Siege of Capua (1734)

Siege of Capua
Part of the War of the Polish Succession
Date April – 30 November 1734 Location Capua, Kingdom of Naples (present-day southern Italy) Coordinates: 41°06′N 14°12′E / 41.100°N 14.200°E / 41.100; 14.200 Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain	Habsburg Monarchy
Commanders and leaders
Count Marsillac James Fitz-James Stuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick	Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun
Strength
6-16,000 men	6,000
Casualties and losses
	1,000

The Siege of Capua was the last major military action of the War of the Polish Succession in the Kingdom of Naples. Austrian forces of the Habsburg Monarchy, under the command of the Austrian Marshal Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun, withstood for seven months a blockade begun in April 1734 by Spanish and French forces under Count Marsillac. General Traun surrendered the fortress of Capua in November 1734 with full honors of war, primarily because of exhausted provisions and ammunition, but also because it was clear no relief was coming to the isolated garrison.

Following the outbreak of the War of the Polish Succession in the fall of 1733, and news that Bourbon allies France and Spain were planning operations against the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, Habsburg military and political leaders began planning the defense of Naples against the expected invasion. Hampered by a lack of resources, Marshal Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun and the Count of Caraffa disagreed on how to best defend Naples. Caraffa wanted to minimally garrison the country's fortresses and concentrate Austrian forces into a single army that could either avoid or force confrontation with the Spanish, while Traun, whose opinion prevailed, wanted to strongly garrison the fortresses and force the Spanish to besiege them.

Major garrisons were placed at Pescara and Gaeta, and Traun himself took command of 3,500 men and occupied the fortress at Capua, near the northwestern border between the kingdom and the Papal States. Caraffa was responsible for the defense of the city of Naples and the safety of the Austrian viceroy.

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