| Battle Of Gergovia |
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| 52 bc | |
| battles of caesars gallic wars | |
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The Battle of Gergovia took place in 52 BC in Gaul at Gergovia, the chief town of the Arverni .This site is identified with Merdogne, now called Gergovie , a village located on a hill in the Auvergne , near modern Clermont-Ferrand , France . There, some walls and earthworks still survive from the pre-Roman Iron Age. The battle was fought between a Roman Republic army, led by Proconsul Julius Caesar , and Gallic forces led by Vercingetorix . The Gauls won the battle. PRELUDE Vercingetorix had earlier been expelled from Gergovia''De Bello Gallico'', Leaving two legions and all his baggage train behind in Caesar then besieged and captured Avaricum and resupplied there. THE BATTLE With the winter almost over, Caesar went in person to win back Aedui support and backing, and then detached a force of four legions under In response, Vercingetorix broke down all the bridges over the River Allier and began to march along its opposite bank. This did not prevent Caesar from crossing, but Vercingetorix continued to advance his force faster than Caesar's, so that the choice of when and where to give battle remained his. Five days later Caesar reached Gergovia and, realising its mountainous location made a full frontal assault risky, relied on his superior siege tactics.The overall account of the battle may be found in ''De Bello Gallico'', He ordered a double trench, 12 feet wide, to be constructed between a captured hill and his main camp. Intending to completely encircle Gergovia and starve the Gauls inside, Caesar was interrupted by trouble with his Gallic allies the Aedui whom he combatted and defeated after a desperate struggle. Then realising his siege was in danger he came back to Gergovia and realised his idea for a siege would fail. His only chance now of victory was to get Vercingetorix off the high ground. He used a legion as a decoy and moved onto the better ground. He then ordered a general retreat to fool Vercingetorix and pull him off the high ground but Vercingetorix out-thought Caesar and fell back into the town, with most of Caesar's force missing his signal to retreat due to being too far away and pressing home a direct assault on the town's defences. This led to the loss of 46 centurions and 700 and over 6,000 wounded on the Roman side, compared to the several hundred Gauls killed and wounded, and to Caesar's raising his siege and advancing instead into Aedui territory. REFERENCES |
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