"Military science consists in calculating all the chances accurately in the first place, and then in giving accident exactly, almost mathematically, its place in one's calculations. Prince Eugene is one of those who understood this best." - Napoleon Bonaparte, Madame De Remusat's Memoirs 1802-1808 Lady-in-Waiting to Empress Josephine & Woman of Letters The Battle of Carpi is likely (in align with Julius Ceaser's campaigns) what inspired & enable Napoleon's success crossing the Alps in 1801 and, later, the battle of Ulm against the Austrians in 1804 that would set the first opening stage of the Third Coalition War in Napoleon's favor. Later, it presented the opportunity for battle at Austerlitz, where Eugene's lessons gave Napoleon the ability to beat the Allies. Though Carpi was a minor skirmish between the French and Austrians with low casualties, Eugene's maneuver greatly gave the Austrians a better chance of navigating rough terrain to face the bigger French army after Carpi with minimal losses to fight over Milan. Every man would be needed to face King Louis's forces in the long campaign. Prince Eugene was a military figure underrated by expert historical scholars yet is still greatly admired by generations of people, including Frederick I of Prussia & Napoleon of France. He was truly one of the top military cmdrs in European history.
Eugene's military talent is debatable. His lifelong and jealously guarded tenure as President of the council of war for Austria led to an army staffed full of incompetent yesmen that wouldn't try to overshadow him and his insistence that an army should only be raised and trained at the onset of a war left the Habsburgs almost totally unprepared for Frederick's undeclared invasion in 1740. Eugene died in 1736 but the men who were at the head of the army 4 years later were almost all his appointees and performed disastrously. Eugene is often sidelined because his real successes came from his partnership with Marlborough. His true asset was that unlike every other general of his time on either side of the Spanish war of succession, he worked closely with his ally rather than against him even when it was to his detriment. Once the British pull out of the war and Eugene is left alone to command operations against the French, he performs far less effectively. If you look at this campaigns after the war of Spanish succession, it's essentially underwhelming all around. He was stubborn to a fault and bore an intense hatred of France because of his treatment at the French court in his youth and that gave him a drive to fight on where most commanders would order a retreat. His early opponents in the war were really not much to look at either. Catinat has the unfortunate distinction of being an unimpressive general whose reputation was uplifted for political reasons in the early 20th century but everyone and their mothers has beaten Villeroy in the field because he was a complete bungler with no military talent or intelligence. Eugene was certainly a skilled commander and an intelligent man but just like anyone else, he's not perfect. As for Napoleon taking inspiration from him. I really don't think that Napoleon would had somehow lost in Italy or in 1805 with or without Eugene. Napoleon read extensively on warfare from Julius Caesar to his own period and could describe accounts of battle from the thirty years war from memory among many other things. I think it's safe to say that he had a well formed military mind by the time he gets to Austerlitz but if anything, the 1801 campaign was a narrowly-avoided disaster for Napoleon and just about everything went wrong until the very last moment at Marengo. Marengo in and of itself is not a decisive success and it is Moreau at Hohenliden that will push the Austrians to seek peace for which he would be eventually rewarded with exile for making shades to his rival.
@Francis Morin true. Like Napoleon, Eugene wasn't perfect and did have some key flaws in terms of military management in regard to the broad Austrian general staff & need to keep Habsburg's forces on alert for future incursions. Eugene, in his early years through the beginning stages of the Spanish Succession, were the best instances of military success for the Frenchman (including beating the Ottomans). Personal hubris & later health would slowly play a role as he grew older. However, the latter stages of the Italian campaign would transition to the "inconclusive" stages of the war for Eugene, similar to how Hannibal was getting mixed results after the battle of Cannae (almost what could have happened in 1801 with Napoleon). Upper Italy has always been a tough region to contest since the days of the Roman Republic due to the terrain, seasonal famine, disease, and swamps. Similar to Marlborough, they both had an unorthodox pension for new military tactics and were leaning towards drawing out their opponents versus long sieges that saw would see Eugene struggle in the later campaigns. Eugene's personality began to morph into the stubbornness & eagerness of either Marshal Ney and/or his future cavalry counterpart Marshal Joachim Murat. Yet like Napoleon (or any military leader), Eugene didn't like anyone to shadow his military image. French Marshals Davout, Bernadotte, Suchet, and maybe Lannes were men that Napoleon felt would go much further than him regarding military legacy & royal prestige in Europe. (which Bernadotte did for Sweden) He placed Davout in France at the height of Waterloo at a position anyone could have done to get more soldiers, and placed Ney as his leading general, which led to disaster for the French. Hence, why Napoleon either sidelined or failed to recognize their military skill on the battlefield, which could have given him more favorable results. (like the 1813 Liepzig campign etc) You could argue that Eugene's hesitancy to appoint more comparable or much better Austrian general staff indirectly caused Austria's demise into the age of Napoleon & later the rise of Prussia into the 19th century. At the height of the Second Coalition War, the old guard of Austrian generals (very old men) was underperforming against their rivals except with the exception of Field Marshals Wurmser & Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich, with who Napoleon began to earn his respect amid the latter stages of the Second Coalition War campaign