Battle of Turckheim

Turenne marching with his troops

Date	5 January 1675
Location	Turckheim (now in Alsace, France)
Result	French victory

Belligerents

France

Austria

Brandenburg-Prussia

Commanders and leaders

Vicomte of Turenne

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg

Strength

30,000 soldiers

50,000 soldiers

The Battle of Turckheim was a confrontation during the Franco-Dutch War fought on 5 January 1675 between the towns of Colmar and Turckheim in Alsace. The French army, commanded by the Viscount of Turenne, fought against the armies of Austria and Brandenburg, led by Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.

The aggressive campaign of Louis XIV against the Netherlands, since 1672, had provoked a hostile reaction of other European states like Austria (who controlled the Holy Roman Empire) and Brandenburg. Their intervention had brought the war into the upper Rhine, creating a threat to French territory. In 1674 Marshal Turenne, French commander in that sector, failed to prevent the invasion of Alsace by a part of the imperial army. With the arrival of year's end in 1674, the Imperials went into their winter quarters in the region of Colmar, a few miles south of the French winter barracks, situated in Haguenau.

According to the conventions of war at the time, the military operations should have been halted during the winter until the return of the spring.Turenne, however, decided not to follow this custom. Using the Vosges mountains as a curtain of protection, he moved west and then south, reappearing in Belfort, south of his opponent, on 27 December 1674. Finding no resistance, he reached Mulhouse on the 29th. The highly surprised Imperials hastily fell back on Turckheim.

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