d'Arènes on the right bank and the suburb of Chamars on the left. After considerable effort, the artillery was placed on hills overlooking the town at Chaudanne and Bregille and the bombardment commenced on 1 May.[6]

Louis arrived in the French camp the next day; while he often attended sieges for purposes of prestige, he was rarely involved in operations.[7] At Besançon he helped supervise the emplacement of artillery batteries, exposing him to counter-battery fire from the town, one shot killing a nearby staff member. After this was completed on 6 May, the town was subjected to constant bombardment from five different locations and the Chamar quarter had to be flooded to prevent its loss after assaults on the nights of 6/7 and 8/9 May.[8]

The attackers suffered heavy casualties, which Vauban later complained were entirely avoidable and launched largely to impress Louis; however, the defenders were unable to respond effectively to the French bombardment and there was no hope of relief. By 13 May, several breaches had been made in the walls around the Arènes gate; the protocol of the time was that if a garrison fought on after a 'practical breach,' the attackers were entitled to sack and destroy the city. Following a meeting on 14 May, the town council asked for terms of surrender; these were granted by Louis, who entered the city on 15 May.[9]

The Citadel held out for another week, repulsing an assault on 20 May led by François de La Feuillade and the Gardes Francaises. However, the garrison's position was hopeless and two days later, Vaudémont surrendered; he was given free passage to the Spanish Netherlands along with 800 other survivors.[10]

Discover more about The siege related topics

Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Beure

Beure

Beure is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France.

Doubs (river)

Doubs (river)

The Doubs is a 453-kilometre (281 mi) river in far eastern France which strays into western Switzerland. It is a left-bank tributary of the Saône. It rises near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains, at 946 metres (3,104 ft) and its mouth is at Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, a village and commune in Saône-et-Loire at about 175 m (574 ft) above sea level. It is the tenth-longest river in France.

Velotte (Besançon)

Velotte (Besançon)

Velotte is a little area of Besançon, with 2000 inhabitants.

François d'Aubusson de La Feuillade

François d'Aubusson de La Feuillade

François d'Aubusson de La Feuillade, known as 6th duc de Roannais (1631–1691) was a French military officer and noble who served in the wars of Louis XIV and became a Marshal of France. He was also responsible for initiating the design and construction of the Place des Victoires, one of modern Paris' most famous landmarks.

Aftermath

The Citadel at Besançon, designed by Vauban in 1667 and only partially complete in 1674[11]
The Citadel at Besançon, designed by Vauban in 1667 and only partially complete in 1674[11]

On 27 May, Louis left Besançon and moved onto Dole, which was already besieged by d'Enghien; the town surrendered on 7 June, followed by Salins-les-Bains on 10th. With the conquest complete, many of the French troops were sent to join the Great Condé's army in the Spanish Netherlands and fought at the Battle of Seneffe in August.[12]

In 1676, the regional capital was moved from Dole to Besançon, which became the site of the Regional Parlement. The province remained unstable, with security threatened by guerrilla bands known as loups de bois, as well as Imperial troops campaigning in the Rhineland. The huge costs of the war led to conflict over taxes and expenditure; when the Besançon magistrates were ordered to repair damage caused by the recent siege, they refused, arguing it was the responsibility of the French Crown. When forced to comply, the work was carried out very slowly; similar arguments took place over supplying the French garrison.[13]

During the siege, Étienne Morel, a French Army surgeon, reportedly used a tourniquet to control haemorrhage from battlefield injuries, the first time this technique was applied.[14]


Discover more about Aftermath related topics

Salins-les-Bains

Salins-les-Bains

Salins-les-Bains, commonly referred to simply as Salins, is a commune in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. It is located on the departmental border with Doubs, 34.8 km to the south-southwest of Besançon. In 2018, Salins-les-Bains had a population of 2,567.

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands

Spanish Netherlands was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of the Holy Roman Empire in the Low Countries held in personal union by the Spanish Crown. This region comprised most of the modern states of Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as parts of northern France, the southern Netherlands, and western Germany with the capital being Brussels. The Army of Flanders was given the task of defending the territory.

Battle of Seneffe

Battle of Seneffe

The Battle of Seneffe took place on 11 August 1674 near Seneffe in present-day Belgium during the 1672 to 1678 Franco-Dutch War. It was fought between a primarily French force commanded by Condé and a combined Dutch, Imperial, and Spanish force under William of Orange. One of only three battles in the Spanish Netherlands during the war, Seneffe was the most expensive in terms of casualties, although estimates vary considerably.

Parlement

Parlement

Under the French Ancien Régime, a parlement was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern French term parlement and the English word parliament derive from this French term, the Ancien Régime parlements were not legislative bodies and the modern and ancient terminology are not interchangeable.

Rhineland

Rhineland

The Rhineland is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.

Tourniquet

Tourniquet

A tourniquet is a device that is used to apply pressure to a limb or extremity in order to stop the flow of blood. It may be used in emergencies, in surgery, or in post-operative rehabilitation.

Source: "Siege of Besançon", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 5th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Besançon.

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Further Reading

Franche-Comté

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban

Besançon

Battle of Seneffe

War of Devolution

Franco-Dutch War

Triple Alliance (1668)

Treaty of Breda (1667)

Siege of Maastricht (1673)

Salins-les-Bains

Siege of Namur (1695)

Siege of Valenciennes (1676–1677)

Citadel of Besançon

Free City of Besançon

Parliament of Besançon

François d'Aubusson de La Feuillade

Siege of Cambrai (1677)

Siege of Ath (1697)
See also
References
  1. ^ Lynn 1996, p. 113.
  2. ^ Davenport & Paullin 1917, p. 238.
  3. ^ Lynn 1996, p. 117.
  4. ^ Pujo 1991, p. 74.
  5. ^ Lepage 2009, p. 189.
  6. ^ a b Pujo 1991, p. 75.
  7. ^ Lynn 1996, p. 22.
  8. ^ De Périni 1896, pp. 70–72.
  9. ^ Dee 2009, pp. 38–39.
  10. ^ Dee 2009, p. 39.
  11. ^ Goode 2003.
  12. ^ Dee 2009, p. 40.
  13. ^ Dee 2009, p. 46.
  14. ^ Out on a Limb.
Sources
  • Davenport, Frances Gardiner; Paullin, Charles Oscar, eds. (1917). European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies, Vol. 2: 1650-1697 (2018 ed.). Forgotten Books. ISBN 978-0483158924.
  • De Périni, Hardÿ (1896). Batailles françaises, Volume V (in French). Ernest Flammarion.
  • Dee, Darryl (2009). Expansion and Crisis in Louis XIV's France: Franche-Comté and Absolute Monarchy, 1674-1715: Franche-Comte and Absolute Monarchy, 1674-1715. University of Rochester Press. ISBN 978-1580463034.
  • Goode, Dominic (2003). "Besancon". fortified-places.com. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  • Lepage, Jean-Denis (2009). Vauban and the French Military Under Louis XIV: An Illustrated History of Fortifications and Sieges. McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0786444014.
  • Lynn, John (1996). The Wars of Louis XIV, 1667-1714 (Modern Wars In Perspective). Longman. ISBN 978-0582056299.
  • Out on a limb. "A History of Prosthetics and Amputation Surgery". Out on a Limb. Archived from the original on 2020-02-08. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  • Pujo, Bernard (1991). Vauban. Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2226052506. (French);

Coordinates: 47°14′35″N 6°01′19″E / 47.2431°N 6.0219°E / 47.2431; 6.0219

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