after defeating them in battle. By the time of 1804-5, Austria's military generals were fairly inexperienced and green that Russia had to come to bail them out with strategy and manpower. Did adjust in the 1809 campaign with better results, but still, Russia had to come to the rescue. By then, Austria was leaning on diplomacy versus military intervention through the mid-19th century, which their rivals exploited, like Prussia, over parts of Germany. This was what happened with the Byzantine Empire in the latter stages of its decline when the Ottomans were knocking on their doorstep amid the long-term consequences of the Fourth Crusade and the rivalry with the Western Catholic Church. Got to remember that Eugene had to work with a very underperforming Austrian military & logistics system that continued to plague them up through the Napoleonic Wars to the Crimean War. With Marlborough's friendship and Britain's later military involvement, Eugene was able to shore up some of his/Austrian weaknesses, yet his vendetta against Louis would likely cloud his judgment. Overall, it's still fairly understandable to question the record of Eugene. All tacticians are up to some criticism by everyone, including future generations. Austrian General Guido Starhemberg greatly criticized his cousin, stating this, "He has no idea but to fight whenever the opportunity offers; he thinks that nothing equals the name of Imperialists, before whom all should bend the knee. He loves above all things." Still, the Austrian-Hungarian people (including those today) still loved Eugene and, for the first time in Habsburg history, had someone they could rally behind, who could scare their enemies, and who could retain the realms of the Holy Roman Empire after almost centuries of decline amid being surrounded by their rivals. Like the people of today, many people only see Napoleon's reign as the highlight of France's military power, and after World War 2, they make a huge mockery of the French people (sometimes debate Napoleon's spot in history). It's easy for those who don't understand why people rate Eugene so high as he is on the list of top military commanders in history when they don't take into consideration how people in the past viewed his efforts to preserve the Christian empire that already on the verge of destruction & chaos. Eugene's legacy gave the Holy Romans an extra century to live until Napoleon, unlike Louis, who tried to dissolve it. At the end of the day, Eugene remains at the upper top of (not to say he's the best overall, but still is a role model for later cmdrs) field commanders in European history.
@@francismorin8561 Marengo the battle was a near-bungle by Napoleon, but in all fairness, the strategic concept of Marengo the campaign is brilliant - to let the Austrians siege Genoa, cross the Alps, choke the Austrian supply lines, and thereby force a battle that would destroy the Austrian army in Italy if he won, or if he lost, retreat safely to Milan. Even had Desaix not marched to the sound of the guns and only joined with Napoleon on the night of the 14th or the morning of the 15th, Marengo could not have been a decisive defeat for the French forces, as the French casualties from the battle lost were not crippling, the French retreat was conducted in good order, and the Austrian pursuit, even with its massive pursuit column formed in the center, had virtually petered out by the time Desaix arrived. A battle lost at Marengo would not have seen Napoleon flee back over the Alps, but regroup with Desaix and other detachments in the night, and fight another battle on the 15th - and one that he would likely win. Thanks to the energy wasted on the Siege of Genoa, Austrian reinforcements were farther from the field of Marengo than French ones, and any extended Austrian pursuit on the 14th would only leave those 30,000 Austrians further exposed. Furthermore, Napoleon had falsely expected to only fight an Austrian rearguard on the 14th and blundered on that assumption by spreading his army out, but on the 15th he would already be concentrated, realize the situation, and fight accordingly. It would be similar to how Napoleon started the Castiglione and Arcole campaigns on the back foot, including suffering two personal defeats in the latter, but quickly adapting and pulling a victory out of his ass in the end.
@@SolidAvenger1290 On another note, regarding the Austrian commanders which fought during the French Revolutionary Wars, I feel as if you are discounting quite a few individuals of note. One is Alvinczi, who dealt Napoleon his first ever defeat (granted, he had local numerical superiority); being able to do so against a Napoleon in his prime is still impressive and puts him above Wurmser and Quasdanovich (the latter of whom was only a decent divisional commander at best). There are also other individuals such as Clerfayt, who I would say, had a career more impressive than Wurmser and was his better as a field marshal. Sure, he had a series of rather inconclusive battles and was defeated at Mouscron. However, at that engagement, he was heavily outnumbered (13,000 Austrians vs. 28,000 French). However, in his later career, he won a good, clear victory at Mainz (27,000 Austrians vs. 33,000 French). He never had the honour of fighting Napoleon, and perhaps that was for the better. I do not think any commander at the time could match Bonaparte on equal terms, not even Suvorov. Then, finally (quite possibly the best among the Austrians), there is Coburg, who is practically undefeated (he had to withdraw at times, but in all the engagements he fought except for two at Tourcoing and Fleurus, he dealt out more casualties and made any losses rather indecisive in nature). He first served with Suvorov against the Ottomans, commanding the Austrian portion of the Allied army (which made up the bulk of their forces), performing admirably. He then went on to win a major victory at Neerwinden (40,000 Austrians vs. 45,000 French). Even while he was declining in his later career, as his foes tended to outnumber him, he still managed brilliant victories like Troisville (22,000 Austrians vs. 40,000 French), a great victory where he dealt disproportionate casualties upon his enemy (about 3x as many). Then, at Tournai, he did similarly again (28,000 Austrians vs. 45,000 French), inflicting over twice his own losses.
