Spain & France in the Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years War between 1618 and 1648 was mainly fought on German soil. Most of the European powers took part in these battles. The Netherlands for example were under Spanish rule until the seven northern protestant provinces broke with Spain. The southern provinces, today´s Belgium, remained in the arch-catholic Spanish hands. France became a threat to Spain when it set about taking up the hegemony in Europe from Spain.
In 1621 Spain revived the war against the Netherlands and intervened on Austria´s side in the Thirty Years War. By doing so, Spain fell out with France and fought a string of battles until the end of the century.
Like in 1642 Don Fancisco de Melo, commander of the Spanish-Netherlands Army, decided to invade northern France in spring 1643. His intentions were to remove the burden from the Spanish army fighting the French in Catalonia and to turn away the danger of a possible French invasion of the Spanish Franche-Comté (county of Burgundy). To divert the entire attention towards him, de Melo marched from the southern Netherlands towards Paris in early May 1643. On May 12, de Melo, joined by the Flemish Comte d'Isembourg, appeared on the plateau outside the fortress walls of Rocroi and laid siege to the town. The 600 men strong garrison knew about the importance of Rocroi as it was the one and only fortress on the way to Paris: if Rocroi was taken, Paris would fall.
To avoid disaster the 21 year old Louis II, Duc d´Enghien and Prince of Condé was appointed to rally the French troops against the Spaniards. Louis was born in Paris, the son of Henry II of Bourbon, and Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency. As a boy, under his father's careful supervision, he studied diligently at the Jesuits College at Bourges and at seventeen, in the absence of his father, he governed Burgundy. The Duc d'Enghien, as he was styled during his father's lifetime, took part with distinction in the campaigns of 1640 and 1641 in northern France while still under twenty years of age.
To de Melo´s surprise Enghien and his 16.000 infantry as well as 6.000 cavalry managed to arrive in the afternoon of 17th May in a forced march about one kilometre south of Rocroi. There he met de Melo and his 8.000 cavalry and 17.000 infantry. The plateau, some six kilometres wide, was bordered by impenetrable thickets, marshy ground, and a lake, and it had very few paths through which a retreat might be made if the Spanish were to gain the advantage. Nevertheless, the duke could not wait, for a French deserter had brought news of the impending arrival of strong Spanish forces led by the German commander Beck. He decided to attack the next morning (18th May).
Now Enghien explained the battle plan to his generals. Only after the briefing did he inform them about the death of the French king Louis XIII in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He made them swear in the new only five year old king Louis XIV, as well as in the regency of Cardinal Mazarin, who was supposed to rule until the king´s full age. Troops were not informed because he feared a demoralization of the army and wanted to bring the news after the battle.
Close to disaster
De Melo did not interrupt the next morning, when Enghien deployed his troops. De Melo did not want to put to flight the French forces, he wanted to annihilate them. The Spanish troops were only lightly superior to the French, but they were more than a match due to their excellent training. Not without good reason the Spanish Tercios passed for the superior infantry for a century.
By 18.00 hours Enghien hat manoeuvred his units into position in effective range of the Spanish artillery. His left wing, commanded by himself and Marechal de Camp Comte de Gassion, was on a lightly ascending ground but was separated by a small wood from the Spanish-Dutch cavalry of the Duke of Albuquerque. There de Melo had sent a detachment of musketeers to delay or stop the advancing French cavalry.
The left French wing under Marechal de L´Hopital and Marechal de Camp La Ferté-Senneterre was positioned in a depression, ideally protected by a swamp against a sudden flank attack. De Melo commanded the Spanish-Alsatian right cavalry-wing opposite L´Hopital, whereas the Flemish Lieutenant-General Count de Fontaine kept the ascending ground in the centre with his infantry.
Everything pointed to an immediate start of the battle. However, this came to nothing by a solitary decision of La Ferté-Senneterre. He pulled out half of the cavalry of the left French wing and made arrangements to circulate the Spanish cavalry in order to liberate the beleagured Rocroi, a terrible manoeuvre because he had to cross the swamp at his furthest left flank facing the entire Spanish army. Melo immediately attacked with his cavalry. Enghien on the contrary rushed to his relief ordered the impetuous La Ferté- Senneterre back to his original position and shielded his retreat, whereas de Melo got disconcerted and threw away a possible victory. This was the end of all action on the 18th of May. Nightfall made further activity impossible.
According to the memoirs of the French Baron de Sirot the Battle of Rocroi started at 04.00 hours of the 19th of May. The two armies were disposed along slightly elevated ridges, between which lay the hollow with its brushwood and copses. Enghien commanded the cavalry on the right wing, with Gassion as second in command. In place of his helmet the prince wore a hat with large white plumes, remembering, perhaps, how Henri of Navarre's white plumes had served as a rallying point. Marshal l'Hopital commanded the cavalry on the French left, Baron d'Espenan commanded the infantry in the centre, and Baron Sirot the reserves. The right of the Spanish army was composed of the German horse led by de Malo, the Walloons on the left were under the Duke of Albuquerque, while in the centre were the veteran Spanish infantry under the command of General Fuentes, who had often led them to victory. He was too old and infirm to mount a horse, but lay in a litter in the midst of his hitherto unconquerable infantry.
