The Battle of Francavilla was fought on 20 June 1719 near the city of

Francavilla di Sicilia Francavilla di Sicilia ( Sicilian: ''Francavigghia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Messina on the island of Sicily, southern Italy. It has a population of about 3,900 people and is situated in the southern part of the prov ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

between Spain and Austria as part of the

War of the Quadruple Alliance The War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718–1720) was caused by Spanish attempts to recover territories in Italy (geographical region), Italy ceded in the 1713 Peace of Utrecht. Largely focused on Sicily, it included minor engagements in North Amer ...

Prelude

After the destruction of the Spanish fleet in the

Battle of Cape Passaro The Battle of Cape Passaro, also known as Battle of Avola or Battle of Syracuse, was a major naval battle fought on 11 August 1718 between a fleet of the British Royal Navy under Admiral Sir George Byng and a fleet of the Spanish Navy under R ...

in August 1718, the invading army of 30,000 men under the Marquis of Lede were isolated on the island of Sicily. In 1718, the Austrians still had most of their troops in the Balkans until the conclusion of the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–18 in the

Treaty of Passarowitz The Treaty of Passarowitz, or Treaty of Požarevac, was the peace treaty signed in Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, german: Passarowitz), a town that was in the Ottoman Empire but is now in Serbia, on 21 July 1718 between the Ottoman ...

on 21 July 1718. A first Austrian attempt to attack the Spanish from

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

had failed, when they were defeated in the Battle of Milazzo on 15 October 1718. They did succeed to hold a small bridgehead around Milazzo. By June 1719 the Austrians had moved an experienced army of 24,000 men under the Count de Mercy from the Balkans to the south of Italy, where they were sailed across the

Messina Strait The Strait of Messina ( it, Stretto di Messina, Sicilian: Strittu di Missina) is a narrow strait between the eastern tip of Sicily ( Punta del Faro) and the western tip of Calabria ( Punta Pezzo) in Southern Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian S ...

by the British fleet. The Spanish had abandoned the siege of Milazzo and pulled back to a more favorable position around the village of

, where they were covered by a river and a monastery on a hill.

The battle

On the morning of 22 June, the Austrians attacked the fortified Spanish positions in three columns. The first column attacked the fortified village of Francavilla three times, but was pushed back every time. The second column succeeded in conquering the trenches on the foot of the monastery hill, but were stopped by the second Spanish line. The Count de Mercy was wounded in this phase of the battle. The third column attacked the Spanish left flank, drove them off the San Juan hill, but were themselves pushed back under heavy Spanish fire and had to take cover in a crevice, suffering many casualties including general Holstein, who led the attack. The Spanish artillery under the Marquis of Villadarias played a crucial role during the battle, causing many casualties and confusion in the Austrian army. The battle raged until evening, when a counterattack by the Spanish cavalry removed all hopes of an Austrian victory. The Austrians withdrew, leaving 3,100 dead and wounded. The Spanish losses were 2,000 dead and wounded.

Aftermath

The Marquis de Lede didn't pursue the Austrians, giving them the opportunity to recover from this defeat. The Austrians later besieged Messina, which fell after 9 enemy attacks. The war continued until the peace was signed in the

Treaty of The Hague (1720) The 1720 Treaty of The Hague was signed on 17 February 1720 between Spain and the Quadruple Alliance, established by the 1718 Treaty of London. Its members included Britain, France, the Dutch Republic and Austria. By signing, Spain joined the A ...

on 17 February 1720. The Spanish troops had to evacuate Sicily, and were transported back to Spain by the British Navy. The island of Sicily became an Austrian possession.

References

Bibliography

* Chandler, David G. ''The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough.'' Spellmount Limited, (1990).
BATALLA DE FRANCAVILLA (20 de junio de 1719)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francavilla Battles involving Spain Battles involving Austria Military history of Sicily Conflicts in 1719 1719 in Europe Battles of the War of the Quadruple Alliance 18th century in the Kingdom of Sicily 1719 in Italy