Do like the cutaways to portraits with historical quotes, really helps build the drama and reminds the audience that this story is more than just shapes on a map.
Starting to see why Napoleon held Eugene of Savoy in very high regard. Still waiting and looking forward on videos on the campaigns of John Churchill, Duke Of Marlborough. Arguably the greatest Commander Britain ever produced.
This is probably the best video you've made on the channel visually since the Hannibal series. Great job man!! Imo you've definitely surpassed Kings and Generals.
I'm no military man, and when you mention ''regiments'' or ''companies'' for example I have no idea how many men make up such forces. Maybe an idea to mention that as well in the next video? Outstanding work as always
Companies tend to be a few hundred men, and lead by "Company grade officers" (usually Captains). Regiments tend to be a few thousand men, made up of multiple Companies. Regiments are typically lead by "Field grade officers" (usually a Colonel, but that varied based upon the importance of the command itself. In the army, when a rank and file infantryman was asked who his commander was, they would usually name their Regimental commander (but this is not a hard and fast rule). (The enlisted man had a platoon commander, company commander, regiment commander, and many generals, etc.) The problem is that there weren't any strict standards for numbers in a command at the time. Even now there really aren't many. These organizational names have more to do with the operational command structure rather than an exact amount of men.
There you go, fellow enthusiasts offering you info. Check a couple of countries today also as standardisation is more globally prevalent than before. You will see the same kind of 17th century variability in naval battles also.
Actually during 1800s warfare you should note the number of battalion and squadron rather than regiment or company. An infantry battalion usually had 500-600 men. The number of company in a battalion is varied, same with number of battalion consist of a regiment. The reason is that battalion is basic tactical unit of this time. If you try to find the number of men in a regiment, you will confused when find out that some regiment consist of 1, 2 or 3 battalions.
To add to the confusion, there's also the "paper strength" of units, and the actual strength of these same units. Each unit is going to lose personnel to sickness, injury, and desertion; not to mention those that are detailed to other duties.
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A note about Charles II’s change of mind about who would inherit his realm: he was not completely insane, as during his time as king the Spanish Empire was at peace and not wasting money on more wars, leading to a better quality of life for the spanish people. Charles perhaps gave his throne to the french pretender as to avoid more wars with the french, as these two kingdoms have been at almost constant war with each other since the Italian Wars of late 15th and early 16th centuries. The change of dynasty from Habsburg to Bourbon could have been done in order to reduce french hostility towards Spain.
also Charles accepted the grandson of Louis the XIV on one condition: the grandson would be totally independent from the french bourbon, would be like a dinasty on it's own (wich worried most the spanish king), even at his worst and in his dying breath, Charles was a king that managed to give Spain the best he could bet, totally an underrated king. Thank God he is starting to get the recognition he deserves
I was an infantryman in the Army and I used to compete in mma, violence of action is one of my favorite phrases. If you are put in a fight, don't think about it the person who starts out with violence of action you set the pace and often can overwhelm in alot of circumstances.
This is how Napoleon won a lot of his battles, even if he was outnumbered he would concentrate his forces and attack parts of the enemy army before their overall commander could figure out what was going on
The amount of detail for this battle is a real treat. It makes me wonder: might Tessé have had better options during the assault on Carpi? Could he have withdrawn the cavalry after the first frontal charge against Eugene's infantry on the right, and allowed some of the infantry spend themselves on the fortifications? Or would the French infantry have been overrun too quickly? Perhaps retreat did not seem necessary until too much of the French cavalry was spent already. As it is, the French infantry appears to have played no role except cause their own cavalry to commit instead of screen their inevitable retreat.
Long shot but...what happened to the video on the Battle of Fontenoy? I was watching it last night, but didn't finish it. Went back to it today and the video was gone.
This series on Eugene is absolutely awesome! Would like to first thank You for the the previous 4 parts they are absolutely beautifully done. Would like to hope will there be more parts? 🙏🏼 Also would You be willing to make a docu on General Seydlitz, Frederick The Great's Master Taction Of Cavalry? 😀
@@jdekkers3262 According to the 1532 Istanbul Treaty, the Austrian King is equal to the Ottoman Grand Vizier. Eugene became the only Austrian commander who completely defeated the Ottomans
i love history esp about wars spent countless hours over the years watching videos and reading about them from the ancients to current times and ive never heard of the guy lol happy that changed now though. He was a beast
@@65stang98 i guess, then you can watch more about him as there are more videos to come for sure. In 1717 Prince Eugene and his army besieged Belgrade and the Austrians conquered the Fortress Belgrade. In later times a song about Eugene was made about this Siege of Belgrade. The mortar of Belgrade survived untill today and can be seen in the Military Historical Museum in Vienna. Its rater unimpressive as there are much bigger mortars. But still a piece of history.
I am from Tyrol and my history teacher once teached us about the succesion war. The reason why the france didn't tried to enter into Tyrol even so it was the easiest route to Vienna over the mountains was because it would have been a blood bath for them. Tyrol had a contract with the Habsburgs since 1511 the Landliebel. Which said that Tyorlian troops can only be used for the defense of Tyrol. Tyrol on the other hand to come up with it own troops. Which means if the france would have entered to get over the Brenner then a militia force of around 30.000 trained marksman would have awaited them.
