Battle of Casteldelfino The Battle of Casteldelfino was a military engagement in July 1744 during the War of the Austrian Succession between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia . Preliminary moves . An initial French offensive into Piedmont had been beaten off after three days of fighting in the Varaita valley , near the village of Casteldelfino ( 7 – 10 October 1743 ) . < br > In July 1744 , a French army under Prince Contì tried to enter Piedmont from the western Alps . The first columns of the French army took the head of the Stura and Maira valleys , while three other columns , the 7th , 8th and 9th , were positioned at the head of the Varaita valley . The 7th column was composed of six battalions under Lieutenant General Don Louis Gandinga . It left Guillestre and came through San Paul and Maurin , taking the head of Col d ' Agnello to threaten the valley of Chateau Dauphine ( Casteldelfino ) . It then withdrew to gain Acceglio in the Maira valley in support of the 6th column under Lieutenant General Compte de Lautrec , who had orders to gain Preit village to threaten the Maira . Marquis de Camposanto , a Lieutenant General with five battalions that composed the 8th column , advanced from the camp of Pontcernieres near Briancon , just short of the Varaita and Maira valleys . Baillì de Givri , a Lieutenant General at the head of ten battalions that formed the 9th column , captured the Montgeneve gap and descended into the valley of Cesana to deceive the Sardinian king Charles Emmanuel III . Givri made a feint and took Gardetta at the valley of Bellino and also seized the top of Col du Bondormir that dominates the valley of Chateau Dauphin . Brigadier General François de Chevert commanded 1 , 500 men from several regiments and four companies of grenadiers from Poitou ’ s brigade . All these nine columns were at the positions assigned by Contì after traveling on roads heavily soaked by rain . Prince Conti and Philip of Spain , known as the ' Infant of Spain ' , going down to the Col de l ’ Argentera at the head of their column , took Bersezio in the Stura valley before the rock of the Barricade . The Savoyard Lieutenant General Pallavicini , informed by his spies that three enemy corps were approaching with an envelopment maneuver , abandoned the high and the low Lobiera and the camp of the Montagnetta , strong positions for any army to take . After his success , Prince Conti was worried about the situations of the columns that were fighting on his left . The Marechal de camp de Villemur sent an officer to give news of the victory on the right , but the messenger drowned . Other couriers were sent at the same time to Ballì de Givrì and Marquis Pallavicini , but they were not able to arrive in time to stop the futile fight in the Varaita Valley . Lieutenant General de Gandica , at the head of the 7th column , took Acceglio in the Maira Valley , then went into the Varaita valley to support the 8th and the 9th columns . Marquis de Camposanto , chief of the 8th column , reached the mountain of Traversiera with five battalions . To arrive there he marched to the foot of Mont Peirol , where he advanced against the entrenched camp at the Bicocca plateau . His purpose was not a general assault . He only wished to create some noise and to avoid the enemy ' s presence at the main entrenchments of Pierre Longue . Ballì de Grivri made a feint and came with the 9th column from Briancon to the other side of the Montgeneve . He then came back and went to Col d ' Agnello . He commanded Compte de Danois , a Lieutenant General , and ten battalions , of whom three were from Poitou ' s regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Morenne . He also had a vanguard under Chevert , who commanded a detachment of 1 , 500 men and four companies of grenadiers . Chevert attacked the outpost of Chayol on July 16 , but withdrew after exchanging fire with enemy forces near Gardetta . During the night of the 16th and 17th , the French camped at Chayol while Savoyard troops did the same at Gardetta . At around this time , the French were informed about enemy positions by a spy . The Battle . With Chevert knowing that the enemy had equivalent numbers , he decided to attack . French grenadiers struggled to make inroads into Bondormir and had to assault several staunchly defended buildings in the process . At this time , Danois arrived with Poitou ’ s brigade . Chevert ordered an outflanking maneuver to trap the enemy , but the Sardinians retreated in good order under the cover of 300 dragoons . The French army descended to Celle di Bellino after destroying the buildings at Gardetta . They then headed to Bondormir and still had difficulties taking the trenches . From here they climbed over Pierrelongue and joined other detached groups arriving from parallel paths . Chevert now wanted an immediate full - scale attack and a French war council agreed to launch this assault the next day . As soon as the Piedmontese could see the enemy on top of Pierrelongue , they destroyed the communications running from Bondormir and prepared defenses . The enemy was preparing a better zig - zag path through Pierrelongue ’ s ravine on the north face to reach the top of the mountain . Chevert had to prepare the attack with 1 , 500 men and they had to take the Pas du Chat , a deep ravine with slippery terrain . At the end of this gap , there were 400 Piedmontese grenadiers and a battery of cannons . When Chevert moved , the mountain was covered by thick fog , and he was not able to see the trenches . He received a whole volley from some grenadiers who could hear him but they could not recognize his position . Chevert ordered a faster