The Wars of the Two Churfursts
(Hohenzollern versus Wittelsbach)
Chapter 2 The Battle
of Erlangen
The Battle of Erlangen was fought on the 29h 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 29th (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.
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