Battle of Rocroi
- Date:
- May 19, 1643
- Context:
- Thirty Years’ War
Battle of Rocroi, a military engagement on May 19, 1643, during the Thirty Years’ War in which a French army of 22,000 men, under Louis II de Bourbon, the Duke d’Enghien (later known as the Great Condé), annihilated a Spanish army of 26,000 men under Don Francisco de Melo, marking the end of Spain’s military ascendancy in Europe.
After France declared war on Spain and the Hapsburg Empire in 1635, a new theater opened in the Thirty Years’ War around Flanders. At Rocroi, just over the Belgian border in the Ardennes, the young Duke of Enghien, later Prince of Condé, won his first victory, defeating the Spanish tercios formations that had long been in the ascendant.
Despite the triumph of its ally Sweden at the Second Battle of Breitenfeld, France found itself in a vulnerable position in 1643. Louis XIII had died on May 14, leaving his four-year-old son, Louis XIV, as king. On May 15 the Spanish, led by the Portuguese nobleman Francisco de Melo, besieged the town of Rocroi. Late on May 18, Enghien deployed his army on a plain near the town. De Melo set his army out opposite, both of them lining up with foot soldiers in the center flanked by cavalry.
During the night, Spain had slipped 1,000 musketeers into the woods on their left flank, hoping to surprise any French cavalry charge. However, a Spanish deserter informed Enghien of this, and he destroyed them in the early hours of May 19. At 5:00 a.m. the main battle began with a French cavalry charge. The French left wing was routed, and the Spanish cavalry wheeled around against the infantry in the center. On the other flank the French were more successful. Enghien was able to divide his right into two parts, one to pursue the Spanish left and the other to attack their right and center. This plan worked with stunning success.
By 8:00 a.m. all of the Spanish cavalry had been dispersed, and their only coherent formation was their central infantry. After two hours of heavy fighting the defiant Spanish foot soldiers finally gave way, and Enghien was able to relieve Rocroi. The battle marks one of the greatest French military victories in Europe until the Napoleonic era.
Losses: French, 2,000 dead and 2,500 wounded of 21,000; Spanish, 5,000 dead and 5,000 captured of 23,000.
