The Battle of Marsaglia was a battle in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, fought in Italy on 4 October 1693, between the French army of Marshal

Nicolas Catinat Nicolas Catinat (, 1 September 1637 – 22 February 1712) was a French military commander and Marshal of France under Louis XIV. Life The son of a magistrate, Catinat was born in Paris on 1 September 1637. He entered the Gardes Française ...

and the army of the Grand Alliance under Duke

Victor Amadeus II of Savoy Victor Amadeus II (; 14 May 166631 October 1732) was the head of the House of Savoy and ruler of the Savoyard states from 12 June 1675 until his abdication in 1730. He was the first of his house to acquire a royal crown, ruling first as King of ...

. Catinat, advancing from Fenestrelle and

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

to the relief

Pinerolo Pinerolo (; ; ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont, northwestern Italy, southwest of Turin on the river Chisone. The Lemina torrent has its source at the boundary between Pinerolo and San Pietro Val di Lemi ...

, defended by the count of Tessé and which the duke of Savoy was besieging, took up a position in formal order of battle north of the village of Marsaglia, near

Orbassano Orbassano (; ) is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin. Orbassano borders the following municipalities: Turin, Rivoli, Rivalta di Torino, Beinasco, Nichelino, Volve ...

. Here, on 4 October, the duke of Savoy attacked him with his whole army, front to front, but the greatly superior regimental efficiency of the French, and Catinat's minute attention to detail in arraying them, gave the new marshal a victory that was a worthy pendant to

Neerwinden Neerwinden () is a village in Belgium, located in the Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Landen, in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flanders. The village gives its name to two great historical battles. The first, the Battle of Neerwind ...

. The Piedmontese and their allies lost c. 12,000 killed, wounded and prisoners, as against Catinat's 1,800. Marsaglia is one of the first (if not the first) instances of a

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

charge by a long deployed line of infantry.

Hussars A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

figured here for the first time in western Europe. A regiment of them had been raised in 1692 from deserters from the Austrian service. It is also notable as one of the first major battles to see the new Irish Brigade in action for the French army.

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsaglia 1693, Battle Of 1693 in France Battles of the Nine Years' War Battles involving France Battles involving Spain Conflicts in 1693 Military history of Piedmont Orbassano