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Irish Regiments Fight with Spain in the Battle of Villaviciosa

Three Irish regiments in the service of Spain fight in the Battle of Villaviciosa on December 10, 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession. The regiments are commanded by Colonel Don Demetrio MacAuliffe, Colonel Don John de Comerford, and Colonel Don Reynaldo Mac Donnell. This last becomes known as the Hibernia Regiment.

The Battle of Villaviciosa is a battle between a Franco-Spanish army led by Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme, and Philip V of Spain and a Habsburg-allied army commanded by Austrian Guido Starhemberg. The battle takes place one day after a Franco-Spanish victory at Brihuega against a British army under James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope. Both Philip V of Spain and the Archduke Charles of Austria claim victory, but the number of dead and wounded, the number of artillery and other weapons abandoned by the Allied army and the battle’s strategic consequences for the war confirm victory for Philip.

The battle is largely determined by the Spanish dragoons commanded by the Marquis of Valdecañas and the Count of Aguilar, which far exceeds the opposing forces. The Austrian forces retreat, pursued by Spanish cavalry, and the allied army is reduced to 6,000 or 7,000 men when it reaches Barcelona, one of the few places in Spain still recognizing Charles’ authority, on January 6.

After victories in the Battle of Almenar on July 27 and the Battle of Saragossa on August 20, the Habsburg allies supporting Archduke Charles capture Madrid for the second time and Charles enters Madrid on September 21. The 1710 invasion is a repetition of the one in 1706, and the 23,000-strong allied army is reduced at Almenara and Saragossa and in skirmishes with the Spanish-Bourbon militia. The allied troops are unable to maintain an occupation.

The allied position in Madrid is dangerous. On November 9, the city is evacuated and the retreat to Catalonia begins, pursued by Spanish cavalry led by the Marquis of Valdecañas. The archduke leaves the army with 2,000 cavalry and rushes back to Barcelona, while the rest of the army marches in two detachments. Austrian general Starhemberg and the main body of 12,000 men are a day’s march ahead of the 5,000 British troops under Lord Stanhope. The British force, surprised, is defeated at Brihuega on December 9, 1710. The British are taken prisoner, including Stanhope, who finally surrenders.

When General Starhemberg is informed of the attack on the British column, he moves his troops to help Stanhope’s army, unaware that the latter had capitulated. The next morning, December 10, the Franco-Spanish army is waiting on the plain of Villaviciosa. Compared to the Austrian general’s 14,000 troops, the Duke of Vendôme deploys about 20,000 men, including King Philip and other troops who had joined the duke that morning. The armies deploy in two lines on parallel ridges.

The battle begins during the afternoon, lasting until midnight. Each army has 23 pieces of artillery, deployed in three batteries. The artillery fire begins simultaneously, damaging both armies. The Marquis de Valdecañas, commanding the cavalry in the Bourbon right wing, begins the attack. Valdecañas sends his cavalry against the allied left wing, composed of German infantry and Portuguese and Spanish cavalry under Imperial General von Frankenberg. The German infantry and Portuguese cavalry try to stop the Bourbon charge before yielding, and the left wing is destroyed. The Spanish capture the artillery pieces, killing the Anglo-Dutch troops sent to aid the left wing. With the allied left wing defeated, the archduke’s infantry advances toward the Franco-Spanish center and drives back the Bourbon infantry. The Marquis of Toy tries to prevent losses in the center and avoid the division of the army, but most of his men are taken prisoner by the Portuguese.

Although the Bourbons in the center are in difficulty, the Count of Aguilar throws his cavalry against the archduke’s right wing, commanded by General Starhemberg and comprising the best grenadiers and cavalry squadrons of the allied army. The allies are unable to stop the Count of Aguilar’s cavalry. The archduke’s right wing is saved from disaster by support from the center, led by the Spanish general Antoni de Villarroel. Starhemberg regroups his forces, repulses the Count of Aguilar’s cavalry and charges the Bourbon left wing. After capturing the left-wing cannons, Starhemberg launches his army against the center.

The Bourbon center and left wing begin to retreat, and the right-wing cavalry pursues the allied left wing. The Count of Aguilar then attacks against the archduke’s right wing with his dragoons. Although the German and Portuguese cavalry, under Pedro Manuel de Ataíde, 5th Count of Atalaya, resist the first charge, Aguilar’s cavalry breaks the allied right wing. Valdecañas’ cavalry also deals a severe blow to the allied army, and Lt. Gen. Mahony and Field Marshal Amezaga’s troops charge from the right wing. Starhemberg in return launches three cavalry charges against them. During the fighting, Amezaga is wounded in the face. Starhemberg’s forces retreat to a nearby forest to escape the Franco-Spanish cavalry, and the allied forces begin their withdrawal under cover of night. The British regiments suffer heavy losses. Brigadier-General Lepell, the senior British officer, reports two regiments have been cut off while over 107 men are missing from his own and he has only two squadrons still available.