It's amazing how bad the guns of that time must have been if a prolonged battle with tens of thousands of troops results in a mere 40 KIA on one side and a combined 300 KIA/WIA on the other.
I remember hearing that Prince Eugene once tried to volunteer for the French Army but was turned down because they thought he wouldn't be a good soldier. After the battle of Capri I bet the French regretted turning the Prince away.
Excellent Would love to hear about the follow up Battle of Chiari. I read it was among the bloodiest of the Succession wars and Eugenes typical sneakiness.
If you want to hear beautiful Spanish music from this exact time period, look up a video of any of the music of the composer Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712). To know what classical music in Austria and the German lands from this period sounds like, listen to the music of Heinrich Biber, Dietrich Buxtehude, or Johann Pachelbel. The amazing and famous Bach was alive at this time, but was still quite young at about 15 years old, and still a student. For French music of the period, Marin Marais instantly comes to mind. Perhaps because his music is flippin GORGEOUS too!
Really, it was too nice a historical coverage video, and of that event and explaining of rulers dynasties competition to winning Spanish 🇪🇸 throne....allot thanks (History Marche) channel
Thanks for doing this Eugene of Savoy series. While I knew OF him, it was mostly in connection with the Duke of Marlborough. I had no idea his own career was so extensive.
Many thanks. The wars of Spanish Succession reveal to me that I instinctively favour the Imperial cause over the French. The subconscious is already dressed in Imperial team colours even whilst the conscious is intent on absorbing the illustration of the battle.
The sky is the limit for these vids i really like Oskar's new quote portraits which are second to none and histormarche's maps are second to none as well. Fantastic work and thanks for letting us in on the war of spanish succession unfortunately looked over even in the countries where it had a huge impact on like mine
there's a lot that goes into a battle. preparation includes morale, full belly, leadership and shovel work. i know this is just a short you tube synopsis, but i wish there was a little foreshadowing of events to help me follow along. not that it would really do any good, because even napoleon said give me a general who is lucky.
Hello, my brother, I thank you for your great efforts in narrating the history of nations. I hope that you will narrate the stories of Kenshin and his archenemy, Shingen, your loving brother from the Arab State of Kuwait
"Military science consists in calculating all the chances accurately in the first place, and then in giving accident exactly, almost mathematically, its place in one's calculations. Prince Eugene is one of those who understood this best."
- Napoleon Bonaparte, Madame De Remusat's Memoirs 1802-1808
Lady-in-Waiting to Empress Josephine & Woman of Letters
The Battle of Carpi is likely (in align with Julius Ceaser's campaigns) what inspired & enable Napoleon's success crossing the Alps in 1801 and, later, the battle of Ulm against the Austrians in 1804 that would set the first opening stage of the Third Coalition War in Napoleon's favor. Later, it presented the opportunity for battle at Austerlitz, where Eugene's lessons gave Napoleon the ability to beat the Allies.
Though Carpi was a minor skirmish between the French and Austrians with low casualties, Eugene's maneuver greatly gave the Austrians a better chance of navigating rough terrain to face the bigger French army after Carpi with minimal losses to fight over Milan. Every man would be needed to face King Louis's forces in the long campaign.
Prince Eugene was a military figure underrated by expert historical scholars yet is still greatly admired by generations of people, including Frederick I of Prussia & Napoleon of France. He was truly one of the top military cmdrs in European history.
Eugene's military talent is debatable. His lifelong and jealously guarded tenure as President of the council of war for Austria led to an army staffed full of incompetent yesmen that wouldn't try to overshadow him and his insistence that an army should only be raised and trained at the onset of a war left the Habsburgs almost totally unprepared for Frederick's undeclared invasion in 1740. Eugene died in 1736 but the men who were at the head of the army 4 years later were almost all his appointees and performed disastrously.
Eugene is often sidelined because his real successes came from his partnership with Marlborough. His true asset was that unlike every other general of his time on either side of the Spanish war of succession, he worked closely with his ally rather than against him even when it was to his detriment. Once the British pull out of the war and Eugene is left alone to command operations against the French, he performs far less effectively. If you look at this campaigns after the war of Spanish succession, it's essentially underwhelming all around. He was stubborn to a fault and bore an intense hatred of France because of his treatment at the French court in his youth and that gave him a drive to fight on where most commanders would order a retreat.
His early opponents in the war were really not much to look at either. Catinat has the unfortunate distinction of being an unimpressive general whose reputation was uplifted for political reasons in the early 20th century but everyone and their mothers has beaten Villeroy in the field because he was a complete bungler with no military talent or intelligence.
Eugene was certainly a skilled commander and an intelligent man but just like anyone else, he's not perfect.
