The Wars of the Two Churfursts Part 2

And here is the first battle in our series taking place between Brandenburg and Bayern:

The Wars of the Two Churfursts

(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)

Chapter 2       The Battle of Erlangen

The Battle of Erlangen was fought on the 29^h of May, 1703, Ascension Day, in the farmlands to the immediate east of Erlangen.  It is a rich farmland area with slight elevation changes that are mostly noticeable when you note that all the church spires and villages (or ‘dorfs’ as they are referred to in this area) are placed in the low lying areas through which the many streams that crisscross the area are located.  Hench you often hear references to Generals assigning as objectives for their troops to ‘Advance and seize the village whose church tower you see to you left front’ and so forth.  The author walked this area at the turn of the century before industrialization had made many inroads on the area and it was much like it must have appeared on that day in May 1703.

The rival armies would be cheered, or dispirited with the recent announcement that Portugal had joined the ‘Grand Alliance’ and refused to recognize Philip as the new King of Spain so that another enemy was added to the Franco-Bavarian side.  While both armies spoke German as their native tongue, the Brandenburgers were discovering that the ‘sud-deutsche’ or South German variant of the language was an entirely different form from which they were familiar and the local population, even near the Free Cities of Nurnberg and Furth, were hostile and made every effort to avoid providing support or acting as if they understood any requests of the Brandenburg Quartiermeistergereralen.

As to the battle itself, it began early in the afternoon of the 29^th (most accounts agree to the cannon starting to fire around 1:30 PM) but lasted only a few hours due to the collapse of the Bavarian cavalry early in the engagement.  Let us review the events in order so that we can understand the plans and actions of each army. 

The Brandenburg army consisted of nine battalions of Danish troops under contract to the King in Prussia and who would be transferred to the control of the Dutch Republic once this short campaign was completed.  These were subsidy troops and were fully manned by trained infantry.  The army had nine battalions of Brandenburg infantry, most of which likewise were destined to reinforce Prince Eugene’s army at Speyer.  Some of these units were to have long and glorious histories but as of this time they were untried in battle and had only the ferociously imparted drill by the Dessauer to support their actions.  The cavalry consisted of twenty squadrons and included also some units like the Garde du Corps and Mousquetiers that would earn much fame in the War of the Austrian Succession.  Two batterys of artillery supported the force although on neither side were the artillerymen to earn any great praise for their efforts.

This force was deployed with the cavalry massed on the Brandenburg left in two long lines before the village of Unterscharf, then the Danes, again in two lines supported by half the artillery, and then finally the Brandenburgers, in two lines on the right flank separated from the Danes by the village of Kleinscharf.  The illustration below details their deployment along with that of the Bavarian army opposite (to the top of the illustration.

It seemed clear that the Dessauer wished to use his cavalry in a general turning movement from his left, but the village of Unterscharf was clearly an obstacle to a smooth deployment of so many glittering horsemen.  The commander on this flank was also unfortunately chosen as his abilities had never been battle tested and on this day he proved both overly cautious and unable to lead aggressively from the front.  The Danes and Brandenburgers were blessed with dependable and energetic leadership and the presence of the Dessauer directly behind them no doubt contributed to their excellence on the day.

The Bavarian army under Generalieutenant Count Santini, consisted of eighteen battalions of Bavarian infantry, two batterys and eighteen squadrons of cavalry.  Many of the cavalry continued to wear the heavy breastplate and iron ‘lobster’ helmet normally associated with the Ironsides of the English Civil War fame which they still carried from their battles in the Turkenkreig where the added protection to the back of the neck and shoulders was important in defeating the Turkish cavalry in melee.

The cavalry was massed to the Bavarian right flank, but offset from the Brandenburg horse, thereby counting on the village of Unterscharf to screen their own right flank.  It appears that Graf Santini hoped to avoid a major cavalry melee while using his own horse to punch a hole through the left center of the Brandenburg army.  The preponderance of the Bavarian infantry where 18 battalions faced but 9 of Brandenburgers also leads to the conclusion that if the cavalry attack were to fail the Bavarians might yet overpower the isolated Brandenburg foot before aid could be sent to them.

The next illustration shows the initial advance of the Bavarians down the short slope of the Adlerberg (or Eagle’s Hill as it is known locally). 

While this was expected to be a double attack situation, as it turned out the Brandenburgers barely advanced a score of yards and the Danes did not advance at all before the fighting began.  The Brandenburg cavalry can be seen in the next illustration as they are already hopelessly out of contact and have their forces dividing to try to find a way around Unterscharf.  This is occurring while the Bavarian cavalry is itself getting disordered from trying to fit too many squadrons into a front before the center of the Brandenburg army.

Count Santini had unfortunately misjudged the placement of his artillery and throughout the short action that followed they rarely had a chance to fire in support of their countrymen. 

Here the illustrious Dessau tries to make sense of what to do about his left flank of cavalry.

The Danish foot though proved up to the task and with the nearby encouragement of Dessau they did not break when the Bavarian cavalry launched its attack on their ranks.  Coolly firing and stepping back rank upon rank they decimated the Bavarian horse before they could get to saber reach.  Not a single Danish unit was ever in trouble and the back ranks of the Bavarians squadrons, being primarily unarmored Dragoons, were even less able to make any headway.  A last ditch attempt to speed up the Bavarian infantry was unable to offset the failure of the cavalry action.  Although the Bavarian foot maintained rigid lines and engaged the Brandenburgers opposite them in well aimed and fired volleys, no advantage could be said to accrue to either of these forces.

Judging that the opportunity had slipped away from him Count Santini ordered a general withdrawal southeastwards towards his depot at Donauworth which was executed with precision by his infantry.  The few attempts by the lagging Brandenburg horse to interfere with the orderly withdrawal were sent off by deliberate fire and good order amongst the Bavarians.

It has been judged that Dessau earned a major and decisive victory for the King in Prussia as after the battle he was able to re-occupy almost the entire of the Duchy of Brandenburg-Ansbach before marching westwards for his rendezvous with Prince Eugene on the Rhine. Max Emanuel for his part was able to occupy the Veste at Coburg, the ancestral seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollern family while the battle was occurring but his faith in Count Santini had been dealt a blow and his infantry and cavalry was in need of further reinforcements and training before the upcoming campaign of 1704.