On This Day In History: Battle Of Dormans Was Fought – On October 10, 1575

AncientPages.com - On October 10, 1575, the Battle of Dormans took place during the 5th War of Religion in France Fifth War of Religion (1575-76).

A Royal force commanded by Henry, the 3rd Duke of Guise, defeated a force of German troops coming to the aid of the Huguenots. The latter was recruited by the Protestants, mainly the English Protestants, and led by Thoré, the younger brother of the maréchal de Montmorency and Henry Comte de Damille.

 

It was the only crucial encounter during this period. The Royal forces contained an army as large as 10,000 infantry and 1,200 cavalries.
The inhabitants of Dormans had destroyed the wooden bridge linking the village to the other bank of the River Marne before the battle.

The two armies clashed at Fismes, near Dormans on the Marne. Guise had much the better of the fighting. Although both sides only lost around 50 dead, the Protestants suffered much more significant casualties.

Part of their force managed to escape from the trap, crossing the Seine near Nogent-sur-Seine, and Thoré eventually joined up with Alençon at La Châtre, between Tours and Le Mans the Loir River, some 100 miles to the south-west of Paris.

Guise routed the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay and receiving the nickname "Balafré," the same as his father, following a wound from an arquebus shot to his right cheek.

Henry's primary opponents were still in the field, and the court was desperately short of money. She managed to arrange the truce of Champigny-sur-Veude (November 21, 1575), in which most of Alençon's demands were met, but this treaty failed to take hold.

The war continued into 1576 before ending with the Edict of Beaulieu (May 5, 1576).

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