As for Napoleon taking inspiration from him. I really don't think that Napoleon would had somehow lost in Italy or in 1805 with or without Eugene. Napoleon read extensively on warfare from Julius Caesar to his own period and could describe accounts of battle from the thirty years war from memory among many other things. I think it's safe to say that he had a well formed military mind by the time he gets to Austerlitz but if anything, the 1801 campaign was a narrowly-avoided disaster for Napoleon and just about everything went wrong until the very last moment at Marengo. Marengo in and of itself is not a decisive success and it is Moreau at Hohenliden that will push the Austrians to seek peace for which he would be eventually rewarded with exile for making shades to his rival.
@Francis Morin true. Like Napoleon, Eugene wasn't perfect and did have some key flaws in terms of military management in regard to the broad Austrian general staff & need to keep Habsburg's forces on alert for future incursions. Eugene, in his early years through the beginning stages of the Spanish Succession, were the best instances of military success for the Frenchman (including beating the Ottomans). Personal hubris & later health would slowly play a role as he grew older.
However, the latter stages of the Italian campaign would transition to the "inconclusive" stages of the war for Eugene, similar to how Hannibal was getting mixed results after the battle of Cannae (almost what could have happened in 1801 with Napoleon). Upper Italy has always been a tough region to contest since the days of the Roman Republic due to the terrain, seasonal famine, disease, and swamps.
Similar to Marlborough, they both had an unorthodox pension for new military tactics and were leaning towards drawing out their opponents versus long sieges that saw would see Eugene struggle in the later campaigns. Eugene's personality began to morph into the stubbornness & eagerness of either Marshal Ney and/or his future cavalry counterpart Marshal Joachim Murat.
Yet like Napoleon (or any military leader), Eugene didn't like anyone to shadow his military image. French Marshals Davout, Bernadotte, Suchet, and maybe Lannes were men that Napoleon felt would go much further than him regarding military legacy & royal prestige in Europe. (which Bernadotte did for Sweden) He placed Davout in France at the height of Waterloo at a position anyone could have done to get more soldiers, and placed Ney as his leading general, which led to disaster for the French.
Hence, why Napoleon either sidelined or failed to recognize their military skill on the battlefield, which could have given him more favorable results. (like the 1813 Liepzig campign etc) You could argue that Eugene's hesitancy to appoint more comparable or much better Austrian general staff indirectly caused Austria's demise into the age of Napoleon & later the rise of Prussia into the 19th century.
At the height of the Second Coalition War, the old guard of Austrian generals (very old men) was underperforming against their rivals except with the exception of Field Marshals Wurmser & Peter Vitus von Quosdanovich, with who Napoleon began to earn his respect amid the latter stages of the Second Coalition War campaign after defeating them in battle.
By the time of 1804-5, Austria's military generals were fairly inexperienced and green that Russia had to come to bail them out with strategy and manpower. Did adjust in the 1809 campaign with better results, but still, Russia had to come to the rescue.
By then, Austria was leaning on diplomacy versus military intervention through the mid-19th century, which their rivals exploited, like Prussia, over parts of Germany. This was what happened with the Byzantine Empire in the latter stages of its decline when the Ottomans were knocking on their doorstep amid the long-term consequences of the Fourth Crusade and the rivalry with the Western Catholic Church.
Got to remember that Eugene had to work with a very underperforming Austrian military & logistics system that continued to plague them up through the Napoleonic Wars to the Crimean War. With Marlborough's friendship and Britain's later military involvement, Eugene was able to shore up some of his/Austrian weaknesses, yet his vendetta against Louis would likely cloud his judgment. Overall, it's still fairly understandable to question the record of Eugene. All tacticians are up to some criticism by everyone, including future generations.
Austrian General Guido Starhemberg greatly criticized his cousin, stating this, "He has no idea but to fight whenever the opportunity offers; he thinks that nothing equals the name of Imperialists, before whom all should bend the knee. He loves above all things."
Still, the Austrian-Hungarian people (including those today) still loved Eugene and, for the first time in Habsburg history, had someone they could rally behind, who could scare their enemies, and who could retain the realms of the Holy Roman Empire after almost centuries of decline amid being surrounded by their rivals.
Like the people of today, many people only see Napoleon's reign as the highlight of France's military power, and after World War 2, they make a huge mockery of the French people (sometimes debate Napoleon's spot in history).
It's easy for those who don't understand why people rate Eugene so high as he is on the list of top military commanders in history when they don't take into consideration how people in the past viewed his efforts to preserve the Christian empire that already on the verge of destruction & chaos. Eugene's legacy gave the Holy Romans an extra century to live until Napoleon, unlike Louis, who tried to dissolve it.
At the end of the day, Eugene remains at the upper top of (not to say he's the best overall, but still is a role model for later cmdrs) field commanders in European history.
@@francismorin8561 Marengo the battle was a near-bungle by Napoleon, but in all fairness, the strategic concept of Marengo the campaign is brilliant - to let the Austrians siege Genoa, cross the Alps, choke the Austrian supply lines, and thereby force a battle that would destroy the Austrian army in Italy if he won, or if he lost, retreat safely to Milan. Even had Desaix not marched to the sound of the guns and only joined with Napoleon on the night of the 14th or the morning of the 15th, Marengo could not have been a decisive defeat for the French forces, as the French casualties from the battle lost were not crippling, the French retreat was conducted in good order, and the Austrian pursuit, even with its massive pursuit column formed in the center, had virtually petered out by the time Desaix arrived.
