Siege of Genoa (1747)

Prelude

The Austrians had captured and then lost Genoa the previous year, and made it the central objective of their strategy for 1747. They decided on attacking Genoa before they would consider further operations against Naples or an invasion of France, especially because the Invasion of the Provence in winter 1746-47 had been a failure.

Maximilian Browne was appointed commander of all Imperial forces in Italy, and Count Schulenburg of the Imperial forces that would attack Genoa. The plan was to starve Genoa into submission, and in order to cut off all approaches by sea, the British fleet began a naval blockade in February.

The Siege

Schulenburg's force reached the outskirts of the city in April, but realising they needed more troops they waited until twelve battalions of infantry from their Sardinian allies arrived in June. The delay allowed the French and Spanish to send reinforcements to the city under Joseph Marie de Boufflers to bolster the garrison. A major attack on the city was launched on 21 May, but the defenses of Genoa held, despite the fact that Boufflers contracted smallpox, and would die in early July.

The approach of a strong Franco-Spanish force under Marshal Belle-Isle and General Las Minas, pressured the Sardinians to withdraw to try to defend a possible threat to Milan, and Schulenberg then abandoned the siege blaming the Sardinians. The failed siege led to recriminations between Vienna and Turin with both complaining to their British allies in London about the alleged betrayal of the other.

References

Bibliography

• Lodge, Sir Richard. Studies in Eighteenth Century Diplomacy 1740-1748. John Murray, 1930.
• Browning, Reed. The War of the Austrian Succession. Alan Sutton Publishing, 1994.

References

1. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Eo4DAAAAYAAJ/page/211/mode/1up Bodart, Gaston. Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905), 1867. ]
2. Browning 1994, p. 293.
3. Browning 1994, p. 297.
4. Browning 1994, p. 297-298.
5. Lodge p.262-64
6. Browning 1994, p. 310.