Battle of Bordeaux (1653)

Battle of Bordeaux

Part of: Thirty Years War
Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)

Estuary near Bordeaux, as seen from the Blaye Citadel

date	October 20, 1653
place	Gironde near Montagne , France
output	Spanish victory

Parties to the conflict
France	Spain
Commander
Duc de Vendôme	Marquis de Santa Cruz
Troop strength
Unknown number of naval forces ~ 3000 soldiers and militias	30 warships Three Tercios
losses
3 galleys captured, 7 brigantines captured, 2 frigates burned, 2 brigantines burned, 15 barges burned	No

The Battle of Bordeaux was a naval battle in the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659) , which was fought on October 20, 1653 in the Gironde . A Spanish fleet under Álvaro de Bazán, 3rd Marquis of Santa Cruz, had been sent to relieve Bordeaux , which at the time was held by nobles who had risen against Louis XIV during the Fronde . The Spaniards encountered a significant number of French warships belonging to the army of the Duke of Vendôme in the Blaye Canal, and captured or destroyed most of them. Shortly afterwards, around 1,600 soldiers from the Spanish Tercios landed and sacked the village of Montagne . A similar attempt on the Île de Ré was beaten back by the French, so that Santa Cruz, who had followed his instructions, returned to Spain.

background

In 1650, during the Fronde, Philip IV of Spain allied himself with the Duchess of Longueville and the Viscount de Turenne by providing them with ships, soldiers and money to help them fight his enemy, Louis XIV of France . The majority of the Spanish fleet was tied up in the blockade of Barcelona in 1651/52; only three frigates under the command of José de Osorio could be sent to the Gironde (although they were later reinforced by at least eight galleons under the Baron de Vatteville). Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria was able to lure the French fleet to Dunkirk and beat them there with great losses, while Grand Admiral von Vendôme was able to take the fortress of Bourg from the Spanish on July 4, 1653 and shortly afterwards besieged Bordeaux.

King Philip then ordered a fleet consisting of eight galleons, eight Brandern and all frigates and pinass ships to sail from the port of Pasaia to Bordeaux as a matter of urgency for the purpose of relief . In addition, the Marquis de Santa Cruz and Admiral Manuel de Buñuelos were urged to leave Cádiz with the Armada del Mar Océano with the same goal . Despite all these efforts, Bordeaux had surrendered to the French army due to a lack of supplies when the Spanish fleet arrived. Nevertheless, Santa Cruz ordered the attack on the fleet of Grand Admiral of Vendôme.

battle

Engraved portrait of the Duke of Vendôme by Balthasar Moncornet .

Unknown to the Spanish as to the exact location of the French warships, Santa Cruz spent some time searching for them along the estuary. A French squadron of three galleys and eight brigantines was seen entering the Blaye Canal on October 14th at the earliest. Santa Cruz immediately dispatched four frigates and two fires to block the mouth of the canal and ordered Lieutenant General Luis de Guzmán to scout the area. The estuary turned out to be impassable for the largest ships as the water level was extremely low during the ebb. So it was decided to attack the French ships on land.

Preparations were completed on October 20th. At 3:00 a.m. that day, the Tercios of Melchor de la Cueva, Francisco de Meneses and the Duke of Veragua landed on either side of the canal, moving towards the French ships that were in front of a fortress, in the French and Scottish Regiments were garrisoned. These troops, together with a cavalry corps from a nearby village, involved the Spaniards in a skirmish that lasted until 5:00 a.m. At that time, the tide allowed the Spanish sailors to abduct three French galleys and seven brigantines from the channel. Two frigates, two brigantines and 15 barges were set on fire because they could not be made afloat again in such a short time. The same fate befell the houses of Bourg after the town was sacked. The Spaniards suffered no losses during the entire operation.

Aftermath

The day after the battle, the Spanish ships shelled the village of Montagne, whereupon 1,600 soldiers landed, looted the village and captured most of the cattle, wine, wheat and other goods. Royan and various other nearby towns were also looted. A few days later a surprise attack on the Île de Ré failed because of mistakes made by Santa Cruz and Buñuelos. Then Santa Cruz returned to Spain. His fleet anchored in the port of Pasaia , near Donostia-San Sebastián , although he had not received any orders to do so. For this reason or because of his failure at the Île de Ré, he was imprisoned in the castle of San Torcaz. Admiral Manuel de Buñuelos was also punished by being locked in the lap of Vélez.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Gómez de Blas
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Fernández Duro p. 8
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Fernández Duro p. 9
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Fernández Duro p. 10
5. ↑ Michaud, p. 612
6. ↑ Fernández Duro p. 5
7. ↑ Valladares p. 129
8. ↑ Fernández Duro p. 6
9. ↑ Fernández Duro p. 7
10. ^ Israel p. 131

literature

• Cesáreo Fernández Duro: Armada española desde la Unión de los Reinos de Castilla y de León . 5th edition. Est. tipográfico Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, Madrid 1898.
• Jonathan Irvine Israel: Conflicts of empires: Spain, the low countries and the struggle for world supremacy, 1585-1713 . Continuum International Publishing Group, London, UK 1997, ISBN 978-1-85285-161-3 .
• Joseph François Michaud: Nouvelle collection des mémoires relatifs à l'histoire de France depuis le 13e siècle jusqu'à la fin du 18e siècle, par mm. Michaud and Poujoulat . Joseph François Michaud, Paris 1854.
• Rafael Valladares: La rebelión de Portugal: guerra, conflicto y poderes en la monarquía hispánica, 1640-1680 . Consejería de Educación y Cultura, Junta de Castilla y León 1998.
• Gómez de Blas, Juan: Ataque español en Burdeos, 1653. Revista de Historia Naval