The dare-devil attack
All being ready on both sides, the trumpet sounded, and simultaneously the cavalry of both armies moved forward. Enghien moved farther to the right and then dashing down the slopes led his cavalry along the bottom, fell suddenly upon the musketeers in ambush and cut them to pieces. Then galloping forward he fell upon the Spanish left in front and flank. The impetuous charge was irresistible; the Walloons broke and fled before it, and were speedily scattered over the plain, pursued by the victorious French. But upon the other wing de Malo's charge had proved equally irresistible. L'Hopital's horse was broken and scattered, and, wheeling his cavalry round, de Malo fell upon the flank and rear of d'Espenan's infantry, shattered them at once, captured the whole of the French artillery, and then fell upon the reserves. Baron Sirot, an officer of great courage and ability, held them together and for a time repelled the attack of the German cavalry; but these, inspirited by their previous success, continued their attacks with such fury that the reserves began to waver and fall back. Enghien was still in pursuit of the Walloons when an officer rode up with news of the disaster that had befallen the rest of the army. Enghien grasped the situation instantly, and his military genius pointed out how the battle might yet be retrieved. His trumpets instantly recalled his scattered squadrons, and galloping round the Spanish centre he fell like a thunderbolt upon the rear of de Malo's cavalry, already exulting in what appeared certain victory.
Astounded at this unlooked for attack, they in vain bore up and tried to resist it; but the weight and impetus of the French assault bore all before it, and they clove their way through the confused mass of cavalry without a pause. Then wheeling right and left they charged into the disorganized crowd of German horsemen, who, unable to withstand this terrible onslaught, broke and fled, de Malo himself galloping off the field with his disorganized troopers. Never was a more sudden change in the fate of a great battle. The French cause had appeared absolutely lost; one wing and their centre were routed; their reserves had suffered heavily, and were on the point of giving way. Humanly speaking, the battle seemed hopelessly lost, and yet in ten minutes victory had been converted into defeat, and the right and left wings of the Spanish army had ceased to exist as collected bodies. There remained the Spanish infantry, and Enghien, recklessly courageous as he was, hesitated to attack the solid formation that had hitherto proved invincible.
While still doubting whether, having defeated the rest of the army, it might not be best to allow this formidable body to march away unmolested, news reached him that General Beck, with his reinforcements, would be on the ground in an hour. This decided him, and he ordered the whole of the guns that had been rescued from their late captors to be turned on the Spanish square, and then, collecting his cavalry into a mass, dashed at it. The Spaniards remained motionless till the French line was within twenty yards of them, then men stepped aside, a number of guns poured their contents into the cavalry, while a tremendous volley swept away their front line. So terrible was the effect, so great the confusion caused by the carnage, that had the Walloon cavalry been rallied and returned to the field, the tide of the battle might again have been changed; but they were miles away, and Enghien rallied his men without a moment's delay, while the French artillery again opened fire upon the Spanish square. Again the French cavalry charged and strove to make their way into the gaps made by the artillery, but before they reached the face of the square these were closed up, and the guns and musketry carried havoc among the French squadrons, which again recoiled in confusion. Once more Enghien rallied them, and, when the French artillery had done their work, led them forward again with a bravery as impetuous and unshaken as that with which he had ridden in front of them in their first charge; nevertheless for the third time they fell back, shattered by the storm of iron and lead. Enghien now brought up his artillery to close quarters, Baron de Sirot led up the infantry of the reserve, and the attack was renewed.
The end of the Tercio
The aged Spanish general, though streaming with blood from several wounds, still from his litter encouraged his soldiers, who, stern and unmoved, filled up the gaps that had been made, and undauntedly faced their foes. But the struggle could not be long continued. The square was gradually wasting away, and occupied but half the ground which it had stood upon when the battle began. And Fuentes, seeing that further resistance could only lead to the annihilation of his little band, felt that no more could be done. There were no signs of Beck coming to his assistance. Indeed the troops of that general had been met by the cavalry in their flight; these communicated their own panic to them, and such was the alarm that the division abandoned its baggage and guns and fled from the field, where their arrival might still have turned the tide of battle.
Fuentes at last ordered his officers to signal their surrender. Enghien rode forward, but, the Spanish soldiers believing that, as before, he was but leading his cavalry against them, poured in a terrible volley. He escaped by almost a miracle, but his soldiers, maddened by what they believed to be an act of treachery, hurled themselves upon the enemy. The square was broken, and a terrible slaughter ensued before the exertions of the officers put a stop to it. Then the remaining Spaniards surrendered. The battle of Rocroi was to the land forces of Spain a blow as terrible and fatal as the destruction of the Armada had been to their naval supremacy. It was indeed a death blow to the power that Spain had so long exercised over Europe. It showed the world that her infantry were no longer irresistible, and while it lowered her prestige it infinitely increased that of France, which was now regarded as the first military power in Europe.
The losses in the battle were heavy. The German and Walloon cavalry both suffered very severely, while of the Spanish infantry not one man left the battlefield save as a prisoner, and fully two-thirds of their number lay dead on the ground. Upon the French side the losses were numerically much smaller. The German cavalry, after routing those of l'Hopital, instead of following up the pursuit hurled themselves upon the infantry, who broke almost without resistance. These also escaped with comparatively little loss, de Malo leading the cavalry at once against the French reserves. Among the cavalry commanded by the Condé the loss was very heavy, and included many men of the best blood of France. There was no pursuit; half the French cavalry were far away from the field, the rest had lost well nigh half their number, and were exhausted by the fury of the fight; indeed, the fugitive cavalry were miles away before the conflict ended. The gallant old general, Fuentes, expired from his wounds soon after the termination of the battle.
Rocroi was not a great and decisive French victory, but it was well exploited by the French propaganda to support the weak French government of Mazarin and the house of Condé. For the Spanish it was a defeat in a secondary war front, in 1644 the main activity of the Spanish was to reconquer Catalonia and most of the money and troops were for the royal army of Catalonia at the same time the territory of Franche Conté was not invaded.