Battle of Piacenza

Battle of Piacenza (1746)
	Part of the War of the Austrian Succession
	; The battle at Piacenza in 1746; painting by Karl von Blaas (Museum: Belvedere)
Date	16 June 1746
Location	Piacenza, Italy
Result	Austrian victory
Belligerents
Habsburg Austria	Kingdom of Spain; Kingdom of France; Kingdom of Naples; Republic of Genoa
Commanders and leaders
Prince Liechtenstein; Count Botta Adorno; Maximilian Browne	Count of Gages; Marquis Maillebois
Strength
40,000–45,000	40,000–44,000; --25,000 Spanish & allies; --15,000 French
Casualties and losses
3,400–3,500	10,000–13,000

The Battle of Piacenza or Battle of St. Lazaro (16 June 1746) was fought between a Austrian army and a Bourbon army near Piacenza, in Northern Italy during the War of the Austrian Succession. The Bourbon army consisted of a large Spanish force commanded by Jean Bonaventure du Mont, comte de Gages and a somewhat smaller French corps led by Jean-Baptiste Francois des Marets, marquis de Maillebois. Gages' command included allied Neapolitan and Genoese soldiers. The Austrian army was commanded by Josef Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein. The Bourbon generals determined to attack because the Austrians were about to be reinforced by a Sardinian corps. The Franco-Spanish assault was anticipated by the Austrian generals and it failed with heavy losses. The defeat caused the Bourbon army to retreat to Genoa, though it had to fight its way out at the subsequent Battle of Rottofreddo.