Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo

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Part of the War of the Austrian Succession

Date	September 30, 1744
Location	Cuneo, Italy
Result	Franco-Spanish victory

Combatants

France
Spain

Kingdom of Sardinia

Commanders

Prince of Conti
Infante Philip

Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia

Strength

Unknown

Casualties

2,100 dead or wounded

5,000 dead, wounded, or captured

War of the Austrian Succession: Italian Campaigns
Campo Santo – Villafranca – Casteldelfino – Velletri – Madonna dell'Olmo – Bassignano – Piacenza – Rottofreddo - Assietta

The Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo (also Battle of Cuneo) yielded a major victory for the armies of France and Spain over the Kingdom of Sardinia in the War of the Austrian Succession. It was fought on the outskirts of Cuneo on September 30, 1744.

The battle was the result of an attempt by the Sardinians to relieve Cuneo, then under siege by the Bourbon allies. In what Voltaire later called "the best-orchestrated enterprise of the war," Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia assembled a superior army and struck the vulnerable Franco-Spanish siege lines. Conti's resources were few, his army exhausted by a long campaign, and his communications tenuous. If beaten, retreat would be difficult. Charles Emmanuel, conversely, was secure in his kingdom and could retreat at his leisure.

The French and Spaniards fought well and did not retreat. Charles Emmanuel was repulsed with a loss of 5,000 men; the French lost 1,200 and the Spaniards 900. Conti was twice wounded and had two horses shot dead beneath him. But his victory, however impressive, did little to improve his position in the long term.

The defenders of Cuneo held, and by season's end the French and Spaniards, thinned by attrition and mired in torrential weather, lifted the siege, having failed to reach the Spanish armies in the south.

Voltaire concluded, "it is almost always the fate of those who campaign in the Alps without being masters of the territory; to lose their armies even in victory."