A battle lost at Marengo would not have seen Napoleon flee back over the Alps, but regroup with Desaix and other detachments in the night, and fight another battle on the 15th - and one that he would likely win. Thanks to the energy wasted on the Siege of Genoa, Austrian reinforcements were farther from the field of Marengo than French ones, and any extended Austrian pursuit on the 14th would only leave those 30,000 Austrians further exposed. Furthermore, Napoleon had falsely expected to only fight an Austrian rearguard on the 14th and blundered on that assumption by spreading his army out, but on the 15th he would already be concentrated, realize the situation, and fight accordingly. It would be similar to how Napoleon started the Castiglione and Arcole campaigns on the back foot, including suffering two personal defeats in the latter, but quickly adapting and pulling a victory out of his ass in the end.
@Pue Saness all very good points.
@@SolidAvenger1290 On another note, regarding the Austrian commanders which fought during the French Revolutionary Wars, I feel as if you are discounting quite a few individuals of note. One is Alvinczi, who dealt Napoleon his first ever defeat (granted, he had local numerical superiority); being able to do so against a Napoleon in his prime is still impressive and puts him above Wurmser and Quasdanovich (the latter of whom was only a decent divisional commander at best).
There are also other individuals such as Clerfayt, who I would say, had a career more impressive than Wurmser and was his better as a field marshal. Sure, he had a series of rather inconclusive battles and was defeated at Mouscron. However, at that engagement, he was heavily outnumbered (13,000 Austrians vs. 28,000 French). However, in his later career, he won a good, clear victory at Mainz (27,000 Austrians vs. 33,000 French). He never had the honour of fighting Napoleon, and perhaps that was for the better. I do not think any commander at the time could match Bonaparte on equal terms, not even Suvorov.
Then, finally (quite possibly the best among the Austrians), there is Coburg, who is practically undefeated (he had to withdraw at times, but in all the engagements he fought except for two at Tourcoing and Fleurus, he dealt out more casualties and made any losses rather indecisive in nature). He first served with Suvorov against the Ottomans, commanding the Austrian portion of the Allied army (which made up the bulk of their forces), performing admirably. He then went on to win a major victory at Neerwinden (40,000 Austrians vs. 45,000 French). Even while he was declining in his later career, as his foes tended to outnumber him, he still managed brilliant victories like Troisville (22,000 Austrians vs. 40,000 French), a great victory where he dealt disproportionate casualties upon his enemy (about 3x as many). Then, at Tournai, he did similarly again (28,000 Austrians vs. 45,000 French), inflicting over twice his own losses.
Do like the cutaways to portraits with historical quotes, really helps build the drama and reminds the audience that this story is more than just shapes on a map.
When that slow build music hits
@@mattpiekarski9189 Ooooohhhhhhhhh yyyyyyeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, that's the good stuff.
Looks like it was borrowed from Epic History TV, along with music.
@@gregoryowen2068 Historymarche worked on EHTV so its just them using their own thing.
@@FieldMarshalYT Yeah, I recall seeing them collaborate on some of the episodes.
This series on Prince Eugene has been fantastic!
yes, please concentrate on that topic ... reccomend some books eather...have a nice day :-)
Hollywood should adapt his story😊
We want a complete series on the War of the Spanish Succession
The visual and sound editing on this video is marvelous! Loved the night vision map, the zooms and arrows. So satisfying to watch
Starting to see why Napoleon held Eugene of Savoy in very high regard. Still waiting and looking forward on videos on the campaigns of John Churchill, Duke Of Marlborough. Arguably the greatest Commander Britain ever produced.
Equal three-way split between him,Wellington and Montgomery!👌👍
@@MrSinclairn I will replace Montgomery with Robert Clive tbh.
I always thought Marlborough was the best British commander ever, better than Wellington.
@@nomooon I agree, but I have to show Wellington respect. I would rank him very close to Marlborough.
The English middleman were no small advantage.
This is probably the best video you've made on the channel visually since the Hannibal series. Great job man!! Imo you've definitely surpassed Kings and Generals.
agreed
Agrees
Thanks for this! Eugene makes his grand comeback to the channel!
I'm no military man, and when you mention ''regiments'' or ''companies'' for example I have no idea how many men make up such forces. Maybe an idea to mention that as well in the next video? Outstanding work as always
Companies are usually in the hundreds of men, regiment in the thousands. The exact amount varies depending upon the nation and time period.
Companies tend to be a few hundred men, and lead by "Company grade officers" (usually Captains).
Regiments tend to be a few thousand men, made up of multiple Companies. Regiments are typically lead by "Field grade officers" (usually a Colonel, but that varied based upon the importance of the command itself.
In the army, when a rank and file infantryman was asked who his commander was, they would usually name their Regimental commander (but this is not a hard and fast rule). (The enlisted man had a platoon commander, company commander, regiment commander, and many generals, etc.)
The problem is that there weren't any strict standards for numbers in a command at the time. Even now there really aren't many. These organizational names have more to do with the operational command structure rather than an exact amount of men.
There you go, fellow enthusiasts offering you info. Check a couple of countries today also as standardisation is more globally prevalent than before. You will see the same kind of 17th century variability in naval battles also.
