Siege of Cuneo (1691)
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| Siege of Cuneo | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Nine Years' War | |||||||
 Siege of Cuneo 1691 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 France |
 Duchy of SavoyRelief force:  Holy Roman Empire Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Marquis de Feuquières Vivien de Bulonde |
Victor Amadeus II of Savoy Eugene of Savoy Marquis of Leganés | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 2,500 relief force[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~700–800[2] | Unknown | ||||||
The siege of Cuneo was fought on 28 June 1691 during the Nine Years' War in Piedmont-Savoy, modern-day northern Italy. The siege was part of French King Louis XIV’s campaign against Victor Amadeus, the Duke of Savoy, who had sided with the Grand Alliance the previous year. The siege was an attempt to gain a foothold on the Piedmont Plain, thus ensuring Marshal Catinat's army could winter east of the Alps. Yet due to the incompetence of the two French commanders (in fact, General Vivien de Bulonde, because of decoded messages from Louis XIV to Catinat authorizing his punishment, has been proposed by some to have been the Man in the Iron Mask) – and a timely arrival of Imperial reinforcements – the siege proved a disaster, resulting in the loss of between 700 and 800 men. Although French forces had taken Nice in the west, and Montmélian in the north, Catinat's small, ill-equipped army was forced onto the defensive. Louis XIV subsequently offered Amadeus generous peace terms but the Duke, who had by now received substantial Imperial reinforcements from the Empire, considered himself strong enough to continue hostilities.
In an attempt to free himself from French vassalage Duke Victor Amadeus of Savoy had declared for the Grand Alliance in June 1690, but in the first campaign he had suffered a major defeat by Marshal Catinat at the Battle of Staffarda on 18 August. Utilising France's main base at Pinerolo Catinat subsequently captured several other towns in the region. However, due to communication problems and poor logistics (leading to shortages in supply and men), the French were obliged to withdraw from the Piedmont plain at the end of 1690, and move into winter quarters west of the Alps.[3]
The French began the 1691 campaign early. In March Catinat crossed the border into the County of Nice to attack the southern coastal towns of Nice and Villefranche (it was imperative to take both positions because of their potential to act as a springboard for Allied land and amphibious attacks against Provence; conversely, their capture would facilitate French operations in southern Piedmont).[4] Villefranche immediately capitulated to Catinat on 20 March; the town of Nice also quickly surrendered, but its citadel held out against a detachment under General Vins until 1 April. Nice was captured for the loss of just 100 men,[2] and the whole county was now almost entirely under the control of Louis XIV. Of all the Savoyard towns west of the Alps only Montmélian, in the Duchy of Savoy, remained in the Duke's hands.
Siege
In Piedmont the Marquis de Feuquières marched south-west out of Pinerolo on 18 April to attack the Vaudois and refugee French Huguenots in Luserna. Encountering little resistance Feuquières, who had suffered defeat at Luserna the previous year, sacked the town, killing many of its inhabitants.[2] Catinat, meanwhile, ravaged the Turin–Susa route. Although the capture of Turin, Piedmont's capital, was not possible due to lack of infantry and supply, Catinat took Avigliana on 29 May, before sending a large corps under Feuquières and Bulonde to besiege Cuneo on the Stura in southern Piedmont.
Cuneo's capture would enable the French to spend the 1691–92 winter east of the Alps, but the incompetence of the two commanders turned the expedition into an unmitigated disaster.[4] On hearing the approach of a relief force of Imperial cavalry under Prince Eugene of Savoy and Spanish troops led by the Marquis of Leganés,[5] Bulonde lost his nerve and raised the siege.[6] With the loss of between 700–800 troops the French army abandoned its supplies, its wounded, and its heavy guns, degenerating into a fleeing rabble as it tried to regain Catinat's main force near Turin.[4] Cuneo's garrison had held out, and was still intact when Eugene arrived. Having reinforced the town Eugene returned to Turin.[1]