Vendôme and many of his troops were recalled to France after the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, allowing the Imperialists to break the Siege of Turin in September; fighting in Northern Italy ended with the March 1707 Convention of Milan.

In July 1701, disputes over territorial and commercial rights led to war between the Bourbon-led kingdoms of France and Spain, and the Grand Alliance, whose candidate was Charles, younger son of Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor.

With Philippe and 10,000 men blocking the closest suitable crossing point at Cassano d'Adda, Vendôme led a mobile reserve along the right bank tracking the Imperialists on the left.

[14] Assuming Prince Eugene was heading for Mantua, Vendôme ordered his brother to leave Cassano, and take up blocking positions at Rivolta d'Adda, a village about 10 kilometres away on the left bank of the Adda.

[17] On arrival, he found Philippe's troops in the process of moving and in an extremely dangerous position, with the bulk of their force caught between the Retorto canal and the Adda, and the main bridge blocked by their transport.

Vendôme ordered the baggage thrown into the river, and formed a line running from the Retorto on the left, his centre around the main bridge, and his extreme right resting on the road leading to Rivolta d'Adda, where his brother was positioned with four brigades.

Vendôme sent four regiments of the Irish Brigade to reinforce his left, but after a fierce struggle, the Imperialists captured the sluice gates, which they closed, lowering the water level in the canal enough for men to wade across it.

[6] In his own account, the Chevalier Folard, a French officer who was badly wounded in the battle, reports similar casualty figures of 3,000 and 5,000 respectively; he also suggests that if Vendôme had called on the troops left at Rivolta d'Adda, he might have won a significant victory.

[2] The two sides spent the next few weeks watching each other; Prince Eugene quickly recovered from his injuries and in early October began building barracks at Treviglio to make it seem he had decided to stay there for the winter.

Nevertheless, Victor Amadeus' position remained precarious; in December, Nice finally surrendered, and his possessions north of the Alps were held by France until the end of the war.