The
Battle of Rocroi was fought on 19 May 1643, late in the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
. It resulted in a decisive victory of the
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
army under the
Duc d'EnghienLouis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
, against the
SpanishThe Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania, from the 15th century through—in the case of its African holdings—the latter portion of the 20th century...
army under General
Francisco de MeloDon Francisco de Melo , Portuguese marquis of Tor de Laguna, count of Assumar, was from 1641 to 1644 governor of the Southern Netherlands....
.
Prelude
The Habsburg Spanish-Imperial army of about 27,000 men, advanced from Flanders, through the Ardennes, and into northern France to relieve French pressure on the
Franche-ComtéFranche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
and
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
. The Spanish troops set siege to
RocroiRocroi is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France.The center was a fortified city, the walls of which are in the shape of a stylised star. The Battle of Rocroi was fought here.-External links:*...
, which lay athwart the route to the valley of the
OiseOise is a department in the north of France named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Île-de-France.-Geography:...
. The French, under the command of 21-year-old Louis, duc d'Enghien, reacted quickly and forced a battle before the arrival of 6,000 Spanish reinforcements. The Spanish failed to block the route to Rocroi, which passed through a
defileDefile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills. It has its origins as a military description of a pass through which troops can march only in a narrow column or with a narrow front...
bordered by woods and marsh. Enghien advanced through the defile and assembled his force along a ridge looking down on the besieged town of Rocroi. The Spanish quickly formed up between the town and the ridge. The French army, some 23,000 strong, was arranged with two lines of infantry in the centre, squadrons of cavalry on each wing and with a thin line of artillery at the front. The Spanish army was similarly arranged, but with its infantry in their traditional
tercioThe Tercio , also known as Tercio Español, was a Renaissance era military formation similar to and derivative of the Swiss pike square and was a term used to describe a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers in a mutually supportive formation; it was also...
s, or squares. The two armies bivouacked in their positions for the night.
Battle
The battle began after dawn. The French army attacked, but the French infantry in the centre were bested by the Spanish. The cavalry on the French left, advancing against Enghien's orders was also thrown back. But the cavalry on the French right, under the command of
Jean de GassionJean, Count of Gassion was a redoutable Gascon military commander for France, prominent at the battle of Rocroi , who reached the rank of Marshal of France at the age of thirty-four...
, routed the Spanish cavalry opposite. Enghien was able to follow this up by attacking the exposed left flank of the Spanish infantry. Spanish cavalry made a successful counter-attack to drive off the French cavalry, but were checked by the advance of the French reserve.
Enghien now carried out a huge cavalry encirclement, sweeping behind the Spanish army and smashing his way through to attack the rear of the Spanish cavalry that was still in combat with his reserves. The Spanish horse was put to flight, leaving the Spanish infantry to carry on the fight. The French were twice repulsed by the stubborn Spanish squares, so Enghien arranged for his artillery and the captured Spanish guns to blast them apart.
The German and Walloon tercios fled from the battlefield, while the Spanish stayed on the field with their commander, absorbing four cavalry charges by the French, but never breaking the formation, notwithstanding heavy assistance of artillery. Young Enghien, the French commander, then offered surrender conditions just like those obtained by a besieged garrison into a fortress. Having agreed to those terms, the remains of the two tercios left the field with deployed flags and weapons.
Total Spanish losses were about 15,000 dead, wounded, or captured. French losses were about 4,000.
Significance
The battle was an important propaganda victory for Mazarin and Enghien, the future "Great Condé". It was also the first major battlefield defeat of a Spanish army in a century, although historians have noted that Melo's
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
,
WalloonWalloons are a Romance-speaking people partly from Germanic origin and Celtic origin; in any case a melting-pot speaking French, living in Belgium principally in Wallonia, more generally the inhabitants of Wallonia...
, and
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
troops actually surrendered first, while the Spanish infantry cracked only after repeated cavalry charges and a vicious spell under the French guns. In any case, Rocroi put an end to the supremacy of Spanish military doctrine. Spain continued with much success in its war against France in the main war fronts of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
and Italy, where, after initially having lost control (in the former due to a local rebellion), it recovered most of its lost ground. However, these efforts against France left Spain so drained it was unable to supply adequate military resources against the simultaneous and ultimately successful
Portuguese rebellionPortuguese Restoration War was the name given by nineteenth-century 'romantic' historians to the war between Portugal and Spain that began with the Portuguese revolution of 1640 and ended with the Treaty of Lisbon . The revolution of 1640 ended the sixty-year period of dual monarchy in Portugal...
. It was not until the defeat at the
Battle of the DunesThe Battle of the Dunes, fought on 14 June , 1658, is also known as the Battle of Dunkirk. It was a victory of the French army, under Turenne, against the Spanish army, led by John of Austria the Younger and Louis II de Condé...
in 1658 (the Spanish forces were led then by the same
d'EnghienLouis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé was a French general and the most famous representative of the Condé branch of the House of Bourbon. Prior to his father's death in 1646, he was styled the Duc d'Enghien...
, victor of Rocroi) that the linear formation had clearly superseded the tercio. The 1659
Treaty of the PyreneesThe Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed to end the 1635 to 1659 war between France and Spain, a war that was initially a part of the wider Thirty Years' War. It was signed on Pheasant Island, a river island on the border between the two countries...
ended the war in favor of France, affirming the new reality so loudly and prematurely proclaimed at Rocroi.
In media
A 2006 Spanish movie,
AlatristeAlatriste is a 2006 Spanish historical film directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, based on the main character of a series of novels written by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, The Adventures of Captain Alatriste ....
, directed by
Agustín Díaz YanesAgustín Díaz Yanes is a Spanish Goya Awards winner screenwriter and film director.- Screenwriter :* Al límite * Belmonte * Demasiado corazón * A solas contigo * Baton Rouge * Barrios altos...
, portrays this battle in its final scene. The soundtrack features in this scene a funeral march,
La Madrugá, composed by Colonel Abel Moreno for the Holy Week of Seville, played by the band of the regiment Soria 9, heir of that which participated in the battle, the oldest unit in the
Spanish ArmyThe Spanish Army is one of oldest active armies in the world and a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, in charge of land operations. King Juan Carlos I is the Supreme Commnder-in-Chief of the Army....
, and since nicknamed "the blood Tercio".
Museum
The sedan chair belonging to the Spanish infantry general Fuentes was taken as a trophy by the French and may be seen in
Les InvalidesLes Invalides in Paris, France, is a complex of buildings in the city's 7th arrondissement containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building's original purpose...
museum in Paris. Fuentes was killed in the battle.
External links