Battle of Konzer Brucke
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Konzer Brücke (also: Battle of Consarbruck) was fought as part of the Franco-Dutch War
Franco-Dutch War
The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...

 on 11 August 1675 and resulted in an Imperial victory.

Prelude

In 1675 Montecuccoli
Raimondo Montecuccoli
Raimondo, Count of Montecúccoli or Montecucculi was an Italian military general who also served as general for the Austrians, and was also a prince of the Holy Roman Empire and Neapolitan Duke of Melfi....

 and Turenne had been manoeuvering between Philipsburg
Philipsburg
Philipsburg is the name of some places in the United States of America:*Philipsburg, Montana*Philipsburg, Pennsylvania Other places...

 and Strassburg for an advantage, each seeking to cover his own country and to live upon that of the enemy. At last Turenne prevailed and had the Imperialists at a disadvantage on the Sasbach
Sasbach (Ortenau)
Sasbach is a town in the district of Ortenau in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Information:Obersasbach belongs to Sasbach...

, where, in opening the action, he was killed by a cannon-shot (27 July).

Devastated by the loss of their commander, the French hastily surrendered all their advantages, and Montecucculi sharply following up their retreat, and drove them over the Rhine and almost to the Vosges.

At the same time the Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 forces under Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine
Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine
Charles IV was Duke of Lorraine from 1624 to 1634, when he abdicated under French pressure in favor of his younger brother, and again from 1661 until 1675.- Biography :...

 were besieging Trier, which Turenne had taken in the autumn of 1673.

The battle

Créquy was sent with 15,000 men and 11 guns to relieve the city.
They were stopped at the bridge over the Saar River
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...

 at Konz.

The Imperialists sent a force under Otto de Grana to occupy what is today known as the Grana-heights. Another force crossed the bridge at Konz and a third force crossed the river over a pontoon bridge.
They attacked the French camp and an indecisive battle raged for three hours. Then Otto de Grana engaged his right flank on the right moment and the French fled the battlefield, leaving behind all their guns and wagons. The Germans pursued the French over 50 kilometers.

Créquy made his way into Trier to assume command, but was forced to surrender on 9 September.

On the battlefield a Grana-memorial was erected in 1892 under Wilhelm II, not honouring Otto de Grana, but glorifying unified Germany.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK