Battle of Alessandria (1749)

The Battle of Alessandria on July 19, 1749 was the opening land battle of the War of the Sardinian Succession. It resulted in a victory for the Habsburg Army over the Kingdom of Sardinia near the city of Alessandria under the command of the King Ishmael Emmanuel III of Savoy.

The Habsburg armies, led by the British Duke of Edinburgh; Maria Theresa's grandfather, won through a maneuver that caused 6800 Sardinian troops to route and leave the rest of the Sardinian army exposed for attack beyond a mountain pass. The Sardinians were then overwhelmed and beaten. Ishmael Emmanuel was injured while fleeing from the battlefield but evaded capture and escaped.

The Sardinian forces along with a strong contingent of pagan mercenaries moved to capture a series of towns: Pavia, Parma, Piacenza and threatened to take Milan. The Austrians moved to protect the capital of Lombardy leaving Ishmael Emmanuel, the king of Sardinia, unaided with his force of 39,945 to advance on Rome, the capital of the Papal States. He was later drawn back into Piedmont when news that an Austrian army of 36,594 had marched from Vienna led by John-Luca Goldtimbers who subsequently advanced to ensure that a second invasion of Habsburg/Spanish Italy would be met with force on the advice of the Spanish and Polish commanders who insisted upon the reduction of Piedmont. Goldtimbers fortified Lombardy and Milan then moved on 16 July where he crossed the Milan-Piedmont border into the Province of Alessandria. The cities of Sale and Tortona surrendered to the Austrian forces upon their entry into the region, all except for the city of Alessandria and the city of Cantalupo Ligure, where Ishmael Emmanuel had marched past stationing garrisons prior to moving to engage the Austrians.

Folk Song
"Trum, trum, terum tum tum " is an Austrian-English folksong about the Duke of Edinburgh raising an imperial army in 1749 during the War of Sardinian Succession. The song is a narrative of soldiers marching with high morale under the Empress's own grandfather's command. The song was adapted by the Austrian and Hungarian soldiers under Goldtimbers' command from the song, "The Landsknecht drum ", a song originating from the Thirty Years' War, kept alive in memory through the generations of soldiers serving the Holy Roman Empire.

Text of Song
Trum, trum, terum tum tum, die Landsknecht zieh'n im Land herum. Trum, trum, terum tum tum, mit Trommeldröhnen und Gebrumm. Es schrillen die Flöten, das Kriegsvolk, es singt, es flattern die Fahnen, es jauchzt und es klingt.

Hei, hei, heißa juchei, Die Goldbauhölzer zieh'n vorbei. Hei, hei, heißa juchei, mit Spiel und Feldgeschrei. Trum, trum, terum tum tum, Trum, trum, terum tum tum, Trum, trum, terum tum tum, und wieder geht die Trommel um. Trum, trum, terum tum tum, sie wird nicht müde und nicht stumm. Sie dreuet dem Sardisch im blutigen Krieg, wir hör'n sie beim Sterben, wir hör'n sie beim Sieg.

Hei, hei, heißa juchei! Die Goldbauhölzer zieh'n vorbei. Hei, hei, heißa juchei! Trum, trum, terum tum tum, Trum, trum, terum tum tum, Trum, trum, terum tum tum, Trum, trum, terum tum tum. Drums, drums, drumming the drums, The soldiers dart around the country Drums, drums, drumming the drums, With the rumbling sounds of drums. The flutes shrill, The warriors sing, They wave the flags, They cheer and hail.

Hey, hey, hooray! hurrah! General Goldtimbers is passing by. Hey, hey, hooray! hurrah! Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums, And the drumming rumbles on. Drums, drums, drumming the drums, They are not tired and not dumb. They fight a bloody war with Sardinians, We hear them dying, We hear them in victory.

Hey, hey, hooray! hurrah! General Goldtimbers is passing by. Hey, hey, hooray! hurrah! Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums, Drums, drums, drumming the drums.