Actually during 1800s warfare you should note the number of battalion and squadron rather than regiment or company. An infantry battalion usually had 500-600 men. The number of company in a battalion is varied, same with number of battalion consist of a regiment. The reason is that battalion is basic tactical unit of this time. If you try to find the number of men in a regiment, you will confused when find out that some regiment consist of 1, 2 or 3 battalions.
To add to the confusion, there's also the "paper strength" of units, and the actual strength of these same units. Each unit is going to lose personnel to sickness, injury, and desertion; not to mention those that are detailed to other duties.
This Eugene of Savoy series is awesome!
I want part 5! Or even more parts, as many as you seem fit for prince Eugene!
the work on these has always been very impressive, thanks HistoryAprile
🚩 Prince Eugene Playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLWwyDn76LiH103fLOGW89zyY0pwDFtYNn
🚩 Help support HistoryMarche on Patreon and get ad-free early access to our videos: www.patreon.com/historymarche
🚩 Big thanks to House of History for his continued work on this series: www.youtube.com/@HoH
Good luck!
Thanks!
Thank you very much for the support. Very kind of you.
A note about Charles II’s change of mind about who would inherit his realm: he was not completely insane, as during his time as king the Spanish Empire was at peace and not wasting money on more wars, leading to a better quality of life for the spanish people. Charles perhaps gave his throne to the french pretender as to avoid more wars with the french, as these two kingdoms have been at almost constant war with each other since the Italian Wars of late 15th and early 16th centuries. The change of dynasty from Habsburg to Bourbon could have been done in order to reduce french hostility towards Spain.
also Charles accepted the grandson of Louis the XIV on one condition:
the grandson would be totally independent from the french bourbon, would be like a dinasty on it's own (wich worried most the spanish king), even at his worst and in his dying breath, Charles was a king that managed to give Spain the best he could bet, totally an underrated king. Thank God he is starting to get the recognition he deserves
I was an infantryman in the Army and I used to compete in mma, violence of action is one of my favorite phrases. If you are put in a fight, don't think about it the person who starts out with violence of action you set the pace and often can overwhelm in alot of circumstances.
This is how Napoleon won a lot of his battles, even if he was outnumbered he would concentrate his forces and attack parts of the enemy army before their overall commander could figure out what was going on
Excellent! Loved this video.
Hope to see more from the War of Spanish Succession.
Would love for this series to continue.
Both for the Spanish Succession wars, but also for Eugene's story.
4:00....unbelevable line about Charles II. "Amazingly still not dead"
Thanks
Thank you so much for the support. Very kind of you.
Should've hired him, Louis...
I think with this video that your channel has now firmly taken the crown for the best historical video style of all the history channels on youtube 👏
I agree. Think they are trying to do an intermixed of Epic History TV and Flash Point History with the new content
The amount of detail for this battle is a real treat. It makes me wonder: might Tessé have had better options during the assault on Carpi? Could he have withdrawn the cavalry after the first frontal charge against Eugene's infantry on the right, and allowed some of the infantry spend themselves on the fortifications? Or would the French infantry have been overrun too quickly? Perhaps retreat did not seem necessary until too much of the French cavalry was spent already. As it is, the French infantry appears to have played no role except cause their own cavalry to commit instead of screen their inevitable retreat.
it was hard because of marshy terrain. he shouldn't attack from the start, as such order couldn't combine his whole army, solely used cavalry
It’s always good to see capable commanders against each other
Prince Eugene always in the thick of the fighting I admire his bravery
0:15 holy Habsburg Jaw
This is great. I am anxious to see more on the Spanish Succession.
Loved this video. Can not wait to see the rest of this campaign.
Long shot but...what happened to the video on the Battle of Fontenoy? I was watching it last night, but didn't finish it. Went back to it today and the video was gone.
Same here, it went private...
Removed for trashtalking the ottoman empire
Great job, l wish you continue the series of prince Eugene until prince last battle
Best wishes!
That's the plan!
@@HistoryMarche Thank you 😊 very much
I hope it will be soon ❤️
So I found out about this channel from the ad, pretty good advertising and amazing content!
Lets go another part I love this series keep up the bloody wonderful work! Love from canada
Excellent work as always HM!
European History always fascinate me.
are you Chinese?
I really like the new style of your videos, with historical phrases.
Awesome channel. Thank you! 👏
Thank you so much for this excellent work.
Thanks, learned and enjoyed this video! 👍👍
Yes! More War of Spanish Succession videos!
This series on Eugene is absolutely awesome! Would like to first thank You for the the previous 4 parts they are absolutely beautifully done. Would like to hope will there be more parts? 🙏🏼 Also would You be willing to make a docu on General Seydlitz, Frederick The Great's Master Taction Of Cavalry? 😀
I love the historical presentation. Thank you!
I have always been interested in learning more about Prinz Eugene.
Eugene was clearly one of the best generals in history of Europe.
Definetly the most underrated one. You barely hear anything of him, I find.
