Battle of Rocroi

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{{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=Battle of Rocroi |partof=the Thirty Years' War |image=Image:Rocroi.jpg |caption=The future Prince de Condé at the Battle of Rocroi. |date=May 19, 1643 |place=Rocroi, France |result=Decisive French victory |combatant1=France |combatant2=Spain |commander1=Prince de Condé |commander2=Francisco de Melo
Count of Fuentes † |strength1=16,000 infantry
6,000 cavalry
14 guns |strength2=15,000 infantry
5,000 cavalry
18 guns |casualties1=2,000 dead
2,000 wounded |casualties2=3,500 dead or wounded
3,826 captured }} Template:Campaignbox Thirty Years' War Swedish-French Intervention

The Battle of Rocroi, fought May 19, 1643, resulted in a decisive victory of the French army under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, at that time Duke of Enghien, against the Spanish army under General Francisco de Melo.

The Spanish-Imperial Army of about 27,000 men, advanced from Flanders, through the Ardennes, and into northern France to relieve pressure on the Franche-Comté and Catalonia. The Spanish troops set siege to Rocroi, which lay athwart the route to the Oise. The French, under the command of 21-year-old Duc Louis 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 defile 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 tercios. The two armies bivouaked in their positions for the night.

Image:Battle rocroi.gif The battle began just after dawn. The French army attacked. The French infantry, in the centre, was worsted by the Spanish. The cavalry on the French left, advancing against the Enghien's orders was also thrown back. But the cavalry on the French right wing, under the command of Gassion, routed the Spanish cavalry opposite, and Enghien was able to follow this up by attacking the exposed left flank of the Spanish infantry. Spanish cavalry made a succesful 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 attacking the rear of the Spanish infantry. He smashed 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 thrown back by the stubborn Spanish squares, so Enghien arranged for his artillery and the captured Spanish guns to blast them apart.

The tercios, stuck in the middle, were unable to break out and were mown down by the artillery. The surrounded tercios decided to surrendered to the French. However, when Enghien and his officers came forward to accept the Spanish surrender, they were mistaken for another French attack and fired upon. Outraged by this, Enghien ordered an all-out attack. The remnants of the Spanish squares were broken and butchered. Total Spanish losses were almost 7,500 dead, wounded, or captured. French losses were about 4,000. One tercio allowed to return home to Spain and another left with only its swords and lives.

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Significance

The battle was an important propaganda victory for Mazarin and the future Condé. It was also the first major defeat in battle of a Spanish army in a century, although historians have noted that Melo's German, Walloon, and Italian troops were the first to surrender 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 and inaugurated the period of French military predominance, although Spain continued to win major battles and remained a great, but slowly declining power, for many years.

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