Battle of Moncontour

The Battle of Moncontour occurred on 3 October 1569 between the Catholic forces of King Charles IX of France, commanded by Henry, Duke of Anjou, and the Huguenots commanded by Gaspard de Coligny.

Battle of Moncontour

Battle of Moncontour, 1569.
Date3 October 1569
Location
Moncontour, Vienne
near Poitiers, France
Result Catholic Victory
Belligerents
Catholics French Huguenot forces
Commanders and leaders
Henry Duke of Anjou
Gaspard Saulx-Tavannes
Philibert, Margrave of Baden-Baden		 Gaspard II de Coligny
Count Louis of Nassau
Strength
25,000[1]-22,000[2]
15 cannon[1]		 20,000[1]
Casualties and losses
1,000 killed[1] 8,000 killed[1]
3,000 captured[2]

The battle

Weeks before, Coligny had lifted the siege of Poitou and positioned his army in hopes of gaining an advantage over the approaching Royalist forces.[3] However, a flanking maneuver by Saulx-Tavannes forced him to reposition his forces.[3] This coincided with Henry's objective to keep Coligny's army from joining Gabriel, Comte de Montgomery's forces.[2]

The battle consisted of multiple charges by the royal forces, during which Coligny was wounded in the jaw, forcing Louis of Nassau to take command.[3] Henry was subsequently unhorsed during a charge, but was saved by his bodyguards.[3] Philibert, Margrave of Baden-Baden, who commanded the Royalist Germans, was killed during a cavalry charge.[2] Nassau, in turn, charged the Swiss pikemen but made no headway.[3] A final charge by Swiss pikemen shattered the Huguenot landsknechts line,[2] in which over half were killed.[3] As a result, three thousand Huguenots surrendered.[2] Nassau and the rest of the cavalry were able to withdraw in good order.[2]

Aftermath

Henry then besieged Saint-Jean-d'Angély from 16 October to 2 December.[4] Coligny regrouped, marched east into the Rhone and, months later, marched towards Paris.[4]

See also

Sources
  • Butler, A.J. (1907). "The Wars of Religion in France". In Ward, A.W.; Prothero, G.W.; Leathes, Stanley (eds.). The Cambridge Modern History. III. Cambridge University Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Knecht, R. J. (1989). The French Wars of Religion 1559-1598. Longman.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Knecht, R. J. (1998). Catherine de'Medici. Pearson Education Limited.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (2010). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient world to the Modern Middle East. Vol. Two. ABC-CLIO.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References
  1. Tucker 2010, p. 528.
  2. Butler 1907, p. 13.
  3. Knecht 1998, p. 130.
  4. Knecht 1989, p. 42.


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