Relief of Thionville


The Relief of Thionville took place from 6 to 7 June 1639, during the Thirty Years' War.

Prelude

The Battle

The Marshal of Feuquières with 13,000 Frenchmen invests the Thionville plaza in Lorraine, rescued by Cardinal Infante and Ottavio Piccolomini with 6,000 knights and 10-14,000 infantrymen, a Spanish contingent led by the Luxembourgish baron Jean de Beck, with the third of Naples and the artillery directed by Ernest de Suys.
In the morning, the Imperials attack the opposing positions, then the battle to stop that allows the French to line up, while Piccolomini sends reinforcements inside the fortress.
The Imperials return to the attack and conquer the hill on the left side to the French, where Piccolomini places the artillery. The French cavalry, beaten by the imperial artillery, is charged by the imperial cavalry by the Marquis Camillo Gonzaga, is defeated and persecuted, even if the Gonzaga remain among the fallen. The besieged make an exit against the French right flank.
The imperialists envelop and defeat the French infantry, capturing all the artillery and numerous materials. The losers leave 5-6,000 of the dead and wounded, 3,000 prisoners including Feuquieres, who dies from his injuries, and Count Pas, commander of the infantry. The winners have 1,500 fallen.

Aftermath

Feuquières, wounded in the fighting, was captured by the Imperial forces and died in captivity. In recognition of his victory, Piccolomini was created Duke of Amalfi by the Spanish Crown on 28 June.
In 1643 the Duc d'Enghien capitalised on his victory at Rocroi by pushing on to Thionville, which fell after a stubborn defence by the Spanish garrison.