descent , to fix bayonets , and to avoid any exchange of fire with the enemy . The French charged and the enemy withdrew towards the redoubt of the Baraccone in great confusion . The Piedmontese abandoned their tents and burned three great stacks of wood to inform Bicocca ' s garrison that Pierrelongue was in French hands . The French column descended from Pierrelongue without great loss , despite heavy artillery shelling . It attacked the second redoubt on the Battagliola peak , forcing the Sardinians to flee . The French stopped their advance at Battagliola and held this position for about two hours to attend Mass and to take some rest . They later advanced against the heavily defended Mount Cavallo redoubt . The Sardinian commanders were Verger and Brigadier Chevalier Castagnole . Before the battle Chevert sent his aide - de - camp to Verger , a major of the Regiment de Provence , to intimate the surrender or run the risk of having the entire garrison executed . Verger declined the call for surrender . Chevert ordered an immediate attack , but he wanted to inform de Givrì so the latter would come to his aid . Chevert told de Givri to do nothing without first being given orders . Poor supply conditions convinced Chevert that a massive attack was required to rescue the situation . Chevert ’ s troops were to attack the battery while Poitou ’ s brigade would advance on his right . In the center there was the regiment of Provence . Colonel Salis had to take a plateau over the Bellino ravine to avoid the presence of four Sardinian battalions south of the mountain . The column advanced without sacks to be more efficient in combat , but it could not advance in good order on such mountainous terrain ; some soldiers went over to the others and the three corps attacked in only one great column . The weather was very dark on that day and a great , thick fog covered the redoubt ; the French arrived within 50 meters of enemy positions undetected . A fierce exchange of fire opened the fight . The French were on open ground and took a heavy pounding . They had been fighting for more than four hours at a range of only 10 paces from the Sardinian positions and eventually had to withdraw . De Givrì wanted to continue the fight and sent in a fresh line of battalions . The attack was renewed with such courage and bravery that the French again reached the palisades , but they were ejected with great loss . De Givrì , badly wounded in the thigh during this second assault , ordered his men to withdraw . Since the order arrived in the middle of the action , soldiers of Poitou ’ s regiment wanted to continue the fight and asked for the flag . This was a dangerous moment , with bullets flying everywhere . Danois ordered a withdrawal because many higher ranking officers were either killed or badly wounded , but the soldiers did not obey . They knew it would be a precarious withdrawal and decided to take down the palisade instead . They were fortunate that Colonel Salis left his position at that moment and attacked the redoubt from the rear . This action decided the battle : when the Sardinians moved to stop Salis ' attack , a renewed charge by the French carried all before them and compelled the Sardinians to surrender . The battle finished one hour before the night of July 19 , 1744 . The Sardinian army lost 1 , 350 men . French losses were also significant . Aftermath . Charles Emmanuel III removed all artillery from the forts of San Carlo and Bertola an Chateau when he heard of the defeat . He went to Chateau Dauphin to receive the 200 survivors of the Mount Caval massacre . Charles then left Chateau Dauphin and went to Sampeyre , where he met general Guibert , who was at Bicocca . He also gave orders to the knights of Cumiana to evacuate the Maira valley . Marquis de Frabosa was told to leave the Stura Valley and to reach the defensive line of Castigliole - Saluces , where the main army was waiting . The dead of Pierrelongue were buried on the battleground and the wounded were transferred to Chateau Dauphin . The French wounded were recovered in the ruins of the redoubt of Mount Cavallo . Danois , who was now the commander , permitted his soldiers three days of looting at Bellino and Chateau Dauphin . In the early hours of the 20th , French soldiers arrived at these two villages and pillaged houses and churches . In Bellino they killed two men and in Chateau Dauphin they took the abandoned supplies of the Sardinian forces . The village of Pontechianale was saved thanks to the generosity of Danois , but it had to give 50 men who were used for eight days to transport wounded French soldiers away from the front . Givri was taken to Lyon and died a few days later from his wounds . Conclusion . The Comte de Gages , arriving with the Spanish Army too late to join in the engagement , wrote to his colleagues serving with the " Infante " Philip : " We may again find occasion to match French valour in this war , but no army will ever surpass the gallantry I saw at Casteldelfino . " Prince Conti , in a report to Louis XV of France , described it as : " the most brilliant and lively action that ever came to pass . " He added : " The men there showed valour beyond all humanity . Our brigades have doused themselves in glory . " While the action at Casteldelfino raged , the bulk of the Franco - Spanish army moved against the Sardinians in the Stura valley and skillfully swept past the enemy fortifications along the Stura di Demonte . The allies had reached the plains of southern Piedmont . This battle is sometimes now remembered as the " Battle of Pierrelongue " , to distinguish it from the previous " Battle of Casteldelfino " ( October 1743 ) .