Battle of Piacenza

Battle of Piacenza (1746)
Part of the War of the Austrian Succession
Date 16 June 1746 Location Piacenza, Italy Result Decisive Austrian victory
Belligerents
Spain  France	Austria
Commanders and leaders
Comte de Gages Marquis de Maillebois	Prince Josef Wenzel Marquis of Botta d'Adorno Count Maximilian Ulysses Browne
Strength
25,000 Spanish, 15,000 French	45,000
Casualties and losses
13,000 dead, wounded and captured	3,400 dead or wounded

The Battle of Piacenza was fought between a Franco-Spanish army and the Austrian army near Piacenza, in Northern Italy on June 16, 1746. It formed part of later operations in the War of the Austrian Succession. The result was a victory for the Austrian forces, led by Prince Josef Wenzel.

Prince Franz Josef I and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm were among the notable combatants.

Following the battle of Bassignana and the splitting of the Austrian and Piedmontese armies, the Spanish and French armies coordinated their attack plans. Spain viewed either the capture of Turin and Milan as desirable. However, since France wished to negotiate with Charles Emmanuel, this left Spain only with Milan. Therefore, on November 28, 1745, De Gages began the Spanish invasion of Lombardy. It was not long before the Austrian commander, Prince Josef Wenzel of Liechtenstein, retired his army prior to the Spanish advance, being fearful that his undermanned army would be destroyed. Milan surrendered peacefully, and by the end of the year most of Lombardy was in Spanish hands.

In early 1746, the situation in Austria was that the Bourbon armies occupied all of Lombardy save Mantua, and approximately 1/5 of Charles Emmanuel's realm of Piedmont-Sardinia. The French court then began negotiations with Charles Emmanuel in the hope of detaching Piedmont from its alliance with Austria. At the same time, Marshal Maillebois was pressing the siege of Alessandria. By all reckoning, the Infant Philip was now master of his new realm, and the Bourbons had been triumphant in Spain.

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