Although Philip V of Spain and the Archduke Charles both claim victory, the number of dead and wounded, the weapons abandoned by the allied army, and the strategic consequences in the war confirm French domination.

Starhemberg continues his retreat, harassed by Spanish cavalry. His army is reduced to 6,000 or 7,000 men by the time he reaches Barcelona. The Spanish throne is finally secured for Philip when Charles leaves Spain in April 1711 to become Holy Roman Emperor after the death of his older brother.

(Pictured: “Battle of Villaviciosa, December 10, 1710,” oil on canvas by Jean Alaux, Museum of the History of France)


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Irish Regiments Fight at the Battle of Saragossa

Irish regiments in service of Spain fight at the Battle of Saragossa, also known as the Battle of Zaragoza, on August 20, 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession.

A Spanish Bourbon army loyal to Philip V of Spain and commanded by Alexandre Maître, Marquis de Bay, is defeated by a Grand Alliance force under Guido Starhemberg. Despite this victory, which allows Philip’s rival Archduke Charles to enter the Spanish capital of Madrid, the allies are unable to consolidate their gains. Forced to retreat, they suffer successive defeats at Brihuega in November and Villaviciosa in December, which effectively end their chances of installing Archduke Charles on the Spanish throne.

The 1710 Spanish campaign opens on May 15 when the Spanish Bourbon army commanded by Philip V in person and Francisco Castillo Fajardo, Marquis of Villadarias, advance on the town of Balaguer. Guido Starhemberg, commander of the Allied forces in Catalonia, halts this attempt by preventing the Spanish from fording the Segre River, a success in which the officers of the British contingent have a leading role.

Having received reinforcements, in June Philip makes another attempt upon Balaguer with 20,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry but is defeated at Almenar on July 27. The allied troops take up a strong defensive position and repel the Spanish attacks until the British commander, James Stanhope, leading their vanguard, breaks the Spanish lines. Philip is forced to withdraw to Zaragoza, capital of Aragon, while Villadarias is replaced by the French general Alexandre Maître, Marquis de Bay.

On August 9, the Spanish army reaches Zaragoza and de Bay positions his troops with the river Ebro on his left and the Torrero heights to the right. On August 15, an Allied cavalry attack is repulsed, followed by five days of minor skirmishes before the Allies cross the Ebro in force on August 19 and are allowed to deploy during the night.

The two forces are roughly equal in strength, the allies having thirty-seven battalions of infantry and forty-three squadrons opposed to the Spanish-Bourbon army of thirty-eight battalions and fifty-four squadrons. The Allied left, composed of Catalonian and Dutch troops, is led by Pedro Manuel de Ataíde, 5th Count of Atalaia, the right by Stanhope, made up of British, Portuguese and Austrian cavalry, with Starhemberg in charge of the centre, mainly German, Austrian and Spanish infantry.

On August 20 at 8:00 a.m., an artillery-duel starts which lasts four hours before Stanhope charges the Bourbon-Spanish left. At first the Spanish and Walloon troops of the Bourbon army seem to gain the advantage, having defeated a body of eight Portuguese squadrons, which they chased from the field. This opens a gap in the Bourbon lines, which opens a gap for Stanhope who scatters the disorganized Spanish soldiers, while at the centre and the right their attacks are repulsed.

The battle follows the same pattern as at Almenar, with the allies repulsing fierce Bourbon cavalry charges before counter-attacked with their infantry and pushing the Spanish back. In less than three hours, the Allies army wins a comprehensive victory, capturing the Bourbon artillery along with 73 standards. Between 5,000 and 6,000 Spanish soldiers are killed or wounded, and another 7,000 captured, with Allied losses estimated as 1,500 men dead or wounded.

Archduke Charles enters Zaragoza the next day. The defeat of the army of Philip V of Spain is severe, the way to Madrid is open. Philip V abandons Madrid on September 9 and goes to Valladolid. Archduke Charles enters a very hostile and almost empty Madrid on September 28. Charles comments, “This city is a desert!” In the winter of 1710, Archduke Charles and the allied troops have to abandon Madrid, due to the great opposition of the people of Madrid and the dangerous strategic situation. After this, the British army suffers a defeat at the Battle of Brihuega, and the rest of the allied army is defeated at the Battle of Villaviciosa.