Battle of Madonna dell’Olmo, September 1744

Background

The Battle of Madonna dell’Olmo or Battle of Cuneo was fought on the outskirts of Cuneo on 30 September 1744, in the War of the Austrian Succession. 

The battle of Cuneo was brought about by a difference in Franco-Spanish policy during the middle part of 1744. Spain wished for an advance along the coast of Italy through Genoa to occupy the lands around Parma, which it already had been decided were going to be the future realm of Infante Philip, the third son of King Philip V of Spain and his wife, Elisabeth Farnese.

The chief aim of France was to humble Piedmont-Sardinia and to force her to detach herself from Austria, or better yet, force her to drop out of the war entirely. The French commander, the Prince of Conti, would not accept the Spanish plan of attack because he thought it was unsound, while the Spanish queen would brook no opposition to what she believed should be the key thrust of the joint Bourbon armies. In the end, a compromise was negotiated. Spain’s plan was not to be followed until after the humbling of Piedmont-Sardinia, after which the joint armies would march into Lombardy to secure the Infante Philip his new realm.

The engagement began around noon when the Croats (on loan from Austria) in the Sardinian army charged towards Madonna dell’Olmo. The Croat attack, however, was repulsed by the Spanish and even Charles Emmanuel’s grenadiers could make no headway.

On the opposite flank the French could not get to grips with the Piedmontese because of a ditch and some barricades barring the way. In the centre, however, Conti made excellent use of his artillery, which provided cover for a French infantry attack.

The battle for the centre lay in the balance until Charles Emmanuel, realising that he would not be able to capture Madonna dell’Olmo, ordered an orderly retreat. By nightfall the two armies had disengaged.

Out of a total number of 25,000, the King of Sardinia had lost 4,400 men, whilst the Bourbon losses were a little over half their enemies at 2,700 men killed or wounded. Furthermore, Conti still had his army intact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Madonna_dell%27Olmo

The Game

The game was set up based on the historical map and OB for the battle. All units represented in the game were infantry battalions, cavalry regiments and Artillery sections. The number of guns in the battle was quite small, with each section being allocated out to individual brigades. Each brigade had a commander, with overall army commanders on each side. The defenders were deployed in roughly their historical starting position (the players were given some latitude). The attackers had more flexibility, but had to set up in the general wing positions.

Truth be told, this is a game we played last year. I had some issues with loading the pictures, that I finally resolved by buying a new computer! As such, I do not actually remember what happened! I have sorted the pictures, so at least enjoy the eye candy!

• Manteuffel