@@jdekkers3262 According to the 1532 Istanbul Treaty, the Austrian King is equal to the Ottoman Grand Vizier. Eugene became the only Austrian commander who completely defeated the Ottomans
i love history esp about wars spent countless hours over the years watching videos and reading about them from the ancients to current times and ive never heard of the guy lol happy that changed now though. He was a beast
If you consider at least 10 generals in your "one of the best", he'd be 10th.
@@65stang98 i guess, then you can watch more about him as there are more videos to come for sure. In 1717 Prince Eugene and his army besieged Belgrade and the Austrians conquered the Fortress Belgrade. In later times a song about Eugene was made about this Siege of Belgrade. The mortar of Belgrade survived untill today and can be seen in the Military Historical Museum in Vienna. Its rater unimpressive as there are much bigger mortars. But still a piece of history.
I am from Tyrol and my history teacher once teached us about the succesion war. The reason why the france didn't tried to enter into Tyrol even so it was the easiest route to Vienna over the mountains was because it would have been a blood bath for them. Tyrol had a contract with the Habsburgs since 1511 the Landliebel. Which said that Tyorlian troops can only be used for the defense of Tyrol. Tyrol on the other hand to come up with it own troops. Which means if the france would have entered to get over the Brenner then a militia force of around 30.000 trained marksman would have awaited them.
Thank you. Always great content.
It's amazing how bad the guns of that time must have been if a prolonged battle with tens of thousands of troops results in a mere 40 KIA on one side and a combined 300 KIA/WIA on the other.
You literally cannot make these videos fast enough.
Very good video, as always.
Still waiting for you to lift the Fabian strategy on Hannibal.
wonderful presentation
Great video!
Man, I love your presentations
Great video. Appreciate your work.
I remember hearing that Prince Eugene once tried to volunteer for the French Army but was turned down because they thought he wouldn't be a good soldier. After the battle of Capri I bet the French regretted turning the Prince away.
thank you for your hard work
Thank you for another interesting battle report.
Love this channel
Always a learning experience.
Another part pleeeeese really enjoying this series
This is outstanding. Congrats!
Excellent
Would love to hear about the follow up Battle of Chiari. I read it was among the bloodiest of the Succession wars and Eugenes typical sneakiness.
Thanks for the video
I was living close to Carpi, you can feel the History there.
great stuff
If you want to hear beautiful Spanish music from this exact time period, look up a video of any of the music of the composer Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712). To know what classical music in Austria and the German lands from this period sounds like, listen to the music of Heinrich Biber, Dietrich Buxtehude, or Johann Pachelbel. The amazing and famous Bach was alive at this time, but was still quite young at about 15 years old, and still a student. For French music of the period, Marin Marais instantly comes to mind. Perhaps because his music is flippin GORGEOUS too!
Very awesome videos thanks
Terrific video, as usual! ⚔🔥🙌
Recounting Prince Eugene's legendary battle acumen is always engrossing..
Thanks again for a great video! Keep on doing this!
*Thank you*
Neat thank you. I love this series.
I’ve really been enjoying your videos on Prince Eugene. Please make more. :)
Amazing 🔥🔥🔥
Really, it was too nice a historical coverage video, and of that event and explaining of rulers dynasties competition to winning Spanish 🇪🇸 throne....allot thanks (History Marche) channel
A small yet significant fight.
Thanks for doing this Eugene of Savoy series. While I knew OF him, it was mostly in connection with the Duke of Marlborough. I had no idea his own career was so extensive.
Will there be a part 5? I love this series so I hope there will be one😅
Many thanks. The wars of Spanish Succession reveal to me that I instinctively favour the Imperial cause over the French. The subconscious is already dressed in Imperial team colours even whilst the conscious is intent on absorbing the illustration of the battle.
9:14 It’s the Brennero Pass, north of Trentino... it’s the main gate to Central Europe, it’s not “a nearby pass”...
LESGOOO NEW HISTORY MARCHE BATTLE
Nice to watch that film.
Really enjoying this series!
Anybody else wondering why historymarche's most recent vid was taken down?
What was it about?
Here is my sacrifice to the all-powerful RUclips algorithm. Well done HistoryMarche!
A great video!
The sky is the limit for these vids i really like Oskar's new quote portraits which are second to none and histormarche's maps are second to none as well. Fantastic work and thanks for letting us in on the war of spanish succession unfortunately looked over even in the countries where it had a huge impact on like mine
Great video
You make great video's thanks
there's a lot that goes into a battle. preparation includes morale, full belly, leadership and shovel work.
i know this is just a short you tube synopsis, but i wish there was a little foreshadowing of events to help me follow along.
not that it would really do any good, because even napoleon said give me a general who is lucky.
Excellent work, as always. May I just mention that 'de jure' is Latin: day you-ray.
I love this channel...like so so much
I'd love a game in this sort of style
very cool video again
I love this channel
Thank you so much for making the effort to pronounce correctly the Italian names.
Hello, my brother, I thank you for your great efforts in narrating the history of nations. I hope that you will narrate the stories of Kenshin and his archenemy, Shingen, your loving brother from the Arab State of Kuwait
I enjoy these battle videos
Nice Video !
Nice job
Muito bom, como sempre.
Mixing in trenches with ramparts would be a great update to a total war game in this time frame or pike and shot
Cool video 🎉🎉